John G

Andy, I don’t know if this helps but try to get hold of a USTF (United States Taekwon-do Federation) or a ITFNZ (International Taekwon-Do Foundation New Zealand) Syllabus or Techniques hand book. In them are guides to destruction (power breaking) requirements. E.g. taken from the USTF 9th gup through 1st Dan Black Belt Syllabus (1996). Breaking Starts at ---6th Gup (low green belt)--- Men Feet: 1 board With : front snap kick Women/juniors Feet: 1 board With : side piercing kick ---5th Gup (high green belt)--- Men Hands: 1 board With : downward or inward or outward strike with knife hand. Men Feet: 2 boards With : front snap or side piercing or back piercing kick Women/juniors Feet: 1 board With turning or back piercing kick ---4th Gup (low blue belt)--- Men Hands: 1 board With : front punch with the forefist or side strike with the back fist or inward strike with the reverse knife-hand. Men Feet: 2 boards With : flying front snap or flying turning kick Men Feet: 3 boards With : flying side piercing kick Women/juniors Hands: 1 board With : downward strike with knife hand. Women/juniors Feet: 1 board With : flying front snap or flying turning kick Women/juniors Feet: 2 boards With : flying side piercing kick ---3rd Gup (high blue belt)--- Men Hands: 2 boards With : downward or inward or outward strike with knife hand. Men Feet: 2 boards With : twisting or stepping hook or reverse hook kick Women/juniors Hands: 1 board With : downward or inward or outward strike with knife hand. Women/juniors Feet: 1 board With : twisting or stepping hook or reverse hook kick Peewees Feet: 1 board With : front snap or side piercing kick ---2nd Gup (low red belt)--- Men Hands: 1 suspended board (speed breaking) With : front punch with the forefist or inward strike with the reverse knife-hand or inward strike with the knife-hand or outward strike with the knife-hand. Men Feet: 2 boards With : flying twisting kick. Men Feet: 3 boards With : mid-air 180 back piercing kick Women/juniors Hands: 1 board With : front punch with the forefist or inward strike with the reverse knife-hand or inward strike with the knife-hand or outward strike with the knife-hand. Women/juniors Feet: 1 board With : flying twisting kick. Women/juniors Feet: 2 boards With : mid-air 180 back piercing kick Peewees Hands: 1 board With : downward strike with the side fist or outward strike with the side fist Peewees Feet: 1 board With : flying front snap or flying side piercing kick ---1st Gup (high red belt)--- Men Hands: 2 non-supported boards With : inward strike with the reverse knife-hand or inward strike with the knife-hand or outward strike with the knife-hand. Men Feet: 3 boards With : front snap or turning kick Men Feet: 4 boards With : side or back piercing kick Women/juniors Hands: 1 non-supported board With : inward strike with the reverse knife-hand or inward strike with the knife-hand or outward strike with the knife-hand. Women/juniors Feet: 2 boards With : front snap or turning kick Women/juniors Feet: 3 boards With : side or back piercing kick Peewees Hands: 1 board With : front strike with the elbow Peewees Feet: 1 board With : front snap or turning kick Peewees Feet: 2 boards With : Back piercing kick

Wooden boards, tiles etc although more expensive are a lot more forgiving than re-breakable boards. If you don’t hit re-breakable boards directly on the joint line you end up skinning your knuckles or feet. I feel using re-breakable boards for practice or tournaments is a cost effective and standardised method to demonstrate power breaking, but when it comes to grading, use the real thing. There’s nothing quite like the buzz one gets when one brakes the first set of wooden boards or stack of tiles at a grading. Smashing through plastic somehow doesn't feel the same. …

I’m just curious as to what "lessons of attempts to test such power" during the boxer's rebellion you were referring to, sounds interesting. Being part of the Fire & Rescue service for the past 20 years, I ask myself that question every time we go out on a call. I value everyone’s life equally, and have seen many "parent trying to save child" rescues go tragically wrong. Not only has the family lost a sibling they have also lost a parent. Worse still, is when a rescuer is killed trying to save the parent. ...

Granmasterchen, You have indeed controlled mastery over your own body, these skills take many years to develop and refine. You may have also notice how you don’t suffer from colds and influenza as others, and because cancer is something your body creates you will find that it is also something your body can destroy. These are things you can control, but alas we are only human and eventually we will all die. There is a danger in believing that all thing are possible, and some how our minds can control the physical world just through though. Have you ever stood on the ledge of a tall building with your toes on the edge and wondered if the laws of physics were just rubbish and you really could just levitate, just one step further. All because you read in some book that because you think an object exists is does exist, therefore if something is dangerous think it non-threatening and you won’t get hurt. I have. Don’t get me wrong I haven’t got and never had a suicidal death wish, it’s just the books I read when I was younger. The kicker comes when after many years of believing what is written is true, the author dies, the one who was never going to die. After all you believe to be true is proven wrong you wonder about those poor souls who did take that one step further from the ledge and bounced. Were they wrong because they had a second of doubt before they hit the pavement? Or was it the rich author’s warped sense of reality? The chopstick thing is something I wouldn’t mind seeing some day, however I believe the woman who lifted the car off one of her trapped children saved the kid but suffered massive muscular and spinal injuries. Mind control over ones own body is one thing; mind control over the physical world is something I no longer believe in. ..

