bushido_man96

Congrats on a job well done!

Congrats to your instructor!

This is a problem that I have in sparring, and have been trying to correct. Our sparring sessions are tough to get any trapping or slipping work in, because no head punches are aloud, and it seems tough to do this to body punches. I usually just cover and move in. Working the angles to get in comes a bit tougher for me, but I have been working to improve it.

I think Rateh might be close. Not all testing go the same, and not all instructors think alike. So, it could be fallout from that. After all, you still passed, so that is something to look at positively. As for how the testing was conducted, keep in mind that there is always more than one way to skin a cat. Different instructors have different approaches. I would ask questions, if you have concerns. Like all the others have said, approach tactfully, but don't be surprised if you get outright rebuffed. Sometimes, instructors will feel that they don't have to justify their choices from testings to students. Hopefully, your instructor is a bit more open-minded than this, though.

I see a lot of this from beginners, especially when doing one-steps. I make sure to point out to them that if they had to reach for it, then there was no need to block it in the first place. I use this as a way to help them learn to judge distance better. Its a good tool.

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody.

Good luck!

My main concern would be if it was someone who wanted to show up to class in a white belt to try to push around some of my students. If this was not their intent, then I don't mind so much that they withheld information. However, I might inquire as to why they felt like they could not share the information forthright.

I agree here. My middle brother played football up through college, and Wrestled in high school, as well as doing TKD for a time. He is tougher than I am, and he can handle pain pretty well. He played a few weeks of football in high school with a bad shoulder, because if he would have gone to the doc, he knows the doc would have told him to sit. He wouldn't. His arm was hurt so bad that he was hiking the ball with his right hand, and then throwing it up into the D-lineman after hiking. Pretty much played a game with one arm. That said, I don't think I could deal with quite as much pain. However, with getting banged and clashed in sparring, I have found that at times, you have to work around the pain. You either protect it by switching a stance, or you grit your teeth and work through it. I would also say that there is a difference between just pain, and an injury. My brother had an injury. I don't think I have really ever trained or fought through an injury like that. Still, both are a demonstration of toughness.

Welcome to the Forums. From what I have read on the history of Karate, it was developed for the most part as a civilian-based self-defense system. You could look into research on Tuite or Touidi, or Naha-Te. It also has some Chinese style influences as well, notably White Crane, and I think Chuan Fa, but I might be off there. Jujitsu was more of a combat-based system, as it is the modern incarnation of what was taught to the Samurai for hand-to-hand. I am no Karate expert, by any stretch, but this is what I have garnered from my reading. Others probably have better info for you. I hope this helps out.

Take Wado and I dont think the foundations transfer easily. I would say that student would be at about 3rd kyu before they start to get these down. This would mean training for about 2 years. Does Wado fail in your eyes? I think the foundations of the techniques in the style might be different than what is needed for effective self-defense skills. Learning simple strikes like the palm strike, and teaching how to drive power into it from the ground up, along with being able to cover and move can easily become part of the early curriculum of any style. Also, de-escalation ideas and what to do post-fight, as well. If it takes 2 years to cover things like this, then I would like a different approach. I would like to see my school do more things like this, but it doesn't. These are the things that I feel are just as important to instill in students as the material for the next belt test. I agree. To me, it just seems like the balance should be implied.

This brings up a good point about the strategy/style comparison. If someone has no prior MA training, and takes up learning what we would call in the law enforcement pedagogy Defensive Tactics, which would likely consist of a bunch of RBSD training, then wouldn't they be a Martial Artist, with RBSD as their style? Now, on the other hand, as a Martial Artist with the bulk of my experience being in TKD, I can see how bringing in RBSD skills to augment my training would make it more of a strategy. Perhaps it can be both?

I enjoy a good car chase, and the one in the movie you mention is a great one. I like to read about a good car chase, too. Clive Cussler, my favorite fiction author, writes a good car chase scene. His book, The Chase, is a historical fiction novel, set in the early 1900s, involving train and car chases. Really good stuff.

I took it in college, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I don't know if I would have taken it in high school or not. Probably not, though. However, I think that if it is offered, then that is a good thing.

11-25-08 TKD class: 6:00 - 7:00. Class was smaller this evening, so we got to do some form review. It was a good time. I didn't get too tired, and managed to stay strong throughout.

I like the good old punches. I'll use a spin hook kick at times, but it really isn't my bread and butter. I like to block, cram, and punch, and then round kick on the way out.

That's what I would guess. General Choi was making a major push to consolidate the Korean Kwans under his umbrella style that became the ITF. I recently read some history provided by rmclain on his GM concerning this movement, and some in Black Belt Magazine as well. What was different with Oyama is I think that he stayed in Japan, didn't he?

Throw/takedown. I guess it wouldn't have to be a flat out Judo-type launching, but a takedown and finish wouldn't be out of the question.

10-4 here. Unfortunately, I think that many Martial Artists tend to overlook the value of strength training, especially the legs, for fear that increased muscle will decrease range of motion or flexibility. The only thing that is going to decrease flexibility is not stretching. Along with doing the typical squats, leg extensions and curls, try to find the machines that work your hip adductors and abductors as well. Those muscles help to contribute to the holding up of the leg while kicking. Along with the leg muscles, you will use your abs a ton when kicking, especially the oblique abdominals (along the side of your torso). I agree here, too. One of the things that I see and correct a lot of as an instructor is the pivoting of the base leg. You have to focus on the base leg just as much as you do on the kicking leg for complete efficiency. If you are interested in some reading material, there is some good stuff out there. The Achieving Kicking Excellence series is a good set of books, and each book focuses on a specific kick. I have 3 of the set so far, and the others should be just as good. Here is the one on the Roundhouse kick: http://www.amazon.com/Roundhouse-Kick-Achieving-Kicking-Excellence/dp/0970749686/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227766479&sr=1-3 And for some old-school stuff, I recommend GM Hee Il Cho's books: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Complete-Masters-Kick/Hee-Il-Cho/e/9780929015019/?itm=3

According to a brief in Black Belt Magazine, he holds a 6th dan in the art. The brief also stated that he may have began his MA training in Sambo, which wouldn't be an outlandish claim in Russia.

I am all for correct foundations. I personally enjoy the technical aspects of TKD that I have been doing for years now. The challenge of acquiring the technique is great. But, I think that done the proper way, it is possible to teach good foundations that can transfer easily to self-defense, therefore benefiting the beginner student early on, as opposed to having to wait years to feel confident in defending oneself.

Aye. In Kumite for this purpose, how would you arrange the rules, or scenarios, or any other aspect that you would be looking at for testing a technique?

Although I see your point about it being a concept, I do think that it can be a representative style, much like arts like Krav Maga or Systema have become. But on the other hand, you have guys like Hockheim who tend to teach more of the concepts, and you can take it no matter what style you do.

I think that there is a misgiving about how easy the throat is to strike. Unless you are fighting a guy who likes to thrust his head forward and his chin out in the "give my your best shot pose" for the entire confrontation, then striking the throat straight on is not as easy as it would appear. More than likely, if the guy you are being attacked by is a good/experienced fighter, then he is probably pretty good about keeping his hands up and his chin tucked during combat. A tucked chin is going to be tough to get to, and the hands up will make it tougher to get to the sides of the neck, along with the shoulders being rolled up. Now, I'm not saying that one should not practice such techniques, because they can be useful. I just would be warry about the "I'll strike them in the throat" mentality, and assume the confrontation ends there.

That's not a bad idea, either, and like you mentioned, the anonyminity of the suggestions might make it easier for others to be more willing to throw something out there.