bushido_man96

I would echo Danielle's post here for the style of TKD I do. We don't allow head punching, but head kicking is allowed in our sparring, so we do high kicking in sparring. In self-defense, however, the role of kicking changes a bit. Many times, we will deliver a kick that is lower level after securing an arm or wrist in some sort of lock. Or, the lock or restraint could cause the attacker to bend over, making a lower level head kick possible to end a confrontation.

Those are some big numbers! The numbers on the kids were quite revealing, as well.

Fantastic! Loved the Darth Vader/Emperor touches at the end.

Thank you, Bob! I probably won't sharpen it, with the boys running around and all. But I will enjoy it immensely! An understandable point about the boys. CAN the sword be sharpened, I wonder? Look forward to see its resting place of honor, and hopefully, you'll post the pic!! I will, Bob.Here is a picture that should work: http://www.karateforums.com/img/photos/bushido_man96-sword.jpg

Practice getting to the chamber position, and then pivot the foot and the hips at the same time, then go back to the chamber position and neutral foot position. The back leg side kick is a "long" kick, and is not one usually used on its own as an offensive kick. Its better in a combination of moves. Perhaps use a reverse punch from a front stance as a set up move to help you get into the side kick position. Perhaps you could post us a video of your kick, and we could provide some better feedback to you?

Thank you, Bob. We finished up the State folk style tournament this past weekend, March 28 and 29. Kendall went 2-2, and his 2nd loss was in the match that would have sent him to the medal rounds. He won two matches by pins, and lost his first match to the national qualifier that has been popping up this season. Kendall lost 4-0 to that kid, if I remember right, and that kid went on to win the state championship. His last loss, he lost 3-4, and really could have won that match. He was getting ready to turn the kid and would have been able to rack up the back points needed to get the win, but the ref stopped him and was going to penalize him for an illegal move. But the coach went out and contested it for him, and after another ref was brought in to interpret the rule, the coach was right, but the damage had been done. The ref had stopped him from completing the move, and Kendall was turning him at the time. After they were reset, the kid was on bottom, and he turtled up and stalled for the rest of the period, but the ref didn't call any stalling. So, he could have won that match. Now, for the follow-up from the week before. After both of his losses, even after the last loss that the ref had a hand in, Kendall came of the mat like a little man. He was upset, but he held himself in check until he was off the mat, and then I met him when he came back to our seats. I embraced him, and I told him how proud I was of him, throughout the whole tournament. We cried together, and talked about it, and we got all the emotions out. In the end, Kendall had a fantastic season, and he wants to keep learning and improving. We plan to hit the gym in the offseason, and he is all in on going to the Freestyle/Greco club, so that will start up soon, as well. So, onward and upward. I'm so glad to be on this ride with my boys.

Have not heard of it, but it might be worth a look. Many times, hearing that its someone's own style sends up red flags, but its not always a bad thing. They may have some solid experiences that they have built the system on, and could be worth a look. Let us know if you check it out!

Thank you, Bob! I probably won't sharpen it, with the boys running around and all. But I will enjoy it immensely!

Thank you, cathal, that means a lot!

Hello, all! Sorry, I've been busy with work, and we spent the last weekend in Topeka with state wrestling, and I ended up sick on Sunday to boot, so I've been off-line a while. I wanted to jump in here though, as a forum thank-you is well overdue. I was very, very surprised when I saw this package on my doorstep. At first, I actually thought it was something our daughter had ordered and had delivered to our house! But when I pulled it inside and started opening it, with the help of the boys, of course, I was just kind of dumbfounded, trying to figure out what it was. I got it opened, and I was shocked to find a very beautiful longsword with what looks like kind of a Templar theme on it. The only way I knew where it came from was with a simple paper printed with a knight on it, stating, "From Your Friends at KarateForums.com." I just could not believe it, and I totally did not know what to think! I posted a pic of it on Facebook after I got it opened, and then the replies coming into my Facebook feed started answering my questions. Here is the picture from my Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155354908745585&set=a.10150735836615585.710966.707435584&type=1&theater When the responses started rolling in on the Facebook feed, I viewed the link to this thread, and also the video of Patrick, sensei8, wastelander, and tallgeese on it. All I can say is that I was and still am truly touched by the kind words in that video, and how truly lucky I am to have met the friends that I have at this forum. I feel like this forum has given me so much in my life and Martial Arts journey, with the people I have had the privilege to converse with and even meet with over the course of my time here. I can begin to thank you all enough for the support and this wonderful gift you've given me. I've rambled on now, so I'll close this post with a simple, Thank, you, to all of KarateForums.com. You all mean so much to me.

At the school my son and I attend, we start off with three basic (kibon) forms before we study the Taegeuk forms -- and these basic forms primarily use front stances. I remember when I first started learning the Taegeuk forms, I felt the same way as you do. After a while though, I came to really enjoy the short walking stances. Specifically, I came to enjoy the transitions from the walking stances to long stances, especially in Taegeuk 2. One thing I do like about the transition from the walking stance to a technique in a front stance, like from moves 1 to 2 in Taegeuk 2, is the power I can build in the punch driving from walking stance into front stance to punch. That is one place where I see some nice use in the transition. But when I transition from walking stance to walking stance, like in moves 1 and 2 in Taegeuk 1, it doesn't feel as nice, and I feel like I am choking my power potential. But, I also know that in self-defense, one won't always have that kind of room to work with, so moving from short stance to short stance and retaining power is an important concept to develop. Reference the bold, I agree completely. Thank you, I appreciate the compliment. One of the more satisfying things for me in forms practice is learning the body control with the techniques.

