John G

Welcome..

Welcome...

Welcome..

Off topic: The same thing happens today, except our/their heroes use guns and bombs to kill children.

Assuming you started when you were 7 years old and maintained a formal training schedule at an AVERAGE of nine training sessions a month, every month this would be your progress; First to third degrees (boo sa-bum) are considered novice 1st Degree/Dan 11.0 years old 2nd Degree/Dan 14.5 y/o 3rd Degree/Dan 17.5 y/o Fourth to sixth degree (sa-bum) are considered expert 4th Degree/Dan 19.5 y/o 5th Degree/Dan 24.5 y/o 6th Degree/Dan 30.5 y/o Seventh and eighth degree (sa-hyung) are considered masters 7th Degree/Dan 37.5 y/o 8th Degree/Dan 45.5 y/o Ninth degree (sa-sung) is considered a grand master 9th Degree/Dan 54.5 y/o With some exceptions to 1st degree, these are the minimum age requirements. Gee, at this rate I'll be a minimum age of 82 when I reach grand master, the prime of my life (I'm planning to make at least 100).

3 Days to go..... Good luck (not that you will need it)..

Welcome

Welcome aboard Ken ..

Welcome aboard Kyle..

Larry expires and goes to hamster heaven. Armageddon!

Pink Floyd Album The final Cut (Reality check: leaves me slightly paranoid) Linkin Park Album Hybrid Theory (Now I know why I'm paranoid)

I agree with you G95champ but only if the rest of the world sanction it, if we are to get the blood of thousands of innocent people (both theirs and ours) on our hands. I would prefer it to be a collective decision sanctioned by the UN. If the US decides to go it alone with puppet nations like Australia, we are no better than other countries that impose they values on others. I believe if this was to occur it would it be the beginning of the American Empire, and we all know what happens to empires. I love my country, and would die protecting her, but not for oil.

Laurie, A little bit of research I have done with respect to walking stance. Walking Stance: Ap Seogi Classification: Change of Major basic stance Used to apply technique and relatively unstable at the same time Dimensions: Width: 1 shoulder Length: 1 step length (approx 1 shoulder lengths) Weight Distribution: 70% front leg 30% back leg, both knees locked Front stance: Ap Koobi Classification: Major basic stance Used to perform attack techniques Dimensions: Width: 1 shoulder Length: 1.5 - 2 step length (approx 1.5 - 2 shoulder lengths) Weight Distribution: 50% front leg 50% back leg, Front knee bent, back knee locked Your opponent: Same height, weight, build etc. as you, but really mean and wants to rip your head off, lets call him Bruce. Scenario: You're in the lab, and you accidentally set fire to Bruce's pet hamster Larry. Whilst trying to put Larry out by bashing the flames out with the latest edition of "Taekwondo Times" Larry expires and goes to hamster heaven. Bruce is not happy.. Lets take the first two moves out of Taeguk sam jang 1.) Look left and move left foot into a left walking stance with a left low block toward "L-1". Bruce comes in from your left, you turn, and you can see his right foot about to kick you in the groin. You can A: Take a 1 step stance (walking stance) to the left and with 70% of your weight on the front leg, block his right ankle (SP6) with your left arm, stare STRAIGHT into his red tear soaked eyes filled with horror and say "Your dead meat chum" Or B: Take a 1.5 - 2 step stance (front stance) to the left and with your weight evenly distributed on both your front an back legs, block his right ankle (SP6) with your left arm, stare UP into his red tear soaked eyes filled with revenge and say "Sorry about the rat Bruce". 2.) Execute a right front snap kick to "L-1" landing in a right front stance with a right then a left center punch. Bruce reeling with pain from your well placed block hesitates. Now its time to finish him off (almost too cruel to continue, isn't it). From a walking stance you already have forward intention. That is to say, you are already in an upright position with the majority of your weight (70%) moving forward. In the form you pause, however in real life you would continue moving forward after the block. If on the other hand you were coming from a front stance, the movement from this lower stance, to the upright position would telegraph your intent. One other thing, the information I have on Taeguk sam jang movement 2 doesn't state the height the front snap kick is medium/low? (Solar plexus/groin) as this could also have a bearing (distance?) on why a walking stance is incorporated into this sequence. Anyway back to the story; Stepping forward, you kick Bruce in the groin, give him the old one two to the solar plexus, Bruce falls to the ground with a thud, the crowd goes wild (no one like Bruce anyway) and you get busted by the RSPCA for setting fire to small fury creatures. Laurie, Hope I helped. If nothing else I learnt a new pattern and a new stance (Ap Seogi, walking stance ) your front (Ap Koobi) stance is exactly the same as our ITF walking stance (gunnun sogi). Source information: http://www.taekwon.net/korean/school/stance.html http://library.thinkquest.org/16082/techniques/stance.html http://www.ma-wired.com/tae3.html

Welcome Newtoitall ..

