Truestar

There's definitely plenty of members who I think haven't come across the thread yet. I've always been interested at what other schools expect for the same rank.

When I really thought about cross training I came to the conclusion that is each style truly that different? A kick is a kick, there's not many ways that a side kick can vary in delivery. Granted there are some but I wouldn't say it's such a difference that it would be difficult to learn. I think the major part of cross-training is applying these techniques in different ways. Different forms to learn, maybe a new style of grappling that doesn't quite match your old school. But the core of everything is essentially the same is it not? I think the hardest part about cross-training is definitely time management, rather than the "new skills" aspect. If you're mature enough mentally to know which form goes with which style and you can know this immediately, then it seems cross-training hasn't hurt you. As long as you can still donate the time necessary to each style.

I came home to dinner and laughed it off with my parents so it's not something to stress about. I just have never been in a situation like that before as I'm still in my teen years. I have no doubt something like that will happen again though.

Not really Martial Art related, but it happened at our school today. So here I am watching all of our Little Ninjas getting a stripe and one mom is standing about 6 feet away. She starts congratulating on my recent promotion and puts out her hand. So here I am thinking she wants to shake my hand, right? Well no not exactly, I think she was more using her hands to talk as she goes on about conversations the other parents were having about noticing the new uniform and belt. So now we're maybe 3 feet apart and both our hands and still extended. Either way I'm going to look like a complete dork. So I'm not exactly sure what I did but our hands met awkwardly and I kind of shook it. My instructor knew I was having a weird moment so he just smiles and brings up a new topic, somewhat saving me. How on Earth are you supposed to rescue yourself from that situation? I'm embarrassed thinking about it now. Life goes on, but wow, I need to work on my body work analysis.

The best part about a 1 on 1 session is all his/her focus is on you. That way the slightest mistake he can correct right there and then. Those kinds of sessions are definitely special and should not be taken lightly. Congrats on the work and the promotion!

I thought I posted in here already but don't see it. I am the first and hope to not be the last. Although currently the ideas of a family don't seem likely it will probably be inevitable.

Going through it twice is kind of cheating as its the same accents again, however after waiting a few days I retried today and got a 49. All the bonus points were pretty much luck or memory though.

I actually hold more knowledge and terminology than what is required at our school. My recent promotion I guess sort of sparked a renewed interest in the art. We didn't have to do it this time but in my previous red belt test we also did have a few short paragraphs to write as far as "how TKD has applied to your life" and whatnot. I wouldn't have really minded to do it this time to be honest. The endurance aspect is the major part of our test. Our test takes 21 days to complete spending 2 to 3 hours a day working on various exercises and technique. After running, push ups, and pull ups for a half hour doing our forms is a very interesting thing to see. But it shows who has it in them to find that extra little bit of "umph".

http://www.languagetrainersgroup.com/accent_game.html I scored 21, definitely an interesting game.

Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial art with similarities to Tae Kwon Do if I am correct, please correct me if I'm wrong. What are the requirements like in your school tenshinka?

A friend of mine doesn't take Tae Kwon Do seriously one tiny bit. He says its all a "show art" and that a real TKD practitioner would have no chance against someone who knows a more aggressive art such as Krav Maga which I know nothing of. My argument was, and still is that any serious practitioner of any martial art has the chance to win in a fight. A punch is a punch, regardless of what martial art you know a punch to the ribs can shatter the bone and render an opponent likely defeated or at least seriously handicapped for the rest of the fight. I think that its partially due to the media attention martial arts get. I can't recall a movie in modern times (past 10 or 20 years) where Tae Kwon Do was used by a character that defeated several enemies. Instead you see these movies where the Muay Thai character comes out on top. I think the media has dumbed down certain arts, and the practitioners of the martial art help bring it down. The infamous "McDojos" that hand out black belts to 10 year olds, and the people who TKD schools as a business with no true meaning to the art. Fact is, because of the politics, and portrayal of some martial arts is placing them above or below others in peoples minds. I have confidence that a true TKD Martial Artist with years of training could put up a fight with someone in a more aggressive art. It's not the martial art, but rather the martial artist. There are so many bad representations of TKD today that I think its an art that's losing a serious audience. The "flashiness" and "McDojos" drag down the art and make it seem ineffective in real life. Breaking is not something to show off in terms of knowledge of the martial art, yet that is what it is taken as today. I view breaking as an example of how much power the human body can achieve through TKD training, power that likely my peers probably wouldn't know how to focus. This kind of came off as a rant rather than a discussion. I hope you all can still provide good chatter based on what I provided here.

