bushido_man96

If I ever do, we will come look you up, for sure! You could probably help me out a lot with sparring...its my weak spot, for sure. You mention the way the pacing is laid out for the tempo of the forms. I guess in our association we are allowed a bit more personal interpretation. But, we don't have the sine wave motion to add in, so it changes the dynamic of what we can do with the moves, as well. His sine wave isn't nearly as pronounced. I really liked watching his form a lot better than the others I find.

This is a good analogy.

yes I'm using two hands,,im using a slight angle to cut into the power point of the kick. Are you angling into the kick, or away from the kick? Typically, I angle away from the kick, so I have room for a counter.I'm angling slightly away from the kick. Thank you. It was kind of hard for me to tell from the video.

sorry for the later reply.My internet went down for a few weeks.. You start within the first month of training depending on how fast you pick up the basics. That's cool. I'm of the opinion that applications training should start very early in training, and continue to be refined from then on.

Welcome to KF!

Thank for the review. It sounds like a very interesting book. I enjoy reading anecdotal things, and to hear about the experiences of others in their training. Definitely worth looking into.

The Cowboys are still rolling along. Are you keeping track of how many carries Demarco Murray has so far this season? If he breaches the 400 mark, then I hope for your sake they win the Super Bowl this year. Four hundred carry seasons tend to be the last good ones for running backs. KC is up and down, and they just can't stay consistent on offence. I'd like to see the wide receivers involved more, and Travis Kelce, too. They should have beat Arizona, and now they have to scratch and claw their way to get into the playoffs.

We did not watch the same movie....

I don't say it contributes to power. There are claims that sine wave does contribute power, but in my opinion it has to come from the more natural sine wave motion that happens when moving in a natural motion.I did say the guy in the video had good power, but not necessarily as a result of the sine wave.

Nice review. The few times I've used a half guard has been to try to just hold on and keep the other guy from getting into a better position. I just don't know what to do from there.

Yikes, that looked painful!

He makes a lot of great points, especially about being able to navigate while on the ground. Its not just as easy as "get back up." There is also something to be said about doing something because you enjoy it.

News here from the MMA Underground: http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/449196/Fitch-Le-and-Quarry-named-as-plaintiffs-in-class-action-suit/ Cung Le, Jon Fitch, and Nate Quarry are fighters named in a class-action suit being filed against the UFC. From the article: What do you think? Do they have a case? Is the UFC curbing the ability for other promotions to compete? Or have they just done such a good job of branding and getting out there that everyone else has to play catch-up? If you'd like to read the 63 page demand for a jury trial, you can find it here: http://www.cohenmilstein.com/media/pnc/5/media.1675.pdf

Not too long ago, the UFC announced a deal with Reebok to become the official clothing sponsor of the UFC. On the heels of this announcement, Reebok has announced partnerships with Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones: http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/449203/Reebook-announces-partnership-with-Jones--Rousey It appears they will offer insight on training apparel and equipment, along with footwear. I'm interested to see the fighters' thoughts on this.

Here's an interesting story: http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/mickey-rourkes-boxing-opponent-admits-to-taking-a-dive-for-dollar15000/ar-BBgSm6F?ocid=LENDHP I didn't even know this fight took place. Now, one side is claiming a fix, and the other is not. I'm not sure if either side can prove their story, and I am not really sure that I care, either. Was anyone else aware of this fight? Did anyone see it? Did anyone think the fix was on?

I agree that this is really a good place to start from. Lately, I've been trying to share a little bit of form knowledge with them, what the name means, and all that. I shared it with them on the white belt form, and now I have them asking me what their form means, too. Its good to keep them thinking. For all of our black belt testing candidates, we have them write a one page essay, typed, answering questions about what TKD means to them, and what their goals are after grading for black belt. We also have to submit essays for each dan grade after to the Grand Master for testing. I submitted my 4th dan testing paper as an article here.

You are right in that it has changed a lot over the years. But a lot of this is due to context I think. How do you make Taekwon-Do look different from and be "better" than Karate (and Kukkiwon TKD)? Introduce this movement called sine wave. It seems many people went the route of bigger being better without fully understanding why. Now it's becoming more and more refined and we are told to tone down the movement and pull it back to something more useful rather than something that is just different. I often wonder if sine wave isn't (in some places) taken to an extreme that it was never meant to go. Something meant to be a way to demonstrate how power is generated taken to a sometimes comical extreme. I've seen (again, in some places) people trying to put sine wave in where it seems odd, awkward and out of place. Almost as if sine wave itself is the technique, instead of the kick, punch or block. This is a very good point, and at times when I watch ITF forms, I get that feeling, as well.Here's another version of Do San that I have saved to my playlists: This guy has pretty good power, but lots more sine wave, especially in the punches. In my opinion, they take way to long to set up, and the sine wave, the way it is done here, presents a huge telegraph. The sine wave also stymies combinations in the forms. When I do this form, at the beginning, its outside block, then a slight pull-back of the hip, and then punch. Then a quick adjustment step to the other side, we call it stepping "one line to two lines," and then boom, we're off. Also, the two punches after the wedging blocks and front kick are a quick combination, no pause to set up the sine wave.

