bushido_man96

Perhaps it can, but I think the spiritual side is the side you can take with you more easily and train outside of the school. Use moments in everyday life to help hone those skills. If those skills are only used in the school, then it isn't being done right.

On a secondary note, consider taking steps to strengthen your lower back. If you don't make it stronger, then it will continue to go out of place when you want to do something, whether its rolling, or trying to walk the dog.

In my experience, these things tend to cycle. In fact, the focal point of many MAist's careers tends to cycle as well. I think we've all met practitioners who at one point focus on competition, and at another point shift their focus to self-defense, and then again to more intrinsic concepts.

Well, at least that way you should only end up burning one....

But not carrot cake. That is as wrong as pineapple on pizza. No, both are awesome!

They split away in 1983. Pre-sine wave, post-knee spring. But they still don't even do knee spring. If the instructors they had early on were from the early days of TKD before General Choi tinkered with the "Karate" he was actually teaching, then the probably just used more of the hip rotation than knee spring. That's just me spit balling, but that could be part of the influence.

I don't like seeing point values that high. What that signals to me is that they are trying to encourage audience interest with high scoring numbers. I'd rather see a point for a body punch, 2 points for body kick, 3 points for head kick, and add a point to each for a jumping kick. I would consider point differentials for spinning as well, but I'd leave them out for now.

I think the chamber is looking ok. It could maybe be a bit higher, but I think its ok. I like to have my knee up high enough that my upper leg is parallel with the floor when I start to execute the kick. As far as rating the first picture, that's kind of hard to do without seeing the kick in its entirety, from start to finish. Anyone can get a good picture of a pose. I'm not saying that you are posing in that still, but it remains that I can't see the rest of the kick. The side kicks is all about the proper body alignment when you get your leg into chamber position. This is the hardest part for new students, and their tendency is to cheat it into kind of a half round kick instead of a full, straight side kick. If you could post some videos of you doing side kicks, we could give more input.

Boy, I'm slow in updating here. Kenneth' state run ended on day one, going 0-2 against some very good wrestlers. But, he enjoyed the experience (after getting over the losses), and is now continuing with some Freestyle/Greco-Roman practices. He wanted to do those without any prompting from me, so that's great. It means he still enjoying it.

Are we having cake!? To ones heart contents, as one desires!! I love cake....

I have bad knees. They hurt constantly. As a result, I don't jump as much as I used to, and when I kick, I usually take a little off of them so the lockouts don't aggravate my knees quite so much. I also had a right shoulder impingement some years ago, and because of that I can't really do push-ups or bench presses, so I do different upper body lifts in the gym. Some days I squat, and some days I don't. One of these years, I'll have to get my knees cleaned out, but I think I'll wait until after I test for 5th dan to do that. For now, when I train, I just listen to my body and do what I can, when I can. If the knees feel good, then I might kick with more power that day. If not, I make sure to take it a bit easier in basics so they don't hurt. Also, steady, regular doses of vitamin NS doesn't hurt.

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF, Washo!

Welcome aboard, Hoshin!

Congrats! Well deserved!

Remember, black belt is just the beginning!

Welcome to KF, Paloma!

4/4/2018 TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Class got shook up tonight, working a lot of kicking on the kicking shields prior to the upcoming tournament. I think my knees will hurt tomorrow, but a good class.

I agree but as I said, if all other factors are equal. So if you got two people training and their training is of equal quality the one with more quantity will progress faster. Now as I said I do agree that quality is more effective than quantity, but what I believe is most effective is to have both. If you have the time, train more. Pretty simple.

WTF TKD, now called WT, is a style, like ITF is a style. The Kukkiwon is not a style, although WTF/WT is sometimes referred to as "Kukki TKD." Honestly, I could see the Olympics holding both form and kumite competitions, and perhaps the opportunity to compete in an "overall" category, as well.

