Aodhan

That would explain the knee pain, but not the ankle pain. How flexible are you, JKDkid2? Lack of flexibility could also be causing pain. How's the swimming working out? Aodhan

Good mornings, deadlifts, reverse situps on a bench. Basically, anything that takes you from a bent over position back to a straight position will work the lower back muscles. Pay strict attention to form, and do not - do NOT - go really heavy weights to start. It's easy to really jack up the muscles in that area if you pound at them before they can really take it. Aodhan

Good luck to both of you!! Come back and let us know how you did! Aodhan

Smells like a troll post to me as well, however... Our colored belts range from $25 to $50 for testing fees. 1st degree is $150. Midterms between black belt ranks are $25. I think our highest fee is $1500, and that is for the 6th degree Master level, and includes the nifty silk uniform. Aodhan

I've used total gym, bowflex, soloflex and a couple others. They are ok if you have never used free weights or done weight training, as they will help give you proper form when used correctly. However, they are no substitute for even a good set of dumbbells. I forget what they are called, but there are a set of dumbbells (Powerblocks?), and I think bowflex makes a set now that you can just flip a lever and adjust the weight. For the price, you can get a set of those and a multiway bench and get much more variability and benefit in your workouts. Aodhan

Splenius cervicis--maybe. But capitis is too deep. And levator scapulae is too deep to easily palpate, even without big traps or SCM--it's well covered by T1, T2, and T3. Even if the traps are small, LS will be small too. Give up yet? With respect, Sohan Nope. We just have differing opinions on the subject. I've palped them when doing cervical exams in the field (Air Force paramedic), so we just have differing opinions. Aodhan

Really. Ok, maybe I can compete with the ATA jung yul form then. It's 82 moves. I'm surprised that you introduce combos like the front kick/side kick that late. We have that at purple belt (4th gup), and we introduce the 180 degree aerial jump at red belt (1st gup). Aodhan

That's one of the biggest things. People don't naturally have great goal setting abilities. All the time they are training, we tell them "Soon you'll be a black belt!" "6 more months to your BB!" and things of that nature. That is self limiting, and thus many people get to black belt and say "Well, that's accomplished. Now what?", and don't really get an answer so they drift away. About 1/2 to 3/4 way to the BB, you should start altering your talks in classes to start emphasizing the "life after 1st degree", and altering their goals. Especially with our youngers, we talk about short term, mid term and long term goals, and how to set/adjust them as time goes by. If you instill the thought early, you won't lose as many when they get to 1st degree. Aodhan

I believe it's from "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", 199...4? 5? Aodhan

It differs from person to person, but it takes a LOT of repetitive damage to wear down the cartilage to the point that you start getting/aggravating OA. I'd be more worried about the dancing causing it in the knees, personally. Just watch your technique. If you are really worried about it, tape your hands or wear a sparring glove. It will make it slightly harder to break, but much easier on the hands. As far as the feet, as long as you get your toes back, you should be fine. I don't have a lot of flexibility in my toes (Too many years of running cross country), so I break a toe once or twice a year on board breaks Aodhan

For kata, sword and kama. For fun, bo staff. For combat, escrima and knife. They are the most likely to be available somewhere that you can carry or pick up off the street. Aodhan

You also need to define the type of sword more. Broad sword is generally known as a "two handed" sword, was about 6 feet long, and needed two hands to wield. Very heavy, and not very agile. Straight sword could be anything from a hand and 1/2 sword to a rapier, etc. Most of these could be wielded one handed. So, if you are armored up and bashing away at each other such as they did in the middle agegs, then a broadsword would be your best bet. (It was also a great sword for cutting out the legs of a charging horse). For unarmored combat (Think most stage fights, ala 3 musketeer style), then quick, agile weapons such as the epee, rapier, parrying dagger, etc. would be more useful. Define the style of fighting more, and we can give you a better answer. Aodhan

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Ok, I just about splorted protein shake all over my monitor from that one. Nicely done, sir. Well played. Aodhan

LOL... Does that make this a McForum? BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Sorry Patrick, I couldn't resist. Aodhan P.S. You're one to talk, at the rate you're going you'll hit 1000 in about 3 weeks.

Yep. And that is all technique, my friend, all technique. Aodhan

Wahoo! 1000 posts!! (Ok, 1001 now.) I is a black belt. Again. :D Aodhan

Anything on the ground would be beneficial, but high school and college wrestling won't have a lot of application in a fight situation, other than knowing how to maneuver. There are a lot of joint locks, chokes, etc. that are available to BJJ, etc. that are illegal in competition, and thus not taught. BJJ is probably one of your best bets as a complement to TKD. Aodhan

Ever hear of an equestrienne named Heather McElligott? She is my wife's Irish Dance teacher, and used to be a national level rider (Would be probably 15 ish years ago, not sure how old you are or how long ago you competed). Aodhan

Well, it was a girl. Of course he ran. Cooties, you know. :D Aodhan

Do I detect just a *little* hint of sarcasm there?? Get yourself a coffee, quick sharp!! No, no, no sarcasm at all. You are right. I'm just the devil's advocate on this. :D (I've heard the horse kicking myth, the white to black belt because it's filthy myth, other ones so much it's scary sometimes.) Aodhan

Yup, even in WTF schools there's not that many clubs that just teach WTF sparring and nothing else. Clubs in the UK that are members of the BTCB (which you basically have to be if you are a WTF club and want to enter WTF rules competitions in the UK) have a set syllabus for grading, which includes various aspects of TKD including several types of sparring - not just Olympic rules - as well as breaking, patterns, self defence and other things. Yep. Our testings for colored belts have at a minimum: Forms, one steps/sparring combinations, free sparring, board breaks and self deffense combinations. As you get higher, we add weapons forms, self made defense flows and 2 or 3 on 1 sparring. Aodhan

The gym bag is a good one. Take street clothes, workout clothes and your gi. (For jiu jitsu you are going to want a heavyweight, durable gi anyway, since you will be pulling and tugging on the gi, and using it in some chokes.) Then just ask what you need to wear. Aodhan

Heh. They may surprise you. We have a kid in our classes that is 6th gup, and will cry if someone says "boo" to him. His first competition Saturday, other kid kicked him in the head right off the bat. He look shocked, then turned into some wierd sparring animal that I've never seen before. (Vibrating weasel comes to mind ) Won the match 5-2. Most surprising thing I've seen in a long time. Aodhan

Oh, you're absolutely right. I was just arguing the theoretical possibility. (I need more coffee) Aodhan

Yes, I know. I spent 4 years plus an internship getting a degree in exercise kinesiology. What a pain in the tookus, but it does come in handy now that I teach. Aodhan Humble, too. Where did you get your degree? I received my Masters in Exercise Science from Georgia State University. I am also certified by the NSCA as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (since 1995) and ACSM (Health Fitness Instructor--since 1996). It comes in handy for me because it is the way I put food on my table. Respectfully, Sohan Never got to the Master's level. Got my bachelors from the Univ. of Northern Colorado, but I got sidetracked and ended up in computer programming. I do some fitness prescription and diet/nutritional analysis part time, but mostly it's programming and teaching at the studio. Aodhan