bushido_man96

round kick followed by spin side kick flows nice. little more advanced: switch foot axe, followed by back leg round, spin side kick or crescent or hook.

My favorite: the spinning heel kick. 245 pounds of torque, baby!!!

Well written. Very Bruce Lee-esque. I particularly agree with your aspect of conditioning the body (an aspect that I tend to fall short in).

Here's my deal. I am 5' 7" tall, and weigh 245. I am flexible, and am fairly quick for my size. I don't consider myself a great sparrer, but I can block well and can get inside. I don't counter very well because my timing kind of sucks. So, when I spar tall guys, or those my own size, I tend to cram and try to punch and push them around until they back up, and then kick high. However, against nimble quick sparrers, I can't always get close. What I would like some suggestions on is how to spar "tall" against tall people. I want to be able to spar these guys on their own terms, and be able to keep distance and still be successful. If I can learn to do both, then my sparring should improve dramatically. Any help, critizism, and suggestions offered would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Big fat guy will be hurting bad if you take his knees out. However, that could lead to court time. Try round kicking him on the outside of his leg in the thigh area, just below where his hands would be if they were hanging down to his sides, but above the knee. If you nail the spot right, his knees will buckle, and he will drop. From there on, try to use your judgement. If he falls, walk away. If you have to continue the fight, try his legs again. Kicking the inside of his legs can hurt, too. If you are feeling spunky, you can just start straight punching him to the face, alternating hands, continuously. Just start hitting him and keep going until he goes down. But you could try the leg kick first if you are calm.

This is easy for me to say, but I say don't worry about him. Worry about your level, your training, and where your goals have you going.

In our school we have to make two classes a week minimum, and then log around 40 hours (which adds up to the two months before the testing) of time doing things like teaching orientations and helping to teach some classes, and stuff like that. All those things help prepare the future black belt for teaching. Then they have to write a one page paper telling what TKD means to them, what their future plans for TKD are, and some goals and stuff.

When I joined a new TKD school, the instructor started me over at white belt. He knew that I had a 2nd degree in a different TKD association, but the forms system was different. He informed me that I could end up skipping some ranks if I picked up fast enough, because I had the black belt technique, just not the knowledge of the material of their system. If I was going to another style, like hapkido or some grappling style, I would probably prefer to where a belt that was indicative of my level of training in that style as opposed to my previous styles.

My son is 5 months old. I hope to start teaching him martial arts as soon as I can. Hopefully he will embrace it. If I get to start him early, I hope to get him past some of things that give me trouble. I will probably wait to start him in TKD classes until he is 5 or 6 years old. I want him to be technically sound with the very basics when he starts.

My instructor is a 5th Dan TKD. Chung do kwan style forms.

A lot of you guys are lucky. I notice on your bios to the right that a lot of you have had the opportunity to train in several different styles. I live out here in central Kansas; TKD or the occasional Karate schools are pretty much par for the course. Our school has added the Combat Hapkido curriculum to the class, but as people dropped out of those classes, it has gone by the wayside. I envy you guys. I would love to learn how to stick fight (escrima or Kali).

my favorites: Enter the Dragon Best of the Best The Last Dragon (corny, I know) Hard Target (filling a guy full of holes, and following with a jump spin hook kick? Who doesn't love that?) The Quest (the Caporiera guy is awesome.) If you haven't seen History of Violence yet, then you need to check it out too. Nothing flashy, but it would work.

For our 4-6 year olds, we have a criteria set in which they work on things like focus, physical fitness, control, balance, memory, and such, by playing little games to keep it fun. There are a total of 7 stripes that they can get, and once they get all 7, they test. The testing is just a recap of demonstrating each skill that they get a stripe for, but they do it with less help from the instructor; it is more independent. All of their belts are white, but each one has a different color of stripe through the middle, like yellow, orange, green, and the highest is brown or red. Usually by the time they get through, they are of an age to get into the regular kids class. By that time they have some basic technique down, and know the respect and formal part of the system well enough to fit in. Each child is evaluated for their maturity level to see if they are ready. And usually by the time they are 7 years old, they go into the regular class. So during this time they do not gain any rank, but are still learning and having fun.

