mongo

For those who aren't old enough or just missed it the 90% of fights go to the ground was used as marketing by the Gracies in the early days of the UFC. Up until this point this was NOT a common concept. Surprisingly enough they taught grappling..... Marketing 101- Create a problem only you have the solution for. Not particularly picking on BJJ, there are a lot of truth in advertising issues in MA and elsewhere.

It is expected that you will look before you turn in kata in my school.

As an instructor I can say I am always happy to have people back after an injury. No they cant perform right away but everything has to be taken in context. You will set an excellent example of coming back after an injury. The other student can go stuff it. If you like the INSTRUCTOR and want to learn from him again go back. If he is worth his stuff he will welcome you back. What most people are affraid of at this point is looking the fool, you look more a fool running from what you want. Old Japanese saying- "fall down 9 times get up 10."

The use of 10,000 is arbitrary. Its a figure of speech in Chinese written language. You hear about the 10,000 of this or that all the time in Classical Chinese writing. It means practice a lot and you will become a master. Both Japan and Korea were heavily influenced by this and you will find the same phrase used in both languages. Like saying "that suitcase must weigh a million pounds"

Type o negative or the Japanese flute work for me. I dont use music in class.

The first one was just that, it was the first unified form of TaeKwonDo when the Korean fighting arts were unified. Later it was replaced with a more flashy kata, the modern version of koryo. Really the forms look nothing alike. Brad

Many yes, all no. Depends on how traditional vs. sport oriented it is.

That Kind of Movement would be looked down upon in my school. This is what I hate about all these musical kata and the like. We have been taught that the body should not move up or down in our kata except in the rare exception(jumping kicks etc). Of course we are a traditional style who dont compete much, so we dont have to worry about what a judge thinks. Very silly yes.

From Joe Lewis's web site "Earned his black belt in a remarkable seven months as a Marine in Okinawa. The average time span is three to four years." OF course he was gifted as well as eat, slept and pooped MA during his time.

I am aware you generate power differently. My point was only that it could be done without the 360, which I thought was yours elbows and knees. JMO Brad

Every kata has something to teach you. Sometimes several things. As was pointed out perfect practice makes perfect. Savor the time you have to practice under the instruction of the sensei. I believe Fumakoshi said something like a 1000-2000 repitions to understand a kata. Are you there yet?(proabbly not) On a second note think about it from your sensei`s perspective. He sees infront of him a student who doesnt seem to work hard at his kata, and has no interest in improving. I know that does not please me when I am teching a class. Not something you want to let him think going into a testing(or anytime for that matter). Besides if he is doing what I am guessing he is doing you wont enjoy it anyway, the destruction of the ego is never a pleaseant experience. Now some things you could work on.(note these apply in our school of tae kwon do, so some may not apply) Work on deepening your stances- they can almost never be too deep Attempt to develp full power in your strikes an blocks. A block can be a strike and a strike can be a block. Does your head remain at the same hight throught the kata? If not you are not moving evenly from stance to stance. Otherwise you have been given some great advise. Good luck

In out school it takes 8-10 years to get a black belt generally. I suppose less is posible with more time avaliable for training. Rank should not be the primary focus, rather the knowlege that goes with it. Some quotes from my instructor- "new rank new rules" You were a good (insert color) now you are a lousy(insert color). Frequently a white belt is given with the black to remind them that this is only the start of their training.

In the discussion about 360 vs 180 it could be pointed out that Bill Wallace used to knock people out with his front leg without any more than the power of the hip. He didnt even move 180. I would argue that the 360 is not nessisary for a powerfull strike. Energy is transmited from the hips to the leg not the other way around. Penitration past about 1-1.5 feet is superfulous. I am in the school of the stop unless for some reason you are attempting to set something else up. Heck I frequently recock the leg. But then I do old school TKD so what can I know...

My instructor teaches everyone in the school the old version. Just because their are so few of us who know it anymore. Its defintily different than the new one.... I especially like to practice it at the start of my sessions the x-block in the horse stance allways gets me into a nice deep stance for the rest of my training.

Reason number 365 to stay out of disco`s night clubs and other places like that.

In my tkd class we do it at the waist to learn proper hip application. Of course durring sparring our hands are up. most of the other points about transition positions etc. are true. I would add this. when you are walking down the street are your hands by your head or by your waist? you may want to know how to puch and block from your normal position. That is likely how the fight will start.

As a traditonal tkd person, we still do palgwe, self defence, throws, etc. I still think I would learn something from a person who focuses maby 75 pecent on hands rather than the 50% or so that I do. Just as I could learn something from a boxer. I am particulary interested in some of the hand conditioning drills at this time. I think what a karate practiconer could learn from us would be in the application of kicks above the waist and also how close a kick can effectivly be thrown there. A story that has nothing to do with karate but proves a similar point. When I was a brown belt I did some work with a friend in my college who had trained in a mostly hadNs style of kung fu as well as tai chi. When we started sparring he was unprepaired for the kicks, likewise when he was able to get it I found some of his fore knuckle strikes most "educational"

which is better a hamer or a saw. Neither; use what is appropriate at the moment depending on your strengths and weaknesses as well as own opponent. You need to learn both or you are incomplete. Brad

All people are different for example I gain weight very easily but loose it more slowly. I will give you some recomendations I have heard from powerlifters plus a little first hand experience. Eat fast. Your body relases sesation drugs into your blood, most people have about 15 min before they start to feel full. If you are trying to loose weight do the oposite Make sure you are drinking caloric liquids. milk, juice etc. wake up and eat at night once, stick with easier to digest foods so you can eat more often. You might look at a protien powder called Muscle Milk. As I recall from my last squat cycle(I am overseas so I dont have my notes) 2 scoops in whole milk make it arround 600+ calories. It will be tought to eat like this at first you will have to force yourself. Your success will depend on how much you want it and how disciplined you are. As an asside make sure you are doing enough volume of training to support your eating or you will just get fat. For a little fun you could try googling smolov.(warning you may hate me later if you try it.)

I have a deep love for the martial arts and I hope to learn and share from the people of this forum. I have been studying Tae kwon do since early 1995. At the time of this post(and likely for a good while after) I have been honored to recieve a ranking of 2nd dan black belt in my school. My other areas of interest include physical training related to martial arts(weights, flexibility, etc. ) I also make wooden training weapons for myself and my students. So hi Brad