taekwondomom

I'm sorry --MLK= Martin Luther King, Jr. Am I right in saying he studied some eastern philosophies?

Nice article. I agree with many of the responses, but I did not read all of them! Your piece made me think of MLK who studied eastern religions and used them to build his understanding of non-violent protest. Also, are you familiar with the work of Terrance Webster-Doyle, who founded a group called Martial Arts for Peace? They have a website. It's not specifically Christian, but it does address some issues Christians are concerned with, such as nonviolence, justice, peace, and conflict management.

I'm having foot problems. My problem is an inflamed tendon in my right foot. My doctor has prescribed metatarsal lifts for my shoes. I would guess this is a downside of my flexible feet. Any ideas for foot-strengthening exercises?

I swim laps. It's not instant thin thighs, but I think if you do it, it helps you get trim and smooth (vs. big and bulky) limbs (arms and legs)! Plus, it really doesn't seem like a workout. . . . (I don't swim too many laps).

I don't know, maybe I'm way off here, but isn't one of the purposes of martial arts to be the kind of person who DOESN'T get into fights? I'm not talking about true self-defense here, fighting because someone else has made the first move. I'm talking about adding to violence on the street or whereever just because you can--because you are a powerful weapon and you want to use this to get at people who bug you or threaten you or whatever. I really don't think that's the purpose of martial arts. My instructor, who is 7th dan and in his early 50s, says he is very proud of the fact that he never had to use TKD on the street until about 10 years ago when two guys jumped on him on a city street. He says he was easily able to "immobilize" both and get away, but what he's really proud of is that he went so long without fighting. It seems like if we do martial arts right, we learn how to be calm in a hot situation, how to have self-control, how to respect others, even how to walk away from an insult. We know we can use force, and we can if we have to. But it should take a LOT more for us to "have to" use force. Any thoughts on this at all?

Hello Ninjanurse-- Your article really brought up some important issues in teaching, especially in teaching something like martial arts, where students gain power over others. Seems like anytime you do this, you really need to think about the social responsibility of the teacher! (I teach college-level writing, and I consider what I do very similar--I help students learn to handle the power of language!) I wonder if you or anyone here has run across the Martial Arts for Peace website. The founder, Terrance Webster-Doyle, is committed to using Martial Arts (he does Karate) as a way to promote peace. Do you or anyone else teach conflict resolution in classes? Thanks for your thoughtful article.

I signed my children up for martial arts last October. They're been enjoying it, mostly, and I began in January. However, they have been losing interest recently. At first, I just thought it was the usual thing that kids do: complain about having to practice and having to give up "free time" for lessons. I used to do that with piano when I was young! So I just did the old "of course we're going! You'll be fine once you're in class." And they usually were. However, recently, I can see their loss of interest in the way they do class. They're just not trying very hard! They goof off whenever they can get away with it. They don't talk about TKD and work on forms at home like they used to. They tell me all the time that they want to "take a break" from TKD. Perhaps this is more a parenting question than a martial arts question, but here's the martial arts question: Can you "take a break" from TKD? Or, if you quit, will you inevitably quit for good? What are the benefits of taking a break? What are the hazards? I'm not going to "take a break;" not yet at least. I plan to continue my study for a while.

Wow, Markusan, I wish I could take your class! This is the way we begin in ballet, which I also take: with very carefully planned exercises to get us ready There's a real logic to the order of the warm up exercises at the barre, and they all work toward getting the body ready to dance, stretching at certain times, flexing muscles at certain times, etc. Are there places where TKD teachers learn these scientific guidelines?

Hey Slydermv--I like the idea of running FIRST to get warmed up before stretching. We always stretch cold at our school, and as a dancer, it bugs me. In ballet, you ALWAYS, ALWAYS warm up with barre exercises before stretching. "You need to break a sweat first," says my ballet teacher. Is there any way I can gently get my TKD teachers to do this? I am a mere orange belt . . . with strong opinions. . .

Does every school follow the same order of basic movements near the beginning of class? For example, we begin with low blocks, then on to middle kick-middle punch, etc. Our teacher asks the students "What comes next?" and I always hope he won't ask me as I haven't quite memorized the order yet . . . and I'm not sure I have it written down anywhere. I need to get that info from our teacher, but seems like I always forget. If there is a universal order to basic movements, please fill me in!

What kinds of different rules might there be in a tournament? This is just ITF type Tae Kwon Do. Are the rules just for sparring, or are there different rules for forms and breaking? This has been great advice so far!

I guess I have a lot of questions these days! I'm thinking about entering my first tournament in two weeks. I am an orange belt. I think I'll enter all three areas: forms, breaking, and sparring. (I have gotten to really enjoy sparring, thanks to advice from ninjanurse, jasep, and others of you--plus lots of practice! Thanks!) It will be a small tournament at my own school. My reason for entering: I LOVE new experiences (I look forward to writing about it in my blog), and I think it will be fun. Any advice for me? Anything you wish you'd known before you went in your first tournament?

I like these ideas, especially the ones where the teachers encourage active learning of the values--through activities, story-telling, and games. As a student--and a fairly new one--is there any way I could encourage this to happen at my school? or should I butt out? You teachers, would you appreciate a student asking for changes or additions to the curricululm? taekwondomom

We had such an interesting discussion of TKD Spirit a while ago--It got me thinking: how many of your dojangs explicitly teach the values behind TKD? For example, do your students have lessons on how to be courteous? Or how to show integrity? (Those are two of the "tenets of TKD" that we recite each week in our school) Or how about "I shall not misuse TKD"--do any of your schools have lessons in conflict management--that is, how NOT to get into a fight? Someone asked me this once, and I said that our dojang teaches this implicitly, through the behavior of the teachers and through reminders to students who get out of line. But I wonder if more is done elsewhere.

