DWx

Nice post Bob. Reminds me of that Jim Carey sketch where he is teaching women's self defence It is easier said than done though. I mean it shouldn't really happen to an instructor or someone with a lot of experience and they shouldn't make stupid excuses like that, but in training you train to react to people who have learnt specific ways of punching and kicking; a non-martial artists wont strike like you're used to. If someone from your dojo goes to hit you, even if you don't know the exact type of strike you still roughly know the trajectory and how their body will move during the movement. You can read their telegraphs too which a non-martial artist might not have, e.g. initial hip movement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11775465 Thought all the new sensors & electronic scoring was supposed to help prevent cheating and scoring disputes...

Welcome ptr

Welcome Jérôme

True and I'd agree experience really comes into it. But lack of experience in any stance limits mobility and I'd actually rank the L-stance as being easier to be mobile in compared to a front stance.

I think the stance very much depends on the style and type of sparring. In the style of TKD I do you'll almost never see a proper front stance, maybe a side stance but it is nearly always an L stance. Ok its not a true L-stance as the weight isn't necessarily centred on the back leg all the time but insofar as the positions of the feet it is. If you look at any footage, everyone's in an L-stance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anvxN8zoC18 Funny you should say that it limits mobility sensei8 as probably one of the reasons we use it is because of the high mobility in both shifting/dodging and ease of throwing a kick compared to other stances.

Thanks for the feedback guys Just curious, why do you want to discourage a more forward stance? The trouble I tend to have with beginners is a tendency to get overly sideways, giving up the ability to utilize the back hand and foot, not to mention easy shots at the kidneys, hamstring, and back of the head. An overly forward stance is bad as far as taking a hit square in the gut, but it's been my experience that this is easier to correct later than being too sideways. By forward stance I mean feet parallel, almost like a boxers stance. I try not to get them fully side on either but opposite to you find its easier to correct this way round. I personally try to get them to fight from an "L-stance" or elongated "rear-foot stance", I think these are the equivalent of a Karate back stance and a cat stance. Be what I'd call a half facing stance. The problem I have with being full on is that its not so easy to throw a lead leg kick off of... or more that its easier to do from a side on stance. Front kicks being the exception to this. Lead leg kicks are really a core technique for our sparring as they are equally as useful for offence and defence, easy to close the gap or make space, start off a combo etc. Back kicks, reverse/spinning hooks and the like can also come quite easily from the side on stance whereas they are so much more difficult to do from a full facing. The rear leg roundhouse is also a very powerful tool from a side facing stance as the distance it travels lets you build up some momentum behind it and is good for developing the hip action. You are right in the disadvantages of the side on stance. I actually feel overly sideways isn't so much of a problem for us as very rarely do we use the back leg or arm straight off. It'll almost always be covered by the front arm (or leg) or if you are using it straight off, its a power shot that you've set up for and have the speed and technique to deliver. At a beginner level its also not so much a problem having the back exposed to kidney shots as they're not allowed at this level and hamstring and head shots are avoided via evasion and developing a good guard. Being full on presents far too many targets IMO and I think its a lot harder to develop a good guard for it. I don't know whether its directly related but generally the people who naturally take a full on stance also seem to be the ones who like to keep going forward. The footwork drills and that which I show from a beginner level are also more geared to being side on as I think they're easier to do. If we take an example where we want to quickly get out of range of an incoming attack: in a side on stance all you have to do it step back with the front foot so that its now behind, you've effectively created a stance's difference between you and your partner. In a fully facing stance its not so easy to create that room going back, even if you step back with one foot you're still in range until your other foot moves. Same applies to going forward. I think this is going to be in part down to the style and method of sparring. It'll depend a bit on the techniques and goals. TBH eventually we want to get to a stage where the person comfortable with fighting through the full 90° (fully frontal to fully side on) and on both sides with either leg back and they're constantly shifting between this in their fight. But that is much later. Thanks Bob! But I don't actually have any students atm... would love to have my own class/school in the future but with all the studying for uni and other things I don't really have time for my own training let alone have time to teach others. These are just some teaching ideas and methods based on my own learning and experiences which I occasionally get to inflict on others at the school I train at and that I'll work on with sparring partners if they're less experienced.