Just recently at my school, we promoted an 8 and 9 year old to first degree black belt. We also have another 9 year old first degree, and a 12 or 13 year old that is a 2nd degree recommended. When I taught in my own school years ago, I had a few 5-6 graders that were first degrees as well. Now, all of these kids are good kids, and attend class regularly. They actually make it to more classes per week than I do. There technique is sound, and they know their material well. They can teach the forms and one-steps to the lower rank without any problems. The kids that just recently promoted to black belt, and the older 2r black belt are all the kids of the school's head instructor. They have not been shown any favortism. As a matter of fact, they both no changed at their previous testing for this rank, for getting stuck in some spots on some forms, and not meeting the board breaking requirements. The head instructor/dad has, on several occasions, held his own children, along with some of the others, out of testings because he felt that they were not ready. So in my school, we do have young black belts, but they do earn it. All of our kids have pretty good technique for the most part. But, they are still kids, and there are still some things that will come better to them as adults. I do feel that by the time they get there, they will appreciate how they came about to be black belts.

I commend your desire to return to the workouts. Many people after that much moving and lay off just end up quitting. Knowing where you are in your training is more important than what everyone else thinks.

This is a very interesting article. I have never heard martial arts advise on defending against dog attacks. Well written. ps...got anything on big cats??? lol

Do you use any spinning kicks to counter? A spin side kick or a spinning heel kick are good counters if you see a lot of back leg round kicks from an open stance position. When you try to combo, you can't hestitate. Throw your side kick (or whatever), and then go directly into the next kick. Don't stop to consider. I like to throw a high round kick and then suck it back in to sidekick to the waist before setting it down.

You make a very good point jaymac. That is well worth consideration. A major problem that even adult students have is retaining their old material throughout the ranks. At our black belt testings, all of the previous forms and one steps must be demonstrated either in a pretest or at the testing itself.

What should we do with the kids who excel towards that rank to keep them interested. It is hard to tell them that they cannot test again for a few years. My school is guilty of having young black belts as much as any. Most organizations run on two month testing cycles. Perhaps 4 months would be better for children.

When there is that kind of a desparity between ranks, then the instructor should be held responsible. Now, everyone has different abilities. Some can spar, some can do forms, others self-defense, and some excel as teachers. However, I feel that some level of competency should be demonstrated in all of these areas.

I have noticed that most styles have a two month testing cycle. So, in most 9 or 10 belt systems, one can earn a black belt in about 2 and a half years. Once kids get there that are under the age of 16, are usually held under the 3rd degree level. In the two organizations that I have been a member of, this has been the case. I think that these kids may have the technical ability to be considered a black belt, but mentally, they are not so well prepared. A black belt should be able to handle teaching duties and other such responsibilities. Most kids cannot. Most of the times they see the color, but don't really understand what it means, deep down. The other problem I see with black belt children is that they think there is no more to learn and get bored and burned out.

It has been about 5 or 6 years since I have been involved with the ATA, but from my experience, they mainly teach weapons forms. Not much that I saw in the way of weapon usage and defense. If I am wrong, let me know. When I left the ATA, they were also beginnig to incorportate weapons requirements into the black belt ranks. 1st dan was the chucks, 2 was the stick I think, 3rd was the staff, and so on. If I am misinformed, let me know.

I have been feeling some burnout as well. You could cut back on the number of classes that you attend in a week. Another good idea would be to get together with some of your classmates on your own time, and work on something fun that you want to do. Maybe some free sparring or some counter drills. Just try to mix it up to stimulate your interest.

I have been in two systems. I am a 2nd degree and certified instructor through the ATA. When I moved to go to college, I joined a different school and organization. The instructor made me start all over from white belt. I didn't complain about it though, because the forms and one-steps where different from my previous system. However, by recognizing my previous training, he allowed me to skip some ranks a few times. I got to 1st degree in his system in about a year. My motivation was that the belt I was wearing did not matter; I knew whay my capabilities were. I kind of have a mental perception of what "rank" I am. I see some of the students around me and say to myself "I've been there." Then I look at some other students and say "That's where I need to be." Even reaching 2nd degree in two different organizations, I realize that I still have a lot to learn.

I do notice that a lot of TKD fighters don't keep their hands up. The tournament rules are what I think are the major cause of this practice. Everyone would rather counter than block. In class, I like to get close and punch the crap out of the bigger guys who would rather not be in close.