DWx

Our education system is totally different from yours in the states but one of my friends did Sports Science A-Level and TKD was one of the sports you could choose to be assessed in. The requirements were yellow belt level and you had to go find yourself a dojang and take lessons in your own time. I think Judo and Karate were also allowed as your chosen sport.

We have a yearly fee at our school for association membership. Ours also covers insurance, both in class and at any events/tournaments we attend. That dojo looks pretty good from the website, SakranMM. Enjoy your training

A lot of schools in different styles will let you jump grades at colour belt level. I did the jump from 10th to 8th myself; we have a similar system to joesteph. Also if you have prior training its usually easier to get the curriculem down and move up through the ranks.

Congrats!

Welcome 1974logan

Welcome back

We had a kid who had ADHD and it was actually better for him when his mum didn't watch because she was just another distraction. Someone had to constantly prompt him, either an assistant or sometimes older students working near him. If it is ADHD or another condition you can't get angry or impatient with them, just keep prompting them and hope something gets through. When it does, it'll be really rewarding . Is the class mainly younger kids and he is one of the few older ones? You do get situations where if its mainly younger kids, the couple of older kids resent being taught with the "babies". Or like bushido_man96 said he's only there because his parents want him to be. In either case making them feel special can work well. So if you need someone to help you out with holding a pad for you or being your partner to demonstrate something, pick them. And praise them loads.

Welcome barryives

There was a similar case over here where a guy shot an intruder with a shotgun and killed him. He was acquitted but it raised debates on how much you can do to protect your own home from intruders. I think there was also another case with a rifle but I can't remember...

Well if it works for you then by all means use it . I suppose its great when you're training on your own for the things you've mentioned, but if you've got a training partner I'd rather do the same things but with a set of pads to hit too whilst concentrating on the stances and positioning.

O I wasn't commenting on your choice of nickname.. not at all, just welcoming you . I totally agree about limiting the amount of information you release onto the interent.

Welcome mr_obvious

They're just like funny shaped bouncy rubber balls. Got like lumps on them so that when they hit the floor they don't bounce straight off but go off at an angle. To be honest I think they're more appropriate for people who play sports like basball or cricket, not really MA but hey they're probably pretty fun to play around with.

It could be that although you were doing all the attacking, they were wasted attacks. So the contact issue could be that you were throwing your kicks and punches but that they weren't getting anywhere near or weren't on target whereas the girl you sparred wasn't doing a lot but what she was doing was working. Make sure you ask your sensei though because he will be able to tell you exactly what he means. Good Luck for April

It depends on what you are going to kick with. If you were attacking with the heel of the foot, which in most cases I would personally advise, pulling the toes and pushing the heel out would be better. But if you were going for the flat of the foot, point the toes. Flat of the foot isn't really all that good for impact but for like sport sparring and all that it gives you a little more reach. I'd say arms tight either side of the torso ready to punch or whatever. Torso leaning back does extended the reach a bit more but it'll mean you'll be more off balance and you can't bring as much mass over the top of the kick. Maybe you could post the video so we could all see?

Just out of interest Montana, where do you train? Over here you can't really rent out a room in a gym or centre for classes unless you are insured.

I've seen these adverised but I'm a bit dubious over how it'll translate to martial skills. Not really improving anything other than your ability to catch a funny shaped ball.

Congrats.

Great replies so far guys, definitely some stuff to think about. One of the definitions that someone suggested and we were toying with in this class was that strikes accelerate indefinately whereas thrusts reach a velocity and then don't accelerate (?). I think personally I like the idea that a thrust continues into the target and tries to displace the target that the strike impacts and then begins the recoil. At least this is what I tend to think about when either striking or thrusting. Just thinking about the techniques that I would call a thrust, all of them (that I can think of) are linear so tonydee's and bushido_man96's idea of thrusts as linear, strikes as arcing would seem to fit what I'd call each.

Even so, I think you should expect the worst from each and every would be attacker. The woman may have dark intentions too. Just because its a female doesn't mean that they wont do certain things. This is not directed at you specifically Nobodysaidbella, but that brings up another point, when does a proportional/reasonable response turn into something like revenge? Is there a point when it stops being just self defense and you start punishing the person for trying to attack you?

Get it looked at. Although there might not be much they can do for it. I did something similar but got the joint of my big toe on the guy's elbow. Went to the doctor but they didn't even bother x-raying it because even if it was a fracture like they suspected, there was nothing they could do about it anyway.

I wouldn't be overly worried about flexibility now. When you start the classes you'll get shown stretches to do and will most likely spend time in class doing them. Also no-ones going to expect you to kick high straight away, that'll come with time and practice. You can still stretch a little every day if you want though and Rateh's advice is good.

No offense but I think with that mindset you are already setting yourself up to lose (against the female). Just because the assailent is female doesn't mean that they are going to stop when you give them a few warning whacks. Girls can fight just as nasty as guys and they wont necessarily stop just because you've hit them a couple of times. In fact all the fights I've seen where females are involved, if they get hit a couple of times, it just enrages them and then they really want to hurt the other person.

Aside from the moral and legal issues of whether its right or wrong to do the break, (personally I think its irresponsible to teach any SD without consideration for appropriate level of response), I don't think its all that practical what she's doing. Once she's got the attacker in the joint lock, why let go to break the neck? Pressumably if she managed to get the attacker on the floor and hold him there through the joint lock, isn't it a bit stupid to the let go and attempt to grab the head? So much could go wrong, the attacker only needs that split second on freedom to grab her legs and take her down or get back up and attack her. She'd be much better off doing something like a knee kick to his face or stamping on his achilles while maintaining control over him through the lock. And as others have said the neck break isn't really all that practical either, to me she doesn't look like she has the strength to force a reasonably muscley guy's head to twist fast enough.

Like you said, you did better than last year so congrats Just have to use the experience to kick their butts next year.