The word 'art' is slightly misleading these days because it is a word with multiple meanings, one such meaning having become archaic and fallen into obscurity. Nowadays, art is as you say, most widely taken in the context of creative expression. But it also means skill set. Art is the expression or result of skill. I love your observation though that art is not a sport. Art can be presented through sport, if a strict and objective rating system can be devised, but by definition, as soon as something becomes a sport it becomes restricted. For example, for martial art to be used as sport, we have to say, as a minimum, don't snap your opponents neck or rip his gonads off. Straight away then the art is limited. A good thing in this example, but limited all the same. Whereas the art, if practiced against an imaginary opponent can still have all its full expression of technique and principles. I'd go further and say that even in training the art has to be restricted. You still can't snap necks and rip off gonads in the training hall. You can try to simulate it to the best of your ability, but it still isn't real. Hence, the reason Jigoro Kano altered his style from Jiujitsu to Judo, for more continuous and realistic training. Nor do I think the spiritual/philosophical aspects are necessary for something to be an "art." More often than not, the spiritual aspects we find in many eastern arts are the direct result of the cultural influence of the person who founded the style. Nothing like that is an inherent part of things like neck-snapping or gonad-ripping.

With this noted, and continuing the devil's advocacy that seems to be defining this thread, then when does a white belt become a Martial Artist? Is it when the student decides to dedicate themselves to learning the system? Does it require a certain amount of training time? Is one not a Martial Artist until they can display proficiency in a style? I know these questions aren't for me, so please forgive me. Imho... A person is a MAist from the moment they step unto the floor for class, aka, that white belt, for example. Proficiency achieved through training isn't a parameter for BEING a MAist, not in the slightest. As in any endeavor pursued, there's a plethora of levels of proficiency, aka, beginners, intermediates, and advanced. That beginner, on their first day, are just as much of a MA as I am, per the manner of which I believe what a MAist is/isn't, after my 53 years on the floor. The question wasn't, What is a proficient MA?? Just, What is a MAist??!! Back to my mechanic thingy, the mechanic that replaces one part after another until the car's fixed, is just as much of what a mechanic is as a mechanic that fixes a car expeditiously through proper diagnostics; mechanic 'A' isn't as proficient as mechanic 'B', however, they're both mechanics. These questions are absolutely for you, Bob, and anyone else with a take on them!

I see. I only get to the KC area once every few years, so I'm not familiar with instructors in the area.

Lots of good comments here. I think I'll take this from the instructor's point of view. For one, I would not be angry with anyone who quit attending my school. Life happens. Now, if I had someone that was a 2nd degree, and had committed significant time and hard work in training like that, and they just up and disappeared, I'd probably want to get into contact with them to check in. I'd ask how they are doing, how things are going, and ask about the training. If they'd say they just aren't into it anymore, I'd wish them well. But, I'd also mention that I'd hate to see them give up on their training, especially after investing so much in it up to that point. If the student mentioned that they were going to train in another style, I'd wish them well there, too, and support their efforts; at least they are still training. I'd also offer to them that the door is still open for them to train at my school if they wish, as well. That's my take on the subject, from the instructor's point of view.

Bob, I empathize with your pain here. Your organization has been punched in the gut quite continuously over the past decade. To the bold above, I would say this: it is true, you are not Soke or Dai-Soke. But, I would say this: YOU ARE ROBERT MITCHAM!!!!! AND FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE SHINDOKAN, YOU MUST CONTINUE TO BE ROBERT MITCHAM, AND IMPRESS THE MARK OF ROBERT MITCHAM ON THE SHINDOKAN, AS SOKE AND DAI-SOKE WOULD EXPECT YOU TO DO SO, THE ONLY WAY THAT YOU CAN! I say this with the utmost respect to both you and your former Soke/Dai-Soke, in that they probably never expected you to be them; they expected you to be you, and they knew that you were more than good enough to lead after them. You just have to do it the way you can do it. And I KNOW you can and will do this. I'm very sure the absences are noticeable, and like any, they will be for some time. But, time heals all wounds, and these will heal as well. If you feel that you have failed, that's fine! We all get knocked down once in a while. You just have to get up! Knocked down 7 times, get up 8! Use the memory of your fallen comrades to drive you forward in honor of their memory, and prepare to take the Hombu forward the way I know that you can. You've got this, Bob!