DWx

There are hundreds of jobs to do with medicine. What area are you most interested in? Just off the top of my head: doctor (specialists or just general) surgery (surgeons usually specialise, then you get anaesthetists...) pharmacology (pharmist, research into different drugs...) dentsitry nursing physios (if you're interested in the sports side of things) ... http://www.medicalcareerinfo.com/ <--- this site gives you a bit of an overview so you may want to look a bit closer on some professions. What you major in will be decided by ultimately where you want to be. Most definately though a science will be expected, maybe biology or chemistry based?

At a coloured belt testing if everyone passes we usually find out almost immediately and any belts are given out. However if someone hasn't passed our instructor doesn't tell us the results as a group, instead he will tell the people who haven't privately and will discuss why they didn't pass and what they can improve on etc. We have a lot of younger students coming up through the ranks now and it can be quite upsetting for a 7 year-old to have it announced in front of his parents and friends that he failed. Plus when the instructor does tell them privately they are more likely to ask why they didn't pass instead of runing off to save themselves from embaressment. At Blackbelt testings it is announced as soon as they have finished marking the written papers and added up the results. I've never seen a person fail because they simply aren't entered if there is a chance that they will.

I think that if you want to do something just get out there and do it. The only limitations that stand in your way are the ones that your own mind puts there. As long as you exceed your own goals no-one can ever tell you that you're not trying hard enough or putting enough effort in. Your instructor will understand that you are doing your best and that's all that counts.

Most nightclub bouncers have studied some form of fighting, I don't know if that would be a long-term career path though. If you wanted to persue the stunt/film career you'll need at least some basic acting skill and your MA skill would probably have to cover quite a broad range. I suppose parkour or acrobatic training would come in useful too...

For me its more about how the clothes allow me to move. My dobok has been specifically designed for a range of leg and arm movements whilst my jeans were not so I would probably choose to wear a dobok if I had the choice. But like everyone else said its important to know how different materials are going to allow you to move. If I ever had to defend myself I would be more likely to be wearing jeans or other non-sport clothes. There's also the issue of what shoes will let you move too. If you've ever tried a side kick in stilettos you'll know what I mean

You don't need contacts specifically when you start out. You probably wont do much heavy fighting at first anyway as you are just learning the techniques. Some people choose to just stick to glasses. If you're a uni student, does your uni offer an MA? Clubs run specifically for students will take into consideration money and time constraints.

When I first started training in the MAs I didn't research different styles or even really know what my style was going to be about before I went and saw a class. It wasn't until I had had a few years training that I seriously began looking at other styles. How did you choose your art? Did you just see a local club and join or did you research to find out exactly what you wanted?

Why not?!? Personally if you just soak it in cold water and leave it out to drip dry it doesn't shrink it. You're not of those people who believe that you wash away your knowledge are you?

I do agree with the above opinions, you can't really define all of the morals and ideologies by one movement. However I think it would be interesting to know which single technique embodies the overall concept and aims of your style or the way you move. It would also be nice to know which techniques people associate with certain arts. I asked one of my non-TKD friends what image she saw when I talked about my training and she says that she nearly always imagines one of the double roundhouses you see in Olympic sparring. Personally I think the roundhouse does represent TKD for me as: -TKD is often seen as a kicking art, -the roundhouse is one of the most versatile kicks when sparring or fighting and -it can be applied in varying complexity, it can be standing, jumping, flying...etc. To me TKD is about kicking, it is about versatility and I believe in the concept of training being circular, (you learn things over and over again but with increasing difficulty but the basic principle is always the same). I may be completely wrong in thinking this but I can't know others' opinions if I don't ask.

nunchakukristov is very good. I've seen some of his vids and they're very informative. He goes through it step by step too, not jumping straight into the hard stuff. He's the first in his tutorial series: Not really looked at much of the others but I do agree that you need someone to teach you personally and use the videos as a secondary source if you want to learn how to use nunchuku properly.

