Belasko

I'm impressed w/ your own insite to the pluses and minuse of the kicks. The fact that a kick comes off the back leg does open you up and they take longer, hence the reason our class has such a high emphasis lead leg kicks which done right are fast and much harder to see coming.

Only times that I have achieved that is during competition and testing. I can remember at my 1st Dan test the entire room was filled, but as soon as I began my form I noticed nothing else in the room. It was as though it was empty. The next thing I know the form is complete and I felt no fatigue until the test was completely over with. I have to attribute this state as complete focus. Or as ninjanurse said, being "in the zone"

Yeah, kuntao is mixed with a bit of silat, and one of my teachers is an ex-marine so we do knife work in the school I am at. My friends and I practise what we learn frequently (let's just say we're all big fans of the movie 'The Hunted', and leave it at that ) so like he said, don't think there aren't people trained in knife fighting. Not that we're likely to attack anyone, but just an example. My wife used to work for the guy who made the knives for the movie "The Hunted." Very dangerous fellow, but looked like your usual middle aged, overweight couch potato. The other really good knife fighter I've met was a guy name Bob Krull. Probably the deadliest person I've ever met, armed or otherwise. He was only about 5' 6" and skinny. Point is you probly won't ever see it coming if it's someone who does know what they're doing.

I carry a leatherman micra, which isn't very practical for defense but still useable. And also a 3 1/2 inch automatic pocket knife. I do have a Springfield XD 9 and a 12 ga at home but the hassle of carrying them for the minimal risk of needing them just doesn't balance in favor of packing.

You might want to try threatening with the gun first, and if he doesn't put his hands up, I'd say shoot him (preferably in a non-lethal spot like leg or arm) The first part of this statement is good. after that though it falls apart. Specifically the part about shooting them in a non-lethal spot. First reason is that hitting a target, even at close range, during a hight stress situation is darn near impossible. Take for instance the police shootouts you see on those police video shows. Almost always no one even gets hit, and they usually start out about 5 feet apart! And suppose that you did just wound them. The intruder is now alive and able to sue you for damages. And yes there are true cases of just that happening. As a police officer once told me for this kind of situation, "dead men tell no tales, and they can't hire a lawyer."

9mm or .45

double Round house: 1.Takes up to much time 2.not as strong as the normal RH Back kick: Well..this kick isnt so bad,i just dont like it because your eyes get off the opponent for awhile,also if you miss this kick...your clearly open. Can't agree too much w/ either statement. The double round, while best for points can be used in practicality if done right. I like it because the first kick does a great job of dropping a persons guard, even some of the mid and upper ranks at times. Back kicks, or as our school calls them spin kicks, when done correctly you should only take your eyes off the target for a fraction of a second, just long enough to get your shoulders and head around to spot your target again before delivering the kick. When done right an opponent often won't even see the kick itself until it is connecting. Plus the power in this kick is phenominal! One of my personal favorites though is a butterfly kick, at least sparring w/ new people. I found that it covers a lot of ground very fast and people will do one of two things, one stand there d/t surprise resulting in you landing a very powerful blow. or they will back up setting them up for a followup side kick to the ribs. However I would not ever want to try it in a self defense situation though.

one reason that has been mentioned repeatedly is that TKD kicks are too slow or telegraph. I think the kicks in question are the roundhouse or heelkicks, both of which are slow and leave you open, plus if it is to the head it puts you way off balance. What about side kicks or spin kicks. I've only seen one UFC fight but both of these were in it. What I'm getting at is that the popular, flashy kicks aren't always practical.

lead leg fighting is often done from a more upright stance rather than the usually seen stance w/ the legs far apart and a low center like in a horse stance. From this stance little or no weight is on the lead leg so that a side kick can be thrown w/ minimal shift/warning. This also allows a much faster kick for either defensive or offensive maneuvers.

