bushido_man96

You could also try to dig up the "Fight to Survive" song from Bloodsport. You can't beat that "Kumite! Kumite!" chant in the song...

I'll second this, for sure. Never take the blame for someone else's actions. That gets you no where, and leaves you accepting blame that you don't deserve. If you start down this road, its a long ways bad, and you'll never do anything again without taking into account the guilt that could result, even if you can't control it. With that aside, I am glad to hear that you are ok, Keri. Seeing as you blacked out, things could have ended up a lot worse. I'm glad that it didn't. It sounds to me like you were blindsided. Not much training can help prepare you for the blindside attack. Like some of the other have mentioned, working more on situational awareness can help to prepare you for these things better. Keep an eye around you, looking to your flanks to see if someone else is coming in to the fray. Lastly, don't feel so ashamed to not return to Karate, let alone test. Keep going, keep training, and keep fighting the good fight. Learn from it, and you will get past this, I am positive. Keep your chin up, Keri.

I have several of Master Cho's books, and I have not been disappointed by any of them. I haven't read them for quite some time, but I do need to so that I can drop some bites on them here, too. One thing is for sure, even as old as they are, they still have some good stuff in them. The way that Cho teaches sparring, really shows how TKD can work.

It really has come a long ways, hasn't it?

Wow, that takes some skill to be able to put together. Very cool.

4-22-09 Cardio Bike: after a warm up, I did 5 minutes at just over 100 rpms, then rested at around 90 rpms for 5 minutes. I did this twice, and rode for 20 minutes. Light stretch afterwards.

So do some front snap kicks and blocks in the park. Just do what you know; even if it is basic, someone will pick up on it.

Yeah, I've been looking at it from that point of view, and trying to think of things to do to change it up a bit. I think I need to attack more, but it hasn't been working for me. So, I'm looking into it...

I think you should be pleased, as well. Its good that they get some of the JJ type of stuff in their bunkai, and the fact that they recognize it like this shows that that they are thinking about it, too.

Maybe its just me, but I don't see the negative approach taken by adults in our school that it sounds like some here are suggesting. Even if they may be thinking "what are we doing?" they aren't always bringing it out in class, and many in our class are working hard and trying to learn the new stuff.

To work on kicking for power, I would get to the bag as soon as you can, and do some rounds. Make it move for you. Also, if you are into repeat kicking (same leg kicking, not setting it down), I'd drop that, too, and work on more combinations that work from one leg to the other, or that move forward, using the same leg, but setting it down each time. Just some thoughts.

Yeah, you might want to look into a Judo gi of some sort for grappling; they are more durable.

In your case, the bag hits back, eh?

Hey, you and me both! I agree, especially with the fading. If you notice the position of the kicker's base leg foot in that video, you can see that he only pivots to about 90 degrees. If that is the case, then that kick isn't going to deliver a lot of power past where the kicker finished it, because he has cut off the use of his hips and has effectively stopped his kick on his own. At that point, any target not directly in front of him isn't going to receive the optimum power of the kick. I'd never seen that approach before, but I like it!

Wow. Fantastic performance.

Whoa!!!

I just try to push through. I think about how my dad always taught me to work hard, and try to feed off that at times.

Sounds good to me.

The problem that I have with the first 3 is that you can get caught up in feints rather easily. On the street, this may not be a concern, though. I prefer to look at around the waist area, or the chest area, and then let peripheral vision do the rest. Looking down at the feet usually is inviting the hand from above, in my experience. Good thoughts, Bob, and thank you for sharing them.

I have had poor luck with pressure points, as well. However, in my profession when you have passive resistance, things like this may come in handy.

I didn't see much of it yet, but the man has always been...interesting. I followed his career early on. He as a force to be reckoned with. I haven't seen anyone since with the kind of power and fury that he fought with. This show might be interesting.

Well, it does sound fishy. I don't understand why it needs to be done, though. Just take what you are, and go with it. Let actions determine what people feel, and not a bunch of pieces of paper.

Great ideas, whitematt and akedm. I like them. Keeping the kids moving is the key to success, I think. With that said, I do think that 3 is a bit young to be starting out. My son is 3, and I don't think he is ready yet. Once he turns 4, he can start doing some other sports, like running, maybe soccer, etc. I would rather him get into things like that first, and then get him into the MAs when I think he'll understand them and enjoy them. I don't recall at what age kid's Wrestling starts, but I do want him to get in on that, too. At least try it. If he does well, there, I'll look into getting him more into TKD. My other problem is that I want to have more restraint on when he tests and moves up, and not the instructor. I want him to be good, and to be ready, and I want to spend time on him at home with it, too. I just want him to enjoy it, and to stay motivated. My instructor has his 3 kids in TKD, and they have been since they were all about 4. I can see that they are burning out, but since they are the instructor's kids, they keep coming. I don't want to do that to my kids.

Meh. A guy with horrible personality issues that made him a poor student who, through large amounts of work and natural talent, devised a number of principles of fighting which - had he actually tried learning from his teachers instead of bopping around looking for the next flash in the pan as soon as they asked him to put in a bit of work building a foundation on - he would have been taught. I don't think he was looking for "flash in the pan" stuff. He looked at Boxing and Fencing, two things that have been around for a very long time in one form or another. He did do a lot of research, and what he found useful he plugged into his training ideas. I don't think he espoused a "learn this, then this, before you can learn this" approach that is found with kata and bunkai. I think that Self-Defense is something that an MA instructor can begin to teach from day one, not only after time has been spent learning basics and forms. I think Lee's approach was if you were going to learn a form, and eventually learn to do it with a partner (bunkai), then why not just go straight to the partner work, and take your feedback from there?

Hey, you're welcome. I'm glad it got you looking around. I'm also pleased that I was able to expand your vocabulary a bit.... I had to take that class in college, and I learned lots of really big words in it.