bushido_man96

You are correct from what I have experienced. Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do schools use a red stripe through the center of the black (or midnight blue) at master level and above (4th degree in TSD). The folklore was that students covered their redbelts with black cloth that would wear through in the middle, exposing the red.... It probably just looked cool Folklore or not, it is interesting none the less. In one style I studied, the red belt came before the black, and symbolized "warning" or "danger." The philosophy behind this was that the student had all of the technical knowledge of the black belt, but not quite the control and discipline of the black belt.

Congratulations, James!

The question is, if it isn't good for you, is it bad? If it isn't bad, then no big deal, drink it anyways.

Oh, no, I don't think so. Think about throwing it to the upper thigh (Muay Thai style) or into the knee. I don't think I would thow it head level, but definitely to the leg.

I have read both, and I enjoyed both. They are full of anecdotes and historical information to back what they talk about. If you liked Secrets of the Samurai, I think you will enjoy Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere.

5-1-07 Back/biceps/shoulders Assisted pull-ups: 6, 10, 7 (palms out); 6, 6 (palms in) Back Hyperextensions: 20, 2o Dumbbell shoulder press: 30x10, 40x8, 40x8 Jump rope: 3x1 min. rounds. I am getting better at this!

In this book, the author attempts to lay out a 12 week boxing course that you can do where you live, with the help of a partner with some drills, and by yourself on others. It starts out with general stretching and conditioning drills, which focus on the abs and upper body. Along with the lessons he lays out, he lists conditioning drills to go along with them. The lessons seem to be fairly easy to follow, and with a partner, I think that you could put together a fairly nice routine. Would it prepare you for the ring? Not likely. However, it would be a good, fun way to get the basics of boxing down. I thought that this book was ok. If anything, I took away in the lessons a lot of ideas for mini solo-training workouts on heavy bags or shadowboxing. I also may try some of the partner stuff out, to see if I can make the defensive aspects work. Overall, this book is alright. It does lend some decent drills, I think (based on my limited boxing knowledge), and the author has some good credentials to back his stuff up.

Welcome aboard!

Nice!

One thing that boxing/kickboxing might do for you is teach you more of the slipping/bobbing/weaving defenses for punching, which may help to augment your other blocking techniques. But a grappling style would cover a whole other facet of fighting.

I think it all depends on approach, teaching methodology, and the ability level of the student. Each student will learn differently, and some will be more natural than others. That said, I think that learning the basics is the best place to start. You have to crawl before you walk, and then you can work towards running. At my school, we spend almost every class on basics to start out, and then move into forms work. After a student has been through the Orientation, they get into class and do the basics, and then their first form afterward. Sparring usually doesn't come into play until the second belt level. I boxing, they begin with the basic hand techniques, and then build from there. Most MA schoools I have been to do the same. But, sometimes instructors do things differently, and if it works for them, then that is great. Welcome to the Forums!

Hehe....thanks, Baron!

What is it that you don't like about it? Is the fact that they don't grapple, or just the way the fights are set up?

When sparring, we at time do some side-stepping drills to get our body out of the way of an attack, and at the same time get into position to counter. I also work on slipping and ducking drills with a friend from time to time.

That is very cool.

That looks pretty good. Thanks for sharing it with us.

It is just one of those things that it feels good to accomplish, being able say that you did it. There are lots of things that we do in life everyday that don't have anything to do with being used in a real fight, or for what we do for a living. However, we still do these things, just becaue we enjoy them. Overall, I am not too worried about injury at TKD; I could get injured at work everyday. I just don't choose to worry about it.

I don't think that a sensei or an instructor is someone that should be feared. I know that argueing is not a good thing, but if you want to approach him about something that you question, it should not be something that frightens you.

Congratulations, lordtariel!

Hey, I hear ya there! 4-30-07 Chest/triceps Bench press: 195x8, 205x6, 215x3 Incline bench: 135x6, 145x4, 145x4 Decline bench: 145x10, 155x10, 185x6...the first 2 sets were too easy; I will raise them next time. Triceps push-down: 90x10, 105x6, 105x6 My arms were still sore from the one set of bench that I did on the Friday before. My arms are tired after this! Abs Roman chair crunches: 2x25....OUCH! Side raises: 3x25x25 lbs. Conditioning Jump rope: 3x1 min. rounds Steppers: 3x30 sec, 1 min. rest. Combat Hapkido from 4:15 - 5:30. Taught Orientation from 5:30 - 6:00. Traditional Class from 6:00 - 7:00. My knees were feeling very good tonight, so I let the kicks fly! I really hope I can have some more classes like this in the future. Sparring went pretty well tonight, too. Stretching during Traditional Class: Splits: middle, left and right: 2x20 - 30 sec. each. Seated splits: middle, left, and right: 2x20 - 30 sec. each. Reverse hurdler: 2x20 - 30 sec. each. Butterfly: 2x20 - 3. sec.

Thanks, Tom. Those are all very similar drills! I have been working on a flying side kick that I have to do for a board break...it is coming along slowly.

This is a very good approach to take; I like it a lot. That is something our instructor gets to view in nearly every class, as the black belts line up in front for basics, with the lower ranks falling in behind. The low ranks always have a good example in front of them.

I agree with this point. There is a difference between sport fighting and self-defense. Most of the time, in self-defense, you don't get to start from the preferred fighting distance, like from a corner. I know that there are some RBSD instructors that tend to teach how to get off the ground, as opposed to keeping the fight on the ground. It is possible to use the MMA training on the street in defense, however, it is still important to realize that competition fighting and self-defense are different.

I'll bet that is quite the motivational factor, Rick. It must be very nice to have someone like that to reflect on. I am sorry to hear that you lost your sensei. You have my condolences.

None now. But I would love to have a big dog.