DWx

Sometimes stuff like eating habits are best just discovered by yourself. People can give you advice but it'll all depend on what your body wants and what makes you feel comfortable. Personally I always start they day with something slow release like porridge (although this is usually at 6am as then have to travel up to 4hrs). Then I eat little bits all day. Stuff like sandwiches and fruit. Bananas are good, chocolate biscuits too Just don't eat anything too starchy, been at a tourny where they gave the competitors lunch and then served rice and potatos... nice ploy by the hosting team. If you can, find out roughly what time you'll bee on. Most tournaments will follow some sort of running order, like juniors first, colour belt order etc. They may even post a rough timetable. I don't even put on my dobok until about an hour before I'm due to go on but once its on thats it, I'm in competition mode. If you can separate being a spectator to being a competitor, I find it helps with the nerves as I don't even think about competing till I'm dressed for it.

I don't disagree with you mudansha, all arts evolve over time. I think TKD is a little unique in its history in some aspects though. Its so closely tied with politics and the kwans were almost forced to come together. Not to mention that after the occupation there was a drive to move away from all things Japanese. I think I remember reading something like that too Tony. To be honest, being a student of Choi's TKD myself, can't really see a lot in common with TaeKyon, the WTF styles seem a lot closer to me. Having said that, its not all that far away from some of the other masters claiming they studied the Muyedobotongji or SuBak or quite a few say they also did TaeKyon.

I wouldn't necessarily call TSD just Korean Karate. It has evolved over the years, if you look at it now it bears a much stronger resemblance to other forms over TKD. Whether or not Hwang Kee truly studied TaeKyon is debatable (as it is with all the masters) but he did have other stylistic influence than just shotokan. Some of the other guys on the forum could probably explain TSD history better than me... The ITF would like you to think that but its not strictly true. Gen. Choi was definitely one of the original pioneers and was totally invaluable in developing Taekwondo into what it was today but he didn't start it. I don't think you can credit anyone with "starting it" really. The individual kwans arose by themselves then were forced to unify.

Welcome Jeff How do you mean cool? temperature-wise or relaxed? Good luck for your testing!

Its not really ignorance. Tae Kwon Do is partly derived Karate, in particular Shotokan, and early TKD was pretty much just Karate itself. If you really want an indepth history of it A Killing Art by Alex Gillis is an excellent book for TKD history. There's also quite a nice series of articles in Totally TKD magazine explaining the precursors and history of TKD. You can download them here. The articles are in issue 5 page 75, issue 6 page 24, and issue 7 page 15. Or even Wikipedia is ok at giving TKD history. In short though, the original TKD masters learnt various styles of Karate (and other MAs) and then developed them and taught these new styles in their kwans (schools). The master were calling these styles all sorts of names, some even still using Karate. In an effort to promote Korean spirit after the Japanese occupation these kwans were then unified under the name Taekwondo. Also when the original masters brought TKD to the west, they were calling it "Korean Karate" so that people could understand what it was.

Good point. I did a TKD self defense seminar a while back and the first bit we did was how to use a knife. You have to understand what you're dealing with to defend against it. Its not a million miles away from standup MMA guys learning ground work just so they can stay standing or ground guys learning striking so they can avoid the strikes before takedowns.

When I did Tai Chi that's what we used to do once we'd gotten the movement of the form down in the right way. Its quite a good tool I think as you do become familiar with certain movements only from one side, hence this topic. Have tried to do my TKD forms sometimes in mirror image but I get confused and can't remember what's next

I don't think there's anything wrong with learning weapons for the history aspect or for the fun element. And I do agree that any sort of weapons training could enhance your empty hand skills, even if its just weighted work. Sometimes I find the whole in a real fight "there wont be X weapon in a fight" or even "you can't use X technique" a bit narrow minded at times. Everything can be of some use if applied in the right way. Fair enough if you really don't have time for them and want to only concentrate on practicalities but sometimes you might miss out on the nuances and possiblities.

Tai Chi techniques names tend to be a bit more "flowery". Tend to relate the actions to images like "snake creeps down", TKD just says it how it is. Chookyo makgi actually means rising block... anyway I digress. How many people are grading?

