bushido_man96

I think that this definition is misleading. The medieval Europeans had martial systems as well. The western world has a serious misconception that advanced fighting systems came only from the far east. This is not true. I have been studying western martial history for some time now. In looking in some of the old manuals, one can see many similarities between judo or jujutsu and the "wrestling tricks" that masters-at-arms taught there soldiers. The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe is a very informative study of these western martial practices. An excellent web site to check out is https://www.thearma.org. Check them out and have your eyes opened.

13 years of taekwondo in two different associations. Like them both, too. Still practice my old forms every now and then, just to remember.

Bravo. I am not sure what I would have done in that situation. It is good to defend yourself, even if it is only verbally. By showing your self-confidence, you made this guy go pick a different target. Not that it's my business, but did you report the guy to the authorities? Maybe give a description of a guy who might be hassleing others as well? Hopefully he won't choose any other targets. If you felt that your life was threatened by this guy, then saying you would kill him is fairly appropriate. People go on today about the levels of an encounter, and you have to respond with force equal to what is brought to you. I think this is bunk. It gives lawyers leverage to help set criminals free. Good for you.

I know we all talk about sparring and fighting a lot, and with good reason. Most of the people here who signed up for martial arts classes did so to learn self-defense, and it is easy to relate self-defense or fighting with sparring. I am no different. I would like to know how many of you out there like and appreciate the practice of forms. I personally love it. Watching beautifully done forms is a tribute to the patience and practice of technique. I am mostly talking about traditional style forms, not extreme forms with back flips and stuff like that in them. When I go to compete, forms is my favorite part of the competition. I am not trying to say it is better than sparring, and I am not comparing the two. I like to spar as well. Forms practice holds a special little place in my competitive heart, I guess.

In all of our traditional classes, we do basics for warm-ups. They are the same basics every class, and in the same order. Starts with hand techniques, and moves on through three sets of them. Then we move on to kicks, and then combinations. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get through them all. I am dead by the end of that, and then we do forms, starting with the low rannks first. After that I am really dead. Then we do one-steps, and then spar. I can never seem to get used to the classes, and even after several years, I still get tired. I am soaked by the end of a class.

One of the main reasons I continued to train was because I had no desire to ever quit. My dad instilled a pretty good work ethic in me, and I am never satisfied with my performances. I can always get better. As far as avoiding physical conflict, that has a lot to do with self-control. Know the places you are going, the people that will be around. I avoid the bar scene. However, I am married, and love to just be with my family. (Met my wife in TKD, by the way ) Just using your head will help. If you aren't cornered, you can most likely walk away.

This is a good article. In this day and age, people need to have short term objectives to lead them to long-term goals. The color belts serve to act as the objectives that lead to the goals.

Great ideas, everyone. Thank you. I went to the gym and sparred with two of my tallest classmates on 4-14-06. One is 6'3", and the other is 6'5". The former is a 1st degree, and the latter is a blue belt whe has just returned from a LOA. I felt that I did a little better, I made some contact on them, and and even got each in the head once. I worked on sidestepping, too, but is coming hard to me. When I do my footwork drills on my own, I sidestep forward at a 45 degree angle. However, while sparring, I still find my sidestepping going more backwards than forwards. I guess I just need to get used to it. I did land a few spin side kick counters as well. Its coming, I guess. Here's another question: Do you all think I should try to sidestep even without them attacking? Like, instead of trying to slide forward, should sidestep and use some footwork to get in close to them? Thanks for the replys....keep 'em coming!!

Boxing is a sport, but so are Muay Thai, and even other arts like taekowndo and some karate forms. Even MMA is a sport, just with fewer rules. Everyone who competes in any of the events that these "sports" put forward, is doing so in order to win. If you add this sense of competition to it, and make rules, then it becomes a sport in some sense of the word. Now, don't misunderstand me, I don't have anything against sports or competition. I enjoy all kinds of sports. In boxing, MMA, or Olympic TKD, there are rules involved to keep people safe, to an extent. None of these people are trying to kill anyone with their techniques. I don't think that "martial arts" exist so much now as martial sports do. Bruce Lee didn't compete. He advocated strikes to the eyes, nose, groin, instep, neck, etc. He didn't want to dance with anyone; he wanted to put them down. If you were to fight him, you could bet that you could end up immoblized, or worse. In the end, however, it is hard to train like that. You could run out of friends real quick. When men went into battle in medieval times, most of them were armed with weapons, shields, and hand-to-hand skills, including wrestling skills that included lots of "tricks" used to kill an opponent or immobilize them. Boxing and wrestling don't deserve to be knocked so badly.

you're in kansas... that's like the amateur boxing capital of the USA. you can't find a boxing gym? I am in central Kansas. I live in a city of about 18,000. We have two martial arts schools, and we used to have a guy who trained boxers, but as far as I know he only did it at his home, and haven't heard that he does it anymore.