HU Lee's goals in creating his form system was to emphasize kicking more, since TKD was known as a kicking style, so he began to implement more kicking into the forms from early on. These jump front kicks that we've seen so far in the ATA forms are a jump front kick that the students in our school do in orientation and every day in basics. And through the first four forms, we've seen the basic kicks of front, round, and side, with some variants. With diligent practice in class, the students pick up on the kicking techniques like they do the hand techniques. It really goes pretty smoothly, I think. We do the movement with the arms crossed in front, much like you do. I chose this link because he doesn't do the sine wave. I do like this one, as well! Nice find, thanks for sharing that here. Yes, you also noted the difference in rank between when you do this form and when we do it. I'm guessing you would already be doing this form, but we have Bo Chung added in between Dan Gun and Do San. That's the one. Thanks again, Danielle! I'm glad that we can really take the time to break these down a bit and look into them more. I'd love to see some more thoughts from some WTF/Kukki stylists, as well.

You are right in that it has changed a lot over the years. But a lot of this is due to context I think. How do you make Taekwon-Do look different from and be "better" than Karate (and Kukkiwon TKD)? Introduce this movement called sine wave. It seems many people went the route of bigger being better without fully understanding why. Now it's becoming more and more refined and we are told to tone down the movement and pull it back to something more useful rather than something that is just different. I guess this has been my biggest issue with what I have seen with sine wave usage. Its touted as a natural movement, like what happens while walking. But the movement has mutated into something that is no longer natural.

Most forms are done with visualization in mind; that is why most techniques have a specific target. Even if you are taking the most basic block/punch/kick applications into account, or visualizing the strikes as attacks to certain areas, then that is still application. Simple, perhaps, but still application. From there, our students move into applying basic technique in the form of one-steps, which helps to visualize applications further.

Danielle, have you looked into Stuart Anslow's book From Creation to Unification? It has great sections on the histories behind the names of the ITF forms. I've read, and really enjoyed it: http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Unification-Complete-Histories-Patterns/dp/1906628556/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418760363&sr=1-3&keywords=Stuart+Anslow+in+books

FYI, for a comparison of taekwondo forms, see also http://taekwondo.wikia.com/wiki/Taekwondo_Forms Thank you for the link. Its quite helpful!

6th gup/grade forms.... ATA Songham 4, camouflage belt (yes, camo belt) form: We see 31 moves, along the rectangle diagram on the floor. For those not familiar with ATA forms and philosophy, all the forms fall somewhere along the diagram of the Songham Star: http://taekwondo.wikia.com/wiki/File:Songahm-Star.jpg Being the fourth colored belt form in the ATA, you can start to see an increase in the number of kicks and kicking combinations in the forms. A reverse side kick is added, and can be seen as part of a combination, along with a second kick combination, utilizing a jump front kick, and followed by a front kick. The form has 10 kicks total. The single back leg side kick can also be a challenging kick to do. You can also see another double block with both inner forearms done from two stances, back and middle (or sitting, if you prefer). Sparring stance is also introduced. Not many new single hand techniques are introduced, but you can see them being used in combination in this form. TTA Do San hyung, low green belt form: This video is more like the way we do them in our school, with some differences in hand position for chambering and what-not. 24 moves, with some of the form veering off on angles before coming back in line. It starts with a very strong block/strike sequence that we see switch to the other side, before moving into a spear hand strike with the off hand reinforcing underneath the elbow. Following that, we have the strange spinning into the back fist technique. So we see some advancing footwork that requires the student to pay attention to detail when performing this section of the form. We see the wedging blocks, followed by a front kick and finishing with strong punching combinations, and one can see the applications with this segment pretty easily, I think. I really enjoy doing this form, because I feel that the movements are kept pretty short and compact, and I feel I generate a lot of power in this form. But still, its the fourth form in our curriculum, with only two kicking techniques in a style renowned for its kicking. GTF Pattern Jee Sang: 24 movements here, mostly with lots of blocking, and it kind takes the 4-direction approach of Chon Ji, with the + pattern. The first part of the form does knife hand down blocks, and closed fist middle inner forearm blocks, and then it switches, going to closed fist down blocks, and middle knife hand blocks. We also see a rising front kick, like a stretch kick, in this form, followed by a side kick, and then a front snap kick while retreating, followed shortly by a side kick while retreating. So we get some interesting concepts in this new form, and more kicking techniques than in Do San. Palgwe 4: 26 moves. We see at the beginning a very similar sequence to the beginning of Won Hyo hyung, which will be next up in our review here. It also shares similarities with a Karate kata, but I don't know the name. I'm sure one of our Karate guys can help me out here, though, and we can throw up a link to compare them, as well. Following that segment, we see a similar segment to that in Do San with the spear hand strike, followed by a turn and a hammer fist strike. In TKD fashion, though, a front kick is added into the beginning of the segment. The form pretty much repeats itself, as well. I find this form very interesting, especially as it looks like a hybrid combination of Do San and Won Hyo. Again, we see only 2 kicks. Taeguek 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q66i338xIpA 29 moves. We see some consistency between these three older forms, with the spear hand strike and reinforced elbow. This form also adds the two-arm movement of knife hand high block and upset knife hand strike. In the TTA, we don't see this until brown belt with Choong Moo hyung. This form also adds a kicking combination using a back leg front kick followed by a punch, and then two back leg side kicks (which I think is technically difficult). This form has 6 kicks total. It also presents an interesting block/kick/block segment with a back leg front kick, landing back behind where it started, followed by an inside block (or could this be a strike?!). This form has some interesting turns at this point, as well, where the body turns one direction, and then the inside block comes from the other, which appears weird to me. We also see a dramatic decrease in the number of walking stances, and more use of the front stance instead.

I've still never seen the first.

Cyborg is still fairly decent. As long a you can get over Van Damme acting like a robot. ...or is that a robot, trying to act like Van Damme....????