CTTKDKing

This is a bit of an old thread, but I thought I'd chime in with Cardio Trainer for Android phones. It uses to GPS in your phone to track how far you've run, walked, or cycled. It can also use the bluetooth to sync to a specific type of heart rate monitor (I forget which off hand as I only use it for distance and time tracking) for real time calorie counting.

I think it comes down to what you want out of your martial arts system. I've notices most open tourneys that I've visited in the past have a lot invested in the "XMA" divisions. I love watching them, but I don't look at it as a martial arts system but more as a performing system of gymnastics sprinkled with martial arts techniques. I do WTF TKD and I've also done some local stuff that's more on par with the knock down Karate that someone was talking about earlier, and some kickboxing every now and again. I guess my point is that as long as the schools teaching the XMA is not pushing it as a real functional system for defense or sparring then I think it's fine if that's what you are into. Me personally I like to study my martial arts and learn the functional aspect of it. Yes I do WTF sparring too which is all sport, but that's as far away from defense as I get, and even WTF sparring is full contact and teaches you how to take a hit, block and move around evasively. While the actual act of sparring in that manner may not be conducive to fighting on the street for real, it still has a defensive benefit. That being said make sure you are aware of what your tourey that you're going to attend is offering. I know some open championships offer XMA and performance divisions and then the next day will do full contact sparring, and point sparring divisions. I guess all my rambling can be summed up with this... I know there are a lot of flashy trashy championships out there, but not all of the U.S. based championships are like that. Keep an eye/ear out in your area for some others. I love competing. I know even if I don't hunt out my own to compete in that my school goes as a group to 2 solid WTF sanctioned championships each year. If you are having a hard time locating stuff though there's sites like the one i have linked below that have the big ones listed. http://www.karatetournaments.com/state0.asp

I thought someone should reply to you since nobody has. I personally study TKD but we recently had a student come in to my school that just moved here and use to study TSD. I asked him a lot of questions about it because I'm just interested in martial arts in general and have never been to a TSD school as there are none that I know of in my area. His school focused very strongly on practical self defense. He said they only went to about 1 tournament a year (where as mine does 3 or 4) and from what I understand they didn't compete in the sport divisions at all but did demo team type stuff to show TSD's strong defensive applications. That being said I don't think that all TSD schools can be categorized like his. It all really depends on the teacher and how he decides to run his dojang. Best bet is to go to a TSD school near you and sit in and watch a class. If it looks like what you would like to do ask if you can do a trial class to confirm that thought. If you are still happy after the trial class then I'd say it's time to give it a shot. Hope this helps.

I'm down with sticking with my TKD training and adding some BJJ. Our TKD school doesn't fit the negative stereo type surrounding a lot of WTF schools, we have a very heavy focus on throws and take downs for defense as well as the traditional TKD kicks and punches. I think my stand up and "getting people to the ground" games are pretty well rounded, so the BJJ would be for once i am on the ground. On a side note, my master said recently that any TKD school that doesn't teach wrist locks throws, and take downs is only teaching half the art and that when he was in Korea learning TKD as a youth it was an extremely rounded art form. His experiences in the US with other schools and what's being taught actually makes him sad because what's typically taught over here is so watered down compared to what he learned in Korea.

Temporarily. Im actually going to do that this winter when biking is no longer doable due to the cold/snow. Im also thinking of checking out an mma gym a buddy of mine found a couple towns over. He's been training there for a few weeks now himself, and loves it. Boxing was not my only option but its close by, cheap and requires no contract. This mma gym is set up with a similar pricing/requirements structure but is a bit longer of a drive. Nice to have choices.

Thanks for the input. My wife suprised me with a mountain bike as a grad from college present, so i actually put the boxing on hold until the winter months when i cannot bike. Mountain biking is something ive wanted to get into for a while now and im finding its just as hard cardio wise as the boxing workouts. I need more straight cardio in my workout anyway so this is perfect. I still plan on getting competative this winter. So glad to have the time to dedicate to it again now that my time in college is over.

We dont use gloves on focus targets, but do when working the heavy bag. You can cause long term damage on the small bones in your hands and wrists without support when hitting something as solid as a heavy bag.

I can't say for what you saw, but in my school (we are WTF) my instructor always yells at us to keep our guard up. He also encourages punching to the chest when you are in close because even if it doesn't score, it hurts and throws your opponent off guard. Maybe that's why the students in my school that compete seem to do well in the local circuits.

