DWx

I have some and I really find they improve my leg strength. The ones I have are 1kg each and double up as wrist weights too (but they're too heavy for my arms). I think I paid about £5.00 for them. I always feel much lighter right after training in them but you have to watch it or you can over-extend and pull a muscle/ligament etc. Even just walking round the house in them helps to improve leg strength.

We've always been taught to take a back stance in the sort of ready/guard position before the fight begins. Most beginners keep to it throughout a fight whilst the more advanced develop their own stances. I use a similar stance to Bushido too... I just find it easier because I favour my arms over my legs.

I like Blackbelt Magazines, TKD Times and MA Illustrated. I only ever buy the odd copy but these seem to be the only MA mags that I can easily get my hands onto.

Um.. thanks

Lol I remember performing a form without any mistakes in front of the class and was feeling quite pleased with myself... then tripped over my instructors daughter and nearly squashed her.

Well there's that many types of green tea... Plain basic tea leaves will be a lot better for you than anything thats had its flavour enhanced by chemicals and what not... My Taiji teacher swears by it, she makes us drink at least one cup every lesson and I've not noticed any adverse effects. It seems to be cleaning out my system more than anything else.

lol, its sad that I have so much time on my hands to think about things like this.... I did actually want to do a proper study but I have neither the time nor the money for it.

In my experience of TKD, Gen. Choi referred to the TKD cirlce, that fundamentals, forms, sparring, conditioning and self defense were all interconnected. As it was a circle you also had to revist each area over and over again, improving it before another area could improve. In a way it ends up more as a spiral as your knowledge expands. Before my 1st blackbelt grading I had to write a paper so I chose to argue where this circle begun. I put it down to fundamentals as hence their name, thay are fundamental. If I were to ever own my own school, I would probably teach techniques first but quickly move onto forms and then continue to cycle through until my student was able to control their own learning. IMO this can be applied to any art as each MAist has to revise in order to improve and move up a level.

In our school we don't refer to it as Tai Sabaki, usually its "learning to get our big bums out the way". One of the drills we do is have one person attack and another only moving/blocking but in a 5m by 5m square.

I LOVE sparring!!!! Just getting stuck in and trying to outmaneuvre an opponent is the highlight of a weeks training for me. We have international level students at our club and I love pitting myself against them and trying to see what I can do in response. My reactions have improved greatly and I can judge distancing and timing. Oh and its the only time I get to "beat up" my sister without getting told off.

I'm currently studying mechanical maths as part of my A-level. As part of my own sorta study and for revision I've been trying to apply everything I've learnt in mechanics and my understanding of biology to the MAs. From what I can gather (and this may not be correct so please tell me JWLuiza or anyone else who does physics/maths cause I don't want to go into my exam and fail ): The y-directional movement comes into play when dealing with any technique moving in the vertical direction. This can be either only in the y-axis or in any other motion involving some aspect of the y component. The gravitational potential energy of the mass increas the higher up you go as gravity has a longer time to accelerate the particle. But you don't wanna go too high when fighting because you also raise your centre of gravity making it easier to push you over! However the vertical movement does not affect any linear horizontal motion as it is perpendicular to the forces acting. This is just my own theory but perhaps sine-wave is used on all techniques to make forms and such like look more artistic. If one were to use sine wave on only half of the techniques, the forms wouldn't look as pretty. But... ...by looking at various techniques from different systems, I have seen few techniques that travel completely horizontal. Because of the nature of the human anatomy, our joints make it impossible to load a limb with tension and relese it in a horizontal line. Take the punch for example. Whichever way you do it the arm must bend at the elbow. The elbow will always bend downwards or your arm will travel in a curve or arc (unless you manage to retract into your own arm like a spring ). ...Without using a pic or video this is gonna be hard to describe so bare with me, oh and I'm only guessing here... The raising up of the mass and then dropping it from above the technique sorta counteracts the upward motion of the arm??? Whether I'm right or wrong in the punch senario, sine wave increases the mass being dropped from above . My understanding is it is easier for the human body to accelerate forward when dropping down than it is to project itself straight forward from a fixed height due to being able to contract and extend the muscles. Continuous sine wave (as opposed to stopping at the top of the movemnt) shifts 100% of the weight onto the forward leg easily in order for us to accelerate our bodies forward. The mass also seems to fall more onto the technique increasing the resultant force. Also, as TKD was meant to be as a form of self defense, sine wave models how the human body moves. If you watch yourself in a mirror, the body rises and falls with each step. Oh, and pedometers work by counting the number of rises and falls. A sine-wave taught TKD person should be able to naturally execute a technique without conveying to an agressor any sort of rigidity as their technique should fit in with natural walking/stepping. I don't know enough yet but I'm also looking into how water waves create the force that they do. As seen in the Tsunami and other disasters relating to water, waves can create massive amounts of kinetic energy and I intend to try and research this more. I've explained sine wave as I understand it so if anyone can pick out flaws in my theory I would be grateful.

