bushido_man96

Good luck...It's refreshing to see this kind of testimony of searching and training. Thank you for sharing with us.

I agree with you. I am short and stocky (ok, fat), and I like to see the look on peoples faces when they see a guy my size do some of those things. At my school, we spend time on basics, forms, and one-steps. Not much time is spent on Olympic sparring, except in our sparring and kicking class.

Sohan nailed that one for you. You get what you take from studying an art.

I am 5'7", and 245. I sure won't be using that tactic anytime soon. The best tactic may be the first part....run. Otherwise, you have to be efficient in what you do. Kick a knee, kick a groin, gouge an eye, etc. You don't want to dance with multiple attackers.

I am in TKD, and do the 180 degree pivot. I like it, and feel that with the foot pivoted 180, instead of 90, there is more support behind it, and the body is positioned correctly. When the foot only pivots 90 degrees, then the body tends to lean to the side, and not toward or away from the kick (if that makes sense). Keep practicing, it will come to you.

I'm curious to know what version of Tae Kwon Do's history these volumes subscribe to. The hundreds of years old version or the less then 60 years old version?Gen. Choi describes in these volumes how he came up with his style, called Taekwondo, and does not elaborate on ancient styles. He did claim that he had learned some Taek-yon, and had trained in Karate.

I have read The Secrets of Cabales Serrada Escrima, by Mark V. Wiley. It is very informative, and has a good looking base set of moves to get you started. However, I always recommend seeking out a qualified instructor to start learning something new.

Boxing, wrestling, TKD; they are all sports, in essence. Wrestling does have some nice holds, and some very nice throws that can be beneficial in a self defense situation. There is nowhere for me to learn BJJ, so wrestling would be my best option for groundfighting experience. I am only saying that it should not be overlooked.

This is an awesome site. I love everything about it. I feel like I have been able to make contact with the martial arts community as a whole, and enjoy the interaction that takes place on the site. Job well done.

Good luck in opening your dojo.

I had heard that the Mas Oyma started the K-1. I believe he is the founder of kyokushin, but can't remember for sure. Is this the case? Another note, it is a little sad that some styles are losing the forms and focusing on fighting so much. TKD is the same way, once you are recognized as a possible national fighter.

I had a black belt testing for (2nd dan) where the boards were cut to small of dimensions. There wasn't very much surface area to land the techniques on when trying to break. It did not go so well. But hey, you do your best, learn from it, and then move on. Good luck.

It sounds to me like this guy is trying to feed his ego by intimidating everyone. These people are not worth being around, and are not worthy to call themselves teachers or instructors. If you are in this situation, getting out is probably a good thing. Nobody learns anything by getting beat up.

Get out. If you don't, and people find out the reputation of the school, that reputation will be pinned on you by everyone that knows about it.

You are right, Grandmasterchen, about the variance between instructors. But I think you made some good points. One of the main concerns I have is with the contact levels that you spoke of. I also believe that many Karate schools have different contact areas, like hands to the head, kicks to the groin, sweeps, etc. My dad started in TKD when I was about 4, and back then he said they allowed sweeps, groin, and head contact with the hands. The olympics have changed that. I was wondering about Kyokushin Karate. From what I have figured out, the rules for target areas are the same as TKD, but the contact level is harder, and not done by points. Is this true? If so, the two styles could make a happy MA marriage.

Many people not in the MA's think that these two martial arts forms are synonomous. Those of us who study them, know this to be untrue. My question is this: What can these two styles learn from each other? What could they offer each other? I believe that they could both offer some positive things. Some that I can think of is footwork from TKD, and better usage of the hands from Karate. What do you all think?

I joined to learn self-defense as kid with little self-confidence and little self-esteem. I just recently got a job with the county jail. I am excited to be involved in law enforcement. My dad has been in law enforcement for almost 30 years. It seemed like the right thing for me to do.

