CTTKDKing

I was attacked by 2 guys who apparently I cut off and didn't realize it. They followed me accross town, and pulled into a parking lot where I was going. I am a brown belt in Kukkiwon TKD, and I had to fight the 2 guys off. When I had stopped the second guy a third guy who only saw me knock down the second guy came and got involved and he was a good 60lbs heavier than me. He swung a big hook punch at me and I ducked under his arm, I threw a jumping back kick and hit him square in the chest. He then stepped back and fell down. I appologised to him and explained to him that if he had let me speak in the first place he would have realized that i was only defending myself. He told me he thought I broke a rib on him and that he was impressed with how I moved. He appologised for getting involved and got in his van and left. My point for telling this story is that even though tkd may be an imperfect art (just like all of them), it is still a very useful method of self defence. As long as you keep your head and don't lose your cool you can use it (like and MA) to defend yourself effectivly.

I've been training on puzzle mats for 2 years now, and I have had the same problem you have been having. After class I just put some body lotion on my feet. Since I started doing this I have had no problems with dry feet.

Okay, I have to tell you guys that I'm a bit supprised that no one knows what Ninja's really are. The word Ninja means invisible assasin, and basically that's what they were. In the mid late 1800's (don't quote me on the years) when the Emperor was trying to bring in modern western culture, some of the Samurai clans disagreed with what was going on and tried to revolt against the emperors advisors who were making most of the main decisions about bringing in firearms to their military and modernising their way of life. The advisors didn't like what the revolting samurai clans were doing and trained a secret group of people in similar ways to the samurai, but with some main differences. They were well practiced in hiding and climbing trees, and using throwing weapons (like throwing stars and daggers). They trained these guys to kill the leaders of the revolting samurai clans. That's where ninja's come from. Their hand to hand style (no weapons) is called Ninjitsu, and is similar to Jujitsu except you usually end your throw, takedown, or lock with a move that kills. In the modern world Ninjitsu is not taught to this degree and if you find a ninjitsu school you'll basically be learning Japanese Jujitsu (not to be confused with Brazillian Jujitsu).

I'd have to say, I favor Matt Mullins as an inspirational figure. However I read the book 5 Rings by Miamoto Musashi and I learned quite a bit. I like how his views from 300 years ago can still apply in todays practice of the martial arts.

Sounds like you had a bad run of instructors. I wouldn't give up if I were you, you just have to find a school that fits you. Make sure you sit down and talk to the instructors before you sign anything, and watch a few classes first at the prospect school beforehand as well. See how the masters run things before getting involved.

Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it. I like the add in the paper idea. I was already looking into the New England Open, but was unaware of the Krane circuit in RI, so I think I might have to check that out as well.

I hear alot of people raging on olympic tkd. This clip demo's what the self defence portion of my school looks like. We study WTF/Olympic TKD, but our school dosen't neglect the practical side of it either. Everyone that keeps saying how TKD isn't as effective as other styles because it's too sport oriented has only seen McDojang schools and not real ones and needs to understand that 80% of the TKD schools out there suck, but there are quite a few good ones too. Thank you Jedimc for posting this clip.

Its not that they train you to take a hit. It's that for the most part TKD and Shotokan (and other styles) teach the point system of sparring. The people who practice these system have a tendency to lightly hit then back away (because that is what they are trained to do). When they are in a match with a Kyokushin person they still have problems getting out of that mindset, so when they run up and "love tap" the Kyokushin guy he just gets mad and pummels the TKD guy. That happens 9 times out of 10. Now there are some good TKD guys out there who actually train in the traditional (Korean TKD) ways which include taking more hits and not point spar. However for the most part TKD doesn't fare well in full contact bouts. You are severly misled if you think TKD practitioners train for point sparring. Any olympic TKD school trains for full contact. My school teaches nothing but full contact. I have visited a bunch of other schools in my area, and none of them teach point sparring either. I don't understand why everyone keeps saying that TKD guys train for point sparring and they can't take hits. I competed in the CT state open and in the Massachusettes TKD open and it's all full contact. Maybe you guys just have crappy schools in your areas or something. Sorry didn't mean to get off on a rant, but I have been hearing that way too much and I think that it's very misleading to people that have never studied TKD themselves. I feal that TKD is a very powerful style. My Sa Bum Nim told me about several tournaments they competed in in Korea where they were only open to TKD and Muay Thai because there were too many people from other styles coming in and getting hurt, becasue they only train for point sparring and not for full contact.

I personally think it's good that you start sparring right at the beginning. We usually wait till you've been there about a month in our school before the instructor lets you spar. I personally think you should stay in your style for a while longer before leaving it. If it really isn't fitting you after a while longer with a very hard effort I might recomend TKD, Karate, or Muay Thai if you want something simpler like kick boxing.

