Aodhan

Basically, you go from machine to machine (Or exercise to exercise) in a lap or "circuit" type setup. Generally done with less than maximal weights, it's more towards the toning/defining side. Typically a full body workout, although it can be modified to suit individual body parts or sections. Any decent gym you go to should have a machine circuit area set up, just ask to have it demonstrated when you take the tour of the gym. Aodhan

I would venture to say that you are doing the first incorrectly, most likely. If your shoulders and mid back arent coming up off the floor, then all your doing is rounding your shoulders. I do all sorts of different crunchs from different angles to high upper and lower abs, as well as internal and external obliques (Add rotation and side crunches for these last two.) Aodhan

I think either Century or AWMA sells bo staffs that you can put glo sticks into, I know for sure they sell chucks that way. As far as paper, any craft type store such as Michael's or JoAnns should have it. Aodhan

Do you have a link to this study? I can't find anything on the search engines, and it sounds somewhat anecdotal, kind of like the myth that cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis. (It won't, but if you get arthritis it will definitely make them worse). As far as regular grip strength, it is a function of the muscles in your forearms, so wrist curls and similar exercises will help. One of my favorite exercises for this is to hold a dumbell in each hand. Sit down, and rest your hands on your legs with your wrists extended out past each knee, palms facing up. Let your wrist bend backwards, and your fingers open until the dumbbell is being held barely by finger tips. Then pull the weight back up as you curl your fingers back around it, and then keep flexing until your knuckles are pointing straight up. Also, you can take a sheet of newspaper, and use one hand only to ball it up, same with a towel (Although you can't grab much with a towel.) Aodhan

Care to mention a specific kick? Aodhan

Hardly. I come here looking for the opinions of marital artists whom I respect. Never validation, and never reassurance. I'm willing to hear that I was wrong. My apologies then. I misinterpreted your reasoning. There are a lot of people I know that would never be willing to hear they were wrong. Aodhan

that's not true. This wasn't some newb who had no clue what the agreed upon rules were. He knew full well what he was doing, thus he wasn't beating a puppy. I was referring to the perception that the kid (presumably) has. Most people that do things like this equate others' behavior and motivation as being the same as their own, so they don't associate a cause (Hit him in the face) with the effect (Get my butt kicked). Most of the time someone that has the values that allow them to hit late, etc. will expect the same from others, so when it happens, they don't associate their action as being the causative factor. They don't associate it, so they don't learn from it. Much like my aforementioned puppy. Aodhan

Then do a jump/spin heel kick of some kind. Generally just as impressive, you don't have to worry about your toes, and it usually has more power because of the addition of the glutes to the muscle equation. Aodhan

Ok, I've got a little more time than I did yesterday. 1) Practice. Practice. Practice. Get as good as is phsyically and mentally possible for you. Live and breathe TKD. If you want to compete on the world stage, count on putting in at LEAST 25-30 hours per week on TKD, weights, cardio, technique, etc. For most world class athletes, it's the only thing on their mind for years, and the training they do reflects that. 2) Read and watch everything you can. Get ahold of videos of the Olympics, Pan Am games, trials, national competitions, etc. Go watch as many live as possible. If it is economically feasible, go to the OTC (Olympic Training Center), in Colorado Springs, Colorado (About 70 miles SE of Denver). Talk to the coaches. Watch the workouts. Copy down drills. Talk to the athletes if possible. 3) Attend seminars and workshops. Stephen Lopez (Oly Gold and...silver? medalist in TKD) puts on a lot of them. Anytime you get to one, ask questions, ask for tips, get your name noticed/known (Without being obnoxious about it ) Any information you can get that your opponent might not have will give you an edge. 4) Compete. Compete as MUCH as is economically possible. The more experience you have, the better off you will be. Tape your competitions, and watch them yourself looking for flaws, have your instructor look for flaws, if you are at a seminar, take a tape, or some Oly instructors will offer analysis of video for a price. 5) When you start getting up to the higher levels of competition, you will need pretty much one on one coaching and instruction, so be prepared for the extra expense of that. You'll also have to get tapes of your opponents and study those. But, by the time you reach that point, you should pretty much know your path, and what you still need to do. It's a great goal. I absolutely love the Olympics, and if I hadn't started TKD so late, I'd be trying for it. (I may still try some of the open competitions, or possibly wait until I can do the Senior stuff, but that's quite a few years off.) Don't be discouraged, it will take a lot of time, money and effort, but if you make it, it will be very sweet indeed. Aodhan

