robsnotes4u

I am a little confused at some of the Martial Artists in these forums. I have had many street fights in my life, and I am not proud of it. I was always able to protect myself, and almost always came away without taking a hit myself. I credit this to my strong wrestling background. THerefore, I did not take up Tae Kwon Do, (ATA), to protect myself. I joined along with my wife so we could be involved with my 9 year old son in something, and I believe it teaches our family great values, setting goals, respect among other things. Now I have the control along with the ability to walk away. Why I am I confused? Seems like everyone here is worried about who can beat up who, and if that is your reasoning behind be in the Martial Arts, then I would not want to be a part of your Dojo. Kind of reminds me of the original Karate Kid. Mr. Miagi (sp) said " Karate is here (pts to heart), Karate is here (pts to head), Karate is never here (fists).

We just had an all city tournament in our town last weekend. Form competition, sparring, ground fighting, etc. Only two kids from our ATA school participated. Neither participated in ground fighting, but both won their sparring and form competitions. It wasn't just Tae Kwon Do, but various forms of Martial Arts. So as far as ATA members not being able to compete, I would totally disagree.

JusticeZero, I totally agree with you.

Soo Bak is the foot martial art

I will get that information from one of the instructors at our school

All it takes is to stand up once, and everyone will leave you alone. I was the small kid, wresteled in the 98 pound class as a sophomore and only weighed 85 pounds, and I never had any martial arts training. I moved to a new town and walked through the football locker room my first week of school. I was picked on right away. In no time at all I wrestled the guy, who was a lot bigger than me, down to an unfavorable postion for him. Imagine his embarrassment in front of all of his peers. I had my respect and never had to do it in that school again. I have found that the bigs guys act tough, probably haven't fought because everyone is scared and runs away. Doesn't matter if someone gets the best of you, just stand up for yourself. If you don't you will be getting picked on everyday.

All it takes is to stand up once, and everyone will leave you alone. I was the small kid, wresteled in the 98 pound class as a sophomore and only weighed 85 pounds, and I never had any martial arts training. I moved to a new town and walked through the football locker room my first week of school. I was picked on right away. In no time at all I wrestled the guy, who was a lot bigger than me, down to an unfavorable postion for him. Imagine his embarrassment in front of all of his peers. I had my respect and never had to do it in that school again. I have found that the bigs guys act tough, probably haven't fought because everyone is scared and runs away. Doesn't matter if someone gets the best of you, just stand up for yourself. If you don't you will be getting picked on everyday.

I think it is really tough so many to choose from. How does a person know if he has no knowledge on the martial arts. I think everyone, including myself, believes their style is the best. I can't wait to be involved longer, and try out different styles. One of our ATA instructors is getting his black belt in Judo very soon, and plans on teaching some ground fighting techniques once a week. I can't wait. I came from a wrestling background. Diversification is awesome. Thank you for emphasizing the contract issue. If you have to have contracts to keep people in your school, you better look in the mirror and correct something.

Again, I can't talk about all ATA schools, but we do not have contracts. I think you should elaborate on all the ATA students you have been in contact with in fighting situations. Why do you feel it is only for sport, because you read it, or because you experienced it. If you want it to be for sport it will be for sport. If you want to use it for self defense you can use it for self defense. It is not the organization it is the instructor.

I am involved with ATA, so I do believe I can make a good assesment of what our school is like, but I can not talk about every ATA school. If you would like your child or yourself to learn martial arts, and leadership skills I would highly recommend it. Their leadership program is fantastic, in fact, I use it a lot in my Sales meetings. Awesome information. We train to spar in tournaments if you like, but also train to protect yourself in true life. The difference is being able to control yourself in the right situation. Part of being a true martial artists is learning to control the situation.I am sure you would fight differently, have control, with a friend, compared to a gentleman who broke into your house. The funny thing is when there is an open tournament in our area, our ATA members take home more than there share of the hardware.

For a lack of a better phrase, cross training is what is going on. The way I see it a lot of people in these forums are in various forms of Martial Arts, and I think the Intstructors are taking a little bit of everything and putting together in their own Dojos. I think that is great. Evolution, change whatever you want to call it. Every Martial Art has its strength and weaknesses. On another point, we are taught sparring for tournament and fighting in the street. I think it shows great control to be able to spar in a tournament for points, and part of martial arts is being in control of the situation. I liken it to my life as a wrestler. My wrestling on the mat in competition was controlled not only by myself, but also by the referee. Now you take when I have had to protect myself in a street fight, my wrestling turns into a different beast. Control is the difference. Without Control any Martial Art is lethal.

Having read different opinions on which Art is better, I think this will make a lot of sense. It sounds like everyone knows that Tae Kwon Do came from Karate and then a Martial Art, the name escapes me, that was only foot techniques was added. So lets use the following analogy. How good is a professional football team that only runs the ball? How good is a professional football team that only passes the ball? Neither are very good. You need to have a great running game to open up the passing game and vice-versa. What make Peyton Manning so good? THe ability of Edgrin James. Each aspect compliments the other. By having great foot techniques, it opens up your karate, or hand techniques. What is harder to defend a single layer attack or a multiple layer attack? Therefore the Masters took something that was good and made it better. Just my two cents worth, you can take it with a grain of salt