It sounds like you could be an instructor in the making. It is good that some people are recognizing you for your abilities. In my opinion, this is one of the most rewarding feelings that you can get from the martial arts. The fact that you can leave a lasting impression on a few individuals speaks volumes as to what you are capable of doing. The important thing to do with kids with low self-esteem is not give them false confidence. Don't praise them for something they can't do, and know they can't do. Praise them when they make an obvious improvement, or when you see them get something the way you want that first time. Also, find something they do excel at, and praise it. This should help to start building their confidence in new things.

Well, for a start "regular" TKD is getting harder and harder to define as more and more associations are forming. The "big 3" of WTF, ITF and ATA are still pretty dominant but there are plenty of schools and practitioners out there who do not train like those schools and are not affiliated with them in any way. The forms that those 3 organisations train in are all different, especially ATA who have created and copywrited theirt own Songahm set of forms. Therefore, because of the vast differences there's a) no such thing as "regular" TKD and b) no such thing as a regular TKD form. Some clubs share common forms, many do not. I could name a whole long list of TKD patterns that plenty of people wouldn't have heard of or seen. Same for me - I've not heard of some of the forms other people talk about. Also, it's not just "Heian kata jumbled up". Many forms in TKD were specifially created for TKD, rather than just a transferrance of the Shotokanised forms, such as TSD often uses. The Taeguek forms used in WTF TKD are a created by TKD practitioners for TKD practitioners, as are other groups of forms. Finally, maybe TKD forms look like "jumbled" Heian kata because there's only so many ways a person can kick or punch? Techniques are common to many styles, as are the combinations of techniques. For example, forearm block followed by supported spear hand strike is found in Heian Sandan but also in other forms. Does it mean all other forms with it in are a jumble of H. Sandan? No, it just means that there are common and set ways of performing techniques in many styles. This is a very good point. Even the associations that use the same ITF forms that General Choi created still make their own modifications to them that other associations don't have. I have seen 4 different ways to do basically the same set of forms.

Thats not what I'm saying entirly. You can still follow what I had said and still use crushing power, Like I had said before...Theres no point of getting into and explaining entire systems of fighting(I wouldn't be able to either). I use speed to get to the target, crushing power to drive through, and speed to get out again before the opponent knows what happened to them. Or if I want to get to a target, I may use my type of training to get into the target zone and follow through with more technques that are more crushing.So basicly, right now my general fighting habits are simply relying on speed to get there, then crushing power to end it. I belive in a combination of "whip" and "baseball bat". My point was that kicks which are more speed reliant kicks, have many purposes other than just feinting. Speed could be used to disarm an assailant with a knife...So could power, but speed would be more likely to catch the opponent off-guard. Power = mass X velocity squared. Power = speed + technique. These are the 2 equations that I know of for generating power output. I really don't think the baseball bat or the whip have much to do with it. Baseball bat or whip have to do with the amount of follow through, not how much power is generated.

Unfortunately, this is very true. Whether it is jokes or inuendos, it happens a lot, even if it is not meant to hurt anyone.

I have not encountered racism in the dojo from an instructor. We as martial artists should be able to put ourselves above such matters, and emmerse ourselves in the training and evironment. Any instructor who condones this behavior is stupid.

Yes, this is true. The forms used in TKD anyway, are not all that old at all. They are derivatives of shotokan style forms, from what I have read. For the most part, people should not assume that the styles of TSD and TKD date back any farther than the 1940s and 1950s.

I think that you are being too hard on yourself. Even if you had your gun, would you have been able to draw it? Did the attacker already have a gun on you? During active duty, you probably had the advantage of having your weapon(s) about you at all times. Studying the arts is a good direction to take. If I had a gun pulled on me, however, I think that I would give up my wallet rather than risk getting killed over some pocket change. I really think being prepared for these situations is one of the hardest things to train for, and it may only occur a few times in most of our lives. I realize that this is not true for active duty officers, but once you leave that environment, your level of awareness would surley go down.

If you feel that you are not quite ready for this test, then wait. Better to put off for another couple of months, practice, and become more comfortable.