bushido_man96

Thanks bushido_man96 for watching my video. I hope more then you to watch my videos The shifting to generate force is very important. The power always starts in the legs. Someday I will do complete video on force generation,but have to leave the best for last..I have not even gotten into weapons training yet... Thank you for sharing these videos with us. I really enjoy them. I'm curious, do you have a school that you teach out of, or do you train outside for the most part, with just a few students?

Welcome to KF!

I know I've been slacking a bit in here, but we are getting ready to make the state run now, so I hope to get things fully updated here soon, so stay tuned!

I've seen these dobok before. It just seems odd to have one rule normally then to ignore it for competition. There must be a reason surely? Wrestling is so much easier; the club usually provides the singlet. Thank you, Heidi and Iceman, for laying out some of the nuances of WTF competitions. I was not aware of them, and had not ever seen those rules explained in any of the books I've read on WTF TKD. I couldn't imagine an ATA black belt having to learn all those forms for competition purposes! So, Iceman, what do you do for the students that you have that want to compete? Do you mainly go to open style tournaments, or AAU events? If I recall, I think the AAU accepts WTF, ITF, and ATA forms now for TKD forms competitions, but I don't know if they only do rank-specific forms, or not. Do you have some students that go to compete at the elite-level tournaments? Also, once you become an instructor level black belt, are you required to learn the remaining black belt forms in order to provide the knowledge to pass on to those that do go to elite-level competition?

I agree. That sounds odd.I think that 1-on-1 training is a great thing, especially early on in the journey. However, being able to train in a group has several advantages, as well. Training with other people can be motivational, giving your someone to push yourself against. Also, its good to be able to work with various partners of different body sizes and gender in order to learn how to augment techniques or strategies against them. Working in a group also helps to build camaraderie, which is great for training. Enjoy the personal attention while you have the opportunity, but also try to seek out others to train together with, as well.

Simple, correct explanation.

Thanks for showing these applications. It seem so simple the way you demonstrate them, but I'm sure that there are a lot of little details I'm missing out on. I try to watch your hips move, and in this video I could hear your feet shifting on the ground, as well. That helps me to "see" where the power is coming from.

You are making valid points, chiliphil1. Many TKD schools have programs that they gear towards younger students. If our school didn't have a program for younger students, and the gym business that the school is run out of, then it probably wouldn't be around. We just don't have enough adult students. I wish we did, but we just don't, and I don't know how to fix that. So, many schools need those kids programs to keep the doors open for the few adults that take classes.

Thank you, Bob. It really is written with the beginner in mind, providing good information for a TKD practitioner that is just starting out, or for someone searching for a style to study, and looking for information on WTF TKD.

Of note: WTF Black Belts 1st Dan and up who choose to compete in Sport Poomsae must learn all Black Belt Patterns through Unsu...it is a daunting task for a new Shodan. I will agree that the patterns are short but the details are challenging. I didn't realize that, and it seems a bit daunting, indeed. If that is the case, then why have the forms assigned to ranks?

I'm glad that you enjoyed it! I'm sure it provides a nice physical challenge, to boot. 84 moves is a long form! Let me know how you progress with it. Be sure you don't add it to your curriculum for your classes, though, as the ATA has copyrighted their forms. But if you are just challenging yourself with, by all means I'd say have at it!

That is undoubtedly true but after 2 years of good training your basic punches and kicks should be at a functional level. You should continue to practice and improve them of course but I think you reach a level of diminishing returns where you can put in a huge amount of time to make your punch a tiny bit better. Maybe some of that time would be better spent working on other areas. I agree here as well. There is a point of diminishing returns, and time is better spent improving other skills to augment the ones already gained. Some TKD schools may advance through colored belt ranks quicker than some Karate styles, but they make up for that on the black belt end, where most TKD styles have set times between each black belt rank before becoming eligible to test. I would also add that there is so much more to TKD than sport. Its still a traditional Martial Art, with many of the same basic techniques as Karate styles. It does offer the added physical challenge of jumping and spinning techniques, yes, but proficiency in that area does not come without having good, solid foundations in basic techniques. No, there is nothing wrong with being modest. But when someone constantly insists or alludes to that fact that they are "modest," then it becomes a bit much. Some become so modest that they become indignant towards the idea of becoming a higher rank.

That's great to hear! Keep up the hard work!

You guys are welcome. I'm glad you like it.

I like these. The more I watch, the more I am seeing some things that look similar from Wrestling. That first transition your coach demonstrated, it looked a lot like what wrestlers do when the sit out and then gizoni an arm that comes over the top. A wrestler then hip heists out, and is ready to go to work. Here's a version of it: Again, not the same, but I see some similarities. I really liked the structure you mentioned in making the hip shifts on the knee/elbow escape you showed. That will be helpful. Again, thanks for sharing these videos. They are great!