Well written G95champ , Like someone once wrote 'Kata is like an onion, so many tears so many layers, but ahh the flavour' ..

Granmasterchen, Fireka and Isakowski. I have an open mind willing to accept anything, EXCEPT those ideas and notions proven to be false through my life experience. Be wary of those who promise you hope or mind powers for money, they have their own agenda, and you are only a means to their profitable ends. Follow your dreams, achieve the unachievable, but do it not at the expense of others. If you have a natural gift, share it with others freely. If you seek fame or fortune through your abilities will loose your gift forever and become bitter. Your eyes, ears and sensors can be fooled, keep an open mind and beware of the charlatan. Synaesthesia and JerryLove are only trying to help. You can choose to accept our advice and knowledge or you can do it the hard way. I did it the hard way, have a few emotional and physical scars, but for the most part enjoyed, and still enjoy the journey. ...

Any martial artist who believes that their martial art is better than anyone else’s is just fooling themselves. I think the whole ITF Vs WTF thing comes about from the political influences exerted from both federations on instructors. There are concerted efforts by 2 of the 3 ITF’s to come to some form of agreement with the WTF in amalgamating both federations. Will the egos of grand masters / masters from both sides allow this to happen? Is money, power, status an influencing factor holding back the amalgamation? Who knows? General Choi made some consolatory inroads with establishment of rank recognition up to 4th Dan between federations. That is to say if you hold a 2nd Dan ranking in WTF you will be recognised as a 2nd Dan in ITF. Of course, if you want to progress forward to your next Dan you will have to learn everything ITF up to that rank before being promoted. The same goes for ITF to WTF students. To answer which is the best, that depends on what you want out of it and who your instructor is. I have seen several ITF schools heavily tournament orientated and others purely martial arts based. Thanks to the internet and members from this forum I now know that WTF is much the same. ..

A little bit off topic but in the same vein. The other nite at training I asked two junior 1st degree black belts (one boy one girl who are both 11 y/o) similar questions. Both these students started when they were six, and are the only remaining students from their initial class of 20 juniors. Both do exceptionally well a tournaments (especially in patterns) and both have to wait until they are 14 before they can go for their 2 Dans. I told them that I would be dividing the class into 3 separate groups based upon age. I asked them "at what age they would consider students classified as peewees?" (those with an attention span of less that 30 minutes). They both agreed that any student under the age of 8 should be peewees. Next I asked them "at what age would they consider juniors to be?" Anyone from 8 to 10 maybe 11 depending on the student was their answer. "So the rest could be classified as mature students?" I asked, yes was their reply I then explained to them that I would be teaching the peewees things like stranger danger some fundamental blocks strikes basic patterns etc. and generally make the lesson fun. For the juniors, it would be more tournament orientated, coloured belt patterns, takedowns ,joint locks etc. As for those mature students I will be teaching them full blown martial arts, how to kill or servery maim someone if their life is threatened and they had no other option. "At what age do you think some one has the maturity to understand the consequences, to make those kinds of decisions, and not just use the techniques taught to kill someone at school, maybe by accident, maybe in a fit of rage, just because they got a bit upset with that person?" I asked. They agreed that by the time they turned 14 - 15 they would have that maturity, however people who haven’t been training for as long as they have should be 16 or 18 before being taught those techniques. Two wise young people I thought.

Using the appropriate attacking tool for each vital point comes to mind here. If a hooking punch is required use it, if a straight punch its required use it, if chain punching is required then use them too. It depends on what you’re trying to hit and from what angle and distance. After all how “Powerful” does a punch have to be to become effective? ...

Welcome hogwan.

Neil, If you don’t mind me asking, what is your definition of a martial art? What should it include? How long should it take to master the techniques? How much should it cost? Should it stay static and keep with tradition or should it be dynamic and keep up with modern styles of fighting? Given that many striking techniques can severely mame or kill people, should the application and purpose of these techniques be taught to people under the age of 18. (Legal age in Australia to be tried as an adult in a court of law) If so, who should be made responsible if little Johnny (15y/o) accidentally kills one of his classmates with a back fist strike to the temple during a scuffle at school. Should it be the school, his instructor, his parents or should Johnny be made accountable for his actions and sent to jail for 10-15 years? Should training at the dojo be realistic? And at what point do you draw the line, bruising, broken bones, damaged organs, death? And who should pay for the hospital bills and loss of income, the instructor, the students or maybe Joe public? Given these considerations, once mastered, and made accountable for the action of those you teach under the age of 18. Would you teach your art as a Jutsu to masses or as a Do (using your definition of Jutsu and Do)? Or would you (as some masters do) teach the Do to the masses and the Jutsu to the select few? Respectfully,

mtheiss, Men will never be able fathom the workings of a women’s mind be they martial artists or not. They are all individual, therefore I would suggest you just wing it, and try not to upset them.

SaiFightsMS, Congradulations on your 4000+ posts, well done.. ....

