bushido_man96

I think that the nice thing about learning weapons is that they don't have to be ratcheted to a style in particular. My TKD school doesn't teach weapons, so I do SCA combat, and do a lot of research on Medieval Combat to supplement it.

Congratulations! May you have many more happy testings to come! Remember, they are all learning experiences, so glean what you can from them, and continue to work to make yourself better. Bruce Lee said once that "In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit is worth more than the goal." That is close, anyways. I'll double check and edit for the complete quote.

I agree. This can shape them up quick.

It is important for assistant instructors and head instructors to be on the same page as far as technique performance goes; i.e., everything should look pretty much the same, and not radically different. Everyone is different, so there will be some minor differences. However, the overall look and feel of the school should be consistent. Now, I do think that it is important for assistant instructors to have their own styles and ideas for classes. Give them a framework to go with, but allow them to be free enough to put their own twist on the class. That is the beauty of teaching. If you have certain things that you want them to teach at certain times, that is fine. But, let them do it their way from time to time. This is how we can all learn and grow.

4-25-07 From 4:15 - 5:30, I did kind of a hodge-podge workout. I started out doing some very slow, controlled kicking on the heavy bag. I would chamber for a side kick, and then kick slowly out, and push the last 6 inches or so of the kick on the bag, pushing back on the bag, and making sure to not lose my balance. I did this with front kicks as well, doing about 10 on each leg with each kick. Then, I did forms to really get warmed up. I did Chon Ji through Toi Gye hyungs...8 forms in all. After this, I worked on my hook kicks. I used the wall for balance, and threw out slow, tension kicks, focusing on keeping my leg high, and on technique. I did about 15 to 20 on each leg. I then spent some time throwing tension slow kicks again, without using the wall for balance, but I didn't do too many here. I did some side kicks and some back leg round kicks. My 1st degree friend and I finished up with some black belt basics, to get us good and tired. Taught Orientation from 5:30 - 6:00. Today, I focused mainly on front stances with the kids; walking in front stance with the legs spaced properly, front knee bent, proper body alignment, etc. I put obstacles on the floor that they had to straddle to keep the feet on two lines, and not one. I also got to teach Sparring Class from 6:00 - 7:00. Here is the intenerary: 1. Footwork/kicking floor drills. I held out target pads in front of the kids, and they had to do a side-step, and then shuffle in and kick the target. First they did round kicks, and then side kicks. We did this drill for about 10 minutes. Then we moved on to partner drills with chest protectors and all pads on. 2. Open stance, spin side kick counter. The attacking partner would do a back leg round kick, and the defender would counter on the initial movement with a spin side kick. I focused on making contact with the spin side kick, making sure to get the partner pushed away. The defender was also to land forward in fighting position, to prepare for follow-up technique. 3. Same drill as above, but added the follow-up technique; a back leg round kick. 4. Closed stance, side-step and then step up round counter. Attacker would come in with step-up front leg round kick. Defender would side-step forward and away from the kick (45 degrees) with the front leg, and then do a quick step-up round kick to the body, and then follow with punches. 5. Finished the last 5 minutes of the class with some round-robin sparring rounds, critique point techniques, etc. This was a fun class for me to teach. I had a good time, and got to work with my 1st degree buddy on some of the drills as well. Side note: my abs are VERY sore today!

Good points. Scheduling for the Martial Artist is very important. If you havd nothing else to dedicate your time to, then that is great for you. If you want to have a social life, and get out once in a while, you will want to be taking a look at your schedule.

I would check with your doctor to see what you can do to help yourself the most. At any rate, make sure to pace yourself when you train. If you re-injure yourself, you won't be training at all. Listen to your body, and give it the recovery time that it needs. It may require more recovery time than it has in the past.

I need to get something set up like that. That would be great. How many hours a day did he teach?

This article is very good and well written. In Japan, you'd be made fun of for wearing dirty clothes. http://www.24fightingchickens.com/2005/09/09/urban-legends-of-karate-belts/ Very nice. Humorous, too! That is a good read.

