bushido_man96

I applaud you for your actions, Parkerlineage. I think that not only what you did is right, but almost necessary. You don't need thugs coming in and pounding on your students. They should be ashamed to associate themselves with ever being involved with your dojo after those actions. Too bad the head instructor wasn't there. But, you handled it well. You tried handling it reasonbly first, by speaking to them, but then had to take it to the next level, which is very reasonable on your part. Just something I picked up on your initial post---maybe you should start sparring with your bad side forward, so you can still kick, if it is your strong suit. Just think of how much better you could have done (just messing with ya )

I do remember from the TKD vs. Thai boxer video that circulated on the forum. The Thais were especially keen at catching a hanging kick, and then sweeping out the other leg very not nice like. I thought it looked very cool, and devastating.

OUCH! Kind of like blocking, myself.

I think the forms have changed more for athletics purposes because to the amount of competition that goes on. When people see a powerful waist level side kick, they don't think much of it. But if they see a slower, over the top of the head side kick that locks, they think "wow, cool!" The waist level kick is more effective for self defense, and much more practical, but the lay person does not really see this because of the more flexible, athletic person kicking into the sky. Personally, I like a little more power over more flexibility any day.

One of my previous instructors also incorportated a belt stripe system in which you had to earn so many stripes before you could test. Each stripe stood for different things, like the basics for that rank, knowing the form, knowing the one-steps, etc. It is a good system to use.

It is ok to stretch cold, just don't overdo it. Also, things like leg swings and stuff like that might be good, too. Same thing, don't overdo it. Sitting in a chair and doing front kicks and side kicks is a different exercise you could try as well.

Our school has adopted the ICHF curriculum, although we haven't done it in a while. Some of the guys got to go to a GM Pellegrini workshop, and they said he was a blast to work with. Have fun!

Hey, I like ribs!!

Thanks, abel.

Definitely. I enjoy his books, and have 4 or 5 of them.

I have seen 4 month testing cycles, 3 month, and 2 month cycles. It just depends on the style and instructor. Most instructors will be observing you more closely than you realize, and will know if you are ready to be at the next level or not. Usually, if an instructor sees that one does not meet the reqirements by the time the cycle is over, he will hold the student out until the next cycle. Now, you may feel that you are not ready, but that is mainly due to inexperience. Your instructor can tell if you are ready to move on or not. Trust is his/her judgement, he/she knows what they are doing.

Never heard of him before.

You are right, Sohan. The cool down is a very much neglected part of a workout. I have to admit, that I am guilty of it myself after lifting weights. What many don't realize is the gains that they can gain from stretching after a tough workout to cool down.

When I was in the ATA, I had to go to Instructor Certification camp. That is where all ATA black belts that want to become certified to run a school and teach have to go. It is a week long seminar, and the Grandmaster at that time, the late H.U. Lee, was there. At the end of every evening, he would hold and hour and a half long workout with the blackbelts. On the first night, we did the white belt form the whole time, and it is only an 18 move form! We spent over 30 minutes working on just the first 3-5 moves of the form!!! It showed me how in-depth one can go into learning everything there is to learn about even the most basic things. It was a real blast.

I liked some of VanDamme's fight scenes. I know he is a terrible actor. His biggest mistake was probably Street Fighter. Dolph did a movie with Brandon Lee once, I think it was Showdown in Little Tokyo. It was alright. Dolph's best performance, hands down, is Rocky IV. Man, he was ripped.

This is an awesome point. You hit the nail right on the head!

I did notice that. I guess he ran out of money or something. I'm not sure why Van Damme gets grouped into the same category as Seagal. He's never made a good movie ever. Granted Seagal has gone way down in quality in the last 5 - 10 years, but again, his early stuff was great. Oh, I agree, I am not saying he made bad movies by any stretch. I loved Fire Down Below, The Glimmer Man, Hard to Kill, Above the Law, all that good stuff. I even enjoyed VanDammes early stuff. I think that part of the problem is that I hear Segal isn't the nicest guy in the world.

How cheap is it to train Muay Thai overseas? It would be cool if I could afford to stay for a year!

Our organization is the Traditional Taekwondo Association, and our Grandmaster is Chae Sun Yi. He is a ninth degree. When we do a black belt testing, we go to the headquarters on the Friday night before, where we have black belt class. It is kind of like a pretesting; we do all of the forms, all of the one-steps, and a few other basic form requirements that we have to know in order to be allowed to test. He demonstrates a little bit, but for the most part just directs the class. He holds a seminar for black belts every year as well, but I have not gone to one yet. I may go this year in February.

Yes, It is. The Forms are different and there are some slight differences in chambering and some blocking. I noticed some of the technical differences in hand technique and kicking styles, but I had to adjust some things when I went from the ATA to the styel of TKD I do now.

Yeah, him and Van Damme have gone down the same road lately. Incidentally, did you notice that in the opening scene of "Into the Sun" had former NFL running back Eddie George in it? Thought that was interesting.

Is there a source that you could reference me to so that I could look some of this up? It is very interesting to me, and I enjoy studying history.

Ahhhh, I see. Is Thai footwork and boxing footwork similar, or are the boxers a little more mobile?

No it can't - the judges won't let it. In my karate days, I was training under a guy from japan who didn't believe in point sparring. it was hard contact. However, I was also training at another karate school (american) and they entered tournaments. I had point taken away from me for excessive contact on several occasions. In my experiences with point fighting, at the higher ranks, anyhow, the contact got a little intense sometimes. But, every tournament is different.

I understand, but no, the intent is no different. In both situations, I want to end the fight as quickly as possible, as long as we are talking about full contact fighting. if it's point, then yes, the intent is different. Ok, I'll go with the difference in point and sport. But, do you think the intent is different between an MMA fighter and a boxer? Or do they relegate about the same as well? I suppose they should be the same.