bushido_man96

OneKickWonder, why do you think that Krav Maga is not a style?

Which ones do you skip? Do you also have shotokan forms? Ones in the black belt ranks. The lower ranks are all pretty much intact.

It sounds like a very different approach. How long have you been training this way? It does seem odd to me that a TKD school wouldn't train the basic kicks in the floor drills, but, there could be a method to his madness.

I agree with sensei8. Tang Soo Do is derived from Shotokan, and depending on the style your in, you'll find the forms to be very similar. With that said, it you will probably find differences in how the classes of each are done, what they focus on in class, etc. But this is true with a lot of Martial Arts schools of same or similar styles. Like sensei8 mentions, checking out the other style might be worth while. Some instructors tend to get hinky about their students training at other schools, so just be aware of this. If yours is not this way, then great. If you choose to do this, please let us know what kind of similarities and differences you come up with.

The idea of forms applications came to me very late in my MA career. I'm a TKD stylist, and applications had never been a focus of our forms study. With that said, there are a lot of resources out there that are worth looking into if you are interested in training forms applications. Of all the training materials out there, I prefer books, and there are quite a few good ones out there (in my opinion, anyway). If that is the way you want to train with your katas, then I'd recommend finding a willing training partner, and start with one of the forms, and take some time to really start digging into it. It would make for great training, I believe.

I agree with Spartacus Maximus. If its a self-defense demo, then doing practical self-defense against attacks that the viewers will understand as common or oft done attacks will be the best way to go. Don't worry about flash, but focus on effectiveness. The best way you will be able to reach someone in the audience is by them believing that they could perform the techniques that you are doing.

Congrats!

Strictly used as a block, only against an attack that is coming straight down to the top of your head, like a hammer blow coming straight down. Otherwise, I like to strike with it straight up into the neck area.

You also need to take into consideration whether or not you'll run the risk of getting your classmates sick. Persistence is a good thing, but if some of your classmates get sick, they won't appreciate your dedication as much as you do. Taking a few days to heal up and get better will be much more beneficial to your training in the long run.

That does look interesting.

Welcome to KF, Jason!

He was enjoyable to watch.

For some reason, I can't view your video. Sorry, I'd love to offer some input.

Well, the picture wouldn't come up. But, I do have thoughts on this kick in general. First off, the run isn't what's important. When I do this kick, I take the two steps, and instead of thinking about really going forward, I tend to use the steps to start "bounding," and then when reach the jump, I really throw the kicking leg up hard, and focus on jumping up instead of forward. Now, the kick. Really focus on tucking that trailing leg. It helps make the kick look higher than it might actually be, and if you really pull that leg up and back into that tuck position, it helps you lock the hip of your kicking into position for that nice "pose" we all like to see. And its functional and powerful that way. Finally, the landing. When I land, I land on the trail leg with the kicking leg in the rechamber position, then chamber my blocks, then set the foot down and block strong, finishing in a good stance. Hope that helps. If you can somehow get the picture up again, that would be great, but even better would be a brief video of you doing the whole kick. Its hard to see a lot in a snapshot.

My school is Sun Yi's Academy, under the Traditional Taekwondo Association (TTA), and we do the Chang Hon forms without knee spring. However, we don't do all the forms that the ITF does.

Thanks for chiming in, singularity. I hear ya when it comes to having training on the backburner. Its been a rough go for me, getting maybe one class a week in. The solo workouts are going to become the key for me, if I can get to them. Its also great that you have room to train at home. It never seems to be ideal as we would want it to be, but its better than nothing.

Do they have a "Contact Us" button? Yes but should I have to ask? Wouldn't it make sense to state whether its greco Roman orR freestyle? Or do most clubs train both? Suggestions on how to improve their website would also be another great use for their "contact us" button. I'd recommend doing so in a courteous and professional manner, however. I have sent an email I have not heard of a Wrestling club outside of kids clubs or in schools, so that would be new to me. If its in the US, it could be either folk or freestyle/Greco. Folk really only tends to be popular in the US; the rest of the world does freestyle and Greco. Perhaps its a club that offers all three, and attends competitions for all three. But if the competitions are tied to the AAU, then I'd be willing to bet its limited to freestyle/Greco.

