DWx

Was a sort of gag gift but I was given a copy of Bear Grylls "How to Stay Alive" for Christmas. Now ready for the apocalypse

Happy New Year all I've two... one small and one not so small: 1. Get back to the gym and be more structured with my training 2. Start my own club

As a female, breast contact has never really bothered me. We bump them into stuff and people all day long, so it's nothing new. The sensation of a breast strike is annoying, but not incapacitating like the reaction a man has to testicular trauma. Besides, the nipple area is not really the most effective target. If a man who is doing partner work with me seems like he is particularly targeting my breasts instead of the solar plexus or throat, my first thought is that he doesn't realize he's off target, not "oh that creep" or something like that. This is my view. As for the more central discussion of the thread, I think the phrase "A man should never hit a woman" is most wrong because it is one of many statements about gender roles in our society that disregard the importance of consent and individuality. By becoming a martial artist I consent to being hit. This is my individual life decision to pursue this path, and being allowed to punch me does not necessarily allow anyone to punch other women. Each person's decision on this must be their own. By the same token, refraining from hitting other women outside of the dojo does not necessitate that I not be punched in the dojo. Women, like everyone else, are individual people with separate needs. Great post Shizentai. "Consent to hit" is a great way of putting it. How do you deal men coming into the dojo and going easy on you or just plain refusing to spar you because you're female? Personally I've only had it happen a handful of times and its frustrating to say the least. Usually I'll just hit them hard and see what they do in response.

I'm sorry to hear this Noah. My condolences to you, your dojo and Mr Poage's family.

This is the prevailing theory taught in ITF TKD. Even in blocks or strikes both hands must travel equal distance, one to the target and the other to the hip. I look it more like a tool to remind beginners to rotate the body and also to keep retrieving their hands back rather than leaving them out after striking. Later on in our curriculum alternative hand placements are taught and the pulling back to the hip aspect less strict.

One of the simplest tests I find is to ask someone to punch. IMHO regardless of what striking style they've done in the past, people who have trained before will move their feet, legs and hips when punching. You see them ground themselves and their hips move in coordination with the arm. Your average Joe on the street punches with just their arm, not their whole body.

I'm not personally but having coached a fair amount, TKD competitors are a superstitious bunch. I've got fighters who have to wear certain underwear or have a lucky dobok. Some of them have set warm up routines that they have to do meticulously. Our ladies team make a point of standing in a huddle in a specific way when waiting to go onto the mat. Best just to let them get on with it if it helps psychologically.

Welcome mevis I was in Berlin a couple of months ago and it was soooooo cold!

So if I may... Yes the gloves are heavier but you need them to protect your hands. I mean the core issue of the problem is you- lack of snap isn't the fault of the gloves, its the fault of you. This isn't a "yes or no" in terms of "do you know how to throw a punch" and more about "how well do you know how to throw a punch." I'm with you about the gloves inhibiting a bit, but this is a blessing not a curse. Consider, what gives snap and speed to a boxer isn't so much the attack itself but the recoil after the punch has hit its target. A common problem most people have is focusing on the attack but relaxing and being completely oblivious to the recoil. If your punches lack that snap and feel sluggish this sounds to be the issue. You need to consciously think about engaging your shoulders and delts to pull the punch back with as much "intention" as there was when you threw it. The same applies to sub par pad holders. Sure enough it is annoying as hell when someone hasn't a clue how to hold mitts, especially when they keep their hands (your target) 3 feet apart from one another.... but again this has potential... Everyone loves hitting pads and loves hitting the bag because you KNOW its going to be there when you swing- you can always rely on that "pop." The most important thing IMO is shadow boxing. The greater the discrepancy between your shadow, bag work, and pad work, the greater the difficulty you'll have sparring/fighting. This is because you cant rely on your punches to always make contact. If you cant control your punches (read: your balance) you're going to have a lot of difficulty. A poor padholder can be a blessing in this sense because you have no idea if hes going to get the pads there in time or not! As such don't wait for him but fire that combo out the way you do with the power you do. If it hits great and if it misses it should already be forgotten by the time the following punch is thrown. It becomes a great way to help bridge that gap between shadow boxing and sparring. What you'll then find is that you only have as much practical power as your ability to keep your balance allows- this is why you can see a guy kill the bag in the gym but hit like a pussycat in the ring, and why a seemingly thin or small guy can hit like a mack truck.... Hope this helps... Great reply. I'd add that often you train in heavier gloves than you fight in to develop stamina and punching power. When you go from 16oz to 10oz you'll be faster.

I don't think it's special preference, more about accommodating different people. Speaking to some female TKD friends recently and some of the bigger women were saying it does hurt in the chest to be hit there. Thing is it's not muscle and can't be conditioned or tensed like the abdomen might be. Not far off being kicked in the groin for a man. Whilst a target is a target I think you can moderate what you're doing to accommodate the student. Like if someone has a dodgy shoulder, whilst I might go through the motions to apply a lock, I'm not going to crank it full force because they have to go to work in the morning and be back at training the next day.

