karatekid1975

LOL Thanks X. I'm working on that.

I agree, Kickchick. Most dojangs don't teach this (applications of forms). I know Shotokan does, cause I dabbled in it with Ann. My TSD instructor also showed us what the moves are for. But, my TKD dojang doesn't. But that doesn't mean I won't ask "why" and "how" or do some "digging" on my own. If I teach a form to a lower rank or help a fellow green belt with one, I tell them to pretend there is an attacker (or I actually do attack them) and tell them to do the move. If they are not familiar with it, I'll tell them first. If I don't know, I go find out

I started off (in TSD) when doing roundhouse kick, I used my right hand (with right leg/back leg roundhouse) to "balance" myself. I kept my left hand in "guard" protecting my left side. Now I am working on keeping my guard up always, no matter what. I still have a problem with "dropping" my guard when I kick, so it's something I need to work on.

I didn't wanna get into this agrument again, but I noticed one thing that WASN'T mentioned about learning hyung. I have a guestion for the board: Who here knows what, at least, one move is for in their hyung? Do you just learn the "motions" or do you learn what each move (or combo of moves) is for? I'll leave it at that for now.

That is good Kickchick. Fortunately, we don't have many "weeds" either. The ones that are "weeds" don't last past yellow belt in my dojang. There are some egos (with the higher ranks), but I deflated one of them Now she's my friend (or acts like it hehehehe). Other than that, we train hard and seriously.

Yea, you are well off. Better than I was, that is. Yes, my hammy's were really my problem at first. Then it was the side kick. Which I still have a problem with, but I'm working on it with stretching after class. Don't get discouraged. Just keep at it, but don't push yourself too hard. You'll do fine

Al, I started MA at age 25. I was not flexible at all. I couldn't even touch my toes sitting down! LOL. You wouldn't think so now, but it took me two years at workin at it (I noticed that you were a white belt). It takes a lot of work and patience. I do this (the one you stated above: "side split widening by tightening my legs like I am trying to squeeze the floor with my legs as I let them go out further." But be sure to warm up properly. I do this stretch after class, and I'm getting really good results.

In both the dojangs I went to/go to, the instructors pay for tuition. But they get paid too. I donno how that works, but it happened. My TSD instructor still trains. He goes to the big-wig's dojang to train, and yes, he pays tuition. I have no clue about my TKD instructor yet.

I agree with everyone here. You MUST warm up first. In TKD, we do jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, ect to get the blood flowing. Then we stretch. But I get the best results from stretching AFTER class. Because I'm definitely warmed up, my muscles are loosened up, and there is much less chance of injury. After pulling my hammy, I don't wanna pull another muscle. That hurt! So, warming up is the most important part of stretching. If you stretch cold, you are asking to pull something.

Yes, I agree G95. Mike, we did have a long talk about that. And I ended up postponing my test, which I found out later was a smart thing to do (my green belt test could wait at the time). It's been five months since I pulled mine, and I still have to be careful. I still "ache" at times. I got my flexiblilty back, but I still can't push it like I used to. Oh and I passed my blue stripe test with no problem with the hammy, so I guess it's almost healed. It took a long time though. It didn't happen over night. There will be another test. Your health is more important right now.

Oops. Sorry Kyle.

I should add the time between ranks: white, orange (adults skipped yellow), green, blue was 3 months: brown, purple, red, red with stripe was 4 months, and sho dan bo was 6 months.

In TSD, we had 9 gups/kyus. So it wasn't as long between belts. We had a belt color for each rank (except for red had two gups). Then there was midnight blue (sho dan bo) after 1st gup red belt. You had to be a midnight blue belt for six months before you even think about black belt. You had to pass a endurance test before BB. If you didn't, you didn't make the "formal" test, which means you have to wait another six months (same if you didn't pass your BB test). So it took anywhere from 4 to 6 years for BB. I thought that was awsome because that means when you get your BB you REALLY earned it.

Thanks Patrick

I totally agree with KU on this: "A good, dedicated instructor who's trying to make his or her students the best martial artists possible and not out to make a buck." I TSD instructor WANTED us to be better than him. He was tough, but a friend at the same time. He is a great guy. I still train with him when I visit NJ (my home state). He was like a big brother to me at times. He even let me clean the dojang so I can train (when I lost my job). I will never forget him for that, and for what he's done for me. My opinion is that if an instructor leaves a lasting impression on you like he did with me, he is a great instructor. And like someone said above, you know it in your heart when you found the right place to train (that's how I felt with my TSD dojang). If he ever reads this: Thank you, Mr B. *bows respectfully*

That was awsome. I taped it Pete Townsend is blind in one eye. He was great. He is my favorite. My thing is breaking, so I enjoyed that a lot. I was waiting for the 2002 champs to be shown on TV. Just a "heads-up" on the next ISKA showing will be: 10/11/2002 Time: 11:30 PM ESPN2 2002 ISKA World Teams Championships and 10/31/2002 Time: 11:30 PM ESPN2 2002 ISKA World Forms Championships I like forms, too by the way

Patrick, You put on there: "Tang Soo Do by Kang Uk Lee - Recommended by karatekid1975" Eventhough I have that book and it is good, I recommended Authentic Tang Soo Do by C.S. Kim. Which you can get from the ITF (Not the TKD one ... http://www.tangsoodo.co.uk/book.htm ).

I donno if it knocked anyone out, but in sparring (TSD style), I scored alot with a back fist or ridge hand. Now (TKD style ..... no hand techs to the head allowed) it's the roundhouse to the ol' noggin .

XpOiSoN FrEeX wrote: "sorry i thought that WTF teaches just sport. cross training in judo would be good for you, i think you should try it out" Thanks. It's at the YMCA so it should be fairly cheap I'll go check it out.

Hey, Monkey. Did ya get any pics with your new BB? I wanna see

I like my KF purple belt (one of my fav colors). But I am actually a high green belt for real. Someday I'll be up there with Monkey

Amen Kickchick! *bows gracefully* I couldn't have said it better myself. And yes, we do benefit from you being here. Specially me with all the advice you gave me. Oh and thanks again for that

Authentic (sp?) Tang Soo Do by C.S. Kim. Ok so I don't do TSD anymore, but he is the man. And he wrote a great book. I still look at it eventhough I do TKD now

I won't say ALL WTF schools teach sport. Mine doesn't. I mean, we do compete, but it's not a requirement. We do learn the "sport" type of sparring, but we learn other stuff (self defense, ect). I can't say much about Judo, except that I was thinking about cross training in it. I haven't looked into the club here yet, though.

I agree with ramymensa. I believe MA builds character. Which it has with me. I didn't have self esteem, confidence, and I was very timid. I'm not now And I have more self esteem and confidence. In Ma, you learn how to fight, but you also learn how to "control" yourself, to use it only when needed. And most people learn to respect others (well .... most people LOL). As far as being a different breed, being a girl, I have to agree with that. Most girls are timid, don't fight back, can't take a hit (at first). I didn't either. I learned to punch like "a man" hehehehe. I have very strong legs for a woman, so now I use it to my advantage I still hate sparring, but I can take a hit and fight back, now. That's a big difference from when I started ..... I used to "run" basically ... back up a lot!