bushido_man96

Variety helps. If you get in a rut, they may get bored. Also, check for facial expressions. If they roll their eyes a lot, it may be a clue. However, just because they are bored, doesn't mean that what you are teaching is not of value. Teach the right things, that will benefit them in self-defense, and add in some other things to pick up the pace a bit. If they truly enjoy the martial arts, it should not be a problem.

Good luck to you!

YoungMan, what style of TKD do you study, out of curiosity? I practice the Ch'ang On forms at this point, and have done ATA in the past. As far as the walking stance is concerned, it may not teach stability and balance, but it does promote mobility, which is a very important aspect of TKD sparring (especially Olympic style).

That's really curious, I've never come across anybody sparring in a back stance. But if the leading foot is facing your opponent, is it really a back stance? A back stance, as I am familiar with it, is not named in relation to which way the front foot points, but to the leg on which most of the bodyweight is distributed...the back leg.

I agree that it boils down to respect and trust. However, shouldn't the instructor respect the student's wishes as well?

Wow! That dude is huge! There is quite a noticible transition from the first video to the second. In the first video, he was very Olympic-style; lots of round kicks, and bouncing, and the hands dangling down at his sides, and the clinching. In Olympic TKD, the fighters will clinch, and then attempt to kick their way out, jockeying for a position to kick and counter-kick. If he did this under strict Muay Thai rules, he would have gotten elbows and knees until the cows came home. His hand strikes were lousy, but it was good to see him work the low round kick. That won the fight for him. In the second video, you can tell that he had worked on his hands, both for striking and keeping them up to guard. However, you can see them drop throughout the fight, and he has to conciously bring them back up to his ears. He did show improvement though. He is tough as well.

At this point, you are splitting hairs, and negating the points of your own arguement as to internal/external/hard/soft. However, I don't think your statement holds to be true. The thrust would liken to the hard, external straight strikes of TKD, Karate, etc. The cuts would liken to the soft, linear strikes of the Kung Fu, Aikido types. Also, I would like to say that I don't view a slash, or cut, as a "soft" style of strike. Perhaps a parry would be, but I don't think a slash would be.

Just to make it more annoying, there are two forms of rugby - Rugby League and Rugby Union. It's almost akin to the many forms of Karate or Kung Fu!

I can teach it to you...then you can use it...that is, if you survive the training!

Wait, you mean hot chicks don't like Enter the Dragon!?!?

Congratulations. This is something to be very proud of, to know that you have touched someone's life in such a way. Well done.

The future that I see for MMA is fighters coming straight from MMA gyms, not claiming any base "style." It will be much like the old Pankration would have been. When they trained, they trained according to the rules they would be fighting under. Now that MMA has been established, and leagues like the IFL have formed, people go to the gym to learn the MMA style. Sure, there will always be the guys that come into the gym after spending years training in another style, like Karate, or Wrestling, but the other will become more popular as well.

The speed in the kicks is all about the training methods. Doing plyometric drills, running sprints, and doing target work and reaction drills. I used to compete against a guy when I was in the ATA that won the Colorado state USTU qualifier, and qualified for nationals. You might know who he is: Jody Horn. I think he may be a 4th degree by now. He was always very good...quick, flexible, and TALL. I despised point fighting with him. However, we was always a nice guy to me.

As far as "internal" styles go, I don't have a lot of experience with them, and I don't think I would enjoy them. I don't get into meditation and the clearing of the mind very much. I would rather be drilling, but that is just me. Also, as for circular or linear. I really don't think you can have one without the other. Both are beneficial, and I don't really believe that linear movements are harmful to the body. The two compliment each other very well, and learning both is important. I see this in swordsmanship a lot; the arguement of the cut over the thrust. Both are beneficial, and both have their place.

I have been side kicked in the nose, in a tournament. It didn't hurt a lot, but frustrated me. It was a good thing that it was the last point in the match, because I then headed to the bathroom to bleed for a time.

Thanks, my bad. I would include rugby as well. I just didn't think about it.

Congrats! Well done!

That is what I would guess. My younger brother was short and stocky (heavy), but he could do the full splits at one point, and I couldn't. Losing weight won't make muscles any looser. I am heavier now than I would like to be, but I am still fairly flexible, too. Any gains in flexibility that I have lost is directly proportional to the lack of time that I have had to spend on stretching; not my weight.

This is a great idea, and I have done the same thing. Make sure to chart on the paper what the focus of the class was, if it went into specifics. That way, you will have a variety of classes with different focuses, and if it rolls around like that again, you can go to a specific section, instead of looking randomly around in a huge notebook.

If you are not as sore as last time, change the exercise that you do. If you do leg lifts one day, do the ab roller on the next day. On another day, do the hanging knee raises. On another, do the Roman chair. By changing the exercise, you will confuse the muscles, and I think that you will get the results that you are looking for.

Even though Bruce would be giving up weight in relation to Liddell, his striking power was still amazing. His speed is what made him so dangerous. Could he have out-struck Liddell? Possibly. We can't know for sure. However, Bruce was known to be a heavy hitter, too.

That does make sense, Baron. I can see where it would be much easier to do that way.

It gets harder and harder for me to watch every time I see it. The hands down drives me kind of crazy, and the howling form of the kihaps is a little much. There used to have to be body displacement to score points. Now, if the round kick slaps the chest protector, the point is scored.

Sometimes you have to supplement your dreams until you can make them come true.

I was not aware that there were two versions of Koryo. Where did the first version come from?