merkury

Hrm, I'm going to have to disagree. Individuals have a heightened chance of physical injury while practicing martial arts, which is a very blatant drawback. I recall my first class of TKD in which I had to sign a disclaimer warning me of bruises, joint problems, light headedness, nausea, and the slight possibility of death. You might call that an inherent drawback of all martial arts...

Revamping my diet a bit and have found that I'm now in the market for a juicer. Any certain brand(s) I should look into? Any that I should immediately stay away from? Thanks for the help!

Really? Three kicks instead of one? Interesting... I'd like to see this done

The kick was originally taught to me to be delivered at solar plexus level, but I was later informed that I should throw it as high as possible, so I began throwing what basically looked like a roundhouse to the temple.

Hello everyone - just joined the site a couple of days ago. I figure that since I've already gone a bit crazy with posting, I should at least introduce myself. I'm 22 and a 1st dan in Chung Do Kwan TKD (traditional). I haven't formally practiced for two years, as I haven't found a school in Seattle that felt quite right. I was recently accepted into UW's electrical engineering program, though, so I plan to sign up with a martial arts class or two this fall on campus. Currently I plan on taking shotokan (t/th) and judo (m/w). The shotokan is almost identical to my TKD training, so I'll be able to pretty much pick up where I left off before. The judo is a direct result of my feeling relatively useless with upper body techniques Anyway, hello! There seems to be a wealth of knowledge on this forum, and I look forward to soaking up as much of it as possible.

Dude you rock! I just Emailed you the same question and answer! What part of Seattle are you at? My mom has a small club (ATA) in North Seattle. I'm way north. Snohomish - Everett - Lynnwood Hah, wonderful timing. I'm in the U district, about 2 blocks from UW campus. Would be cool to see your mom's club - I've never witnessed ATA TKD. Hrm, I wonder how long of a bus ride it is... hehe.

Merkury, What school do you attend and who's your instructor? I study at Grand Master Jack Pierce's in Lynnwood. As of this moment, I am lacking a school. I trained in TKD in Idaho Falls, ID under Jen Backstrom, a student of Ron LeBlanc (7th dan), who himself was a student of Master Kim of the Chung Do Kwan Alliance. I moved to Seattle a few years ago and have attended a few classes from other schools (karate), but nothing felt quite right so I never committed. However, I was recently accepted into UW's electrical engineering program, and will most likely be taking shotokan (t/th) and judo (m/w) on campus starting in October. Do you instruct at your facility? What evenings do you attend classes? Would be interesting to drop by and check it out.

I'd recommend taking what works for you, personally, from each of them. For example, IMO there's no need to have 30 different types of punches.

There's no time like the present. I was 18 when I started and, while I do wish I had started sooner, I'm much more glad that I didn't start later.

the best thing to do is take a break - maybe you've been pushing yourself too much. take a day or two off with no practice at all, then head back to training with a cleared mind.

It's probably best to learn one martial art moderately well (at least get your black belt), and then allow yourself to expand your views. But since Shotokan and Judo differ enough in approach, it might be fine in this case. Personally, I got my black belt in traditional TKD (very similar to Shotokan), and plan on starting Judo later this year... so I don't feel nearly as helpless with my arms

The latter video is simply a silly display of kids being kids, but one of them has watched more martial arts movies. When the time came to be effective, his arms flailed about and, luckily, one of them just happened to land.

I'd check out the other school. Nothing wrong with adding more knowledge to your MA repertoire.

I tested for my black belt only 1.5 years into my training, and normally I think that'd sound ridiculous, but I feel that this was a direct result of the amount of time and practice I put in. Right from the start as a white belt, I'd attend the later class sessions with the advanced belts, and after that was through I'd go home and practice for a few more hours. I'd attend seminars, tournaments, etc. whenever I had the chance. It's all about focus and dedication.

Personally, I'm not a fan of shoes being worn. They change so many factors, such as friction force with the floor, weight of your feet, contact points for a kick, etc. Plus they don't allow you to develop those cool blisters/calluses on the bottoms of your feet from all of your hard work.