Much appreciated Mr Green, and a big thankyou for those of you who took the time to answer my post. Neil: “A great mind is calm and respectful; a small mind is restless and arrogant” Confucius. …

Started 38 now 43. Come on SaiFightsMS, save me..

Being part of the martial arts community both from within and external to my art, who (for the most part) are interesting, learned, decent and down to earth people. That’s what I like about my martial art. Ohh.. I like bon sao too. ...

Well said hobbitbob..

Thankyou very much for your responses, it feels like several doors have opened before me from which a wealth of knowledge can be sought (actually it feels like a bottomless pit, and I fear my life will expire before I scratch the surface). Kata/patterns/tuls are so under rated these in our instant gratification society. I once thought that they were only a means to get to my next grading and had little meaning or value in our modern society. I was wrong. Respectfully, …

Welcome ...

For many years ITF Taekwon-do denied the fact that the basis of TKD was Karate, albeit modified (a Korean thing I guess). It was interesting to read (in another forum) that General Choi’s (Founder ITF TKD) first book on the subject of TKD (1965) included the following patterns (katas?) along with some of his newly developed Tuls/patterns/katas. I was wondering if anyone could please tell me anything about them or where I can find more out more information about them. Patterns/ katas? are: Hei-an I, II, III, IV and V Bat-sai En-bi Ro-hai Kouh-shang-kouh Tet-ki I, II and III Jit-te Han-Getsu Ji-on Thankyou in advance. Respectfully, …

Welcome aboard Aaron.

The reason the why the UN is a paper tiger is because the five permanent members China, Russia, France, Great Britain and the US, are all too busy trying to carve up our little blue planet into manageable chunks to be sold to the highest bidder. Once in a while these noble members get caught trying to steal another members bit of turf, therefore they can’t come to any satisfactory agreement in the UN. Don’t give me this moral high ground rubbish about removing a dictator with WMD just so we can all feel nice and fuzzy about liberating the Iraqi people. Who sold him those weapons in the first place, we did. The French supplied the planes (Oh yeh and the nuclear capability), the Germans supplied chemicals, the American supplied the rockets (courteously of Mr. Donald Rumfield) and the anthrax, and the Russians sold him the tanks and assorted weapons. Why were the French, Germans and Russians opposed to “The coalition of the willing” stepping in and removing the dictator? Simple, cheap oil deals with the dictator himself. Why on earth did Australia get involved? Simple again, $800 million (Au) worth of wheat exports to Iraq, or should I say the loss of $800 million to the American market if we weren’t seen to be supporting the coalition of the willing. Only joking the Australian government really wanted the Iraqi people to be liberated so they can come over here and live with us, who cares about a lousy $800.000.000 We all have the blood of innocent men, women and children on our hands, get over it and stop trying to justify the slaughter. It’s not the fault of nations but the greed of mankind. Welcome our servicemen and servicewomen home as they have fulfilled their duty. Honour those servicemen and servicewomen who have died doing their duty, and pray for those who died defending their country or who were victims of collateral damage. Teach our children how to love and understand our neighbours and not fear those who look and sound different to us. Teach compassion and tolerance not prejudice and bigotry. We as martial artists may not be able to solve mankind’s greed but at least we can try. Respectfully, …

One has to be careful with this statement. In ITF Taekwon-do there are three programs a beginner can follow to obtain a first Degree/Dan black belt these are: An 18 month course: an hour and a half per day, six days per week for a total of 702 hours. A 30 month course: an hour and a half per day, three days per week for a total of 585 hours. A 12 month course: four hours per day, six days per week for a total of 1248 hours. Note: these are unique hours; a student can’t for instance turn up and learn the same lesson three times a day and claim for three training sessions, sure, the student will be proficient at the lesson taught however it only counts for one session. The standard model is based around the 30 month / 585 hour course, which is to say if you only train twice a week an hour and a half per day it will take you around 48 months to grade to black belt. There are exceptions to the case, especially if a person comes from another martial art discipline, or a person trains a lot in their own time or if a person is particularly gifted physically and or mentally. In these circumstances time frames may be lowered. Ultimately, these time frames don’t detract from the fact that a student has to learn and demonstrate the physical, mental and moral lessons taught before a black belt is granted. BTW: It took me 32 months to be granted my first degree/dan. Respectfully, …

1st to 3rd Degree - Assistant Instructor (Boosabum) 4th to 6th Degree - Instructor (Sabum) 7th to 8th Degree - Master (Sahyun) 9th Degree - Grand Master (Saseong) Page 373 Taekwon-Do (The Korean Art of Self-Defence) Fifth Edition 1999 by (Saseong nihm) Gen. Choi Hong Hi (1918-2002) Published by International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF)

Since the word kung fu, gong fu, gung fu, etc means: task, work performed, special skills. A person can be a Kung fu: Carpenter, cook, farmer, electrician etc. The person you asked should have explained this to you and not just left you in the dark about it. To us westerners (thanks to TV) Kung Fu is a general term we use to describe a Chinese art form of which Wing Chun is one of many. Hope I helped.