Early on in my TKD career, I switched my sparring stance to spar southpaw, although I'm right-handed. I did that for years, and I got pretty good sparring from that side; so much so, that switching to orthodox took some time. Now that I am in law enforcement, I switch back to orthodox more often in class and training, mainly to get into the habit of always keeping my gun side back.

Solid post!! Yes, solid post, indeed. You put it very straightforward, but it speaks volumes.

These are some interesting tidbits, and I thank you for sharing them. Its nice to hear the insight of those who have experienced it.

Congrats!

As I understand it, all ATA forms are based on the same floor pattern, the Songahm Star, an 8-pointed star-shape. http://taekwondo.wikia.com/wiki/Songahm_Star Not every ATA form uses the entire star though. Sok Bong uses an "hourglass" floor pattern within the star. Here's a diagram: http://frontiernet.net/~bovitz/tkd/documents/sokbong_form.pdf Thanks for posting that, truejim. Yes, all of the ATA forms fall somewhere along the Songham Star pattern, but since I've never learned this one, I wasn't sure where it fell. I think the only ATA form that might follow the entire star is the 9th degree form, but this is just what I have heard.

Ok, got it. I noticed they were done quicker, but I wasn't sure if it was chalked up to individual preference or what. Thank you.

Very good points, Iceman. Its not something I would have thought about, to be honest. In this form, do they still teach that balancing sequences should be for about 10 seconds, like in Taebaek? It is an interesting dynamic. If I recall properly, the ATA founder, GM HU Lee, came from General Choi's system, and I think was at least a 3rd dan under him. So he would have been familiar with most of the forms, and the grading setup. I think one of the reasons that the ITF had multiple forms per black belt rank was because there is so much time in between gradings once they get to the black belt ranks. That way, they always have something to work on.