I like your school's student oath, Kicks. It suggests that martial arts are a way of life, not just a sport. That's the way I view it.

Our school has "the student oath" that the teacher and students recite, call and response-style, after each class. Part of it goes: "I shall observe the tenets of Tae Kwon Do: Courtesy Integrity Perseverence Self-Control Indomitable spirit I shall be a champion of Freedom and Justice and I shall build a more peaceful world." I've seen some of these "tenets" listed elsewhere. I think it's important that we all hear and say them! Of course, it is more important that we see them being practiced at our dojang, and that we are encouraged to practice them more, because they are hard.

At the end of Saturday's class, the teacher asked me to spar with someone in front of the whole class. And I won! A play-by-play is in my blog, below. I've been practicing hard in the past few weeks, trying to overcome my dislike of fighting. I also took to heart a the advice many of you gave me (I asked for sparring advice for a small woman): keep practicing, move fast, counter straight with round and round with straight, and enjoy it. I appreciate having a place to talk and think about the inner workings of TKD. Thanks, everyone.

. . . and the promotional test is tomorrow! OK, maybe I shouldn't have been out digging in the garden, but I've never pulled a muscle in my back (lower back, near my left hip) doing that before . . . oh dear, maybe I'm getting old. Anyone have any advice? I've been putting a heating pad on it, and have taken ibuprofen. Wish me luck, at any rate. I'll post info, stories, pictures on my blog . . . whether or not I'm able to test.

I find it interesting that different schools use breaking in different ways. At our school, I broke a board, oh, maybe 6 weeks into my training! And my boys did, too. In a way, breaking can seem like unnecessary showmanship, a bit of flash to keep small boys (and everyone) interested. But in a way, it seemed to do more. I mean, I broke a board, made out of wood! It was amazing, and it certainly did make me view my training in a different way. Plus, to break those boards, you really have to focus and use good technique. You can't fudge it, or the board will NOT break. You may even hurt yourself. To get it to break, you have to do your move just right. And that alone might be worth the price of a piece of pine. (By the way, our dojang provides them, and we usually break once before the test, and of course, at the test.) I don't know if board breaking is essential to our training, but it has added an extra dimension for me.

Hey, our discussion about the right age for starting TKD made me wonder about how everyone's schools do classes. At our school, there are "Little Ninja" classes, for age 4-6, "Ninja Kids" classes for ages 6-12, and then there are "All-Belts" classes for all ages, all belts. Now that you guys have me thinking about the right age to learn, I've been realizing how much I like the "All belts" classes. When I attend, I'm taking class with children through adults, beginners thru BBs. We all do the same activities, though the instructor sometimes specifies different (more difficult) moves for the higher belts. It is so cool to be in those classes of 30-40 people of all ages, all doing the same moves together! (Our dojang is about the size of a school gym, with hardwood floors and high ceilings--there's a description on my blog http://taekwondomom.blogspot.com on March 30, "Back to the dojang") I like being with people of all ages/levels, too. It allows you to help and be helped by each other. I think it also gets us thinking about what makes us equal as well as what makes some higher-ranked. There's something about the philosophy behind it that I really like. (Of course, there sometimes are problems--you can see my blog's description of a difficult junior blackbelt, also March 30, "First day back") Do any of you have all-belts classes? Is that a common way for classes to be run?

I like your idea of finding out one's knack at TKD. Actually, at my school, the head teacher is a forms expert, and the other head teacher has expertise in sparring. So even in my own school, there are models of different ways to focus in TKD.

[it seems like this is an important issue for those who run TKD schools--maybe teens who are beginners might need their own classes--or at least some special consideration. They are sensitive to things like age and rank. And it's so important for people that age to build self-confidence and fitness.] I think it's awesome that you are starting TKD at 15. You know, now that you're older, you probably have some perspective on how long it takes to learn things, how to be patient. I hope you're able to work out with people your own age--and maybe older people. It might be less frustrating than working out with little boys. And it might be easier than working out with people your own age who are far ahead of you. My TKD instructor started at age 19. He is a 3rd Dan BB now. And I started just before I turned 42! (My promotion test is this weekend--with luck I'll soon be an orange belt.) Good luck to you! I remember how it was to be that in-between age. You can decide for yourself which group you feel more comfortable with: children or adults.

Wow. This has been a great place to get advice--and encouragement. I like the attitude that you all have--that martial arts is a way of life, not just a way to get better at hand-to-hand combat. That's the attitude of the teachers at our school, and I like it. I know that not everyone feels that way, not even every student at our school. Hey, I invite any of you to visit my blog http://taekwondomom.blogspot.com I started the blog when I started Tae Kwon Do, and it's a my reflections of this journey--with pictures, descriptions, questions, etc. And here's a question--about uniforms. Where can I get a nice uniform that is not so stiff and might drape better on my 5'3" 105 pound frame? I may treat myself to a new uniform at some point!

I am new to sparring (I'm a yellow belt), and it is completely counterintuitve to me! I am not a warrior, but a 5'3" mom who takes ballet and TKD. When it's time to spar, I want to run away instead of fighting someone (especially the taller men), but I am really loving TKD--the forms, the basic moves, the self-confidence I'm building--so I don't want to quit. Any advice for me? What can help me feel more comfortable when I face someone in a fighting stance? Or should I follow the advice someone gave me on my blog--quit TKD and take Tai Chi instead?