DWx

Try making one pair at a time spar in front of the rest of the class. Unless you've sparred before in front of a crowd it can be unsettling and ruin your game. Also it prepares them to block out outside noise that you might get from people cheering and stuff. If you also have those not sparring trying to score/decide who wins, then they can all see what the judges themselves will be looking for as well as getting fully clued into the rules. To go with Bushido_man's advice about using the ring fully, set up senarios for them, have them start with one sparrer backed into a corner and get them to work themselves out of it. Or maybe have them spar with one person driving forward all the time and the other has to counter but move off the centre line and around instead. Best of luck to them

Congrats

Wow that sucks. Must be real fustrating. I hope you get well soon.

Lee Evans is amazing, spent a 10 hr coach journey watching his live performances on dvd one after the other. Wasn't he also in that Jackie Chan film The Medallion? Peter Kay and Jimmy Carr are pretty funny. and Catherine Tate for some proper British comedy: http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FCBDAB16004C2529&page=1

Good Luck to him!

Just think, if you using snowballs in the techniques, you could develop your own winter katas.... downward block followed by snowball at the chin As soon as it snows this winter (and if), I'll be outside creating my new form set Well there ya go then. Balance training. Learning how to hold yourself upright and not fall flat on your back when doing a sidekick.

lol I love that film: "That ain't a knife. This is a knife."

They're illegal in the UK, along with anything kubotan shaped like a pen if they can prove that you are carrying it with the intent to injure someone. I get round it by carrying my garden shed key on my keyring. Its one of those old fashioned things, the ones made out of iron that are long with bits poking off the end (?) Also doubles up as a lump of metal to fit inside my fist.

I think it'd be real fun training in the snow. Imagine it, sparring and you get hit with a roundhouse, you could counter with a snowball to the head. Breaks could be spent making snow angels

Welcome!

For self defense I'd think I'd choose the gun. Less people are willing to risk their chances against a firearm and hopefully the attacker would be more compliant.

1974 VW Beetle 1303s, well its really just a Beetle chasis now as everything under the body is off a porsche 911 . No miles as its still in the garage (and I don't have my license yet).

Most teas are good because they contain a whole range of chemicals that have good effects on the body such as antitoxidants and theanine. IMO there are more pros than cons to drinking it as long as its fresh and you aren't excessively consuming it.

Did she not give you anything for the inflammation, like anti-inflammatries? If you're not happy with her diagnosis get a second opinion or go see a physio. If you're bored with kickboxing maybe its not for you and something else is. Good luck with your knees though.

What style of TKD was it, Olympic or something along the lines of ITF (in which case which ITF)? Sometimes both fighters are wary of throwing techniques because they know the other person will react instantly so the matches can be real boring. I think WTF/Olympic TKD has (or is going to) introduce some new rules to make it more interesting to watch. Something along the lines of a technique has be thrown every 20 secs?

We get made to do this every lesson (and one of mine is after an hours session of cardio and sparring!). Eventually you get conditioned to it and can carry on. Make sure you relax at the appropriate times and don't clench your muscles when you're not supposed to or you'll tire yourself out quicker. I also try to think hard about something like my breathing and not focus on how I can barely stand up .

I can see what you are saying and agree with it to a certain extent, but I think that if the examiner is prepared to fail students that want to and do test but are not up to the quality then it is fine for those students to pay to take the exam even if has been recommended that they don't. If however you have examiners that just pass anybody because the intructors say they can move up in rank, that is wrong IMO.

I think profit and good teaching need to both be present, like Budo Tiger said, its a yin and yang relationship. But the need for profit can sometimes mean better teaching, especially if there are a lot of MA schools in the area that you need to stand out against. To make money you have to offer a top quality product, in ths case good teaching and standards. Consumers are more willing to pay higher prices for things that are better quality and sometimes people actually prefer to pay more because they think that they will get a better service. The saying "you pay for what you get" comes to mind. But then if you are too concerned with the profit aspect over the what services you are offering, people are eventually going to realise that they are getting their dollars worth. Instructors have the right to charge whatever they like for this service they are provding for you but they should be offering you the best teaching in return. As for testing I think instructors should recommend that you don't test if you are not ready but should not stop you altogether. If you are willing to pay out money to have a go at the exam then you should be allowed that chance. You never know, the student may end up surprising you.

Congrats

Welcome

Welcome! I've been doing the 24 form myself... Over a year now and mine's nowhere near perfect.

I've seen some cheapish ones and don't know whether to buy one or not. Anyone use them as part of your training? What do you do with them and how often do you do it? Are they worth the money or should I just train in other ways.

I agree with traditional TKD being well rounded, if you wanted to learn this though you'd have to fortunate to find an instructor that teaches the sweeps and the joint locks/breaks as part of their curriculem. Most tend to focus on the techniques for forms and sparring and don't introduce stuff like this into their teaching.

Used to have two german shephard dogs, Max and um Max2, I was a very creative child when it came to naming the pets . Now we have about 50-ish tropical fish.

"Can you break a board/brick?" If you say "no" they think you're really bad at MA, if you say "yes" they'll never forget and whenever you get into the slightest disagreement with someone, all you hear in the background is "Don't mess with ___, s/he can break a brick!"