Laurie, A nic of karatekid1975 formally a 5th gup blue belt TSD, now a Green belt TKD that is a mixture of WTF and kung fu, now that's messing with my head. WTF and ITF share the same ancestry (KTA), which was a grouping of people skilled at Korean/ Japanese karate and Chinese martial arts. After the departure of General Choi (ITF) from the KTA, the South Korean government coerced many of the masters in the KTA to develop a truly Korean martial art, hence the formation of WTF. Now, I don't know anything about WTF patterns/forms/tulls/poomes (sp?) but I'm sure that the originating masters who developed these patterns would have purpose and function built into these techniques. It's the discovery or re-discovery of these techniques that makes what you are doing part of the ART and not just a sport, hobby or self-defence activity. Find out the correct stance height and stick to it, find out the reason why they are higher. There are three distinct types of stances I use; they are the ones used in patterns/forms, the ones used in sparing and the ones used in self-defence. Laurie, if you could tell us what form you are practising, maybe one of the WTF practitioners could help. It is indeed refreshing to see that you are a part of a WTF club that isn't totally sports orientated , the common image everyone has about WTF and TKD come to think of it. Could you tell us some of the Kung Fu forms are taught at your club? (Off topic) I actually asked Astewart, (Alan) to pop over and have a look at this forum specifically this post, as his knowledge of ITF technique and history (and other martial art matters) is vastly superior to that of mine. Kickchick; You stated in your last post: "I should determine what is best for you as an individual in an ideal situation" Is this a typo? Respectfully

You are correct KickChick, My appologies, You're probably better off with ITU than that of ITF with all its political in fighting. Less than 12 months ago we had only one ITF, now we have ITF Vienna, ITF Canada and ITF North Korea, what a mess. You must be getting close to your Second-Degree grading, starting to feel a bit Nervoussssss yet?

Welcome aboard.

It is indeed unfortunate that the popularity of Taekwon-Do and martial arts in general has lead to an increase of Mc Dojos throughout the world. Many of you may know of, or yourselves unwittingly been a member of one of those clubs. The other common mistake people make is that there is a distinct difference between WTF and ITF Taekwon-Do. WTF for the most part (as there are many WTF clubs that teach self defence) could be considered a sport, an Olympic sport in fact. ITF on the other hand is a modern martial art that has only been around for about 47 years. General Choi (the founder of ITF Taekwon-do) gathered together several Korean Grand Masters / Masters and developed Taekwon-Do. The purpose of this, was to develop a martial art that could be taught to the newly formed Korean Army to counter Japanese Karate in hand to hand combat. Remembering that Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910 and had been under Japanese rule up until the end of the Second World War. All of the people who were gathered together (persuaded) to develop this new martial art were experts in their own fields albeit Korean/Japanese Karate and or Chinese martial arts. Taekwon-Do is based around Shotokan Karate with some Chinese methodologies and movements included. We are taught the application and purpose of each punch, strike, kick, grab, throw or joint lock we apply (as I'm sure many of you true martial artist regardless of code are also taught). Our stances, (and I know only 15 to my level of 1st degree [4 preparation and 11 application]) are generally higher than that of traditional Karate, this is for greater mobility at the expense of stability, or so it seems. As many of you know, when delivering a strike or punch it is imperative that it is done from a stable platform to maximise power, try punching an heavy bag on your tip toes, then try punching the same bag on a low wide stance with your feet firmly planted on the ground you will notice the difference in how far the bag moves. The only problem with a low wide stance is mobility (BTW this is one of our stances). Now try this, get a set of bathroom scales (the analogue type, you cant see this on a digital set), now quickly lower you center of gravity (drop your mass). What you see is your weight increase for an instant. This is ONE of the principles behind the sine-wave motion (bouncing up and down between techniques). We increase our stability not by having lower center of gravity (although this happens to a certain extent) but by increasing our mass (weight) at the point of contact. There is a downside to this, as we move up our mass decreases making us venerable to attack for an instant. Of course you have to include action reaction, breath control, concentration of force and focus of mind in one single co-ordinated action to a given vital point using the appropriate attacking or blocking tool. But everyone does that. Now I know I have over simplified both Taekwon-Do and Karate stance techniques and apologise if I have offended anyone. All I'm trying to point out is that ITF Taekwon-Do isn't just a few flashy kicks, nor is it Karate with bobbing up and down thrown in. Its is a martial art that has its roots in karate (something I'm proud of admitting) and one that its dynamically changing to keep pace with more efficient ways of hand to hand combat. General Choi stated in the 1980s that he had completed the development of Taekwon-Do, and that it was up to future Grand Masters and Masters to continue the legacy and improve Taekwon-Do. Now, no one dared to change anything (out of respect) while he was alive, however now that he has regrettably passed on, our art will continue to develop and evolve, hopefully under the guidance of his Son Master Choi Jung Hwa and other Grand Masters and Masters alike. Hopefully this has given you a small insight to our martial art. I would appreciate it if you could direct questions to us ITF Taekwon-do practitioners if you have any questions about our art, rather than saying it's a load of rubbish, or my art is better than your art because I saw some bloke beat up one of your blokes in a sparring match. I may not know the answers to your questions (after all I'm only a lowly 1st degree) however I will endeavour to find an answer for you from my Master or from other ITF Taekwon-Do practitioners on the Internet. BTW. We didn't exactly invent sine-wave motion, have a closer look at (of all arts) Tai Chi. Respectfully,

What a shame, it can only be shipped within the U.S. ... ..

Welcome aboard Endzone Freestyle Dragon

Congratulations, BlueDragon1981 happy 21st

We have a 10 year old dog (poodle cross terrier) named Nardo after Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (my son chose the name not me). He smells like a wet sock, he's starting to loose his hair and suffers from selective hearing. It's going to break my heart when that stupid mutt passes on.

Welcome aboard..

Every once in a while (Not intentionally) I have a stupid grin on my face whilst we are all reciting the student oath, this in general gets the instructor going with an bigger grin than mine which in turn sets the rest of the class off giggling with tears of laughter streaming down their faces. We (my instructor and I) try to avoid eye contact at all costs whilst reciting the student oath.

Welcome aboard..