My teacher was born in Korean and studied Chung Do Kwan as a youth. He switched to Taekwondo as a young teen and trained Korean soldiers for 7 years in TKD as a young adult. After that he moved to the states to be an assistant instructor in Springfield, CT under his former teacher who had moved here to the states. My head instructor earned his 5th Dan under his old master in Springfield while teaching there and then was asked if he'd run a second location of the school in Manchester, CT. The rest is history (he's been here about 10 years give or take).

I believe that it depends on the person and style. Black belt is something that I have found doesn't mean as much to me as it used to. It took me just shy of 5 years at my TKD school to get my BB, and then I had to stop training to go back to college. I came back after 3 years off and completion of college, and now there are people getting their black belts in 2-3 years and the color belt curriculum seems more watered down than it used to. The amount of knowledge required for BB testing is still quite a feat to master, but I think that it's easier than it used to be, which bothers me a bit. I just go and train and try to do the best that I know I can do, and there's a handful of long time students that do the same along side me. It's causing (at least in the adult class) the standard to be raised back up which is needed. TKD has a bad enough rep already without the good schools like mine starting to drop their standards. I guess what I'm trying to say is that in practicing martial arts of any style a BB should not be your goal. Your goal should be to try and be the best you can be. There's too many McDojo belt factories out there that give out BB's too easily, and reduce the meaning of what BB is. To me a black belt symbolizes that you've mastered the basics, and can now begin to refine the art form to fit you and to be used in what you are training for. You should have a strong base knowledge in all of the basic techniques of your system and be able to demonstrate them on command and help out the lower ranking students in your school. At that level you should be willing to help distribute the knowledge you've gained and give pointers to those striving to get there still. You are not a master at BB level, but you should be very proficient. Sorry for the long rambling post, but this is a hot subject, that me and the other senior students at my school have been discussing a lot lately. I'll be quiet now.

Yeah, so today I went and visited a local boxing gym. I've been doing 3-4 TKD classes a week for about a year after about 3.5 years off and a lot of weight gain. Since I've been back in TKD classes I've lost about 70 pounds so far and still have a way to go but I'm feeling great. Anywho, I have been wanting to mix it up a little as I know TKD is a bit limiting even in the best of schools, which I believe mine is one of (good balance of striking, kicking, and real world self defense techniques). I've been searching in my area and there's some kung fu, and karate schools which didn't really do it for me. I did come across a site on the internet for a place called bare bones boxing. I decided this was a good place to go check out after reading up on their policies and whatnot on their site. I wanted to do something to help improve my fitness level and improve my hand striking skills. I saw that they offer 3 free trial classes before they have you sign up so you can try it out and I have to tell you I got my butt kicked today. I thought that I was getting in decent cardiovascular shape with my TKD training but I almost puked in the second half hour of the session at the boxing gym this afternoon. This was probably one of the most intense workouts I've had in years so I'm thinking 2 boxing classes, 2 regular TKD classes and then my 1 full contact sparring class per week to help me lose the rest of the weight and round me out skill set wise. I'm also on a fairly strict eating plan, as I want to be competitive by the holidays I was wondering if you guys thought that this is enough or if you think I should change anything? Any advice and or feedback is welcome.

Many have already put in their thoughts but I feel like I can add in my 2 cents. I'm 27 and started TKD when I was 22. I stopped for a couple years in the middle to finish up my degree, but now that i'm done I'm back and loving it. One of my buddies from my school is a 48 year old who just earned his 1st Dan. We have several middle age men and women working toward their black belts as well. I think the most inspirational person there though is an older gentleman named Mike. He is 70 and started TKD at my school the month he retired at age 65. He just received his first degree BB and he told me he is in the best shape in 20 years. 22 too old? I say nay.

If you can find a decent Hapkido school that might be something to consider as well.

Agreed. Hurting myself would be a bad thing. After doing some more reading on some more medically technical sites, I'm thinking that I'm going to be able to. If a person has bad veins and develops deep vein thrombosis (which I know I do not have because my doctor told me I don't after one of the tests) then high impact exercise is a no no, but I only have damage in the veins near the surface of the skin so once those are treated it's looking on the up and up.

So I have an odd question. Over the last 10 years I've developed some pretty severe varicose veins in my left leg. I'm young and while I am overweight (gained a lot when I went back to college about 4 years ago), they should not be as bad as they are just from being overweight. Turns out I have a hereditary condition where the valves in the veins don't function correctly. I recently had an episode where one of them ruptured and started bleeding. I've been out of Taekwondo for about a month and a half now, as they test me out to see which procedure is appropriate for my type of vein issues, and am going in for surgery in a few weeks. My question is, what is appropriate after the fact for martial arts training? Half the sites out there say that it's bad to do something high impact like Taekwondo with this condition and half say it's good for it as it promotes circulation. My doctor knows nothing about martial arts so he said he wasn't sure, but it should be fine. I plan on going back to prep for a championship at the end of April in Massachusetts and was wondering if anyone here had any additional incite on the matter or experience based thoughts to offer?