I asked my head instructor today what he thought. He said if he was the person who gave him his rank he would certainly strip him of it. I think we can all agree that just knowing the technique of a martial art does not alone constitute black belt, and that there are morals and understanding that must come with it. Morals and understanding this black belt obviously did not have.

I've read countless amounts of topics on here about "young black belts" and whatnot. I figured I'd ask at your school, what are the minimum requirements for someone in your school to achieve their first degree black belt? It doesn't matter what style you take, just explain what is necessary in your school to achieve the rank. Junior black belt does not pertain to this topic. In our dojang a black belt must be at least 16 years of age, and display the "5 Tenets" in their lives everyday. (Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, Indomitable Spirit). They must also know the 9 Tae Kwon Do forms Chon-Ji through Chung-Moo with appropriate focus, snap, power, and yes: the correct stances and technique. They must perform every technique from white belt to red belt from the simple outside low forearm block to the jump turning side kick. They must demonstrate appropriate grappling and self-defense abilities that would prove effective in a real world situation, and they must survive a sparring match or twenty. Then on the last day they must attempt one kicking technique to at least one patio concrete block, and one other technique (elbow, hammer fist). If they can do all of this you are given your first dan in our school. So in simpler form, to achieve Shodan in our school you must: Be at least 16 years of age Know the 9 hyungs/katas (Chon-Ji through Chung-Moo) Demonstrate effective defensive tactics Demonstrate appropriate sparring technique Breaking So in your school what are the minimum requirements for first degree black belt? Do you feel they are appropriate? Too lenient? Too strict?[/i]

Unfortunately I think that's the biggest downfall to colored belts. If someone can look beyond that I think they would stick with the Martial Arts a lot longer. Few actually realize that continuing past Shodan is very rewarding. Then again, personal lives generally do get in the way. I just received my belt this past Sunday, and I graduate from high school in two years. College I think will be the toughest thing to continue training through. You can't simply throw your education and basis to life away for a belt, black belt is already quite the achievement. That doesn't mean when life smooths out you shouldn't get back on track. A black belt of ours got his Shodan and we haven't really seen him since. It kind of makes me wonder how serious he takes it as he still has a year before he graduates. He has plenty of time he could devote to continuing, he just chooses not to. I'll never understand why.

I'd like to reach the level where I can read an opponent and effectively attack without needing to block in order to defend myself. I want to be able to defend myself against a decent fighter. I want the ability to avoid conflict, and keep my friends and family out of harms way. I want to be able to know every form and technique without needing to think about it. I want to reach the level where I'm at peace with myself and can live happily through displaying the tenets and commandments of Tae Kwon Do. Where will I achieve that? 2nd Dan? 5th? I don't know but I'd like to get there regardless of rank.

Although he probably should have been allowed to fight kicking a judge or any person without reason goes against everything TKD teaches since white belt. Depending on how he got his black belt could he have it removed by the WTF? If he could lose his black belt do you guys think that is appropriate?

I've just recently taken a more in depth look at the art I've practiced for 8 years now so don't mind me asking, do you think the ITF and WTF would ever merge? The history lesson I've gotten is the politics of TKD are so screwed up, it will probably never be unified again.

That jugular notch technique is great as it can be used for control in place of a kill shot. While I imagine you can kill somebody using it you can also just use it for getting an attacker under control. In a life or death situation however, if a shot to the throat is available I would look for that right away. A well delivered technique to the throat is certainly going to end a fight. However, tallgeese pointed out that sometimes the neck can be hard to hit, or its bulked up to where using it to down your opponent is very tricky and requires precision and power. Throat shots are generally going to be effective I think if you can deliver it correctly.

Congrats KF!

I'd say breaking is always a test. Regardless of whether or not you are going for another belt or not, breaking is always a constant test of your speed, power, and focus. One of our black belts has recently wanted to try a big break, so we gathered today on our open floor grappling morning and did just that. He did a Jump Turning Back Kick to 5 patio blocks each one inch thick, breaking them all. Next, our other black belt decided to go for 5 with a descending elbow. He broke 4 the first attempt, was dissatisfied and tried again breaking all 5. Next was me. Since this morning a small plate of Chinese food is the only "solid food" I've had since Wednesday. Wednesday morning I woke up and had the stomach bug of all stomach bugs I've had yet in my life. Today I am just hardly recovering, and could hardly resist doing a break. During my black belt test I tried to do 3 with a descending elbow, but only managed 2 out of 3. I had done 2 at the local YMCA during spring break for a breaking demo, I wanted to step that up to show I had what it takes to push myself in order to earn my black belt. So I set up today, stacked 3 up, and broke them all. My elbow still feels a little touchy, but another feat for me. As a side note, this weekend we hope to see our belts. We have a drag another 'testee' back from soccer camp. I've lost 12 pounds since July 10th when we started testing.

