bushido_man96

It'd be great to be able to split kids from adults in my school... not enough students, though. I frequently end up being paired off with a 10 year old green belt to train (he's the only other green belt who currently attends.) They to have us practice throws on each other... Incredibly difficult! He weighs like 70lb, and is about 4" tall. I'm 5'10" and 185lb. I do like the fact we have a total of 2 hours per session in our school, though. I agree, and our school has bounced back and forth between the split classes in the past. Currently, our classes are mixed, but the instructor has made a slight adjustment in the class structure to help out a bit. For basics and forms, the class just runs as normal; basics all together and forms by rank. But when we line up for one-steps and sparring, adults face adults in the front of the room, and kids face kids by rank towards the back half of the room. Its nice, in that adults stay paired with adults and kids with kids, so there aren't a whole lot of mismatches.

I think there are several points to consider here. For one, I think a lot of instructors tend to train alone more than with a class. All too often, they spend their time instructing the class, and not working on their own things. With that said, it can become difficult to really understand what it is your body is doing without a peer or superior rank watching and commenting on it. Now, having said that, the other side of the coin is that this is improvement and not otherwise. As we perform physical actions over and over again, the movements we do become in grained in us. This is often referred to as "muscle memory," but it probably has less to do with the muscles and more to do with the nervous systems and how the motor pathways affect it through the movement. The more often we do the same movements, the more ingrained it becomes in our body, and thus the more easily it appears that we are able perform a task that we have repeated over and over again. If we see the same person doing the same thing everyday, we don't notice the incremental changes that take place (like boiling a frog, I guess). After a period of time it occurs to us (perhaps due to some kind of reminder of the past) that there are differences there we did not notice before.

I once read an article that discussed a surgeon who warmed up with Katamari Damascy for at least 20 minutes before he would operate. That's pretty cool. The exercises the physio gave were just trying to touch each finger with your joint and squeezing a stress ball. Xbox was more fun Them my kids will have quite the dexterous fingers! Its great to hear your good news, Danielle!

I agree most wholeheartedly with Brian!! Now, there's the dictionary definition, then there's the MAist definition; oftentimes, they're both worlds apart!! Yes, I agree with that. I'm not a fan of the dictionary definition of what a Martial Art is. It obviously wasn't written by a Martial Artist.

Congrats, Devin and Noah! You are both great members of the community and the staff! Thank both of you for all your contributions!

Interestingly if you do the Chang Hon forms, virtually all start with a defensive movement and with the left arm. The two that do start with attacking techniques, Ul Ji and Tong Il, start by stepping backwards. I always heard this was because the General said Taekwon-Do is supposed to be primarily used for defense and not in aggression. As to why it's a left hand first, the training convention in ITF TKD is to always start blocks with the left and attacks with the right when doing line work. Which seems logical, blocking with the left hand and then counterattacking with the strong right hand (for most of the population).

Again, the word style here is being used differently by us.

I think that a major component that comes along with the "mental" aspect of fighting is the discipline required to train. That's what drives fighters to get to the gym, to watch their diet, to make weight, etc. And it takes a lot of mental strength to maintain that discipline in training.

MatsuShinshii, that is a very solid post. Great points all around, and I think you nailed the point. Could we split even more hairs on this topic? For sure. But, I think you've nailed it down very well.

I agree, that it is seen across the board in many fields. I would tend to believe that this most often (but not always) manifests in the younger crowd, with the exuberance of youth. I think its quite common, even for youth to start challenging their parents. I think its the confidence that comes with being younger, stronger, and faster (in their physical prime) that causes them to overstep their bounds and believe they know more or know better than they actually let on. I guess I'm fortunate in that we don't experience a whole lot of this at our school. In DT training, I see it show up at times. When questions are asked, usually in the form of "what if?", the system works well enough to answer those questions. In TKD classes, usually after time using the applications in class, the experience comes through and answers those questions.

I'm inquiring what fellow instructor's or student's class schedules look like for their schools. How many days a week does your school offer classes? What times? Any specialty classes? Our school offers classes Monday through Thrusday for adults and kids. Right now, these classes are mixed, and run from 6:00 - 7:00 pm, but can run as late as 7:15. We also have out Little Lions program, for kids 5ish - 8, and that is offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:15 - 5:45 pm. We used to have a kicking class, but that has gone by the wayside, as has our black belt classes. Years ago, we ran Combat Hapkido as well, have not for many years now. I'm curious to see what kind of schedules other schools run, and what kind of classes they offer.

2/28/2018 Strength Training Press: warm-ups: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x5; work sets: 112.5x5, 112.5x5, 112.5x5. Lat Pull-downs: 130x10, 130x10, 130x10. Barbell Curls: 52x10, 52x10, 52x10. LTEs: 50x10, 50x10, 50x10. Taught TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Basics, forms, one-steps, and then some paddle kicking drills instead of sparring. Worked on back leg switching front or round kicks, depending on the rank. 3/1/2018 Taught TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Basics, forms, one-steps, and sparring. Another good-sized class, but the kids sparring group was considerably larger than the adult sparring group.

