bushido_man96

That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

I agree that the Tae Kyon students don't perform like Shotokan students. Neither do many WTF TKD practitioners. TKD, especially the sparring, has evolved into its own creature. What I am saying is that I think that the Tae Kyon practitioners you see today and the TKD WTF practitioners look very similar because Tae Kyon is feeding off of the way WTF TKD practioners train their many different spinning and jumping kicks, along with the stepping from the sparring. I think that the "revival" of Tae Kyon is heavily influenced by the evolution of TKD.

I have seen some of the Shotokan forms, and you can see the similarities between them and some of the Chang 'On forms. However, they are more than just Shotokan with Korean kicks. They have been modified, some of them quite significantly. But, with Choi's training in Shotokan, this influence is to be expected.

Thanks for the suggestions! I think that those would be great classroom additions.

That is exactly right. Don't worry about the rank you get; worry more about the quality of instruction you receive. Take your time, and practice a lot. That's the only way to earn success.

This is pretty much the way I was taught and teach. I have a basic, "school set," bunkai that is mandatory for each person to learn. However, once the student is skilled enough, I show them other interpretations and encourage them to explore them on their own. I think that this tends to be the pattern for most styles. Even in Boxing, most begin with the Jab/Cross combo, and build from there. Start easy to learn concepts, and then build up.

I don't think Ali has Parkinsons'. I think it is MS, or something like that.

I don't know, really. I have seen a practitioner demo it once, and found it interesting. Other than that, just some internet exposure.

Nice! You have some ups there!

Welcome back, and good luck testing! How do you like the Combat Hapkido?

Welcome back, Zorbs!

This works. You just have to give some cool-off time, and then take time to talk with her, and explain what it is you meant to say. It'll work out. Trust me.

The knife has many more angles of attack, though. Each has its advantages.

There seem to be a lot more weekend testings than week day testings. But, I don't feel so odd about it, now. Thanks for the replies, all, and keep them pouring in!

Many styles of Martial Arts push the tentant of perserverance. If Serra is heavy on this, then I can see why he made his decision.

Let me know if I am wrong, but are you saying you are wanting to take the fast track to get a black belt, Jermz?

I don't agree here. I don't think there is enough actual history of Tae Kyon around to know what it was like. I think it has been revived through TKD.

He got TKDTimes off the ground? Very cool. I enjoy the publication quite a bit. However, I have noticed that they now pick up different arts and styles here and there; not just the Korean styles anymore.

I like gi, for now. Perhaps some standing takedown defenses as well? Thanks.

Tai Chi was not designed for older people. It appears that way because the Martial Principles of Tai Chi have been lost for the most part, and is now done mainly as an exercise due to lack of proper knowledge of how to employ its principles.

No shocker on the tournament aspect. But for equipment usage? What kind of equipment?

I visualize all of the time, but never during an activity like sparring. Once you start to visualize how to counter that round kick, you get hit with a front kick.

Mantis practitioners look kinda awkward at firts, but give them an opponent and you will see a challenge in the awkward fighter. Mantis focuses on forearm and hand techniques, grappling and chin na techniques. The purpose is to get close to the opponent, overwhelm him and either strike him down, or subdue him on the ground. the hands take the form of a mantis arms(claws) and are used to deflect, control and strike and opponent with ease. Kicks are usually low because of the defensive posture of this style. divided into 2 groups: northern and southern northern mantis has more complex footwork. southern is focused on quick short power. Thanks for the explanations. Now, Northern, or Southern???

He added more than just the sine wave, he was the co-creater of the Chang-Hon forms, arguably the first Korean TaeKwon-Do forms as the other Kwans used the Pyong Ang forms until '67 when the Palgwe were created. He also developed military TaeKwon-Do through the Oh Do Kwan which introduced a significant amount of Koreans to the art. Probably a better word that is sometimes used to describe him is a Father of TaeKwon-Do as he did help to nurture it especially when he was President of the KTA. Very good points. Choi did a lot to promote TKD as a Nationalistic Art of Korea. Whether he went about this the right way or not is subject to debate, but he still did it. I think he was fairly responsible for creating the wedge between Karate and TKD, to seperate them, which what the Koreans wanted. Many times I think that Gen. Choi is slighted more for his association with North Korea than anything else.

I had never thought about this, really. A very good point you make.