bushido_man96

I have never really had a chance to mess with it. It is delivered just below the ribs? I may have to work on this one with my Combat Hapkido training.

That's great, cross. Have fun with it!

If her weapons forms resemble her empty-hand forms, then I would not buy the "weapons expert" bit at all. I think that many of the people who practice weapons forms, be it traditional or non-traditional, claim "expertise" in the weapon that they do the forms with. In actuality, all they do is forms work, be it traditional or not. If they have never applied weapon-on-weapon, or weapon-on-empty hand, or the other way around, then they are not weapons experts. The kali guys, the Western Martial Artists that fight with weapons, they are weapons experts. They know the applications, and use them in their training. Otherwise, they are just swinging at the wind.

How often when sparring someone do you execute a punch the same way you do it in kata? This is a good point, cross. However, training techniqe, much like it is done in football for tackling, can still give help you to cultivate the muscles that will be used in the process of performing the event. It is true that you will not be punching the exact way you do in a form, just like every tackle will not be the same on a football field. However, training the technique will help to enhance the final product. Not every punch done in a fight will be done the same way, either. They may all be similar, but not exactly the same.

Good explanation, Baron. Those are very important aspects of being able to relay a technique to someone.

I hear ya, Sohan! Beer and pizza nights after training!!! Also, good ol' MA stories with MA friends.

Ah, thanks. I thought that I saw his picture in connection with it somewhere.

I agree, DWx. That is how I see it as well. I should have been more elaborate in my explanation.

I thought they Taekwondo was recognised in the 50s? Uh, yeah, your right: 1955, I think. lol, I just panicked cause I thought I'd got my dates messed up in my head! Nope, my bad!

Good to see you are back into it, Orion. 3-9-07 Legs Power clean: 135x8, 155x6, 165x4 Squats: 295x8, 315x6, 335x4 Lunges: 55x5 each side, 60x5 each side, 65x4 each side Ouch, I feel my knees now!

I thought they Taekwondo was recognised in the 50s? Uh, yeah, your right: 1955, I think.

How is a spinning heel kick different from a reverse turn kick? Just trying to understand the terminology... The spinning heel kick is done primarily with the leg straight, driving all of the momentum through the target in a big circle with the heel. There is a lot of weight and momentum in this kick. What's the reverse turning kick then? I've always called the kick describe above as a reverse turn...But then again I've heard a twist kick called a reverse turn and a a hook kick called a snap kick (cos of the leg action) I think the reverse turning kick is the reverse hooking kick. Maybe?

Check the tournament rules on gis, and check with the instructor as well.

This may sound funny, but the idea of doing a form that is higher than your current rank seems odd to me. Maybe in TKD tournaments it is more controlled, but we usually only do the form for our rank.

These are all good points. We will have to wait and see what they really come up with. The funny thing about the sine wave is that I don't think it is a part of every school that does ITF forms. My school does the ITF forms, but we don't use the sine wave. I have seen it, and know what it is, but I don't care for it too much. I think that many schools over-exaggerate it. That could be one issue that they attempt to clear up. And perhaps they will take both forms systems into account.

This is just one of many ways that she could express herself. She probably does just as well with traditional forms, and I am sure that she spends time in traditional classes doing the more traditional training, including tradtional forms, sparring, and self-defense training.

Best of luck to you! Let us know how it goes.

Here's a buzz kill for everyone. I watched a special on the Battle of Thermopylae on the History channel this evening, and it turns out that 1000 Thespian soldiers stayed behind with the 300 Spartans. The battle has become romanticized to the point that only the 300 are talked about. It should actually be called 1300.

The calouses will come with time. We break boards at our testings as well, and the only time I have problems with my knuckles is when I don't break. At my last testing, I bounced on the boards, and was getting ready to punch them again. I was furious at this time, and as I got ready to punch again, the GM asked me to change my technique. This hacked me off even more, because I didn't know why he wanted me to change. Then, I looked at my knuckle, and it was broken open, and bleeding profusely. So, I switched techniques.

Well, I tried this move in class yesterday. It works.

Hehe, that's funny. It won't stop.

I took archery when I was a kid for three summers and then again in high school. I loved it. I had sort of forgotten about it, never really thought about it as a martial art. Maybe I'll add it to my styles list. There ya go! On a serious note, the use of modern arms would be considered martial as well.

Well, Baron, the cutlass is much akin to the sabre, just smaller, I think, in blade width. Uses would be much the same, but the curvature would lend it more towards slashing, I would guess. You could thrust with it as well.

Is Chuck Liddel in this movie?

Thanks, Baron. Yep, the sledgehammers are like what Sohan described. When the weather gets more tolerable, I am going to modify the exercises to do more horizontal swinging. 3-8-07 Today, I stretched for about 20 minutes. I did sitting front splits, and then stretched to each side, and did some reverse hurdler stretches. I didn't warm up, but the stretches were gradual, and they felt good. I also noticed today that my lower back muscles and leg muscles are kind of sore. Fortunately, I am not really experiencing any significant pain in my knees.