DWx

Yeah felt kinda left out. At first I thought it was because usually there are cars parked at the top, doesn't leave a lot of room to get down the road.. but on the other photos there wasn't! So no excuse Google!

Nice photo. Really does show you nature's power. Loads of my friends from uni are stuck abroad still trying to get back.

Whenever you want to. If you still enjoy it keep going.

Was just throwing it out there for some discussion... I don't tend to follow Olympic TKD really anyway. On a slightly different tangent, does anyone know of other countries that have a similar programme? even for different sports?

I feel it's expected to be able to perform high kicks, whether to the head or a jump kick for altitude (instead of covering distance), if you're in a Korean martial art. If you reach a certain level in belt rank, and it could be at a gup level, such as 3rd (start of red belt), not necessarily chodan, I believe you will be compared with others in your Korean art much more stringently than if at a lower belt. This comparison can be done by you personally, not just by others who observe, and you have to ask yourself what it means to you in terms of how proficient you feel in the high-kicking art you're studying. Maybe, maybe not. I've never been able to do side kicks above shoulder level and even then thats after a really good warm up... Can't really jump either. Its not so much of a problem though. Of course they'd like you to be able to do it and naturally the people who can will have a lot more open to them but I don't think it is crucial. Of course it'll depend on teachers and styles about how much the high kicks are stressed. In some ways I think this idea that Korean style = high kicking actually puts people off learning TKD and other Korean styles because they assume that they will have to kick high when really there are plenty of alternatives and its not so much about high all the time.

I think you're misinterpreting my point. I'm not saying that these people don't have the capacity to do it and I full agree that yes it would be very likely for them to have the ability to achieve that rank. What I am saying is that will the programme incorporate these other aspects? If the programme is developing fighters for 2012, it would seem reasonable that they would focus near 100% of the time training the sparring. Why bother teaching them the forms for example if thats time that could be spent on training the sport side? And in that case is it fair to award a rank even if all of the criteria for such a rank haven't been achieved.

That's cool CTTKDKing, nice that your sister-in-law is doing it too.

Well I guess it depends on whether you think someone should be awarded a belt based on their sparring ability alone. What about the other criteria that are usually expected? Forms? Technical knowledge? Theory? Will that be up to par? I'm not saying its not possible especially given that they are trained in similar styles and are talented.

Don't think I have a favourite book as such but Stephen King's Dark Tower series is definitely a favourite series. Its so complex and awesome how he brings in little details from his other books that you thought were insignificant but actually tie together and form part of this bigger picture. Have to get round to reading this. Someone bought me the uncut version but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Welcome lastninja What style do you study?

Oh sorry guys "fast-track" was my word. Not sure that they literally by-pass stuff to get you through the process but you are expected to get the belt in a shorter time than most.

I had a dentist made one I went through. Not much just where my incisors are as I bit down. It wasn't as thick as my current one is and I think it was supposed to be for mid-level contact sports (whatever that means) rather than a thicker version like I have now. at the flavoured mouthguards.

What do you guys think of this? UKsport and British TKD have this programme called Fighting Chance aimed at recruiting new blood onto the GB olympic TKD team. Basically they invited other TKDers, kickboxers, Karateka etc. to try out for the team and if you get through the selection process they'll train you up for 2012 and fast-track you to blackbelt. One of my friends actually tried out for it and got through a couple of the selection rounds (not sure whereabouts in the process she is now). I think it kinda cheapens TKD in a way. Aaron Cook, GB's big hope for 2012 used to be ITF but switched over and took his WTF blackbelt after a year. And I guess this is the same sort of time span they'd be expecting for the new hopefuls. Now there's no doubt about it his sparring is blackbelt standard and that the people who complete the programme will be awesome sparrers but I doubt they'll be learning the poomse and even if they do probably not to "blackbelt standard". I guess it depends whether you look at these olympians as credible martial artists, or just that, olympic athletes. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/taekwondo/8323020.stm http://www.britishtaekwondo.org.uk/talent-2012-fighting-chance.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8631517.stm Don't suppose its affected most of you guys in the US but anyway thought this was a cool slideshow with audio from radio/tv coverage and passengers about how its affected the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_10080000/newsid_10083400/10083480.stm http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone Just read this on BBC. Think that engineer who lost it has probably lost his job now..

I hope people have suggestions for you, but can you find out from the people who quit, either before or after? If the former students will honestly let you know why they quit, that'd be your best source. It might be hard to talk to them, so maybe you can get some info before they leave. Since many leave within the first month, maybe talk to new students after a couple weeks, and see what they say? What do they like and not like about the school? Are their expectations being met? What were their expectations? This is just a thought I had. Anyone have any experience with this or other thoughts? Think this brings up another point, in order to get feedback before (or even after they quit, I think instructors and higher grades / long times have to be approachable. I quit going to my uni TKD club because it wasn't really meeting my expectations but mainly because I felt I couldn't ask the instructor to discuss it or help it meet them.

Yeah its a great topic. Pretty interesting seeing what others do. still kicking, we're lucky in that on Saturday we train at one of the local high schools so we can use both the gym (for lessons) and the hall (for the gradings). All of the other places we used to use, my instructor either had to cancel the Sat classes or have the grading Sunday, but he doesn't really like doing that because its the one day he doesn't teach and gets to go do some training of his own.

Haha. I'd be a bit weirded out if a car with cameras was curb-crawling behind me. I don't really like street view... kinda feels like it invades your privacy a bit. You can actually see into our front room at the house I rent at uni. Can't see my parents house on street view though, the google car didn't bother going down our lane, only one in the village it left out.

We hold testings every 3 months or so on a Saturday. There'll usually be time slots for you to turn up to get tested, an hour or a couple of hours per belt level (depending on how many people there are) and you just have to turn up at the start of that slot. Because we have classes on the same day (which someone else will teach), my instructor will usually arrange it so that they don't clash directly with the testing and you can go straight from the lesson to the testing room. If the time's really a big problem, he'll find time for you at some other point during the day or if not you'll just have to wait till next time. You have to be invited to test though and will get evaluated in class and then given the ok if you're allowed to test. If you want you can stay all day and watch but you can just go home when you're done. I like the idea of your evaluations, still kicking, where everyone gets feedback. Sometimes I think people reach a certain point and then get complacent and don't work for their rank... Testing in class does work for some but personally I like the pressure of the whole separate testing on a special day.

I train both. The diagonal is much faster and as you say can slip under the guard but has less power. Think it depends on what you want to do... cause a lot of damage or get in there quicker.

Ridgehands aren't too bad. I wouldn't say I'd never use one in a fight. Our ridgehands are also in more of a swinging motion than that example you gave RW, like at 0.14 in . We really swing into it.

Welcome Mihail

Since you're from England, and are interested in Wado-Ryu events, why not check out Suzuki Sensei's website? http://www.wikf.com/ They've got summer courses and competitions listed. Or the English Karate Federation's website has events listed: http://www.englishkaratefederation.com/calendar/index.php

I have one of those types of bags. Although they are meant for you to be able to uppercut, I really don't like doing them on it. The bag is so heavy it doesn't really move much when you do the punch and its very easy to bend your wrists. But I think its great for kicking..

Welcome Kozak Good luck on your test.