It sounds like things are going great!

Bob, its probably likely that you've used up the greatest gains (in your case, losses) that you are going to see. Much like strength training, you can make serious gains early, and the stronger you get, the harder it is to make more significant gains. I think its the same with weight loss. You've lost a bunch, and now, the losses are going to become more incremental, and probably not show up as great unless you make some serious adjustments to your diet, which you may not want to do. The other point to consider is that you are a big guy. And I don't mean a fat guy. You are fairly tall, with broad shoulders, and large frame. Which is good, and means that you will be more likely to carry a little more weight than others. But, I think this is good weight, so long as you keep with your diet and exercise. All that said, I think you've done a great job and are on a great track, so don't get down on yourself now that you've plateaued a bit. Keep working at it, and realize that the victories will just be smaller from here on out.

I haven't heard or seen anything since, but I haven't been actively looking, either. Danielle, any updates that you know of?

I think its popular to throw out that 90% number, but I'm not sure how accurate that is, because being in good physical shape is important, as well. But, I do think that the larger portion of the fight is mental, as there are so many mental hurdles to get over in order to actually engage another human in combat.

I wonder if it has to do with the majority of the population in human history being right handed. If you step to your left to start the form, that puts the right hand side, which for most of us, is our power side, back, which is the usual position for generating power with an attack or defense from the right side of the body. Subsequently, it could be that the initial attack from a threat is with their own right hand, perhaps grabbing our left wrist, or left shoulder, or otherwise attacking with their right hand, thus forcing us to defend with the closest tool, out left side.

I have both of these books, and quite enjoyed both of them. I have quite a few of Kim's books, and have found them all to be quite useful. I recently finished reading Ch'ang Hon Taekwon-do Hosinsul: Self Defence Techniques From Ch'ang Hon (ITF) Taekwon-do, by Stuart Anslow. This book is the next in line of the Anlsow series, and he has, in my opinion, become quite the ambassador for ITF style TKD. This book is well organized, and formatted like Anslow's other books, which I like. There are some grammatical issues I've noticed here and there, but those aside, I think anyone looking for some Hosinsul ideas that tie in with the ITF forms for their classes will find some useful ideas here. Aside from laying out various techniques and applications (and referencing movements in the patterns when applicable), he lays out approaches to safely and effectively train hosinsul, from the initial learning and practicing of the techniques to applying them with some resistance. As with any self-defense techniques, some of them make me wonder, "will that work?" But, I'll leave all doubt aside until I've actually worked with the techniques as he's described them. A last note I would make concerns his approach to grappling. Anslow if very clear in this book that TKD lacks grappling, and that this is a concern for the style, and he recommends seeking out some instruction from a grappling instructor to help fill in these holes in TKD's curriculum. I commend Anslow for this. With that stated, he does go forward and provide a few basic grappling techniques for an opponent mounted and choking, or striking, or pinning. These are pretty basic, but are a good starting point for an instructor not versed in grappling. Overall, I feel that the book is a good resource for anyone looking to either add regular hosinsul to their training, or looking to find ways to augment and improve their hosinsul training. I've enjoyed Anslow's other books, and this fits in with the rest of them, and is worth adding to your TKD library.

It sounds like Funakoshi was familiar with the benefits of following the stress-recovery-adaptation cycle. Wise man indeed.

I agree here. Rest can help out a lot, giving your body time to recover. I also agree with changing up the routine. This is easy if you are the instructor in charge of the classes, but a little more difficult if you are the student with no input into class activities. I find that taking some time to do some reading and research really help my motivation.

I try to explain as much as possible in as brief an explanation as possible. Too much talking and not enough doing doesn't help improve technique, nor practice application. Brief explanation, then do and do and do. Explain a little bit more to correct something here and there, and then do and do and do some more. Shade in a little more correction and keep on doing. That's my philosophy.

I'm a member of the WTSDA so the late GM JC Shin, who was a student of GM Hwang Kee. Very nice.

I'd disagree that Krav Maga is not self-defense, because I've trained and used aspects of Krav Maga for self-defense and for defensive tactics. I can kind of see how what you mean when you reference "styles," but I don't really agree with it.

Those are rather advanced kicks, so it sounds like some good work to me. I'd love to get that kind of bag work in every class.

I saw your other post. But it sounds like its starting to feel better, which is great news! 2/23/2018 Strength Training Press: warm-ups: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x5; work sets: 105x5, 105x5, 105x5. Lat Pull-downs: 130x10, 130x10, 130x10. Barbell Curls: 47x10, 47x10, 47x10. Lying Triceps Extensions (LTEs): 40x10, 40x10, 40x10. 2/26/2018 Strength Training Press: warm-ups: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x5; work sets: 110x5, 110x5, 110x5. Lat Pull-downs: 130x10, 130x10, 130x10. Barbell Curls: 50x10, 50x10, 50x10. LTEs: 45x10, 45x10, 45x10.