bushido_man96

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.

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