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That's a prime focus of Tae Kwon Do. The legs have a longer reach and can be used with more power. A TKD school that teaches strictly the high flying kicks with no core martial arts, fitness, or hand technique is not reflecting Tae Kwon Do. It's reflecting a sort of "Rex Kwon Do", a fake art. Not every school teaches the same aspects as others. Some schools do it better than others in terms of form, some schools do better with things such as sparring. Finding a well rounded school is going to take patience, your assertiveness, and determination. As a TKD practitioner, our school I think is well rounded. We have physical fitness tests, we perform our hyungs both individually and as a group. we spar, grapple, and practice various take downs and self defense tactics. But that's not all. I'm lucky to have a realistic sabomnim, and in our school we are told applications and appropriateness. Levels of fighting such as avoidance to deadly physical force and the mediums. We are shown applications of our hyungs and are always encouraged to come in for Saturdays for a bit of a "harder" grappling workout. Most martial arts, especially Tae Kwon Do due to its popularity are misrepresented in society today. Tae Kwon Do if taught correctly can be just as deadly or useful in a defense situation as Krav Maga. It's all based on you as the practitioner and the school you go to.

whether it's a sly move or its legitimate. Thoughts?

The idea has been making a funny video, so it's not like activities would go past 8 at night. If it wasn't for so many crimes in today's world, ninja night would probably be more doable.

I've never really measured each before. I find I get more power from the inside crescent kick. (We call them inside/outside crescent kicks).

In my junior year so far if I did all of my homework at home I'd be up at 10:30 or 11 each night. Unfortunately I wear down and end up handing in assignments late these past couple weeks. I go to the dojang at 3 and am there until 7:30 each night, leaving an hour or so for winding down and dinner. I usually start assignments by 8:30 but won't finish until 11 or so. I can't take it. Personally I hate my school and my nations education standards. Lately I've had no desire to go to school. I use to enjoy it but now it just gets monotonous. I've been docked points on 3 or 4 New York State regents exams so far thanks to "No Child Left Behind" and the curve they instate on each exam regardless of overall averages. If you ask me education is becoming a joke. joesteph I hate to say it but based on my school experiences for the past several years, it's not going to get any better for your sons. Be prepared for later nights to come. I think schools are requiring more homework because of the unhealthy school environments and the declining quality in teachers. It's a giant social decline from where I'm standing.

That's the stereotype today. Many people think one style is harder then the other, when in fact like the argument "No art is more aggressive than any other art" proved that each art is equal opportunity. It's the martial artists, not the arts themselves. A TKD school could easily produce fighters that could match someone who specializes in Krav Maga, or Muay Thai. Real martial arts schools would teach multiple aspects of attack and would also teach the cons to certain techniques. In our school we are taught the spinning jumping kicks, but we're also taught that those kicks aren't always great, in fact a lot of times they aren't. It offers a chance to easily loose balance etc. To say one art is "harder" than the others is almost like an insult. If someone told me any Muay Thai fighter could be a TKD practitioner I'd be offended.

So all the juniors in Chenango County today when to the Broome County Arena where over a hundred colleges set up a table and had information for us high school students. I found the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut that actually has a degree in Martial Arts Studies, I didn't see any other school their have a degree in martial arts. It mentioned studying the history, linguistics, and actually martial art itself in the physical sense, and mentioned also internships with the FBI. Law enforcement in the Bureau has been an interest in mine. For the first time in my life I think I have a solid foundation of where I'd like to go to college. It's kind of a neat feeling. Here's the MA Studies page if you want to check it out: http://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/3868.asp

Another thing you have to understand is your instructor's business aspect of the school. If he was the hardcore instructor that wouldn't promote anybody until they were truly ready younger students wouldn't be likely to stick with it. And most schools have a lot of younger students from what I've gathered in my area. Adults are more likely to try harder, and understand their abilities and responsibility. Which makes them generally a more lax customer. An adult can take criticism such as "you need more passion" or "you need to work on your stances" and realize they need to completely adjust themselves. In my experience when you tell a kid to fix something they think that if they can fix it right there they are qualified, or that if they remember it next class they are qualified. They don't understand as well as adults that "deeper stances" or "snappy technique" is something they need to remember for the rest of their lives. This means their attention from the martial arts can weaken or divert, and their goes potentially hundreds of dollars worth of customers. Does your school end up producing good martial artists through a few years training? If no is it due to the students ambition? Their desire to do well may be different than yours, and if you take it more seriously then just do so. Make yourself ready for that test and don't worry about the other testees, worry about yourself and how you are going to turn out.

We wanted some video of it, maybe it's just best to wait.

Some friends and I are thinking about having a Ninja Night Friday everytime we get a free friday to mess around. We plan on all ordering ninja uniforms and running around town doing all sorts of whacky stuff. It would sure be a funny high school experience, but would a bunch of teenagers in ninja uniforms doing shoulder rolls through the park constitute being arrested? What do you guys think.