What style of TKD do you do Hereandtao? Kukkiwon? ITF? ATA? The curriculums are different across each. To be honest you'll be limited in what you can gain without an instructor and instructor feedback. That said there are some great resources or there nowadays for anyone looking to supplement their training. Have a look at the following on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/kwonkicker https://www.youtube.com/user/GingerNinjaTrickster https://www.youtube.com/user/tkdcoaching https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMc95Uvuz52fG1hx4hAQ__g For books, if you do ITF the best resource will be The Condensed Encyclopedia by Gen. Choi. I believe there is an equivalent book from the Kukkiwon detailing the curriculum. For ATA or the others in not sure what's out there but you should be able to find something.

I love the British spelling! We are moving from town called Gladstone to a town called Escanaba. Overall, it's less than 10 miles from door to door. You American's keep dropping letters everywhere Let me know if you need to borrow some spare ones!!!

I'm not sure how it can be used per se but it definitely influenced Oriental culture and is a fundamental text for Taoism and Confucianism. Styles which developed in China such as Tai Chi or Baguazhang are heavily influenced but you can also see some minor influence in Japanese or Korean arts, mostly in their ways of thinking. DWx as martial artists, this implies some kind of finesse with this person and not a savage brute type.Fighting artists that train and learn the art for the right reasons and not to become bruteish bullies or spiteful disrespectful individuals. I Ching is a path on which becoming a wise person is encouraged. Depends whether you train Jutsu (術) or Do (道). Though on the whole I agree with you as far as my personal training is concerned. In the words of Funakoshi: “The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants ”

I honestly don't think you'll find anything. It depends how long your hair is as to how effective this will be. As a female with shoulder length hair, I can tell you no matter how much hair spray, you will look like a dishevelled mess if you are jumping around. Just look at any female in a nightclub at the end of the night. Hair's all over the place.

If a school or style claims to teach "Self Defense", either directly or as a by-product of training, how long should the average student expect to study before they gain a proficient level of self defense?

Congrats! Are you moving far or is it the same neighbourhood?

Everyone should be treated equally in (and outside) the dojo. My feelings mirror yours pretty much exactly. One thing I’ve heard so many times is how women in karate around the 80s and earlier were treated very harshly. I know quite a few women who came up in bare knuckle/full contact systems who were constantly intentionally hit harder than men were at the time. It was such a male dominated art that many men felt women had to prove they were worthy and tried to make the point that women couldn’t hang with the men. All the women I know who trained through that era are TOUGH AS NAILS. I’m glad we’ve moved on as a society and no longer accept that. Anecdotally I've heard the same from TKDladies who began training in the early days. It was very much a man's game and they had to go above and beyond to prove themselves and were on a whole different level.

Whilst you shouldn't try to teach what you don't know (false advertising!!!), it can be good to bring on board other styles or instructors sometimes for a bit of variety and perspective. Nothing wrong with asking someone to come into your school and run a seminar or short course on something like Tai Chi or kickboxing or defensive tactics. We've brought in boxers and kickboxers before to try to learn from.

Only speaking from personal experience, but getting hit in the chest is no different to getting punched in the gut. Both hurt but both are a part of training. It certainly wouldn't be on a par with guys getting hit in the groin as far as pain goes. That's just me though, I'm sure other women may feel differently. I think best to continue as normal but if it's obviously causing discomfort to your partner, they can ask you to stop if they need to.

So far only guys have responded. How do the female forum members feel about this? Also I wonder how often do you personally come across this mindset nowadays? As a female I have to admit this is a semi-frequent thing I experience even in our dojang. When sparring a new adult male student it's 50:50 whether they say "I'm not hitting you. You're a woman" and then try to go easy on you. I personally still get this attitude from more experienced students who should know me better and know that I'm OK sparring hard. Personally it detracts from my learning. No-one is going to try to mug me half-heartedly and I need to train realistically.

Is it not a more modern thing to have an issue with seniority? At least "respect your elders" and respect of people in authority like police officers used to be something everyone just did. (This will make me sound old now) but it seems to me the younger generation do not grow up with a sense of respect for their seniors, both in age and experience. I see this all the time with kids coming into the dojang but also even in the workplace. Younger people speaking out of turn and not doing as they're told despite what they might think. As Martial Artists the senpai / kohai dynamic should be familiar to us, as should the automatic respect for those that have gone before.

I'm not sure how it can be used per se but it definitely influenced Oriental culture and is a fundamental text for Taoism and Confucianism. Styles which developed in China such as Tai Chi or Baguazhang are heavily influenced but you can also see some minor influence in Japanese or Korean arts, mostly in their ways of thinking.

So sorry to hear this Noah. Just donated. Best wishes for his recovery.

Congrats Shizentai

Congratulations MatsuShinshii! Maybe you might have to break your no children rule