DWx

Anyone else seen this? Such a cool idea. Really demonstrates the power of the internet too.

As a kid (prior to any MA training), this is something my dad always used to tell me. If I were confronted by a group I was supposed to go for the biggest toughest guy of the lot and take him (or her) down. His reasoning was that going for the biggest would a) scare the rest of the them off and b) let you get them out of the way first rather than have them jump you if you start tiring mid-fight. In the only altercation I could claim to have been in (I must have been about 7-8ish and they were teenage boys) it worked, but I have my doubts about whether this is a sensible policy to use in a SD situation involving multiple attackers. Thoughts?

You big guys are a total pain if you can kick well. Can't get anywhere near if a tall guy with good legs can keep the distance. Having said that, being a good infighter can work to your advantage too if everybody tries to crash you and then realises that they have just made a huge mistake. Ultimately how you fight is up to you though, whatever you feel works best. You're tactics may even totally change as you progress. I'd just go with whatever you feel comfortable with. When I fight bigger people I'll try to close the distance if I can or just work at trying to get around the leg and get some shots in. If all else fails... run away.

Well for us kicking below the belt in general sparring isn't allowed because we tend to follow competition rules. However in free "anything-goes" sparring, groin kicks are to be expected and we train them on pads along with other techniques you wouldn't see in normal sparring. In normal sparring though its totally a faux-pas to aim for the groin and if you do its reasonable to expect some sort of retaliation. For SD groin attacks are totally ok in my book. For use on both women and men its a viable target but like others have said, its not necessarily a fight stopping technique. You have to be prepared to follow up with something and keep going until the threat is eliminated. As white owl said, I think it can be something young girls are brought up to know to do when confronted. I think sometimes it can be seen as a must in a SD senario, I know a lot of my friends think its something you have to and should do in order to defend yourself. You ask them what they'd do when confronted and hardly anyone will say a punch or whack around the head, its always "kick them in the balls". I think its something society kinda drills into you. My own parents told me and my sister that's where I should aim when confronted by an attacker and in most films and on tv you'll see stuff where a groin shot ends a fight and lets the poor woman escape. Personally I'd much rather kick the knee out if I was going to do any kicking at all.

Actually at my uni we're encouraged to interrupt the lecturer with a question. Chances are if you're wondering about something or don't understand, someone else in the audience is in the same position. The lecturer won't know if they've skimmed over something too fast if no-one says anything. Likewise in my TKD classes, if you don't understand or just want to contest something, you speak up. Personally I think this is the best way to learn because not only can you end up in technical debates, you learn and understand everything better because you're not just taking something for granted but can see why something should be the way it is. As for number of instructors, I say as many as you can learn from. I suggest having one main instructor, particularly if you are interested in learning from one particular style rather than mixing things up. However its good to have different perspectives on things as well as challenges to the way you do things. As long as you're instructors are ok with it, take suggestions and alternatives to them and ask about it. Obviously it depends on what sort of person they are but if you're not comfortable challenging them during class, catch them afterwards and then ask. Personally I have my main instructor back home, an instructor at uni, coaches I see for competition training and all the other people that train there too, plus you guys here. You take what you can from each and learn from it. Only thing I would say though is if an instructor tells you that they don't want you doing a certain thing in their classes, you have to respect that wish and keep to what they want you to be doing.

Question to sensei8: Is Sensei John Doe receiving any instruction in Shotokan now or does he have anyone to oversee his teaching of Shotokan or was he educated in Shotokan to a level above shodan even though he physically doesn't have the belt? If the answer is no, then I say he shouldn't be teaching Shotokan. He can teach what he knows (it may be good stuff martially) but I have a problem with him calling it Shotokan if he only has a shodan's knowledge of the art. Its not enough IMO to only have a shodan's knowledge and to teach totally unassisted and still claim to teach it as it Shotokan is meant to be. A shodan is still learning and cannot possibly claim to know all of the inner workings of the style. I don't know, I'm guess I'm a purist. If you're going to be teaching something and want to associate what you teach with all that history and lineage and whatever you better make sure that you are actually teaching it. I'm not going to mention names or anything but in my own studying I've come across someone who claimed to be teaching a certain style but when you're in the classes, aside from the form set everything is completely different even down to the very principles of the style. As a martial art there's nothing wrong with it but you're not actually teaching the students what you claim to teach. It would be like teaching a form of Karate but then telling your students your style was called Tai Chi...

Definitely PNF stretching. Any stretches where you are working the same muscles as you need for the splits. Also remember to work them equally, so if you work on the quads, work on the hamstrings too.

4 hrs is a long time. Like others have said, it would take a lot of physical and mental effort to do it on a regular basis, for both you and the students. Most seminars I've attended last about that long and even then you get regular breaks to go write everything down. Plus I don't know how many students would be willing to dedicate practically their entire Saturday or Sunday to training. Maybe some dedicated ones would but most people have other stuff going on in their lives and they can't afford to take half of their weekend away because they've got kids to see to or errands to do or whatever.