I am not so sure why we call our arts "traditional." We try to make it sound like that was the way it was done thousands of years ago, when the arts were "founded." Most of the arts that you see have the word "do" attached to the end. This was not always so. "Do" means a way of life, or philosophy....etc. Sure most of you know this. However, most of these styles started with an "ai" or "jutsu" (I think) attached to the end, which had a different meaning. It meant war, fighting, something kind of like that.....the exact translation isn't sparking me, but I have it in one of my volumes somewhere. Example: "bushido", as you all know, means "way of the warrior." "Bushai", simply means warrior. Bushido stemmed from the feel to lead a warriors' lifestyle after war was not needed, ie. be brave, have integrity, protect the innocent, protect your homeland, etc. Anyways, when these fighting styles began to be put aside because of peace, occupation, replacement by firearms, or what have you, they were eventually preserved as the "traditional arts" that we know today. These ancients didn't do forms...not in the fashion that we experience them today. They trained as armies, by drilling. They drilled all day, with weapons, with partners in hand-to-hand, etc. Ok, they may have practiced move segments to familiarize with the moves, but then is was on to drilling. Boxing was lucky. It never got systematized. Sure it got some rules added to it, to make it competitive, but is has retained most of its applications. The one thing that traditional martial arts has going for them is that they are more inviting to children and less aggressivley natured people.

If you know he likes that kick, you should try to bait him into throwing it. Act like you are going to charge him, or whatever it is you do that draws the kick, and then when he throws it, you will be ready. You can then block it away, side step, or set up some counter.

Good luck in the future. Maybe later on you will decide to compete. I have always respected boxers and their abilities, and wished I was in a position to learn from a trainer myself. My father always told me that he personally felt that a golden gloves boxer was probably just about as good as any 3rd degree black belt out there, no matter what the art was. And him and I both are TKD guys.

Sohan has a case. Teaching children is a very rewarding experience. But it can be taxing at times. No matter how firm you are, kids will test you. I find it all rewarding in the end when I see them perform at a testing, and think to myself, "I helped them come along."

When you spar, keep track of how your opponent reacts when you do certain things. If you throw a round kick, what is his response? If you do the same round kick again, does he react with the same response? Most fighters will test their opponents like this for the first maybe 30 seconds that they are sparring them. If you fight rounds at a tournament, you can actually study longer. What you will notice is that just about everybody has a few set habits that will give them away. Good fighters will know this about themselves and work towards preventing them. Sparring is about action, reaction, and counter-reaction.

Elbows_and_knees, you make some very good points, especially about the mixed MA scene. Nobody sees the traditional side of the arts, with the respect sand courtesy and all of that. I think that the problems that most outsiders, including boxers, have with the martial arts has to do with the traditional aspects. People say things like "I have to say 'sir'? What is this, the army?" You don't see that in boxing or MMA the same way it is demonstrated in traditional arts. Traditionalists won't even talk smack openly, like MMA's or boxers do.

The spin heel kick. Also, jump spin side kick to abdomen.

More advanced students can read telegraphs. For example, when you throw a round kick, the more advanced student may catch a shoulder movement or other body movement that will tip them off. They then have a counter already ingrained into them. This reaction makes them seem fast, when actually they have started their counter or block or sidestep shortly after you have begun your technique.

I don't know about that, Son Goku. Let a boxer thump on you a couple or times, and I bet the fight will end quick. About 7 years ago, I had an old man who was a dairy farmer, and a little better than 60 years old, decide he wanted to take TKD with us on Saturdays. I can remember sparring with him, and busting him in the jaw with my fist. The guys head didn't even move. I apologize to him for the contact, and looked at me funny. Even at that age, he was probably the toughest SOB I had ever met. He was a professional welterweight in the 40's and 50's, I think. He was also one of the nicest guys I ever met. I think that one of the problems with the boxing/MA arguement is that is easy to catch a boxing match on TV. The MA fights are a little harder to come by, unless you watch a UFC or something. With the popularity of things like UFC and K1, this is changing. But so is the image that the public sees of the martial arts. These guys don't mention forms, or internal training, or talk about their "Master Instructors." They just look like guys who train like boxers, but spread out their time to practice kicking and grappling as well.

I think that you should suggest a team-teaching approach to the class. Instead of kicking the previous instructor out of the class, offer to teach with her. Get together prior to classes to discuss the skills you want to address, and then figure out what drills you want to do. This way, you can get your seriousness worked in, and have some hands-on time with these kids. I agree with Rateh, as far as keeping the previous instructor. Even adults will get attached to certain instructors from time to time. Also, by working with the previous instructor, you will help her to become a better instructor. This will help to motivate her to get better at teaching. My instructor has a saying: "there are no bad martial arts, just bad instructors." Don't let this one slip through the cracks...everyone has room to improve. It may be that you are just the person to help her out.

I am working on the weight problem.. been trying to do some cardio work. I have started lifting weights as well. The lightest I have ever been is about 180. My reaction time and countering do need a LOT of help. Any drills or ideas would be helpful. I can pound on my opponents; thats no problem. But I want to have a little more finesse.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe

My favorite style is TKD. I have been doing it for 13 years. I would never quit, but I would like to do some supplemental training in judo or aikido. Supplementation is the way to go. Having a strong base in a style to fall back on is a good thing.

I think that you may be okay here. Kung fu, as I understand it, employs a lot of hand and arm movements, blocking and trapping and punching, whereas caporiea incorporates a LOT of kicking. I feel that the two are different enough that you won't overload yourself, and you will be getting your body a good balance of upper and lower body movements.

I assume you are discussing Taek-yon, which was a predecessor to TKD in ancient times. The Taekwondo Textbook (from Kukkiwon) states that taek-yon was the hand and foot fighting style that formed the basis of the young fighting corps (the Hwarang and Sonbae groups) of the three nations on the penninsula at that time. There are murals and painting dating back to between 57 and 37 B.C.