CTTKDKing

I'm a big guy. Stated Taekwondo at 415lbs and cut to 290 when I was competing in 2004-2005. Stopped for several years and while I'm nowhere near 415 I gained a bit back and am still struggling to lose it again. I train 3 times per well right now and run 3 mornings per week. Is a slow process but as long as I keep pushing I'll get there eventually. I fell good and that's what counts I think. I have a 2nd Dan in Taekwondo and a purple belt in sho bin ju.

Lots of interesting and fun answers (ie "The Glow"). For me it's more serious. I do enjoy it and like the social side of it. I've been practicing for over a decade and have cultivated some amazing friendships from training at my old dojang and the newer dojo. I'm 31 years old and have recently decided to return to college online to finish my bachelors degree, something I've been putting off for way too long. I have a toddler at home, a house and a wife so my time is extremely limited. Despite my time constraints I schedule in 3 mandatory training sessions, no matter how tired I am, a week for the following reasons. 1) Sanity/stress relief (probably my top reason right now) 2) Physical health 3) Experience so that one day I can teach (high importance long term goal) 4) Because I love it and feel incomplete without it 5) I also would like to look like Bruce Lee if possible.

It seems you're correct if this paper from kkacademy is accurate. http://www.kkacademy.com/files/Syllabus/THE%20MEANING%20OF%20OSU.pdf[/url]

Hmmm, having a hard time finding the other article I mentioned, which in hindsight may have been a thread in another forum (it's been a while). I found this thread which touches on this subject in a similar manor but also has posts to Jesse's blog about usage of Osu. http://www.kyokushin4life.com/forum/trainings/japanese-language-culture/382621-osu-is-offensive-to-the-japanese I more noticed that people are now using Osu in a lot of the martial arts forums that I frequent, even as far as to open and close posts in the forum with Osu (and even here on Karate Forums), and thought some discussion on the subject would be interesting/enlightening.

Yeah, it's funny because we have a large group of BJJ guys at my school that all seem to have adopted it. I read another article somewhere that I was trying to find after finding Jesse's article that explains why you just shouldn't say it because many people, especially people from Japan, find it to be disrespectful. In that article, the writer, who used to say it, said it when greeting a visiting Japanese instructor, who asked him why he said it and told him he shouldn't after hearing the visiting instructor's explanation of why. Was interesting. I'll post it if I can find it later. At work now, so I probably shouldn't even be on here.

http://www.karatebyjesse.com/meaning-oss-osu-japanese/ Thought this was an interesting read. I hear so many people in the dojo use this magical all encompassing word as a greeting, shout of agreement and in all kinds of other scenarios. I've even started seeing people on this forum use it in their posts as an opener and a closer. I started wondering what the word actually means and I thought the community might like to see as well. There are some scenarios, all of us should be aware, that "Oss!" would actually be offensive when used so this could save from any awkward encounters. Thoughts?

I can definitely second this. I'm juggling a little boy and wife, full time job, half time night school and my karate classes. Keeping myself from re-injuring my shoulder is also a tough one. Though it's been 6 months since it's been reset, I still feel it daily and it's definitely a subconscious point of concern while training.

Very interesting. As a person who's practiced WTF TKD for nearly a decade, I'm surprised I didn't know about old Koryo. My instructor was really big on integrating the old forms too. We did all of the old PreITF/WTF forms as part of our color belt curriculum. I just watched a few demo clips of old Koryo. Please share any additional info you get on this subject. I'm intrigued and may go out of my way to learn it just for my own knowledge sake.

I cant say I prefer either, but I like both. I did WTF TKD for 9 years and I like it because its continuous and full contact but restrictive and padded enough where going to work with a split lip or something was not usually an issue (I work in an environment that has me interfacing with customers at the lower executive levels of a company, so a black eye or split lip could make us look bad). That said I go to a school now that offers a karate point sparring class and Muay Thai sparring as different stand up fight classes. I attend the point sparring class and like it for different reasons. Its not continuous but offers more of a head game to score that point. I know neither are particularly realistic for fight simulation purposes, but at my school we use open mat time for that.

http://blackbelttalk.blogspot.com/ Heres my blog. Not always the most frequent on updates but I like them to have some substance.