Bonus TKD coverage this week! I'm making up for being slow last week, so here we go with 4th dan coverage! 4th dan ITF tuls: Yon Gae: Ul Ji: Moon Moo: Yon Gae: 49 movements, once again along the + diagram. We see a circular motion double ridge hand guarding blocks, not unlike the ATA's black belt circular movements, an X-checking block, a reverse knife hand low block, reverse knife hand W-shaped block, an inner forearm waist block, twin straight forearm checking block, and a low inward knife hand block (ridge hand). Most of the strikes are familiar ones, in different stances, but we see a downward back fist strike, a long fist punch, with all four knuckles extended, and a flying knife hand strike. The form starts out in what appears to me to be a herky-jerky motion, with a technique forwards, then one going backwards (but still to the front), and this continues for the up/down section of the pattern diagram. It doesn't seem to go much more than a stance forward or backward (which would work well for me, keeping it on the line). When the form starts to go side to side, it looks like it gets a bit of a Poe Eun feel to it, until the student turns backwards for a reverse hooking kick. There are also a couple of jump reverse turning kicks in the form, as well, adding a bit of challenge. I do like the short, burstiness of the beginning of the form, where you have moves you can commit good power to before moving to the next move. Ul Ji: 42 movements, with a floor pattern that looks like -L, kind of, but the left hash is connected to the top of the L. Many similar movements, in different stances. There is a twin side fist horizontal strike, a palm pushing block, inner middle forearm wedging blocks. As for kick, there is a flying high kick. We see some more kicking in combinations in this form, and the "flying high kick" appears to be a jumping front kick that must target high section. We also see target kick into an elbow strike, and a round kick/reverse kick combination (it looks like a reverse or spin side kick as the second kick). We also see the familiar pressing X-block followed immediately by the rising knife hand X-block, but its followed by a high reverse knife hand strike, with the lead hand being a reinforcement on top of the elbow, which may allude to a grab-and-pull into the strike. There is what appears to be an awkward side kick performed with the fists on the hips, coming from an X-stance, which I wonder about. The jump kick is referred to in the Encyclopedia as a "mid-air kick," but appears to me to be what I have always called a jump reverse side kick. A really interesting move is where the inner forearm wedging blocks are executed simultaneously with a front snap kick, which makes sense that the counter should happen fairly quickly upon blocking. There is also a very long step at about .30 in the video where he goes from a sitting stance with the right foot back, facing the front, and the right foot step all the way around, counter-clockwise, to a right front/walking stance; a very long step, like a 270 degree turn done in an unnatural way. Moon Moo: 61 moves, on the trusty + diagram. Here, we see a very challenging kicking form, and along with that, we see balance challenged. We see several slow execution blocks in a one-leg stance. We see a side pushing kick, a side checking kick, a side thrusting kick (with the ball of the foot doing the striking), a high twisting kick (which I'm out on...), and slowly performed high reverse hooking kicks. There are consecutive kicks herein, with a slow side kick followed by quick side kick. A high reverse turning kick, performed with the leg straight, challenges the student to kick with all that momentum and then stop, before setting the foot down. This will be a challenging form. GTF 4th dan hyung, Sun Duk: 68 movements, and on a very odd floor pattern. It also starts out in an odd manner, with the ready position being sitting cross-legged with fists on top of knees. Its named for Queen Sun Duk of the Silla Dynasty, and the diagram represents "Lady." It starts with a kneeling side kick/hooking kick combo, then gets up and goes from there. We see the GTF hallmark of lots of kicking techniques, especially jumping kicks, in this form like the past GTF black belt additions. We see combos like inner crescent kick to jump spin inner crescent kick, a high hooking kick followed by a flying hooking kick, etc. There are also standing kicking combinations like a front snap kick followed by a back leg side piercing kick. There is even a high twisting kick followed by a jumping twisting kick. Another tough one is the middle outward vertical checking kick, which then has to stop its motion and go into a consecutive side thrusting kick. We also see a 3 kick combination where there is a low side checking kick, followed consecutively by a high side thrusting kick, and then followed by a high reverse turning kick. The form finishes by going back to the knees with kneeling kicks, and ends in the same starting position. Another challenging GTF form. WTF/Kukki 4th dan Poomsae, Pyongwon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKEoLlu0SYM 25 movements, along a straight line --. It means "plain" or "vast field of land," thus I thin fitting to covering just a straight line, or plain. It has a very Poe Eun or Naifanchi feel to it, as it goes along its straight line, but the WTF wasn't afraid to go facing to the side along the line to throw in some kicking combinations, so it has its own flair as well as the Poe Eun feel. What I see as interesting is that it starts going one move to the right, and then goes left, with a knife hand block, to an elbow strike going away from the forward facing, then a front kick to reverse side kick combo, before facing forward, and we have two pulling back fist strikes. Then stepping along the line like Poe Eun with double high elbows to the side in cross-leg stance, to a mountain block, to a crane stance and diamond block, then into a hinge block (fists on hips position, still in crane stance), and then the form begins to repeat shortly thereafter. A very straight forward form, with some challenges with balance in the crane stances. ATA 4th dan Poomsae, Sok Bong: 84 moves. This form moves into doing some work on the floor, too, but in this form, we see a spinning heel kick, followed by a sweeping hook kick, then follows the kneeling round kick. The form continues a bit longer than the others on the ground, coming up to a more erect one-knee position while blocking and striking before rising completely. We see some familiar moves in the U-shaped punch, and an open-hand wedging block. Posing an interesting challenge are the jumping front kicks that go into three different directions, and you only get to land on one leg when going from one kick to the next. We see jumping kicks followed by standing kicks, which we tend to see the other way around in other forms. We see slow blocking a lot with both hands involved, and a palm pressing block that I don't think we've seen in any ATA forms yet. We see a consecutive front/round/hook kick combo followed by a step into a hook/round consecutive kick combo. And then an interesting upward arc hand strike or grab, maybe grabbing the chin(?), and then a hammer fist strike. After repeating some sections, the form finishes with a flurry of circular blocks from one side to the other, and then back to the ready position. So, there we have it, 4th dan forms. All challenging, all tiring to do, and all presenting lots of challenges for the TKD practitioners.

This is just a side note, but I've been re-reading A Killing Art, and after all that happened in regards to the relationship between Korea and Japan, it seems a strange juxtaposition for their to be a Japanese TKD team, with a Korean coach. But, that was all years ago. That is a big help, thank you, Danielle. Like I said, I'm focusing more on the width of my front stances, as that's going to be the easier aspect for me to issue quality control on. If I try to compensate by making my back stances longer, I will have trouble moving out of them, and that will make the forms look worse, and kill my mobility and flow. Thanks for sharing the competition version of Yoo Sin, as well. I thought it looked good, and I noticed that the arc-hand block/punch sections seemed to be done as a faster combination. Don't sweat the target kick section; that same thing happens to me often. I try to pivot my base leg early to help me keep my balance more as I turn into the kick, instead of swinging my leg and pivoting at the same time. That seems to help me a little bit in retaining my balance. But sometimes, it just feels like my leg "catches," and I end up dipping and botching the techniques.

Thank you, Bob. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I read it to Kendall, and now I think he understands that as much I push him, he understands that it isn't about winning, but more about being his best. I think it kind of clicked with him.