"the sapling is hidden amongst the taller pines and now must learn to fight its way upwards" I once went to some ATA classes as a visiting student and the assistant instructor asked me what the black belt meant in my style (I had just recently been promoted at that time). I asked him what he meant and he indicated the sayings posted on the wall, the one in the quote was one of them. I had to say that we didn't have any sayings like that but had been told that basically I had learned the basics and was now ready to really study the art. He then told me that was not it and I should go to my instructor and find out what it meant or else the tradition and history of our style would erode away. My instructor laughed when asked about this and mentioned something about schools with those sort of quotes are there to make money and make you feel like you are getting something extra out of them.

I don't know, depending on the personality being manhandled might just make things worse.

Being a practitioner of TKD I primarily deal w/ kicking. I've seen a few different approaches to sparring but very few outside of my school seem to apply lead leg fighting. I'm curious as to what the people in this forum think of this technique and how often they use it.

remember, there are no superior styles, only superior practitioners.

I would have to say that the situation is largely a reflection of our society and specifically that of female teenagers in general. Girls usually aren't taught to fight or hit or anything that you get into in MA. However some of the best MA's I've seen have been women. I can specifically think of one that flat out intimidated me for a while before I got to the point where it was a very healthy amount of respect for her skill level. Keep up the work and you can achieve the same in your class.

My feelings and what I have heard my instructor tell people that have joined from other schools, don't forget what you have learned. Put more tools in your bag so you can handle a larger number of situations. Usually for sparring you can mix the two. However I wouldn't try something like throws or joint locks from judo during sparring in a TKD class though.

My feelings are a little biased on this against ATA, so I don't intend to offend anyone. My experience w/ ATA is that while it is great with young kids, specifically their tiny tigers program, they are primarily in it for the $$$$$. Part of this is demonstrated in their ranking system where they seem to have tests every month and a dozen or so belts. You pay that many test fees and you will end up coughing up that much more money.

I have to agree w/ the statement that the amount of time is going to vary depending on the student, their dedication, natural skill, etc. One case in point is a gentleman that was in a class I help teach this semester. He was to all classes, every week. However at the end of the semester he still was completely lost as to the forms. Other students I have seen have achieved a basic level of proficiency within a couple of days. Those different students are going to advance through the ranks at much different rates.

I noticed a lot of people are from California, fair number from NY and a smattering of other places. Got me thinking, where exactly is everyone from? I'm from Idaho.

I think I'm the only one that is claiming 27 so far. woo-hoo!

1. Of course. I requested a 3 day block off of work around that date as soon as I knew the release date... back in September.! I have my advance ticket bought and paid for for the midnight release showing. 2. Jedi knight 3. Single blade. Either blue or Green 4. Somewhere between Anakin and Obi-wan

I was thinking about some of my favorite forms and was curious as to what others think. I'm curious as to what your current favorite form is, at what level/rank you learned this form and what rank you are now compared to when you learned it. Also include style you study since some many styles have different names or even flat out different forms, even between schools at times. My favorite is called Ba-Sai (one of 3 or 4 spellings I've seen). I learned it as a high Brown belt in the Chung Do Kwan TKD. I am currently a 2nd Dan.

My first hand break was a heel palm. This is still my preferred hand technique. For my 2nd Dan test I had to break 4 one inch pine boards (without spacers) w/ a hand technique and 4 w/ a foot technique. Stings a bit if you don't follow through. For practice we usually use rebreakables. I have broken as many as 4 blacks (advertised as equal to 1.5-2 inch pine each) w/ a hand technique and 5 w/ a back cross side kick. These ones also don't use spacers. We do however use a board holder that is braced against a brick wall though. Moral is, you can break many boards without spacers, but make sure to follow through or it hurts, a lot

Had several knives, couple of sticks the length of an escrima stick and a wooden dowel for a makeshift bo in my teen years. I now have an actual practice knife but am barely able to figure out how it is applied to my forms. I have been shown that Ba-Sai is often done as a single or double knife form but have ways to go on it still.

no, you shouldn't have to worry about being hit in the nose if it is off limits. You are right that your instructor should have enough control to not hit you. On the other hand it is a practice situation so... Instead of learning to rely on it as a crutch so to speak, just use it so that you can breath after your workouts. If it is a mostly standard piece of equipment in your school you should probably get one. I still think your instructors excuse is pretty weak though.