bushido_man96

If you are just learning, and are "twirling," then start with the foam. The back of your head and your groin will thank you for it. Then, as you increase in skill and confidence, move to the wooden. If you are not just twirling them, then jumping right to the wooden ones might be ok.

I agree and disagree with tallgeese here. I agree with him that if you are looking for something practical, then knife, gun, and club are the way to go. You can carry a folding knife in your pocket, you can acquire a conceal/carry license in most places, and you can keep a stick or small bat in your car without drawing undo attention to yourself. I find little league style wooden bats quite handy. So, you have three legal weapons on or near hand at a lot of times. When it comes to the nunchaku, especially the practicality thereof, I think its important to find the right instructor. I think what many Martial Artists do with the nunchaku is pick them up and twirl them around and try to look cool. This is not the practical use of the weapon. Find someone that knows the combat applications of the weapon in order to train in it practically. To get an idea of what all that twirling does, hit a heavy bag with the 'chucks a few times, and see what happens. It will be eye-opening, for sure. But I think many instructors just teach the twirl factor of the nunchaku, so be aware when being taught.

Absolutely. There is nothing wrong with pushing to your limits, but not that far. Here's to puke-free training!

I feel your pain, MP, as far as the time constraints go. Working rotating shifts and doing all the family stuff tends to be hell on the training schedule, and now with the injury, I do even less training. Priorities will work out, though, and things will get better. Keep the faith!

I heard about this incident. Good for him. I have no doubt there was some trash talking while he waited for the police to arrive. On a another note, I think this provides a good example of how to handle a home invasion. I'm sure he would have been justified in using a higher level of force, but it appears he did enough, and I personally don't see how he can be held liable for any kind of injuries on the intruder.

That goes on for a year or so, no worries It's about that long until you've gotten enough live reps that you actually feel like you have the answers. Then something really weird will happen and you'll think you're back at square one. That is no joke there. The stuff we see on a daily basis. Its almost never mundane. I can just imagine what you see in a more populated area like you work in. What bothers me right now is my frickin' bum arm. Its like its just dead. I can't do much, can't lift weights, and one of my goals this year was to get into the 1000 lb club. Can't do much TKD right now either, and any kind of joint manipulation training is pretty well out of the question right now, too. So, I see myself watching the Incredible Hulk and The Avengers many times over for some Hulkish inspiration. Maybe I'll go do a Hulk-out on the Wavemaster with my one good arm....

Check out a Cabella's or a Bass Pro Shop. Barring that, you might check into some youth AAU archery competition stuff; they may have info on where to get what you need.

You and I have very different views of "pleasant," my friend....

It does look like a fun activity. Definitely not for everyone, but I bet my kids would love it, for sure!

In my experience, the body pukes when something is wrong. Why would I want to train until something is wrong? Not my style. I hate puking.

Tension side kicks, or as my first ATA instructor called them, "concentration side kicks." What you do is do your side kick out slowly, then rechamber slowly, making the leg muscles fatigue throughout the course of the movement, thus building physical and mental strength. In my first days in the ATA, when you might say we did more "traditional" stuff, our classes would follow a fairly regular routine. Line-up, warmup and stretch, then do forms and one-steps. Then two lines down the center of the room, and do sparring. We would spar for a bit, then face each other, bow, and rotate, and do this for around 15 minutes. Then, we would go grab a spot on the wall to do concentration side kicks. We would use the wall for balance, and the instructor would call out "chamber," then hold it there for however long, then call out "execute," at which time we would kick out sloooowly (that is the key) to full extension, usually between a 3 and 5 second kick, and then hold it there until the instructor would call out "rechamber," and then, he would call out "return" to set the kicking leg down, or more often than not, call out "execute" to kick back out. Rinse and repeat for as much anguish as desired. Its a great leg conditioner, and great for side kicks. Ah, I miss the good ole days.... 10/1/2012 AM and PM rehab at home, 30 minutes each session. Worked on back kicks, standing with a footstool about a foot and a half tall behind me, working on getting the chamber up above the stool before kicking out.

I think its the lack of ground fighting that prevents the lulls. It is fun to watch. I wish Olympic TKD took more of a route like Kyokushin.

Nice. Side kick is tougher for me, so I don't do a lot of breaking with it. If I do, I keep it at about gut level. I can do it higher, to the head, but never have attempted a break at that level, let alone cap blocks. Its also great that you've practiced the kick so much that you can see what will play out when you execute it. I can kind of do that with my round kicks. And you're right, a little won't do. Lots of good practice.

I don't think there is anything wrong with not focusing on head kicks in a style. They aren't for everyone, and not everyone likes to do them. But, that shouldn't lend itself to a philosophy that higher kicks lose power over lower kicks, especially when its more a matter of personal preference than proven fact. That's all I was really getting at.

Ah, yes, extremely helpful. Especially if you have quite a few forms to keep memorized. I try to do that at times while driving at nights. It helps keep me awake.Good suggestion, darksoul.

I think your flow looked better in the second video; memorization and repetition are the two best ingredients to help flow, and I think you've made improvements there. The only other thing I can see is perhaps getting a bit more power in the linear movements, using kime like the others above have suggested will help there. Think of relaxed but tensed muscles striking out, and then tightening upon contact with your target. Maybe just a bit more hip engagement on such moves, as well, but otherwise, it appears to be coming along nicely.

I currently have to lay off training because of shoulder surgery. My arm still hurts after a month of recovery, and I don't do much with it at all. So, I've been taking a few days of the week doing some bag work with my left arm, or doing some kicking work from youtube videos. Yesterday I did just some sets of back kicks in the living room between reading chapters of a novel. I think next week, after starting work back up, I'll go to the gym and do some walk/running on the treadmill, or work on the bike. Little things just to keep me moving.

Congrats on the award, DoctorQui! Well deserved!

Watching the first video. Its quite a difference, how some of us would love to be able to spend that much time a day training, and how some, like the kids, do it to help their families.

Boss Fight....classic!

I enjoy it myself. Good fun all around!

Being in TKD for most of my career, I'm kind of acclimated to 9 or 10 belt systems. I think they are pretty decent belt systems, too, as I've been able to see through testings and tournaments how the progress tracks as the students keep moving up. I don't see anything wrong with belts systems with fewer than 9 belts, either. In the end, it really depends on the goals of the system or the instructor, and how they set up the advancement of the system. To me, its interesting how many Asian systems have the use of the belt systems, whereas many Westerns systems don't have one, but the skill levels are more readily identified in one's ability to compete with others, and the skill levels are revealed in that context. So, in regards to how many belts might be needed, the answer could be none. In the end, I think its up to the goals of the system.

Welcome to the KF Black Belt Club, Dobbersky!

That's kind of what I was thinking. I try not to get that far into it. I can't think of a time when I trained until I puked, but there have been a few times I thought I was on the verge of doing so. I made sure to stop then.

9/27/2012 AM - 30 minutes of rehab. Kwonkicker front kick tutorial. Back leg and Front leg kicks, stepping back leg kicks, shuffling front leg kicks, using both the bag and kicking without the bag - 20 minutes. Afternoon - 30 minutes of rehab. TKD Testing - 6:30 - 8:00. The instructor asked if I would be able to judge, as we had a girl testing for black belt. She did a really good job, and I could see that her technique had gotten so much better. There were several colored belts that tested as well, and everyone did a pretty good job. 9/28/2012 AM - PT at the clinic for an hour and 15 minutes. Afternoon - 30 min. at home. 9/29/2012 AM session - 30 minutes. 9/30/2012 AM rehab 30 min.