Hmmm, seems a bit excessive. My gym requires uniforms for traditional classes and we offer Gi and no-Gi BJJ classes (just giving an example of a more modern system), but as long as you are wearing proper protective gear most wear what they want in the Muay Thai, and/or MMA classes. Its more about comfort levels of the people than anything. There's a girl in the Muay Thai class that wears Tight shorts and a sports bra when it's really hot. She's not trying to show off or anything, it's just because it's non binding clothing that doesn't get in the way and is all sweat wicking material. It's fine, and maybe it's just my gym but people aren't there to gawk at each other, they are there to train. Might be different at a conventional gym with treadmills and weight machines but we all seem fairly like minded when training martial arts. It might help that all our classes are separated by age bracket. Youth, teen and adult. She might cause problems with the less mature teens I don't know. I just never thought of it as a big deal.

Good topic and goals from everyone. I'm at a weird place because I've been training in new systems at a new MMA gym but they also offer traditional classes as well and do a lot of sport tournament sparring classes that I can contribute to so my main goals would be: To start teaching part time this year. Finish trimming down (get back into fighting shape)

First off, cool topic. That said, I grew up in this church in Connecticut, never studying martial arts until i hit adult hood simply because my mom could never afford it for me, so most of my extra curricular activities were through the church. One weekend we were brought up to a river in a state park near by, with one of the boys groups for a day of swimming and hiking and on the way home we stopped at a McDonald's for dinner. All the kids that were with us got our food and sat down and one of the volunteer adults (quiet man in his mid 60s) went up to order an ice cream. We were watching and this semi-gang member looking individual and a couple of his buddies thought it'd be funny to try and scare our old friend. He just ignored them and brought his ice cream to his seat. Later on he was waiting by the side of the bus while we all boarded and as we finished getting on the gang member people came out and threatened him again and this time they tried to push him around. The first guy pushed him and as the second guy cocked his hand back to throw a punch, what happened next happened so fast I'm not exactly positive how it all went down. There was a side step to avoid the punch, a couple step under wrist locks and a bunch of tossing, and then the 3 of them ended up in a pile on the ground. It was one of the quickest and most controlled things I'd ever seen and I've currently been practicing marital arts for about 10 years myself. As it turns out the older gentleman from my church was x-special forces and had a 3rd degree black belt in Aikido. He also practiced wing chung for years over seas when he was stationed there in his younger adult time in the military. I would have never known that about this man if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. It was quite amazing to witness and when I got to ask him about it after we were at home he just shrugged and said "I feel bad about having to hurt those young fellers, but I know they wont be permanently injured from what I did to them, and I hope they learned something". LOL

After reading through this thread I'd like to point out that if a teacher is running a professional school with no agenda to push that's really all about the martial arts then you will probably never even know too much about his/her personal life. I started going to a new school a couple of months ago and until earlier this past week I didn't even know my head instructor was married never mind if he was straight or gay. I also over heard him talking to his wife and found out that they are devout Christians. My point is, I only found that out because I was waiting to ask him something at his office door and happened to overhear. That type of information has never once come up in class, and I don't see any reason that it should. We aren't there to discuss our personal lives we are there to train. Please don't get me wrong, I have dojo friends and am even pretty tight with the other teachers, but most of our discussions are casual and revolve around martial arts, sporting events and other less personal matters. By the time I find out if any of them are living an alternate lifestyle I'll probably have already been there for 6 months to a year.

It was rough on the knees that I'll say, but was a blast. I'm very sore all over today. Was an amazing workout.

Tonight I'm going to try a BJJ class. Haven't done a grappling class of any kind since a wrestled in high school.. Should be fun.

They teach Kempo Karate. I got to try a class on Friday and really enjoyed it. They also implement a lot of TKD kicking techniques into their Kempo system because from the waste down Kempo seems to be a little on the weak side of things.

Well like I mentioned before, this place has several instructors that teach different styles, and my membership there allows me to cross train in any or all of them if I desire to. I'm not just going to do MT as much fun as I had the other night. Since they offer both I'll probably do a stand up art (MT or their Karate class), and a grappling art (they offer BJJ, and they have a guy who also coaches shoot wrestling). It's interesting how this place operates. I never imagined myself in a hybrid school but the setup they have with the multiple instructors coupled with the ability to take any classes you want there for one fee really makes for the ability to create a nice custom curriculum for yourself. I also spoke with the owner about my TKD training and what I should do and he had some good words to say. Basically he told me that if I want to be a purist and do just TKD that their school isn't for me, but i can always cross train at his school to round myself out and practice TKD on the weekends with my buddies from my old school. I may have forgotten to mention that 2 of my buddies are assistant instructors (they've already agreed to this as of this writing) and can teach me the 2nd Dan curriculum and then I can just pay to test at a WTF sanctioned school locally. There's a few in my area. I'm glad at how this has worked out because it seems I can have the best of both worlds.

