niel0092

I was taught that they do. The books I've read back that up as well.

They end at the same spot. My guess is that your stances are slightly off when returning to the starting point. Happens to me too if I think about it too much

Exploring those themes is great and the reason that we revisit them is, or should be, that they are realevent to every generation. what gets me is that the quality of storytelling in the last 2 decades has seemed to take a slow downward spin. The impact and the thought involved seems to be somewhat lacking. maybe I'm just getting old and cynical at the ripe old age of 26 but i have a feeling the corprate mindset of hollywood writers and the millions of dollars that are put on the line every time a movie is made is an equally important factor.

That's kinda my point. Change the visual effects and it's basically Tron. Leave them out and go back a few thousand years and it's basically a greek saga. Same formula most stories follow.

The movie was fun but I think its a victim of it's own popularity. Let me elaborate: many movies since the 1st matrix have coppied it's style for it's fight sceens. We've seen dozens of films do this. Now matrix reloaded comes out and I feel like I've already seen half of what they did. It's lost it's visual impact. Hollywood, if you're listening... STOP RIPPING EACH OTHER OFF!!!

The trick is to find a propper balence between the two. Neglect one, you cant defend yourself. Neglect the other, you produce a group of thugs. Neither is the desired outcome. (broad generalization, dont take either personally please) If church provides what you need in terms of the mental/ spiritual aspect, more power to you. I think that's great. Personally, (christian)church isn't the only/best answer for me and I enjoy the spiritual/mental side of the martial arts. Back to the topic: Taezee(tanzee?) taught some fairly hardcore TKD when he was in the military as part of their self defence training. he hasn't been around these boards in a while but if you look through his old posts you can learn more about what he did. I was under the impression that most US military training for hand to hand combat was fairly simple and straight foreward. Stikes to very vital areas, some groungfighting, and detainment tactics. Our sparring instructor is a sergeant in the army in charge of PT for recruits (or was when he was in the military) and the head instructor was a marine (I beleive) back around the Korean war.

I really liked evangaleon, cowboy bebop, and escaflowne as far as series go. I HATE it when movies are dubbed. I totally agree that it changes the tone of the characters and feel of the movie.

Aww we all look silly at first... but they're so much fun it doesn't matter!

true TJS. It's not any one group in particular. I think what happens though is that we get critiqued (SP?) quite often and vigorously (SP?) and it tends to get people on the defensive. Not right or wrong, just what happens. The key here tkdthug and others is to take these critisisms and learn from them. Something I know I should do more. So Icetuete, TKD mental aspects are going to depend on the instructor and how much they value that side of the art. The physical aspect ie getting in shape, is going to be very good at most schools.

50/50 cotton and poly. It's from adidas.

Spar spar spar... it will come with time.

The college club I belonged to had it's main school not to far from my home so I went there durring breaks.

That sounds like what we do. Come alongs, stand up grappling, grabs, etc. But I had to ask to be shown mount and guard positional tech's.

I think the key to this is similar to what you do in any art: KISS or Keep It Simple Stupid. TKD teaches simple and effective techs along with the flashier stuff. Jabs, crosses, elbows, knees... they're all there along with great kicks. Target selection and set up for those kicks is the issue. The easy answer is to use those low line kicks to set up your hands for a strike... as many strikes as it takes, and hit vulnerable areas. Just like other arts do, no difference there. Easy answer maybe, but as anyone that has been in a fight can tell you it's easier said then done. Grappling: The issue was bound to come up in here so I'll answer it now. Learn some. Then learn more. TKD has great strikes but I beleive that the remedial level of grappling instruction I've received in class will only (maybe) help against an untrained person not an experienced grappler. Also the assertaion that by taking TkD you lose any grappling skills you may have had before you started ie were untrained is garbage. Last I checked I could still play tackle football and wrestle just fine. So yes, it is possible to use TKD for self defense. Add some more than basic grappling and you should be alright.

never said it would be easy. What would you suggest then?

Seems like a sound theory.

It sounds like a very good system for what it claims to teach. If that's what you want, you'll probably be happy with it. The only possible downside I can see is you have to be willing to take a pounding durring training. Fight full contact and it's going to hurt. Now that's not a downside if you accept that fact but be sure you know what you're getting into.

There were/are alot of clubs in the area when I began. Being at the University though I limmited my initial choices to what was availible through the schools clubs and rec department. It made more sense at the time due to issues of cost and location. I saw demos of the 5 styles availible (across 8 clubs) and tried out 2 of them. I choose the one that fit best at the time. Over time, my tastes and requirements for what I want to learn have changed. My current school does a good job but I am thirsty for just a bit more. I'll probably switch styles sometime in the future or just try something else for a while.

Does anyone else have testing video they'd like to share?

I'd look at physics for your answers - it's rooted in mathematics. Force=Mass x Acceleration is the best example. This is applicable for every strike you will ever use. For the presentation you could break a board at this point. Always good to hold someones attention. PSI = pounds of pressure per square inch. Look at the striking surface you use and calculate the force you can deal out. Circular momentum, acceleration/deceleration, opposing forces... these are all areas you could talk about. A demo of a grappling move perhaps? If you dont want to do the demo yourself and have acces to a computer you could put videos into a power point presentation along with slides showing the formulas you used. Hope this helps

It's a very small part of a test for lower belts. Why would you look down on the art for such a small example of what TKD has to offer? Would you say the same thing if it was video of a grappling student with only 2-3 months experience? Or MT? Or any number of other arts? Congrats again to musipilot for having the courage to share his test with us. Keep working hard and I look forward to seeing your next video.

We had one guy on here practice it but I haven't seen him for a while.

Nice job. Looks like you had a lot of fun.

Forget it, I choose a spork. The ultimate eating and fighting tool. It can gouge AND scoop and soup is no match for its large surface area. The spork clearly trumps the fork and leaves chopsticks in the dust! lol

And then you would have been tackeled by the bouncers, held for the cops to show, and charged with assault. this isn't a movie. Life has consequences.