I like the pie pan drill, Bob. I've not seen that one before. I agree with what was mentioned above in that control is something learned over time, and proper training through the ranks should be tailored so that control comes more and more with higher ranks. One of the primary ways we learn and teach control is through the practice of one-step sparring. It helps the students to learn target areas for techniques, which tools to use, and over time, they learn to get their techniques closer and closer to the target without actually striking it. It also helps the practitioners learn when their technique is going to strike, to stop it before it does so. As this training advances through the ranks, more and more control shows up in sparring. The difficulty in sparring comes in the instructor keeping a close watch on the levels of contact that is made by the students, and determining what is acceptable and what is excessive, and then making sure to stay consistent.

I think you nailed it. I think it ends up being a psychological thing more than anything. Flipping a training switch, in a sense.

Quick update here. Kendall pulled out a third 5th place finish at the Salina Tournament of Champions two weeks ago, and this last week both Kendall and Kenneth placed third at Plainville. Kendall's year is tough, but he's doing well for the challenges he's facing. His main challenge is cleaning some things up in practice and not letting himself get beat mentally. Kenneth is still learning, and is coming along a bit better every week. We are taking the next few weeks off, regrouping a little, and also trying to get everyone in the house past the cold and flu going around.

The Eagles’ defense wasn’t exactly stellar either. They made one big play. Granted, it was at the most important moment (which is what makes great “great”), but I think both teams struggled defensively. Struggled might be a strong word though. I think both teams played very conservative on defense, trying not to give up too many big plays. It seemed like they were ok with allowing a long drive and tried to tighten up significantly in the red zone. The 1,100+ yards of combined total offense makes me think both teams were playing a “bend but don’t break” defense. Add to that both QBs had stellar games and the receivers didn’t drop anything. I agree with you here. This game came down to who was going to have the ball last, and when the Eagles scored but gave Brady and the Pats a little over two minutes to drive, I was sure they were going to score and win. That fumble happened right when it needed to for the Eagles. Congrats to the Eagles and their fans on winning their first Super Bowl. Hopefully, they won't wait as long as the Chiefs do to win their second... Congrats to Tom Brady on playing in 8 Super Bowls. Think about that, that is half of a regular season's worth of games played in the Super Bowl! He's played almost a full season's worth of games in the AFC title games. It will be interesting to see how much longer he can keep this up.

The playoffs have sorted themselves out, and now we have the 2005 Super Bowl rematch of Pats/Eagles. Who you got? I'm taking the Patriots. It was a nice run with Foles filling in for Wentz, but I think the ride is over now.

Why am I moved down a level when I dominate secondary level guys who apparently block with their head and can't parry a jab?? Why aren't they moved down? Isn't it more important if you can actually fight? I have seen their bag work, and some of them where quite good and fluid. It didn't matter one bit once we sparred. That would be a great question to ask your coach. It could be that the difference between the secondary level and the intermediate level is that much greater.

Anytime!

Another tournament down, and this one was pretty rough. Kenneth was doing well in his first match, and he probably could have won it, but he was in a scramble and ended up grabbing the kid's head, and the kid ended up taking him to his back and pinning him. He lost his second match to a much taller opponent, and then won his third match, who was a pretty spunky little gal with just a few practices under her. Kendall had a really bad day. To start things off, he was put in with the weight group above his, so he was giving up weight a few times. I don't know what the deal was, but he didn't wrestle well at all. He is either afraid to tie up, or afraid to shoot, or both. And when he takes his shots, he's taking bad ones, and then he gets landed on, worked over, and eventually pinned. One kid he has beaten twice threw him in a headlock and pinned him in the first few seconds of the match, which was his second loss of the day. His first match, he seemed like he didn't want to tie up, tried to avoid the kid, and it just didn't end well. So, we've got a project ahead of us, most of all to get his confidence back. It was an 0-4 day, which is not typical at all.