I think that this depends on your level of understanding of the art. Somewhere, someone started this whole thing, and who knows if he had someone teach it to him? Maybe they worked as a group to come up with it. It is hard to tell. However, through proper experimentation, and using practical approaches to ways that you can be attacked, and thus formulate practical defenses, could be a great way to learn what works and what does not. What someone else teaches you may not work for you, so you may need to explore what does and doesn't work for you.

That is a very interesting thought. I wonder what Itosu and Funakoshi would have thought about the "Jr. Black Belt."

I wonder how much today's Tae Kyon resembles what was 1000's of years ago. I want to think that it is a close proximity, but I don't know that I can. At any rate, the fact that it did exist, and what General Choi and GM Han learned must have had something to do with the characteristic kicking that fills TKD and TSD today.

I agree, I think that can help at times, too. Sometimes, I get so focused in on the target, that I don't think about how things are getting there. It just depends on my mindset at the time, I guess. I have this set. It is very nice, but I am a little disappointed with some of the applications. The book that I have by Anslow is nice for filling in some of the voids.

I think that I may need to get a size smaller chest protector, so that I can move in it better. I am not worried so much about taking a shot, because I can block pretty well. I just need to be able to move and attack, or I will be doing is defending.

I can't remember for certain, but I think that the unarmed combat techniques listed in the Muye Dobo Tongi are referred to as Kwon Bup. It may have been Su Bak, but I can't remember for sure. I'll have to check it out.

I agree. It is the same with TKD. During the occupation, many Koreans were educated in Japan, and thus got exposed to Japanese Karate (most likely Shotokan). In the Encyclopedia of Taekwon-do, General Choi mentions that he had training in Karate during his time in Japan, so there is bound to be similarities in the styles. I did read that Hwang Kee desinged the later forms that you mention: I read that he used moves depicted in the Muye Dobo Tongi, which is an ancient military text of Korea. Perhaps he did take some of the moves listed in this text, and put them in his new forms. I think that this is a great gesture, delving into Korea's military past. However, I don't know if it makes it more 'traditional' than TKD. I do know that there is also a Moo Duk Kwan branch of TKD as well. Again, not all TKD is sport oriented. I hardly ever compete in TKD, although I have before. There are just as many Karate stylists out there that are sport-oriented, because they enjoy it. It doesn't automatically make it more 'modernized,' in my opinion.

Ah, I can concur with you here. Since we don't do much Ho Sin Sul in class, I supplement it with my Combat Hapkido training, which works out very well.

If we do this side punch (we don't very often), I would do it from a sitting stance (horse stance), pulling the arm back to the ribs, and loading up the technique by lifting the foot of the side I am punching with slightly off the floor. Then, uncork the body like a slinky and step your body weight down, into the punch. The punch should land as the foot hits the floor. I hope that isn't too confusing. Marie curie had a good explanation. Remember that when working with the kids, being able to demonstrate the action as you talk will help them to relate to it better. They will try to copy you, but kids only do typically about half the effort. So, you must make everything bigger and more exaggerated when you demonstrate.

Lots of great replies so far. I think that some of the concepts that kata enthusiasts come up with for their bunkai are creative, and some of it can be useful. As many have said here, simple is better. Getting too flashy will be a bad thing. If it wasn't there to begin with, who cares? If it can cause practitioners to explore things more, and put different twists on things, it can help to expand their training. The main thing is to make sure that it stays reasonable. I think that Abernethey has gotten on the right track, by applying his bunkai teachings into what he has referred to as "Kata based sparring." In this scenario, you won't be bound by what move has to follow what. Instead, you take what is given you, and attempt to apply your defenses as you go. The bunkai practice will help to ingrain the muscle memory, so that you can then focus on what works better when the heat is on. Non-resisting opponents are the key to this part of the training. I will admit, I have done forms for 14 years, and have never done any bunkai. So, I have been looking into it. It makes me think more about my forms and training. I don't overlook the simple things, either. At times, a punch is just a punch, and a block is just a block. However, you can take these functional movements, and add to them, depending on what is available to you from the opponent.

