DWx

Not that I ever have to perform seiza or anything in TKD but we do a stretch sorta like YoshimotoMakoto said with the legs in seiza and the back over in a bridge. I found that my ankle flexibility affected how my quads were as I was gripping to avoid putting pressure on my ankle joints. As my ankles become more and more flexible it became easier to relax into it making my quads work less. Maybe its a similar case with you?

Correct me if I'm wrong but the Rinstar's have the foam padding whilst the Nike's don't. The design of most of the Nike ones I have seen don't really make them suitable for sparring as there is only a "thin" layer of leather which is covered in stitching. Which Nike ones were you looking at specifically? Before buying, it might be an idea to check with the event organisers. Welcome to the forums by the way

I am not sure a chop would work as well as say a back hand strike in that case. When you strike with the back of the hand, you cover more surface area, and tends to make the knockout more effective than the edge of the hand would. Wouldn't it be more effective to cover less surface area? That way the same amount of force is concentrated on a smaller target, say for instance, the jugular? You'd have to be precise but it would cause greater damage to your target. I would still go for a back hand strike over a chop personally. Just feels stronger.

I watched the ITF Worlds on webcam earlier this year and there was no restriction on punching, in fact a lot of the coaches were encouraging it!

When giving warning all he said was "Red (or Blue), 1 warning!" to the judges and made the hand gestures to go with it. I didn't recognise what the gesture was as I'd never seen it before! I guess the ref must've noticed I was getting very confused because around the 3rd time it happened he said that only 2 hand techniques in a row were allowed. My instructor has had to alter our competition training and is trying to drill us all to do 2 techniques only but its hard as you naturally want to go for the third and fourth and fifth. I guess it shows how much I rely on my hands to win a fight.

Everyone and anyone are welcome at ours. Our instructor tries to encourage beginners to come and watch as due to our class structure they rarely get to see how the higher grades move. Guests and visitors are welcome too as it exposes them to the art and shows them that blackbelts do not have mystical powers, they just train hard. Most people will bring cameras and camcorders.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Or modern Tae Kyon is influenced by popular TKD? umm...no....TKD roots come from Taekkyun... Yes but under the Japanese occupation Tae Kyon nearly died out. It was never a systemised martial art to start with anyway and it is almost certain that it was never recorded down because it was considered a game that the lower classes played. As part of an effort to revive the art it is possible that some more modern techniques received influence from TKD as people tried to make Tae Kyon more like Tae Kyon (if that makes sense). And TKD roots aren't exclusively from Tae Kyon, during the Japanese occupation many Koreans learnt styles of karate or Chinese systems (when exiled). The amalgamation that became TKD has more roots in Japanese or Chinese arts than it does in Tae Kyon. This is particularly evident in the way most of the forms are performed and the fact that some schools actually use Karate forms.

I heard somewhere that when you are being tied up (and are concious), you should try to grip all your muscles and make them bulge. That way when you relax there is a little bit of slack. Apparently Houdini used to do it. Sweating also is supposed to make it easier to escape. As much as I love my car, I would probably hand it over if someone was pointing a gun at me. I value my life too much to risk it over something my insurance will cover. I agree with Cross about getting out of the car, there's too little space to face a possible attacker and you want to have the opportunity to run if you need it.

Congrats!

You really should be asking your instructor. They will give much better advice on your individual needs and tell you what's ok.

Congrats!

Or modern Tae Kyon is influenced by popular TKD?

If anyone can't wait, the BBC have loads uploaded on YouTube: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=BBC&search_query=last+man+standing

For TKD, the stuff in your link would be fine, most people use dipped foam, it could be used for kickboxing I suppose but don't expect it to last. Dipped foam is lightweight and can clean up easy if you just wipe it all down as the sweat (and blood) can't soak in. You may want to look at other types though because the foam isn't that durable and you might get much better protection from something else. I used to use the Macho Dyna stuff and found it quite good. Personally I don't bother with state of the art head gear, I just use a Macho Rival one as its light weight and I have a relatively good range of vision in it without having to turn my head to see. (Its also one of the cheapest). For gloves, you will have to find out what is acceptable. Some tournaments or clubs require you to have your fingers covered over. If thats the case, you will have to see what the dipped foam stuff is like and whether the particular brand does it closed finger. I know Macho has closed finger in their Dyna and Rival range but in the upgraded Warrior range you can only get open finger. I don't really know about other brands all too much. Other things I reccommend getting is a mouthguard and a set of shin guards. Better to be safe than sorry. The dipped foam ones are fine for a set of shin pads. I've never needed anything more than that. Again its best to check with your instructor.

Welcome!

For full contact gear, you do not really want any of the dipped foam stuff shown on that link. It tears way too easily and is made for lighter sparring. I personally use Top Ten gear which is suitable for heavier contact sparring (not sure if its ok for total full contact): http://www.bytomic.com/detail.asp?c_urn=11&show=pgno3&urn=377&pg=3 Your best bet is to ask your instructor or other people who you train with. They will be able to tell you what is ok and whats not. Once you know what to get, then you can find somewhere cheap to buy it.

Full contact or semi or no contact? What type of gloves? Closed finger? Open finger? Boxing type? If you give us some more details about what you need them for its easier to find things to match your needs. Welcome to the forums by the way D

"Do" does not equate philosophy, it only translates as "the way of", "path of" or "art of". Many martial arts contain the "do" aspect, it means is fight in the way of karate, the way of Tae Kwon etc. "Do" is also by no means a korean word, the korean masters took it from the Japanese arts. I think "do" in Korean actually is a suffix used to denote a province or island? You may choose to assimilate philosophy as part of the "Do" aspect but to say that without philosophy you do not have the art form is wrong IMO. You can offer people the spiritual aspect however it is up to them whether they choose to believe in it.

Just doing side kicks rather than roundhouse isn't all that bad, especially if you are allowed the use of the hands. Most of the time people expect roundhouses rather than sidekicks so if you can get it to work for you go for it. Also I will add that rushing a technique will not help at all. IMO its best to work out what you're doing first by going through slowly, then add some speed.

Maybe working on the chamber and rotation of the hips might help? To practise I have a chair (or something else) to the side of me and try to chamber then come over the top of the chair before finishing the kick (if that makes sense?). Getting the chamber right is really the trick to the kick iteslf. Fully rotating the hip too ensures that you can get your leg over and also helps to add more power to the kick (through mass). The only specific hip stretch I can think of is where you put the bottoms of your feet together and push down on your knees. Welcome to the forums by the way

It was an ITF style tournament and apparently it was supposed to stop brawling... I like brawling... That kind of surprises me. I think ITF tourneys even allow head strikes, don't they? I think they should let them brawl. If they don't like it, then only score a good, clean shot. If they are just trading, though, just let them go until they make some space and then get a good shot in. But I would hate to see the body punches taken away. They were still allowing full face shots, just not more than 2 at a time. This was only one of the many ITF groups in the UK though and the first time I've competed with them. In my experience with other groups affiliated to the ITF, they allow you to punch as much as you want. What gets me though, is at the World Championships they don't have this rule!