Failed as a martial artist? Not really. There were a couple failures, though. 1) If the guy has a history of punching after the "break", then I wouldn't spar him. I'd also tell him why. I'm not into sparring to get cheap shotted. If I am fighting, which is different than sparring, then I expect anything and everything. 2) Your instructor (Regardless of the "police yourself" policy) has both a moral and a legal obligation to control the sparring. If this guy hits someone in the face, and fractures an eye orbit or soft palate, etc. your instructor will get hung in any lawsuit. 3) You allowed your temper to get the better of you. While understandable (I've done it myself), it's like beating a puppy. They don't really understand why they are being beaten. Basically, from what I see (And this might sound a little harsh), is you lost your cool, pounded a little on someone, and are now feeling guilty/wrong about it. You come here looking for validation and reassurance, but that's not really something we can give you. You have to work it out with yourself and the other guy. Eventually, if nobody spars with him because he always cheap/late shots, then he might get the hint, or maybe he's never had anyone tell him anything about it. I don't know, I haven't been there. You have to make it right for you. If you feel that you did something wrong, you will feel that every time you see the guy, no matter what we tell you. If you think you did right, then nothing we say would persuade you otherwise. You have to figure it out, and if you think you did something wrong, you need to make it right yourself. Aodhan

Waivers aren't really even that good. The waiver you sign when you enter a tournament? Doesn't prevent you from sueing, and once it gets into a court, especially with a high dollar amount, it's whatever the judge or jury decides. "Well, you see judge, I provided the space and the ring and the opportunity for this guy to get his back broken, but he did sign the waiver." Aodhan

phhhhfffftttt....That's easy. Throw a sewer sized cockroach into the ring. MAN, those things creep me right out!!! Aodhan

http://www.wtf.org/site/rules/competition.htm#5 Competition rules Aodhan

The main art for the Olympics is WTF tae kwon do, currently administered by the USTU in America. You do need to be a kukkiwon certified black belt. If you go to the USTF site, then you can find schools, tournament rules, etc. Qualifying is actually pretty simple. They have either state or regional (Been a while since I looked, not sure which is correct) qualifying tournaments, I think the top 3 or 5 advance to the Olympic Trials. Top two in each weight division qualify for the team with #3 being the alternate. I believe you can also qualify for the Trials by medaling at events such as Worlds, Pan American games, etc. Go to the USTU, if I remember right, they have a FAQ section that has questions about Oly qualifying. Aodhan P.S. Went there, and here are some qualifying tournaments: http://www.ustu.org/318_960.htm

Ours is pretty cool, IMO. It's done in a darkened room, and there is a central large candle that is lit. The school owner comes in, lights his candle (Slightly smaller) from the big one. All the high ranks come in order of rank, and light their candles from the owner. Then, one by one, the new black belt candidates come up and have their votive candles lit by their primary instructor. There's a history tape playing, and explanations, symbolism and other things, it's a really cool ceremony. Aodhan

Depends on how good your board holders are. One break I did at a demo (two boards, three boards, two boards in order) were done by a spear hand, immediately bring a back elbow straight back through the three boards with the same arm, followed by a jump spin outer crescent. The outer crescent holders have to hold directly above the spear hand holders, and the spear hand holders have to be steady enough not to flinch as the outer crescent comes around. Aodhan

Yes, it is isometric. Tension on the muscle without movement. Part of the reason your legs shake, is as you exhaust parts of the muscle, other parts are recruited until the entire muscle is spend. The fatigue in the muscle and the extra acetylcholine (muscle neurotransmitter) floating around are what contribute to the shaking of the muscles. And, as far as the Air Assault III, I've never heard of the program, so I couldn't say. Aodhan

Having a solid core will help any sport. Basically, your core muscles help support everything from balance on down the line, so if your core muscles are weak, then other muscles have to help supplement them. This takes away from their primary functions, and makes them slightly weaker. Aodhan