Thank you with the Ong Bak reference, and Tony Jah also stars in the Protector which is similar in plot but also involves a cute baby elephant.

Instructors push yelling or shouting out during forceful movements so that one expels all the air from their lungs so as to not get the wind knocked out of them when taking a hit. My instructor doesn't enforce the work "kihap" which is the Korean word for yell. Some people take it literally when they see kihap, or kia in a form description and think that, that's what they are supposed to yell, when in actuality the word literally means to yell, not yell this. It's irrelevant what you yell as long as you expel all the air from your lungs at those moments in a form. Both of my teachers explained it to me this way, "it's just the fastest method of getting new students to do it. If you gain some experience and feel that yelling is pointless for you when throwing a heavy strike or kick, then as long as you exhale fully when doing so it doesn't matter if you do".

Well you are welcome.

Just to expound on that profound statement, the student of a martial discipline is a lot like a river in other senses as well. A river moves at different rates throughout it's length. Some areas are calm and slow moving, some are faster and smooth, some are crashing through rough areas in the form of rapids. When a new student first starts out they are like that fast moving smooth section. Steady moving at a quick rate to learn the basics. If they practice hard they might hit a revelational period where things start to click for them (rapids). Every martial artist has hit or will hit a point where they don't feel like they feel like they have hit a plateau as well. You are moving but you don't think you are getting any farther. This is like the slow moving calm section of the river, and these are some of the most crucial times to keep plugging at what you do. You may not feel like you are getting anywhere but you are still moving forward on your journey. So many students use this as a time to think they've tapped out that system and quit to start up at a new school. I don't believe there is anything wrong with cross training or moving from school to school if you want to but I have seen that the people that push past those slow progressing times end up being a far more skilled practitioner of their style bettering themselves as a whole. Sorry to ramble on like that, but I found that statement to be inspirational and wanted to share a bit.

I don't have any problem with students dating other students, but instructor dating students seems very unprofessional. If the instructor and a student of the opposite sex click and want to try dating then I think the student should no longer train there. It could make things very awkward in the studio for other students, as others have acknowledged, especially if the relationship were to end. This is of course just my opinion. If you believe differently don't listen to me. I do believe there are exceptions to every rule, but there is a certain edict that I believe should be followed in a martial arts studio.

Recently I got back into Taekwondo after about 3 years not practicing. My school holds sparring in regular class sometimes (light contact) and a separate full contact class. Sparring was always my favorite part of studying and last week I got to attend my first full contact sparring class in about 3-3.5 years. It might seem weird but I felt giddy after word. So pumped up it was ridiculous. I felt so much more relaxed over the rest of the weekend too, so I guess you could say that sparring is a therapeutic time for me as well. I have to say after my first round I started to shake off the rust and actually landed a few good hits, although the second guy I fought was WAY out of my league I still had a blast and can't wait till this Friday evening when sparring comes back around.

Not perfectly on topic, but I found it to be a relevant story involving martial arts and a rape victim. http://ustaekwondo4life.blogspot.com/2010/06/regaining-control-when-your-life-is.html

To answer your questions about black belts in TKD, it would really depend on where you study. There are a lot of McDojangs out there that teach TKD and you can achieve a BB in a year or 2. I'd say for my school (WTF) it takes 4 - 5 years to achieve 1st dan. There's a very well recognized ITF school across town as well and there it takes a bit longer (6-7 years). I wouldn't worry about getting a black belt though so much as learning solid techniques. If you learn a good foundation of the basics then you have what you need for self defense.

If your training on your own is as intense as your class time is then you will lose weight fast. I don't do TSD but I practice TKD which is similar, and I'd lost about 115 pounds in my first 2 years at my school, and maintained it off for the next 2 following. This was me attending class 3-4 times a week without much extra training. I had quit about 3.5 years ago (to go back to college) and gained a lot of weight back. I;ve been back in for about 8 weeks, and I'm already down 15lbs.

I attend a great school where we do, do Olympic sparring for competition, but also have a very rigorous self defense training regime too. We do a lot of drills, and target practice for precision, but we also have a few self defense and one step sparring techniques we need to learn per belt. After teaching these to us he (our instructor) will have us do some exercises where the attack is random and we have to use our self defense techniques to defend ourselves and counter attack. Those classes are a blast and very real life practical.