Taking the class till you get your first belt wont always work either though. In my school, it usually takes about 1 month to go from white belt to yellow. However in the end it takes about 4 years to achieve BB. Our school has 16 belts from white to black, so in the beginning it feels like you're prgressing very fast because you test every month or 2. Our school has been there for 4.5 years and we are just getting ready to have our first couple people test for BB. They have all those belts so the younger ones see results faster to keep them interested. I know the other TKD school in our town has a hard time keeping children interested because they don't feel like they are progressing because they only have 6 belts. It takes 6-8 months to go from white belt to yellow. I'm not sure which way I'd prefer, but I know the suggested BB's in our school are very very good and will have earned their BB's and deserve it.

That looked more like a comedy act off mad tv than a martial arts demo. Their attacks were very wasteful for the energy side of things, and the keep attacking the same several spots repeatedly over and over. They look rediculus.

I think it all depends on the person training. If they come in as a white belt with no prior martial training, than I think that they should wait a month or so to get some basics down. However in our school we had someone move into the neighborhood from a different area that had a year and a half of Muay Thai under his belt. He signed up for classes and Master Park let him spar right away because he had a solid backing already. He just had to adapt to our rules. He liked our school because everything is full contact like in his old school, just with WTF rules.

Cool, that's an idea. I think I might try that out.

My school goes to 2 tournaments (as a team) a year. The CT TKD Open and the Mass TKD Open. The CT tourney is always on a Saturday, but the Massachusettes one os always on a Sunday.

If it's contact you want I might recomend TKD. In the WTF they don't allow punching to the face, but everything else is FULL CONTACT. I competed in my first tourney in November and I have another coming up in February. It was a blast, and I know the WTF is going to be starting to adapt new rules to allow face punching as well by fall this year from the way I understand it.

Doing kata's is great exercise, but if you want to improve your power (along with what Anbu Alex said) make sure you spend time training on the heavy bag. I've found that when i started bag training it really helped with my power and leg strength.

I agree with you. I don't want to race through the belts just to say I'm a deputy balck belt or black belt, but I feel that every student that attends a school with a belt ranking system should be proud of their rank because it shows how far they have progressed in their style. I wouldn't have a problem putting on a white belt if I decided to join another school of a different style, because the BB I earned in a different system only shows that I studied to attain knowledge of that system.

have you seen bruce lee's THE BOSS? its totally cool! also theres enter the dragon........ I have seen Enter the Dragon, but I've never even heard of "The Boss". I think I might have to rent a movie this weekend.

I agree with some of the other people. Break it off with the girl, as if you let her down easy you can maintain a friendship with her. As for your martial arts style, maybe this will be a good experience to try another style.

That sux. I hate to hear about that happening to anyone. Like some other guys said though, you might be able to build it back up. Just don't force it, you don't want to damage it more after the surgery.

I currently am only studying TKD, but when I was in high school I boxed and wrestled. I chose each of these because they all complement the others weeknesses. Boxing has good hand attacks, but week leg movements. Wrestling is all grappling, but leaves you open for being punched and kicked. TKD had underdeveloped hand attacks, but very strong in the leg dept. However my school has a bit of hapkido integrated into the system, so the hand attacks are a bit better than your average TKD school. Mixing styles is very important if you want to be a well rounded martial artist.

Everyone gets aggressive when sparring. I don't know one person that dosen't, and people always get more agressive than normal when they get frusrated or angery. They key is learing to control that anger and keeping a level head so that you don't end up doing something you'll regret. If someone is being unnessesarily agressive with you, keep a clear mind and (aslong as you train adiquitly) you should be able to come out on top. People that are over agressive often (not always) make alot of dumb mistakes.

I study WTF TKD. We have: 15 poomse (katas), 10 kicking drill patterns, 14 self defence techniques, 72 one-steps, 16 2 steps, a 2 round at 3 minutes a round sparring match with one of the masters, and we have to do a 5 part breaking demonstration with the last break being a 5 board power break (back kick). We also have 100 basic motions that we have to perform and we have to recite all basic knowledges (ex. studet creed, 11 aims of TKD, princlples of BB). It's broken up into 3 sessions over the course of 3 months.

My school has a testing date once a month. When you are ready for it the instructor gives you a rank promotion form for you to fill out, and you test on that months testing date. Everyone tests on different scheduals though. Some people have the time to take class everyday 6 days a week, som can only go 2 times a week. Obviosly the ones who go 5 or 6 times a week tests much quicker that the others. I personally go 3-4 times a week and my instructor told me that if I keep practicing at home regularly and keep attending class 3-4 times a week than I can probably expect to test for BB in about 3 years from when I started. However if you only come 1-2 times a week but you still put in a good effort than it can take 4-5 years or more depending on you.

In my TKD dojang what ou call a mule kick is called a back kick. In our school there are 2 types of hook kicks. There is the hook and the spinning hook. The hook is done by bringing your back leg up like your doing a front kick, but is purposly put too the opposite side of the persons body that your leg is. Then it's recoiled hard at the knee to fold it back striking your opponent in the process with your heel. A spinning hook is done like a back kick, but instead of thrusting straight back it's swung around and you strike with the heel from the side. I hope that makes sence.