straycat1674

I whole heartedly agree Balrog. But what I myself have always had a problem with is when studios refuse to test students when they truly are ready, just to continue getting that monthly due. If a student truly is ready to test for the next rank, and the teacher will know, then by all means test them. Even id you do not hand out belts but, at the same time are not testing your students when they are truly ready just to keep them paying tuition longer, you still put yourself in the relm of the McDojo! I have even known some schools that do not even test their students. They just hand out the belts or sashes when they honestly feel the student is ready. They feel that every day they are being tested by the scrutiny and supervision of senior students and the instructors. This is fine to as long as your keeping honest.

http://www.stormpages.com/haidonggumdo/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidong_Gumdo Gumdo or Kumdo is the Korean art of the sword, where as Haidong Gumdo, also spelled Haedong Kumdo is said to be more of a battle field fighting study and more spiritual.

The belt system is a fairly new concept to begin with. In the old days they just knew who was senior. The belt testing system to me is just another way for a school to make money. Saying that someone must train for so many years before they test, even if they are ready or capable is outragous. I can see the benefits of a belt system. The incentive it can offer. At the same time I can see the gree behind it to. And people all to often by into it. I Hap Ki Do, since we traditionaly do not have Katas, it is said that if you are a diligent student that practices 2 hours a day 5 days a week minimum, and you are good, then it is possible to attain first dan in 18 months. Now the student should be capable and driven. Anything else and it will take longer. But all to often it is the belt that is focused on and not the bigger picture. And if I have to say what that is then you'll never truly understand to begin with. We test students when they are ready. I am not going to force someone to stay at a certian rank just to get more tuition, and keep them in the school longer. Its all about money to soooo many people. So my answer to this question is. Test them when they are ready. Put the responsability to pass their promotion test, on them.

How dare you use logic and common sense on us!!! I prefere hearsay and massive speculatine. Keeps one on their toes.

Thats just before a night of drinking and debochery. I am a fast kicker when I train constantly. But I personally find the crescent kicks to be very effective. But they are just 2 of the very few high kicks I would ever use in real life of that I push for self defense. We show and teach all the others for Demos, and at higher levels kicks are mostly executed from a front leg.

Actually the crescent can be very fast. I myself have used it as a surprise kick in a few altercations, bith on and off the job.

Actualy traditional HKD does have high kicks. They were impliminted by many of the students of Choi. Now if one is saying that what Choi taught is the ony traditional HKD, then I wouldhave to say that it is almost lost. Things can be added to a system and it can still be the same traditional style, just developing and evolving. To make it nontraditional would be in changing its core techniques, phylosophies and principals.