So last night I did my first class at this new school and I think I've found my new home. I did a beginner Muay Thai class and had a blast. The people were welcoming to me and the other new guy that started with me, and the class was intense and difficult but not too difficult for the new guy with no experience. I worked up a great sweat though and am even a bit sore today despite the beginner rating on the class. The MT workout also showed me some of the differences from MT to TKD. I've always thought of MT and TKD as similar art forms (in fact my instructor told me a lot of tourneys in Korea that aren't federation owned will have the 2 styles sparring together), but aside from the fact that they both focus on hands, feet, knees and elbows they are very different systems. My old school wasn't your typical WTF sport school. There was a heavy focus on self defense and practical application, but even so I think I'm going to learn a lot here.

Heh, well I'm trying it out tomorrow so I'll let you know. I'm pretty excited about it. I have a couple other places I'm going to see (possibly this weekend), but I think this is where i'm going to end up pending the classes are good.

As an update, I decided to pay a visit in person to the school I mentinoed the other day. They are a mixed styles school but it's taught differently than most I've seen. Typically mixed style schools (at least in my experience) are a teacher that teaches his/her primary style and then teaches watered down versions of some other styles. This school has different instructors/coaches that are instructors in their dedicated styles (certified in their appropriate associations/federations) and most of them are students that cross train in the other systems that the school offers. I've always been leery on mixed system schools, but this setup sounds much better than most. What really is selling me on the place is not what they offer but the attitude of the teachers. The owner and his assistants that I was introduced to all have some of the best attitudes I've ever seen in a martial arts school. Most are professional but these guys are just downright encouraging to the extent that they told me they hope I feel like it's a good fit, but if I don't like it I should find a place that does make me happy and offers what I want. Most schools I've been to are helpful and polite but in the end are still mostly about the money and will try and sell it, and that never bothered me because in the end it is a business. These guys just told me what they offer and are leaving it up to me with no pressure. Here's a link to their site. Any feedback from you guys is appreciated. http://www.teamplusone.com/

All good pieces of advice. I got in touch with a master of a school near my home and he offers a couple styles. I really like this teacher's attitude toward the martial arts and blending what is practical from different systems together and eliminating what's unnecessary. I'm going to do a trial class there this week. He doesn't offer TKD but he is very driven and wants to sit with me one on one to discuss my goals in the martial arts so he can help me achieve them. Like I said I really like his attitude. I also like the advice about hitting up an MMA gym. There are 2 near me that look good so I'll be visiting them as well. Cost wise they are the best, but I'll pay what it takes for a perfect fit. In response to the statement about my former instructor being greedy, I do agree a bit. The last several years the school seems to be more financially driven than it used to be even to the point where getting a black belt is notably easier than it was when I did it just so they can charge more frequently for tests and whatnot . It's really a shame because he really is a great teacher but his school seems to be more of a business now than a real martial arts school like it used to be. It kills me to say that because I've had a lot of good years there. I'll keep you posted on how the places I visit are and what goes on.

I did ask him but his suggestion to me was stay at his school and commute. lol There are some places that seem great nearby, I guess what I'm having a hard time with is not progressing anymore in TKD in favor of another style. I like TKD, and 2nd Dan only feels like I'm half way. 4th Dan certifies you in the federation as a master and to run a school, but like I said the TKD schools don't seem the best in the area we now live. I kind of always thought of myself opening a MA school down the road somewhere and I feel like starting a new style now might be more of a setback to that goal than a help.

So I seem to be at a crossroads in my martial arts walk. For the last 8-9 years or so I've been practicing WTF TKD with a very talented instructor. My wife and I recently moved and bought our first home on the other side of the state. It's not too far but far enough where commuting would be too big of a financial drain for it to be a regular thing so I ended my time at my old school and am searching for a new one in the area we moved. There are a bunch of schools in my area but the couple of WTF dojangs there are feel McDojangish and I'm not really sure about them. There are a handful of schools based around other styles and a couple MMA gyms in the area as well. I really would like to proceed farther in TKD though, because just before moving I tested and passed my 2nd Dan test, and I feel like I'm finally getting really decent at what I do. On the other hand (and she may be right) my wife thinks this may be a good breaking point to try another style. I guess what I'm looking for is advice/incite from others who've been in a similar scenario.

I actually plan on starting to weight train now that I've hit one of my fitness goals (down 75 pounds since I went back to TKD last year. Now I've sort of plateaued and need to step up the training). 2nd Dan testing can probably happen in a month to 3 months too and I'd like to compete a few times this year.