... I still found it impressive Even without comparing it to a sledgehammer I don't think many people can do that.

If you wash it on a cold wash, your less likely to get it shrunk and by doing that, you remove all the excess dye so that it doesn't stain your nice white gi when you sweat.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/fightscience/videoPreview.html I don't know if anyone's seen it, but that's the link to the trailer for the shows. Whether the scientific content is accurate or not, there was some pretty impressive displays of force in that sample. There's one bit where one of the bigger guys generates more force using his arms than he does swinging a sledgehammer.

If you could pick only one technique to summarise your style what would it be?

Wash it

Its sad but its true. Most people don't seem to want to understand that just because you have a belt you don't have superhuman powers. My instructor got fed up of kids from one of the local high schools challenging and teasing his students so he went and did a demo and some starter classes there. It was amazing how people's attitudes changed once they are were shown what we were about. I think it would be nice to have a better MA portrayal in the "West", particularly the more elusive styles that aren't as well known. At the moment if you ask someone who isn't interested in MAs to name a famous Martial Artist they would probably name someone like Bruce Lee who has like a superman persona now. Yet if you go over to places like China, Japan, Korea etc. MAs are just about as normal as soccer is. They are even taught in schools and no-one makes a big deal about it.

If you don't mind getting hit, go in and take one of his kicks on the shoulder. If you're lucky, as you move in, his leg will be caught up there and he will have to physically try and pull it back. While he's off balance use your fists and keep the fight close, because unless he is used to punching as well, he will probably try to pull back and get you in range of his legs again. Whatever you do, don't let that happen! This works for me when my opponents are shorter but have good flexibility as once their leg is stuck they go off balance. If you are getting kicked in the stomach, chances are you need to shift your guard if he is hitting with a roundhouse or try to go more side on when coming in for the hands if he hits you with a side kick. Right from the start of the fight, he will have more chance of kicking you than you will of punching him. Getting in close is key but you need to do it without getting hit. Maybe you could learn a couple of leg techniques to take you in close and then finish up with arms. I wouldn't advise running at him as if he is capable of countering you fast you will just get kicked back. If he is waiting every time for the counter, occasionally feinting will get him to react but then you will have to be quick to dodge and land your own counter.

Without knowing much about the individual kata, I would choose the one that has the biggest variety of techniques and is considered the hardest to perform. After all, you are meant to be showcasing your skill. Make sure you go with one you feel comfortable with. Good Luck

I don't mind if the person is genuinely interested in me and my MA. But at school and now college, I avoid telling people that I study MAs at all. Once I was overhead talking to my mates about a grading or something and instantly people were like "Are you a blackbelt?" "Can you break a brick?" "What would you do if...?" Some idiots, evertime I get into a disagreement, announce out to the whole room "Ooooh, don't pick a fight with her. Danni does TKD, she'll beat you up" One person keeps trying to punch me in the stomach to see what I'll do. And then there's the weird techniques and noises they do... It drives you crazy! What really annoys me is that they all know which boys do it yet they don't do this to them. They seem to think that MAs for girls is a little bit weird.

I tried that drill yesterday. I used the radio instead so I could use my bag as a target and it got quite intense. Especially seeing as there was this kid at one point who couldn't think of anything to say but "and, and and..."

For Tae Kwon Do, it'll be 7 years in June, for Taiji, about 9 months.

I'd say that as long as you and your partner are aware of the risks and are willing to accept the risks, then go ahead, spar without pads! Just be careful

Until I get irritated and try to squash the fly... or I could do a Mr Miyagi and get my chop-sticks out and see how fast I am...

Thanks will try this sometime this weekend.

Well all I really do at the moment is forms, sparring combos and a bit of bag work. Depending on how much time I've got I try and work on some of the more "fancy" stuff like aerial kicking just to keep it interesting. I really need to buy myself some more books so I'll have a look into Christensen's but my parents get pretty annoyed when I order stuff on their credit cards and have it shiped from America