3-step and the like aren't so bad if you practice it from the opposite side too. So instead of going right leg first (or left) you do the opposite. Ages ago I posted a thread with this article about how TKD Chang Hon patterns have a distinct right leg bias. The number of kicks and the difficulty of them is increased on the right compared to the left. However, having said that, up until mid colour belt level, the forms are pretty balanced in that whatever sequence is done on one side is done on the other too. It isn't until later one that the bias creeps in and by that stage the student is mature enough to make sure they drill the other side too? I don't think lopsidedness is martial arts specific though. Its just human nature if you like. Most people aren't ambidextrous and rely on one side way too much. Often this'll get transferred over into their training so for instance, if they are right handed normally, their right arm and leg will be used much more because its just natural to do so. I struggle to do most things with my left hand and as a result I a much better and prefer to us my right hand for stuff. I have tried to work at balancing them out as to a certain extent you can teach yourself to become ambidextrous but its just to easy to fall back on my right arm. Lopsidedness doesn't have to be a bad thing either. Look at Bill Superfoot Wallace.

Welcome to the forums Lukin Good luck for your first class, let us know how it goes.

Dried apricots seem to be a pretty good source of potassium: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-009122000000000000000-w.html?maxCount=40 Sodium containing foods also help. So anything with salt content. Nowadays a lot of people make the mistake of trying to cut salt out of their diet completely... I used to get bad cramping in my calf muscles. Used to drink lots of water with a bit of table salt and sugar in. Cheap alternative to fancy electrolyte drinks.

It's been my experience that one doesn't have to do much to get someone in a choking position. Why? They usually end up getting themselves in that position all by themselves while they're trying to escape/reverse from some other hold and the like...and WHAM...all of a sudden...they end up in a choke. Still, you're right, getting someone in a choking position by ones own self isn't that easy because they just won't be still....how rude! LOL! I admit I know very little grappling but surely the probability of a choke is not that much greater than any other hold. It'll depend on the situation and how everything plays out. Maybe in once case an armbar might be more appropriate or a leg lock or something. Its like when people say that they'll always end the fight by kicking them in the groin. Not always going to work or be possible. I wouldn't rely on it as the safer option either as Fearun seemed to suggest. Making someone unconcious has the potential to go very wrong (just as any sort of strike can). Especially given that a lot of fights are alcohol related, potential of them choking on themselves and of course if you are intoxicated too can you really trust your judgement to release as soon as they're out?

Congrats Shawn.

not 'like' a high block, it 'is' a high block Ah ok cool. I don't do a Japanese style so had to google it... saw it would be the same or similar to a chookyo makgi in my style. Is that tae kwon do or tai chi you're talking about? Taekwondo, that's my primary style, I only did Tai Chi for a couple of years. Besides, neither use Japanese terminology

No offense but choking someone out isn't that nice either. And more often than not you might not be able to get into a position to do that. I don't think grappling would necessarily be the nicer option compared to kicking them when they're down. Ultimately any joint locks could end up as breaks and dislocations if you really want to stop the guy from getting up again.

So true! (and snakes)

not 'like' a high block, it 'is' a high block Ah ok cool. I don't do a Japanese style so had to google it... saw it would be the same or similar to a chookyo makgi in my style.

So reading through back issues of Totally TKD magazine (issue 3 can be downloaded here), there's an article (pg 35) where the author says this: How true is this? Anyone know of any studies or research where its shown that adrenaline makes movements smaller? I can appreciate that it sorta makes sense but its not something that I've heard of before.

Welcome Scott

Just reading some back issues of a TKD magazine and came across this article where the author says that becoming a blackbelt is like a baby bird being able to leave the nest. Just thought it was a nice little analogy appropriate to this topic

My gi sleeve is so big it covers up my face when i raise my arm for age uke. so he'd bend down to look under it so he could see my face. How big are your sleeves? Jodan age uke is like a high block right? If its covering your face you either have massive sleeves or the block is too low. If it obscures your vision its not doing much good and it should be higher anyway otherwise any sort of downward attack its going to hit the top of your head before its blocked by your arm. Anyway good luck for your grading

Good luck Shawn What do you have to do at the test?

I used to wear a headband too when mine was at that stage . The bandana or do-rag seems like a pretty good option.

Pretty good ideas. I remember when I was a beginner and at the back of the class, we'd line up and then my instructor would walk around to the back of the class, tell us all to turn around and teach that way. Put a lot of pressure on the lower belts and made sure we weren't copying too much. Still does this sometimes, both from the back and sides.