Our school isn't affiliated with either ITF or WTF, and I don't mind that in a sense the politics of everything stays out of our school, and its core training is there without any garbage threatening to contaminate our love for Martial Arts and TKD. After doing some research I've been learning how our school is working without asking my instructor. I think if I get a better understanding of it myself it will be better for me in the unlikely event that the school was passed to me, or just having a better understanding in general will help quench my thirst for knowledge. After seeing "ITF-information.com" I noticed our patterns aren't like that of WTF. The patterns I've learned from Chon-Ji to Choong-Moo are that of the ITF. I also saw somewhere that ITF schools teach the 5 tenets we teach. (Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, Indomitable Spirit). However our school uses the WTF sparring gear but ITF style sparring. Interesting. We also have most of our black belts and students into MMA stuff, so we often go over grappling techniques that I'm not sure are always stressed in traditional TKD schools. So my question is, are the patterns I've learned (Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun etc) ITF styles? If you went to a WTF school would you ever interest yourself in ITF patterns and vice versa? The book I bought are WTF patterns, not mine so I kind of wasted my money. I figure though as a TKD practitioner and Shodan I should take it upon myself to expand my knowledge, so if I have time and responsibility I will familiarize myself with WTF patterns. How about you guys? Is your school affiliated with any large organization? Or is it a mix?

Improvement and 2nd Dan. Congrats on your accomplishment.

It's definitely some kind of stone or concrete. I'm sure not exactly what it is though.

Watched this and I'm glad I did. There's lots of neat stuff in here. It's a bit of motivation for me as I haven't been able to achieve that kind of level yet. Flying spinning hook kicks to a break is something that requires mastery of your own mind and body and is something I know I can achieve but need to work on.

The last pair of jeans I tried on I was able to place a nice front snap kick head level to my dad, so I said "let's get these". It's something I've never really had to think of though. I've never been the kind of person to like restricting clothing or jeans that latch on to myself. But I did kick a couple times in the changing area. No one was watching though.

I think it would be more beneficial to the persons character to hit every rank. Even if it's a really skilled martial artist in a lower ranking belt I think that making them put in the time for each rank isn't necessarily a skill-builder, but that of their persona. Thoughts?

I think your instructor will respect you more if you legitimately pick up on a weakness and expose it. We're taking classes to train to be martial artists, not everybody will remain undefeated. If you sneak a lock in grappling or a point in sparring the best thing to do is be modest about it. If he/she compliments you respond, but definitely don't go around anywhere bragging you beat your instructor. They may have a little lesson plan set out for you afterwards.

Today our warmup in class was very small. We did some side kicks before stretching and I nearly pulled something, I could feel it. Luckily I was able to tone it down but keep my kicks about chest level without tearing or pulling anything. I think I was lucky I wasn't going full bore.

The trailer was hilarious, but if those are really the only main humorous parts its probably not worth renting. If I get free time I'll check it out.

Luckily my head instructor and some students are interested in UFC, which has added more grappling and groundfighting to our curriculum in the past few years. My instructor has always been very realistic and teaches various applications of Tae Kwon Do. He will show you the effectiveness of a roundhouse high, or low dependent on the situation. The stereotype of Tae Kwon Do being "all high kicks" doesn't fit with our school. I've been able to learn a somewhat traditional martial art, but have been lucky enough to have been taught grappling techniques that may not be the usual in Tae Kwon Do schools. And that's what my purpose of getting this topic out here was for: stereotypes. My friend thinks TKD is useless in a street fight, when in fact when it really boils down to it it's the martial artist, not the martial art.

Cool thanks for the ideas. As of now equipment is limited but I'll definitely keep those in mind. There's a lot you can do with a set of cones!

This is our favorite thing to do with our Little Ninjas. It offers easy management, and easily focuses work on each skill that we try to teach the younger kids in our programs. The plus side is is that it is a majority of activities, so the short attention spans are generally fed to efficiently. I recently suggested to my instructor that we set up some 4 or 5 templates that we could set up uniformly each time, he agreed it would be a good idea but has a lot of things on his hands and may not be able to generate enough time to create them like I could. So I'm looking for ideas! Does your school run courses? What activities do you include? (Heavy bags, jump ups, balance beam stuff) Fire away!

Well, chances are your professor is going to teach you for a shorter number of years, whereas Martial Arts can be a lifelong experience. I could put up with a professor for a couple years, but a Martial Arts instructor for 20? I don't think so. If its not unbearable then absolutely stick to it. It sounds like you're a strong enough person so you'll be able to do so.

I think bushido man nailed it. If you can stick it out and just deal with it in the end you'll be the better martial artist and the better person. This sensei that has a bone to pick doesn't regularly visit your school? I got the impression he's the one that travelled up to do the grading, in which case makes it easier for you to not only focus harder for your next test but talk to your sensei one on one and discuss the issue. If this happens again though, sadly I would consider moving on.

Good choice, congrats!