If they are advertising isometric training using resistance bands, then they are a crock. True isometric contraction occurs when there is no movement. (Such as pushing against a brick wall, for example.) So, you couldn't really mimic a jumping motion and still be isometric. Plyometric works because you are exploding in one direction against resistance traveling in the opposite direction (Such as jumping down off of one box and up and over a higher box). As has been pointed out, the gastroc and soleus make up the calf, so if you do calf raises, you'll need to do them in three positions to hit all the calf (Heels in, heels straight, heels turned out). Doing them on a stair allows a greater range of motion, although there are some machines that allow for this. Alternating knee lift jumps are a favorite of mine. Drive one knee as far up towards your chest as you can, and jump off the other leg. As you come down on that leg, put your first leg down, then drive your other knee up and jump again. (It kind of looks like really exaggerated skipping.) I rarely do calf exercises, but I bicycled competitively for about 5 years, so my calves got really built up from that, and I don't really need to keep training them specifically, other than class drills and work. Aodhan

It's not really a rumor, although it is a bit misleading. When you are still growing, you have plates towards the end of each bone, called epiphyseal plates. This is where growth occurs as new bone is laid down. That's how an X-Ray can tell if you've stopped growing, by the disappearance of this section. If you have really strong muscles (See most elite gymnasts), it can * the growth of the bone. Doesn't have much impact, although if you really train heavy I suppose you could lose an inch or so. If you want to train while you are still growing, get with a personal trainer (Certified!) to lay out a core program that will help build some strength without being too restrictive. Definitely lay off the really heavy lifting until you've stopped growing. Aodhan

Personally, I prefer 4 "meals" and a couple snacks a day. Breakfast is usually a PB&J sandwich, 1 or two yogurts and a piece of fruit. Snack midmorning is usually nuts and/or fruit, fairly decent sized lunch (Generally my biggest meal of the day) around midday, another snack (cottage cheese, protein shake, etc), workout, then dinner, generally a protein source(meat, chicken, turkey, etc) and veggies. Your body will most readily use protein to rebuild if you take within 1/2 hour or so after a workout, so a protein shake right after you work out would be good. I don't eat after 8pm or so as well. There are any number of protein grams/body weight calculators out there, as well as diet plans, etc. I find a 55% carbs (or so), 30% protein and 15% fat ratio works best for me. You also need to know how many calories you expend in a day. For 3 or 4 days write down EVERYTHING you eat. That includes the 1/2 a stale donut you stole from a co-worker. . Then go to any number of websites (Fitday.com is a decent one, no affiliation), and plug in your food. This will tell you how much calories you took in. Do the same thing with your workouts for a week, and estimate your expenditure. This will tell you the number of calories you need just to maintain weight (Most good calculators will ask you weight, height, etc to calculate basal rates). If you want to gain weight, adding 750-1000 calories a day will add between one and two pounds a week. If you sit on your butt, they will be fat pounds. If you add weights or other workouts, they will be quality pounds. (In general, as with everything, YMMV). As with everything, 95% of it depends on you and how your body reacts. What works for me, may or may not work for you. Figure out a bunch of different workouts, times, eating methods, etc. and see what works best for what you want to do. Aodhan

Easily. Try this. Stand under a basketball hoop, and jump up straight up from a standing position. (You can squat down if you want to start). See how high you can go. Now, take a little bit of a run (Even 3 or four steps), and jump up like you were going to lay up, and see how high you go. You should easily be 3-4 inches or more higher on the second jump. That's why when you see NFL'er and NBA'ers doing their combines and team physicals, they distinguish the "standing" vertical from a moving vertical. Aodhan

84 kilos is 184.8 pounds, there are 2.2 pounds per kilo. Aodhan

I must oppose this view. Quads provide about 30-40% of the lift, but the main motivator for vertical height is the gastroc complex (Calf muscle), if your muscles are in balanced development. If your calves are not developed to the same extent the quads are, then the quads will take over, but you will not get near the vertical you would with equal calf development. Aodhan

Do a lot of isometric type exercises. You will bulk up slightly, but isometrics (Straining against an immovable force) will increase the density of your muscles, which in turn will gain you weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you increase muscle mass, you will also gain weight. Just depends on how heavy you want to be. I'd personally concentrate more on how I look and my strength, and let the size dictate itself. Aodhan