Depends if he's allowed to wear a chest protector outside the gi. Some places don't let you wear it on the outside.

Great post sensei8. Basics are very important, not just for the techniques themselves but practice of them ingrains body mechanics principles that carry over into the more advanced techniques. A lot of advanced techs are just extensions and modified versions of the basics anyway. You have to wonder though that if maybe you did some of the "advanced" techniques the same number of times as the basic ones and from white belt level, would it not just become another basic? What I'm trying to say is that, at least in my experience, some techniques which are labelled "advanced" aren't necessarily that difficult to do, they've just been withheld in the syllabus till higher grades.

How about something like this: http://www.blitzsport.com/Korpertech-Body-Armour?whence= The Korpertech shirts are supposed to be like a 2nd skin that offers protection against knocks but still be able to move in them.

Thanks for the info guys.. I'll think about it

Welcome Chalil

That's fair enough. I totally agree on not letting an MA teacher influence every aspect of your life. Still not all influence is bad influence.. sometimes if they're one of your role models or people you look up to, thinking about whether they'd approve might aid in some of your decisions.

I think whether you use them in higher training depends on how you're using them. At a higher level it doesn't matter if your opponent just stands there after their attack as really there isn't an "after" as you should have already incapacitated them. We work towards being able to intercept the attack as soon as they move and then straight off either striking or a throw so that they can't throw another attack. Ok yes they are actually standing there but if your counter-attack landed properly, would they? Can always try one-steps with them suiting up so you can really hit them one. I think they fit in pretty well between forms and free sparring. Its a chance to try out applications from your forms in a semi-controlled environment before then moving onto the free spar. And for seeing what you like to do and what works for you. Of all the 100s of blocks and counters you'll get your favourite and hopefully become proficient enough to pull them off in free sparring. Admittedly we don't do them a lot but we do train them in blackbelt classes. Great when we can change the initial attack to something using a knife or other weapon or the attacker can attack in a unorthodox way.

Its a sparring article Brian with basic tournament combos and strategies Its an alright article but the info in its really is the most basic of basics. Would have been nice if he'd expanded out in each of the categories or given more examples but its a good read if you're starting out in competition.

Depends how you view your relationship with your teacher. Can understand not swearing in front of them out of respect but wouldn't not do it just because fear of them reprimanding me. Wouldn't swear in front of my parents or grandparents due to respect (& my mum would smack me one ) and personally wouldn't choose to swear in front of my teacher or his teachers for the same reason.

That very much depends on what you're doing in one-steps. If its learning a set syllabus of 10 different attacks and defense against them then it does little good. But if you say that attacker and defender can do anything they like on the spot, makes a nice intermediate exercise between fundamentals and self defense and gets you close to realism. If the attacker steps forward with any kick or strike without the defender knowing whats going to be thrown it can be quite hard to react with an appropriate block and counter.

Welcome James

Nice to read some of the history. Thanks for posting it.

To echo ninjanurse, it'll largely depend on the school and instructor, not the style. Best thing to do is ask your instructor. Or if you have your school's syllabus, look through that and see what grade sparring becomes a requirement. Typically though you might find you'll have to do at least one grading/couple of months training to start sparring.

Great post! Obvious you have a lot of insight. Interesting to see how different styles conduct their tournaments. I've never really competed or umpired outside of my style (or very similar styles) so its interesting to see how its all done. I like that point. When training for sport tournaments you not only have to train the point scoring techniques, you have to make sure that you are scoring a visual point; one that the judges can clearly see.

Congrats ps1

Congrats!

Well I'm more of a casual runner (few miles, 2-3 times a week) and use it to supplement my TKD more than anything else... definitely don't see myself entering any races or anything like that. Just looking for something to motivate me and wanted some opinions on this before splashing out the cash.

Does anyone use the Nike+ armband/ipod app? Does it help you track your workouts? I have a pair of Nike+ ready running shoes, was thinking about getting the armband so I could start recording my progress but don't know whether to buy the armband or not...