That's a good question. I am not sure. I would guess pain-compliance, kind of going along the restraint route. I know that most pins in Wrestling don't tend to be painful, much like Judo, I would guess. Perhaps that is one of the results of competition techniques. However, you wouldn't see many pins in an MMA fight, unless one fighter was holding the other in a pin to try to work into something else. I am not for sure. Can anyone else chime on this question?

I don't get to watch much of The Ultimate Fighter series, so I don't keep up on all that goes on there. Most of the fights that I have seen usually have good sportsmanship involved. I can remember one of the earlier UFCs where Tank Abbot demonstrated some not-so-good sportsmanship, but that was a long time ago.

The Korean arts are usually known for their extravagent kicking techniques. Korea claims the rights to an art called Tae Kyon, which is an indigenous kicking art. I have never seen much on the style, but it may have been similar to what Caporiea stylists do, but without as many handstands and flips. At one point in its history, it was considered a game, and not entirely a fighting art. However, the high kicks of arts like TKD and TSD are said to spring from this style. General Choi began his martial arts training with Tae Kyon as a child, and Grand Master Bong Soo Han was known as a great kicker as well, which could have been attributed to his knowledge of Tae Kyon as well. I do think that Tae Kyon may have played at least some small part in the development of the Korean styles' high kicking and spin kicking. The usefulness and efficiency of these kicks will always be questioned, but these kicks do add a flair to these arts that make them Korean. Does anyone have any additional information on the art of Tae Kyon, what it consisted of, and how it was done? Does anyone else feel that Tae Kyon played a role in distinguishing TKD and TSD and SBD from Karate?

I have been doing some reading in Black Belt Magazine (again!) and came across an article that discussed the 3 facets of grappling. They were divided into pain-compliance, breaking, and choking techniques. I don't know why, but I had never thought to break them up like that before, but it makes good sense. Different techniques would have different levels of priority, depending on the situation. For example, with my job as a Jailer, I would be more likely to stay in the realm of pain-compliance techniques, in order to coerce inmates to go where I want them too, causing pain, but not damaging anything permanently. If I were to do upgrade to breaking and choking, I would have to be able to articulate why I did so, and be able to prove that the inmate was a danger to myself and others. In the UFC, I think that it is breaking, or more appropriately, the threat of the breaking, and choking that reign supreme. What is everyone's elses experiences with the these 3 ranges of grappling? Do you agree or disagree? Which would you find the most appropriate for what you do and why? Since I have very limited knowledge and experience in grappling, I always appreciate everyone's input.

Bunkai is one of the most prominent areas of Karate that I have been exposed to since I joined the KarateForums a little over a year ago. It may be hard for some of you to believe, but I had never heard of the term before I joined here. Fear not, however! Once I learned of the existence of bunkai, I endeavored to find out more about it. I have, and really haven't been disappointed. What I have learned has been mostly through the readings of Iain Abernethey, who seems to be the leading proponent of what he refers to as "Applied Karate." I have also stumbled upon some other stylists who seem to fall into this category as well, inlcuding Stuart Paul Anslow, who has done similar research in the art of Taekwon-Do, which I have found to be very helpful, being a TKD guy myself. It appears that there are some practitioners of Isshin Kempo that are in the same mode as the two men listed above. Apparently, there were some practitioners who decided to delve deeper into the forms of the style, in order to extract the self-defense interpretations of the style. William S. Russel was one who began exploring his art in this way (he founded Isshin Kempo in 1970), and seems to be a forerunner to the work that Abernethey and Anslow did for their styles. Do you think that delving into such intricate levels of bunkai is beginning to re-emerge in many to the "traditional" arts of which forms are a major part of the curriculum? Is the bunkai a legitimate translation of the forms we study, or is it a more recent product of extensive analysation of katas, saying, "oh, yeah, this could be this, and it could work"??? What is everyone's opinion on this? Either way, I think that bunkai is a good thing. I don't think it is detrimental in anyway to training. It is good to let the creative juices mix it up from time to time.

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