bushido_man96

To cut a long story short, if you are practising authentic martial Tai Chi, you will still need more than a couple of years to become proficient enough to fight lets say a karate-ka who has had the same amount of training. It is just a fact that some arts, usually the profound ones, take longer to make effective than others. The main reason behind this reasoning is the training methods involved, as opposed to the nature of the art itself.

Good point. I think that this is very true for many people. However, I also think that it is based off of your experiences early on as well. I think that kids that get into wrestling early on, for example, will be perhaps less inclined to be tied into worrying about attaining a rank, and more inclined to focus on the training for their next match. Aside from my comments above, I would have to say that this is the case many times. I actually was motivated by ranks early on myself, and have come to realize that now they aren't so important; just as you stated. The fact that some schools/styles have more belts and less time between testings is probably relative to the fact that so many people use the rank system as motivation.

I guess my favorite would be a candy bar. Does that count? Mine is Snickers. If I have to go with candy, like a onesy type of thing, I would have to say peanut clusters. Them are gooooood!!!!!

This move, I am familiar with. You can do the same with a hook kick, or a round kick. However, to do a spin like this, I dunno....

Hey, Tom. If I remember right, when you drop to the push-up, you bounce off your chest, and then suck your feet back in as you push up. It is an explosive movement; very anaerobic. Sohan can throw in a fix if I am off, but I think this is right. They are difficult. I have a tough time with them as well, but I am not is superb shape by an stretch of the imagination. I think that I may start with trying to get in 50, and then build on that.

I like to compete with forms. I always have. I have never been all that great at sparring, but when it came to forms, I always had a pretty good one. I am not the most flexible person, nor am I the fastest person. However, I like to break down the techniques, and putting a nice form together, with power. I love to do forms competition.

One other thing martial arts in general has helped me with is to find my thing. My brothers played sports in high school: football, track, and wrestling. I did TKD. They are done with high school sports, but I am still doing TKD. It was my thing, and it still is today.

Personally, this is where I think some styles like wrestling, boxing, and Muay Thai have an advantage over other styles. They don't take on any ranks. Instead of worrying about their next testing, and memorizing the techniques, forms, self-defense, etc. that is involved with your standard belt test, they spend their time refining their technique, and working on strategies and conditioning. They don't have to worry about a rank; instead, they just train. Many still have goals, whether they be for competition, self-defense, or getting into shape. They are not corralled by a curriculum. This is where I think their advantages lie.

Merry Christmas!

I have a Hotmail account.

Congratulations!

Funny stuff, Patrick!

If you don't drop to pushup position, then it's not a burpee, it's a squat thrust. In practice, though, you don't actually do a pushup, but rather pull the legs back into a tuck position as you come up. Good luck, my friend. Let me know how you do. With respect, Sohan I'll give it a go sometime this week, I think. I am going to just do as many as I can, until failure, and then take a rest, and go again. I am expecting to be in the 30 minute range!

Just remember I'm not your maid

You should not have to move your front foot over to do a spinning kick. You can do it, but it is a telegraphing motion, if you ask me. Of course, sometimes the footwork will be necessary, depending on the situation. I'm not exactly sure what a crossing back kick is, so I cannot help you there. Welcome to the Forums, pete_hmmm!

Many people go through this. It is easy to say to yourself that you would do this and that in a confrontation. However, when it does come to pass, it ends up being very different. As cross mentioned, being able to deal with both pre- and post-fight scenarios is very important as well.

Keep us posted as to what directions you take your training, cross. It is fun to read about.

I agree with you here, Jaymac. Breaking can be good for demonstration of technique and power. Breaking tons of bricks looks cool, but isn't for me.

Heck, even after black, it is still a journey, right? Always a journey bushido_man, and the best journey I have taken. Learning is endless. We cannot improve ourselves if we close our minds to learning new information. I concur. I couldn't have said it better myself.

On the older Sega Genesis system, I loved the Streets of Rage series. On Playstation, I love Tekken. Street Fighter was great as well. That game really paved the way. I also enjoyed most of the Neo Geo fighters that came out: Art of Fighting, Samurai Showdown, Fatal Fury, etc.

I would wait until you feel fairly confident in your kicking technique before using ankle weights. That way, when you do use them, you will benefit more from the training aspect, as opposed to the learning aspect.

Was he the guy who started TKD? Well, he technically didn't really start Taekwondo. He was on the comittee that was working to bring together all of the Korean kwans in order to establish a base art to be the National Martial Art of Korea. If memory serves me right, there were 5 major kwans involved, and one of them that was opposing this push was Whang Kee's Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do kwan (I am not sure if he called it this at the time, and I may have mispelled his name; no disrespect intended). General Choi came up with the name Taekwondo for the new national art, and is thus held resposible for most of the push to combine the remaining kwans. I think this is why there is dislike between TKD and TSD grand masters, at least earlier on. TKD has heavy roots in Shotokan, and therefore is similar, other than the emphasis put on kicking.

Welcome to KF!

I used to have a subscription to Black Belt Magazine, but I have not had it in a while. Maybe for my birthday, I will have my wife renew it!

Well, the Chiefs come away with a win, 20-9. Larry Johnson rushed for 135 yards on 31 carries, and 1 touchdown. On defense, Jared Allen had a solid game, with 2 fumble recoveries, a sack, and a forced fumble, and 2 tackles. The last week of the season will be fun to watch, as Larry Johnson, LaDanian Tomlinson, and Frank Gore will all be competing for the NFL rushing title. Hopefully, the Chiefs still have a glimmer of a playoff hope.