A belated Happy Easter to everyone We didn't do much to be honest. Spent time with family. Had the customery Easter egg breakfast with my sister... felt sick after that though. Chocolate is not good when you get up at 12 and then have to deal with a roast dinner just an hour later.

so who did create it. I can see it is not derived from Taekkyon as Taekkyon seems more like northan kung fu with it fluidity and softness. I know a kick is a kick punch is a punch regardless of style. But Tkd just seems more a karate without the depth of the internal side any takers would be helpful I don't think you can really say who created it. The reason I say that is becuase TKD isn't really just one thing. TKDTutor does a decent job of explaining it all: http://www.tkdtutor.com/02Taekwondo/TaekwondoHistory/14TKDDevelopment02.htm Basically though, you have a bunch of Korean guys who get educated in Japanese martial arts (mainly Shotokan and some Judo thrown in) before and during the Japanese occupation of Korea. These guys then set up their own schools (called the Kwans) during the 1940s and early 1950s and start teaching their "Karate", sometimes called Tangsoo-Do or Kongsoo-Do. After the war the masters start getting together and you begin to see the beginnings of TKD as the groups begin unifying. Then in 1955 the kwan leaders and Korea's president decide it would be a good idea to have a unique Korean name for the style and "Taekwondo" is born (not all of the Kwans go under this name though, that's why you still get styles like Moo Duk Kwan, Tang Soo Do etc). After that people start arguing and splitting and you end up with the ITF and WTF. So in a sense "Taekwondo" is just like using the term "Kung Fu", it just describes a group of similar styles from a region and you can't really pinpoint its creation down to one man.

Welcome Joi

I'd go for the single stance. No good being in a situation where a kick or punch would be ideal but then you're in the wrong stance to actually do it. Its hard but you've just got to train yourself to do it that way.

I agree with JusticeZero and bushido_man96 in that its not reaction as such but learning to recognise the signs of an attack and then respond appropriately. One drill we do to get people to be quicker on the draw with a technique is to get someone with a thai pad (or similar) and have them put it on their forearm. You then face off and "spar". Both people can move about and hold a guard but only the person with the pad can attack. The other person can only block and dodge and is only allowed to attack with a predetermined technique when the person moves their arm to the appropriate place. So for instance, the "defender" can only throw roundhouses and they can only do it when the person with the pad moves their arm to stomach level. Its an ok drill for getting you to react to stuff and kick/strike faster but it trains you to react to the wrong signs; you're reacting to arm rather than an opening.

You can get fitted mouthguards free on the NHS... at least under 18s can definately get them (me and my sister both do). I'm not so sure about adults but maybe talk to the dentist before you pay out?

I think it'll depend very much on the school. We have to know applications in ours. Even kids will get asked for a potential application during testing. And for our 1-step, 2-step 3-step etc. you're expected to apply moves from the forms as well as other techniques you may have learnt.

Macho Rival stuff isn't bad. I use the headguard and shin guards from that line.

Frog stretch is a good one. There are variations on the hurdler and reverse-hurdler stretches that are also good for hip flexibility. Instead of leaning towards the straight leg, concentrate on the bent leg, trying to get the leg flat on the floor. You can try to lie down towards it too if you're more flexible.

Macho stuff is great. The Warrior and Dyna/Rival ranges are what everyone tends to start out with in my school before graduating to the heavier stuff. They're only meant for lighter contact so if you want to go heavier you'll be best off with something else. The foot pads also tend to start ripping after 3 months or so, if you want to prolong their life you can superglue them back together but you may find yourself getting a new set every 6 months (depending on how much you use them of course). Hand pads will last a bit longer, and the headguards / shinpads last practically forever if you take good care of them. Not a bad set of pads apart from the ripping. As for finding gear for women, I wouldn't bother. All you'll ever get is the standard stuff but in a nice pretty pink or baby blue colour. No other difference between that and the "men's" stuff.

Welcome!

Congrats and good luck What do you have to do for the test?

No but I'd imagine a 50+ year old blackbelt would also have a hard time doing it.

I don't know about that. If you were initiating a combo with a rear leg front kick I personally think telegraphing is an issue. As soon as the leg begins to move a trained fighter would know something was coming and react. You could be quick about it but they could be even quicker and you wouldn't have time to drive in with the rest of the combo. If the kick was delivered mid-combo then maybe it wouldn't be telegraphed so much but I'd still avoid it myself.

Mmh. I'd think that you can make a decent amount of that power back with good use of chambering and the hips, but i'll admit to not being completely conversant in how -exactly- a Karate stylist of any given lineage does a front kick as compared to any other given front kick. Further, if you chamber high, you should be able to drive into the floating rib area of someone side on, going over their knee and thigh. You don't -have- to just sweep up like you were kicking a soccer ball off the floor. Sorry I was assuming that the person would be guarding. Yeah you could get the floating ribs but if they had their arms ther you'd struggle to find a way in. You could use it but personally I'd use a different kick and attack more viable targets. And you are right about generating power off of the front leg, you can do it. Just the way I've been taught to do front kicks, there is a limited amound of power you can get off of your front leg, to fully utilise the hip snap and body mass IMO you'd need to bring the kick through off of the back leg.

Will get a summer job hopefully.. though I'm probably leaving it a bit late now to get a decent one. Intend to train like crazy too as there is a big tournament in September I really want to go to. Don't know what else I'll do..

They weren't bad, I'd still watch them. Its just that I don't think they anywhere as near as good as the first ones.