I liked the 2nd version better, but Kanawaza's was a very nice presentation, too. The third version you have looked like a totally different form. It was very slow and deliberate compared to the first two, and I noticed that the kicks were front snap kicks as opposed to side snap kicks, and the jumping technique towards the end wasn't there, that I remember. Version 4 was quite a flurry, and I saw similarities to version 3, but some differences, too. Version 5 seemed different, as well, but the slower cadence helped me to see what some of the moves where doing. This was an interesting comparison. Thank you for sharing it!

By and large, I think the lack of its overall presence in these circles has more to do with its lack of popularity and availability. Think about why arts like TKD and Karate have become so popular in America; it had a lot to do with military presence in Korea and Japan, and military personnel bringing it home to America. The American military didn't have that kind of exposure to the Chinese Martial Arts, and by and large, we still don't, when you compare it to the number of Karate and TKD organizations that are out there. I think these factors probably have a lot to do with this, but I'm just spitballing here.

This will come with time. The more you practice and hear the words, the more you will associate them with the proper actions. A quick Google search brought up this website, that has a pretty extensive list of terms you could study up on to help you out in class: http://www.traditional-karate.com/karate/terms.html

I've got Taegeuk 2 learned now, here is a video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsL8lkiNtVM These Taegeuks are still awkward for me, with the short walking stances in them. I feel like I really have to halt myself from going into a front stance. But with this form, I stay pretty consistent with ending on my starting point. I am also going back to edit the post on the 7th gup material, where I laid out our TTA high orange belt form, Bo Chung. I promise that I will try to get back on track here, and get the 5th dan material up this week. Stay tuned!

That is cool! Maybe he'll have a good chance of making the roster!

Congrats!

I agree with John here. Don't let this situation overtake your training as a whole, and if you let it affect how you train with her when she gets back, it will likely upset her. Its a contact sport, and these things will happen from time to time. You've apologized, and that's all you can do, really. I can understand feeling bad about it, but don't let it consume you. In the end, it will all be alright.

3/23/2015 TKD Forms: Chon Ji, Palgwe 1, Taegeuk 1, Songham 1, one time each. Dan Gun, Bo Chung, one time each. Palgwe 2 x2 Taegeuk 2 x2 Songham 2 x1

Kendall's young; he'll learn as he gets older! Besides, he's a very lucky young man...he's got Vicky and you...great parents!! Thank you, Bob. Kendall had a bit of a setback this week at the District Championships. He had a decent day, and he got 2nd, which I will never complain about. But he was argumentative with the coaches during matches, which isn't a good thing at all, and he just can't do. He also let his temper get the better of him, and long story short, he ended up costing his team a point. He was very upset, and although I wanted to be supportive of him in his loss, I really couldn't, because I had to address the attitude issue, which we did, and he apologized to his coaches before we left that day. After all was said and done, though, he is advancing to the state tournament for a second year in a row, which is a great deal.Now, with the first practice of State week coming on Monday, I had spoke with him throughout the weekend about the incident at Districts, and I told him that he needed to approach the team as a whole before practice got started, and apologize for his actions, and for not representing the club appropriately. I discussed this with him, and was supportive about it, and told him that although it might not feel good to do it, he would feel better about it afterwards, and the main thing was taking responsibility for his actions, and basically "manning up" and owning the incident. So Monday rolls around, and he goes and tells coach he wanted to address the team before they got started. Coach got the team together, and led them over to the other side of the mat room, away from the parents, where he could address the team on his own. At this point, I didn't follow him over to listen in or make sure he said what he needed to say; I let him do this on his own. I watched from a distance, and after he said his peace, his team mates lined up, slapped on handshakes and gave him a hug, and then they did a team breakdown, and warm-up began. I was very proud of Kendall. I asked coach what he said, and coach said he spoke very well, didn't stammer his words and was pretty articulate, and he thought he would tear up and break down a little, but he didn't, and coach said he did a very good job. I told Kendall on the way home from practice that I was very proud of him for doing that. I told him I wasn't proud that he had to do it because of what happened to lead up to it, but I was proud of him for how he handled it, and it showed accountability and responsibility. And now from here on, he knows he needs to work to do better. With all said and done, it was a good learning experience for him.

Congrats!

I think that 3 years old might be a bit too young yet. There are some 3 year olds out there that can focus well enough for a short class, but I think the age of 4 or 5 is a bit better, but each child is different. The best thing to do is talk with the instructor, and see what his/her opinion is. As for the change from Shotokan to TKD, I wouldn't think it would be too much of an adjustment. As with anything, there will be some learning curve, but with diligent work, you will overcome it.

Its hard to do for fans, but taking a step back and looking at the team as a business, which is what it is, you can start to see the wheels turning as to what is going on. As much as we'd like to have our teams keep all of our favorite players forever, it just isn't feasible, nor practical. When Tony Gonzalez left for Atlanta, I understood completely, and wished him well. He's still one of my favorite players, regardless of where he played after KC. The older I get, the less and less I get attached to players.

It was mostly a knowledge test. There were 6 plays that I had to know and demonstrate. I also had to demonstrate all of the Posta stances), both unarmed and with the longsword. Most of it was answering questions about Fiore's history, what certain concepts meant, and what was happening in Europe at the to me Fiore was active. I like that, but the history part of it would interest me. I'd be digging back into the manuals...and that's so much fun.

That's great! Congrats! What did you test consist of?