bushido_man96

Did they perhaps cut him some slack with all of his prior experience?

I am in the Traditional Taekwondo Association right now, a fairly small association based out of Kansas. I used to be with the ATA, though.

You have to take these things with a grain of salt, and don't let them get you riled up like that. I understand that it is upsetting that you pull something off that makes you feel good about yourself, and then someone goes and runs you down in some way. Just ignore these people, and feel good about what you accomplished. And I echo your setiments about being humble, and I try to be so myself. Sometimes, I think I am too humble, and don't give myself enough credit, or shirk the credit that others give me.

I was perusing the Wikipedia for information on Chuck Norris, and they stated that among his accomplishments included a black belt in Brazilian jui-jitsu. Can anyone confirm this? I don't suppose it is a lie, but I have just never heard of it before.

You could check with Turtle Press. They have some weapons DVDs, and I think they have a few on the staff.

My school offers classes 4 times a week. I currently go 2 or 3 times, depending on work, family, and what not. I recommend at least 2 times per week once you get started. Good luck and have fun! Enjoy the journey.

The best thing you can do in this case is to get in touch with the dojangs that you will be moving towards, and discuss your situation with these instructors before you get there. And, if you have to start over, oh well. I have done it once, and it isn't so bad. The important thing is that you keep your training up while you bounce around. When you finally get settled in, you can make your go from there if you have to.

The prior posts all have good suggestions. Check them all out, and check out the instructors of each. A good instructor is just as important as the style that you get into. Also, check out their teaching philosophies and methods. All of these are just as important as the style.

I feel a more correct statement would be: George Dillman CLAIMS to be the foremost expert on pressure point attacks. I realized that I had made a mistake. That is what I meant to say.

Quote: One of the reasons why we use so much Japanese in our system and classes is so that what ever country one is visiting and training in, one can generally get a hold on hearing the Japanese names of the techniques and can pretty much follow along. In this case, I can understand why, but if you don't do any traveling, then it is not as necessary.

Why call it taekwondo, then? Just say you are practicing American Foot-Boxing. I don't think this is the same. The technique doesn't care what language is used. It is ok for the cultural aspect I guess, but I just don't think it is necessary. And, I don't think you lose any traditionalism from using your native language, whatever that may be.

My condolences.

In the ATA, we used all English. In my new association, we use Korean. Personnally, I don't see why we don't just use English. If I can't say the technique in Japanese or Korean, it doesn't make it less of a technique. I think it is all formalities.

I like Arlovski and Ortiz. Silva is an animal, but I don't know how well rounded he is. Does he have some grappling experience, I don't know for sure.

This was something I picked up when I began teaching, and I am still fine tuning my techniques in this way. One of the best ways to teach is by example, and you have to be able to demonstrate accordingly.

I agree with you here 100%. We always have room to learn more. I hope that if I ever become a head instructor I will be humble enough to approach my assistant instructors about teaching ideas, and ways to relate different things. Especially with kids, they are the toughest.

The problem that I have with kicking the knee is that, although it is a good target, is the possibility of a lawsuit being thrown your way. Personally, if it's a self defense situation I'm concerned with stopping the bad guy's aggression. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make him stop fighting me. If that means I have to break his leg so be it. I'll deal with the courts later. I understand what you are saying. You make a very good point, and it is one I would normally agree with. If you get attacked, then taking out the knee is a good way to stop it.

Oh, that sounds like a fun activity. I'll have to try it sometime. THanks for the info!

Unfortunately, it is hard to nail it to a particular association sometimes. I am sure not all the WTF schools teach the same way, and there are probably some independent TKD styles out there that concentrate on fighting a lot, and may give the impression of olympic style. I think it usually depends on the instructor's philosophies and goals for the school more than anything.

One thing I did notice about the video is that everything was demonstrated by nonresisting subjects. Nothing was actually demonstrated in a "fighting" situation.

What I like about the ICHF is how easily it can be incorporated into other systems, like my TKD school. We don't have a lot of groundfighting, or joint manipualtions, for that matter, and it is a wonderful supplement, and GM Pelligrini works very well with other stylists.

You could start by doing all of the forms you know as one long kata, at a steady pace to raise your heart rate. You will want some power, but concentrate on some speed as well. Try to do forms for 15 minutes straight, no rest. Then take a break. Then try another 15 minutes. The better you get, you could add more power, trying to build a little strength in your techniques. Or, if you want a little bit of anaerobic work, pop out 2 or 3 forms as hard and fast as you can in a row, for about 2-3 minutes. Then rest for 1 minute, and do it again. Keep this up for about 20 minutes, and you will feel it.

I have to echo UseoForce. Those books are written by Loren W. Christensen. He also has a few others, titled Speed Training, Fighting Power, and The Way Alone. The latter is an older, yet still helpful, book. Any of these books will contain a countless number of drills that you can do on your own. I strongly recommend anything written by Christensen. He is very no-nonsense and to the point. As far as your solo training goes, the wonderful thing is that you can do whatever you want to, or work on whatever you feel that you need to, and not have to worry about the conformities of a class. Warm up with some forms, and then think of something you need to work on, like breaking down your side kick, or whatever. Put together some combinations that you would like to try for sparring, and do them rep after rep until it is second nature. Bottom line, do what you want and have fun.

What is this about? A joke, or something I don't know?

That's not true. Traditional Hapkido would never have you doing triangle chokes or butterfly sweeps from the guard (From BJJ), brush traps (from Wing Chun), stick/knife fighting (Filipino arts)...I could go on. Combat Hapkido is far from be "abreviated" traditional hapkido. Ineffective traditional techniques have been taken out and new techniques are constantly being added. Which combat hapkido system have you been studying??? The system UseoForce is describing is the International Combat Hapkido Federation (ICHF). It is a great hapkido system, and has a set curriculum.