There are exceptions though. One of the bouncers at a local club is 5ft 4" and a woman! She scares even the biggest of guys cuz of her "tough nut" attitude!

It seems like quite a few of you have either been in various systems or have looked into different dojos when searching for that perfect MA. I suppose I just got lucky and found something I really liked first time. I have a great teacher and the club atmosphere is just like one happy family ( ).

I had never heard of that before. I always try to strike with the bone when I block. Of course, I am not in Shotokan, either. I've always been told to strike with the bone as exposing your artery is a bad thing! There must be a reason for it though if Shotokan does it... Kante, if you slowly work up on light conditioning work, you can increase the density of the bones in your forearm. Very low impact on the bones can cause your body to remoldel and start building them stronger and denser. However, this should be done with care if you don't want a broken arm. Also repetitively striking one area can cause the nerves to deaden and so you feel less of the impact.

you can get the ones with the targets marked on and numbered http://www.mykaratestore.com/store/pages-productinfo/product-113/century-wavemaster-xxl-tm-with-scoring-zones.html

I don't whether this'll apply to your katas, but whenever I try to pivot I make sure that my weight is in the ball of my foot. That way the whole foot doesn't grip the floor when you try to turn and the ball acts just like any other pivot in life.

We have one of the numbered ones at our dojang. Their length does makes them good for lower strikes and the numbered one we use is good for improving reaction times if you can find someone to shout out at you. Personally I don't really like using them and prefer a bag. If I were you I wouldn't bother upgrading unless your current one is on its last legs or you happen to have spare cash. Maybe its just me but I don't think the investment is worth it if you already have an older one, it'll all depend on how much and what you use it for.

I always thought it was interesting how BJJ awards red belts to their highest masters whilst in other styles red is usually used for a lower rank. Can anyone enlighten me as to why the Gracies chose the colour red?

I've not really seen much of Mr Anslow's work however I have heard really good things about him. I will have to put his book on my wish list...

My belt doesn't stink or have any really viewable signs of dirt, however I know where its been and I'd just prefer not to present myself with it when all my other clothing is dirty. After all it is just clothing and only shows how many tests you've taken and not what knowledge you actually have. I did actually try this with my 9th gup belt I think... anyway, one of my early coloured belts was an adults size but I was only a kid so my mum dried it and erm... it was a tight fit.

Just to play the devil's advocate..... You wouldn't want any school or college work to suffer because of the amount of training now would you? If you think you can do it then do it but i think you may want to gradually build up so that you don't shock your system by diving into such a heavy regieme.

Our instructor always tries to explain applications and if one of us asks he will stop the class and demonstrate for us. I find it helps me to position my arms and legs at the correct angles and heights if I know what they are meant to be doing. Gen. Choi's encyclopedia is quite good for applications, particularly the full volume set if you can get to see a copy. Quite a lot of the photos show the moves being applied... bit on the expensive side though.

Wikipedia has a brief article. It seems like the art is still going in Korea: http://www.taekkyon.or.kr/en/ I think that kicking is an important aspect of these Korean arts. It appears much more in their forms and certain emphasis is placed upon them. After all, even when reading advice on this forum, if someone wants to learn kicking they are more likely to be pointed to TKD or TSD than a karate style. Maybe Tae Kyon was the influence for the Korean kicking arts. I think it seems likely that something influenced them or why do Korean styles place so much emphasis on the legs?

All grades from yellow belt upwards are required to do some form of Ho Sin Sul. At first its just simple grabs that the instructor has taught releases from, then about blue/red level anything goes, including multiple attackers.

You're entitled to your own opinion so fair enough. Personally I'd feel it was more disrespectful turning up with my belt stinking of last weeks sweat and covered in God knows what from the gym floor. Having said that though, I don't wash my belt every time I train. I just make sure its clean by lightly sponging it down. It only ever really gets washed if it happens to get covered in blood or something (usually mine ). As for washing them being not traditional I think that it is important to remember that hygiene has only been really valued in the last century or so. Even in the 18th century most people believed that infections weren't a result of dirt but other things such as the miasma. I'd prefer to turn up to training with a clean dobok and belt even though the old masters of centuries ago didn't.