How do you work things in between different belts with students? Our school has tried several different striping methods, and the latest one seems to do very well. Each belt has six stripes. Form, Technique, Grappling/Self Defense, Physical Fitness, Dynamic Performance, and Breaking. At each belt level the student is expected to learn a new form, new technique, and perform at greater levels physically. I believe some schools don't do stripes, and simply go from belt to belt based on whether or not the student is ready. I guess our stripes are an incentive for a student to do well. They see they have 5-6 stripes, so a new belt is on the horizon. You could say it's also a way of Americanizing the system, but it seems to work very well, which certainly isn't a problem at all. So does your school go from belt to belt, or do you have some kind of system in between the belts?

These past months I've been instructing and assisting at our Tae-Kwon-Do school. In the process I've made many decisions as far as striping different students towards their promotions. Recently I've been working on form with the Dragons group which are around 9-11 years old. The forms aren't great, but I've kept in mind the following: They're still young, and the seriousness they take in the martial arts is going to vary based on their parents, the school, and themselves. This can still develop They are young, and haven't developed a lot mentally and physically. While this doesn't imply 9 year olds can't be good martial artists, they won't be at the level a 16 year old would be at at the same belt level. They are lower in their ranks, orange belts. So they have several belts and years to improve all around in stances and technique. How strict would you grade students like this? My head instructor always checks things out form wise before striping a student anyways to see if my judgment is correct, but I'm just looking for some opinions and ideas from other schools.

While it is definitely easy to achieve both, I've seen it differ. We've had a recent addition to our school, I believe he is a black belt in a previous school, which in my eyes makes him a black belt in our school. While doing Chon-Ji (first TKD form) his stances lacked a lot of depth, yet his blocks and punches were great. If you were an instructor making corrections to his form, would you tell him deepen his stances? His technique is great, but they lack a bit of depth. Just wondering on some opinions here.

Thanks for the responses and support.

20 days later, my arms are bigger but the waist didn't change. Nontheless, I was able to do our run under 6 minutes, which was a decent goal for me. We had to do two sessions in one day which was very brutal as we had to shorten the test a day. Today we performed in front of an audience of family and the Little Ninjas (5-6 year olds ). We did form, patio block breaks, and a contact drill with the Shanai. Form was good, the creative form which is quite a tiring set of moves was performed with every last bit I had. I tend to tire out quickly after doing that form 2 or 3 times. But from what I saw it looked good in the camera. The lumber yard next door don't make the sticks we use for the contact drill anymore. We have wooden sticks broken over two parts of our body in order to symbolize strength, conditioning, and focus. Because they didn't make them we had to resort to the Shanai, which is a bamboo strewn swordlike tool, great for Martial Arts and mouthy kids. The breaks were interesting. I tried 3 blocks with a descending elbow. I was able to manage two of the three, which kind of disappointed me, but I still have 8 more dans of black belt to work on that. I also did a jump turning back kick to one block, which is quite a trippy technique. It required a lot of focus and a lot of measuring. I was able to break it and hope to keep working on that kick for two blocks in the future. I also performed a third break which wasn't required for the test, but I did an axe kick which went through with no problem at all. I think I could have easily done two. Now because everybody has trips to take the celebration brunch won't be for a few weeks. I'm not going to lie and say that's no problem because I'm very eager to wear my new uniform and belt, but it'll be well worth waiting a couple weeks. The test was a success, and although our instructor didn't come right out and say we passed I'm pretty sure we all did. Within August our school will have a new red belt, two junior black belts, and a black belt...I hope. I'll see if I can get some pictures resized and the videos on Youtube if I can get myself to. Performing in front of 30 people was quite a trip, now millions of people can see my form. There is one thought I have coming out of the test though. If you seriously asked me if I thought I deserved my new belt I'm not sure what I would say. Simply because I am sitting here with some regrets. There are times during the test where my mental and physical fatigue wore me right down, and doing the kicks or form were troublesome. I kind of wish I could find that extra bit of energy to pull through. I tried, I won't say I didn't, but I think there were times I could have tried harder. I hope that my realization and self-notice of this outweighs the fact I have a few regrets. On top of it all, it was a great success. I was very satisfied with the overall results and hope to be wearing a black belt soon. (I'll resize some pictures and post some up for the heck of it, but that might be a task for tomorrow.)