bushido_man96

Welcome to the Forums, and good luck on your testing. Please let us know how it goes!

Welcome to KF, Ralph! I hope you find a MA school to your liking soon.

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

Bolo Yeung could be the host. Does he still look intimidating?

I see what you are saying here, but our school requires the patches to be on the uniforms. So, what would be a better option, in my opinion, for those who like to dip elsewhere, is keep a plain white gi in your possession so you don't have to worry about it.

We don't do Juche, but I do have the form in a book somewhere. Maybe when I have lots of free time, I'll look into some of those other ITF forms.

If you get a lot of class time, then use your free time to work on the fun stuff you like, or something in particular in class you want to spend more time on. Also, there is nothing wrong with just doing form review or basic movements, either. A guy named Loren Christensen put out a few books called The Way Alone, Solo Training, and Solo Training 2, with some good ideas in them for just that purpose. I have read all these books, and they have some good ideas that you can use verbatim, or tweak to your liking.

In a case like that, it would take lots of self-discovery. I agree that having an instructor present is the better alternative.

Punishment and reinforcement aren't necessarily the same thing. Think of them as reinforcement.

I guess we should decide what "rank" means here. If rank is a correlation to ability within the style, then I think that would mean that time in grade is only part of what you would take into consideration when considering what rank someone is. Normally, I don't think there is anything wrong with the amount of time set between ranks. But, when you decide to force someone to work through the required time in rank for each rank, and you don't evaluate their skill level in comparison with your other students, then you really aren't doing anyone any justice, and you take away the main point of the rank system. In my opinion.

This is one of those times when "rank doesn't matter," until it does. I agree with DWx. We don't know what the set up of the school is like, so we can't jump to a McDojo label right away. Like my school, we have a recommended black belt, but its still called a 1st dan. But if other schools choose to do it differently, then who cares?

My knees were killing me for a time from doing TKD for so long. I started doing squats at the gym, and my knees got better.

In my organization, instructors get a solid stripe around the collar on the dobok.

I've taken shots there a few times. If it became a habit, like 10 times, then I would wear a cup. I can't imagine ever getting used to that.

You could look into getting a pair of athletic glasses, with the strap to keep them more securely attached to your face.

heh I was just looking at it as an excuse to eat more I don't even need an excuse.

You need to look at what your goals are, and see how you can use your diet to affect those goals. If you are working out a lot, and want to get stronger, you will likely need to increase your caloric intake. If you are looking to drop some weight, then decrease it. Eating fresh foods is always good, but depending on your level activity and metabolism, you can get away with less than healthy stuff from time to time.

They are usually smaller meals, and the protein shakes can act as a meal replacement. However, I don't think there is that much evidence against 3 meals a day, either.

7/19/2012 TKD Did 15 minutes of basic work in my living room. Blocks and hand techniques while moving in stances; no kicks today. Worked up a bit of a sweat, but my shoulder is not responding well to the minimal work I have done. I hope its just soreness, and not something else at this point. But it probably is.

My current form, Yoo Sin, is a pain in my side. I just don't like the form. However, I've probably found myself liking some of the self-defense applications I can pick out of it.

That would be a great time!

So should someone with this much skill go to a tournament in his new style and be allowed to trounce the colored belts he is competing with? Who is that fair to? This is just one example of when skipping belts can be beneficial to all involved. Also, it has to do with an instructor's ability to recognize the skill level of the students he has. If you have a white belt doing black belt level technique, then that white belt probably isn't learning a whole lot from hovering needlessly in that rank, unless the material is so radically different that it affects his ability to learn it properly. And again, this is on a case by case basis, depending on the evaluation of the student. Not everyone will skip ranks. Some may be capable of skipping more than others. And some schools and instructors won't allow it at all, and that's fine. I think it can be a bit of a narrow-minded approach at times, but its a personal decision for each to make.

It does sound odd, but I can see what they are doing. The TKD styles I have been in have "recommended" black belt ranks, but we still called them 1st dan. This could just be a different way of doing this same thing. Although, I don't think it makes sense to call one a black belt but not a 1st dan.

I agree dedication is something you can't have too much of. But, if you find yourself always run down and unable to shake the soreness, you might need to take an extra day off to recover. But you might not feel that, either. As time goes on and life changes, you may find you don't have as much time available for training as you once did. So take advantage of it while you can.