DWx

How much should a competitor bow before performing kata? I usually bow before walking on, bow when the command is given and bow when they tell me to walk off again. Watching various vids on youtube and I saw this one student pemanantly bobbing up and down in front of the panel. To me this just seems over the top as I think it does actually look sloppy. How do you guys feel about it? How much do you recommend?

Yeah I've been working on it a lot too. I've found that its also made me a lot more concious of how I'm moving my leg during a normal, standing side kick. Anyone else found anything like this?

Couldn't a spear be thrown? It wouldn't seem likely that you would throw your bo so maybe that would be something new to learn?

Hmmm... going back a bit but the HwaRang Warriors (ie. Early form of TaeKyon?.. I know some Tae Kwon Do can be traced back to them) were from upper class of Korean Society anyway. Honour was important to them as anything else. They also had a great deal exposure to Buddhism influence. If you look at their warrior code it states that any kills made must be just, I suppose you could carry that further to any attack being just? I haven't ever really looked into any other groups or individuals.

Joe Eigo is awesome... Not effective fighting or whatever but he is an awesome acrobat and combines some great flashy kicks for demos and the like. Plus he actually has a martial arts background unlike some tricksters. These guys are great too. Eigo is part of a stunt team with some of these guys:

Yeah, upsetting my little sister who then goes crazy with head shots. Can't hit her back when at home or my mum also gets mad and wont talk to me for hitting her "baby". lol. Learnt to duck and weave pretty well over the years. If you don't have a horrible, younger sibling, get something that swings. Used to have a really small punchbag that wasn't too heavy. If I shortened the chain so it was head height, it was great.

Just looking at how much it would cost, £400-£500! You could still buy one if you wanted (and if you were absolutely rolling in cash). Maybe a second hand one? Also looked at prices for improvising... the seperate pads themselves only cost £15 and the ole hammer, nails and a bit of would wouldn't be too expensive?

http://www.martialartshop.co.uk/Century%20Wavemaster%20VTS.htm just google it people!

Their nice to train with but if your on a low budget improvise your own. Buy a load of pads and attach them on poles to a secure middle pole. Overall the VTS is just a substitute for a human being holding the pads so its up to you whether or not you want to dig deep and come up with the cash.

After purchasing a rebreakable board last year and some pine boards recently, I've been looking to get a solid board holder. The rest of the family refuses to hold boards for me as usually I will want to be breaking or measuring up for at least a good hour. I was going to get one custom made (through my Dad ) but that doesn't seem like a viable option now, (he has too little time ). Preferably I'd like to buy one from within the UK as overseas shipping will probably cost a fortune. Does anyone know where to purchase a fairly durable, but not too expensive, holder for boards?

Nicely said, "kill or be killed!"

A lad at my club did that, it was only a thin pine board though and he had to drill the kick for months before getting it right

Dunno about everyone else, but I have used this kick before in sparring (although not often). Its really good because you can make your opponent think that to kick you will use your back leg (if you were standing left leg forward and them right, or vice-versa) but you can move past them and kick out to the side at quite a close range. I hope I ecplained that well enough..

Does anyone know any good stretches for lengthening your quads? Mine seem very tight lately and it can be absolute agony when doing slow front kicks as they tighten and lock up. At the moment the only streches I know are: 1. Standing, bending one leg at the knee and holding it from behind. 2. Splits sort of position with one leg in front and one leg behind, (can be done with either the front leg flat on the floor or the foot on the floor so the knee is bent) and 3. Kneeling on the floor and then lying back

Not all places are out to make money though. There is a TKD dojang near us which is part of a chain and my instructor's old teacher is the master there. They have clubs up and down the country and each dojang is run by either a relative or past student of the original master. The only reason why the schools all carry the same name is for the sense of community it brings them and also as a mark of respect for the original master. Anytime I have trained with these people they have demonstrated utter respect for their art and everyone around them. It may be a chain but I hope this serves as an example of a good dojang that isn't in it for the money. In answer to classiccopy's original question: yes it is a very good school and the standard is very high.

Depends on what stretch. Personally I recommend doing them with a slight bend so you don't over strain your knees.

Hmm, I'd go with the second option or maybe the third. There's nothing worse than a kid getting all excited about having acheived a belt and then you saying "oops, my maths went wrong, sorry you can't have it". Especially at such a young it age, it would probably destroy his confidence. I'd just award them both higher belts but train them and test them harder next time. Plus its a bunch of kids, the lower grade belts wont matter that much...

I'd most definately kick someone between the legs. It isn't cheap, they shouldn't engage in a fight if they didn't expect me to go all out and for them to get hurt. They probably won't fight fair at all. This isn't the days of chivalry and the like, we don't "go over the rules of engagement" and most punks will utilise the dirtiest methods possible to get what they want. Besides, my legs are a lot longer than my arms and I'd rather keep as much distance between me and my opponent as possible.

For us, all coloured belts test their current form and the one below. They do this in groups of about four in front of the examining panel which is usually made up of their instructor and maybe an outside instructor or master. Then they do 3 step sparring, all of this should be improvised or combinations that the student had made up themselves using techniques from their forms. At about 3rd or 4th gup (can't remember!) the attacker is allowed to perfrom any hand attack rather than the standard punch required before. After this, 6th gups and above do 1 step, again at about 2nd or 1st gup the attacks change and the attacker can now do a leg or hand technique of their choice. Instead of 1 step, lower grades perfom combinations moving up and down in the lines at the command of the cheif examiner. Then free sparring, or "1-for-1" sparring for lower grades. 2nd gups and above have to do 2-onto-1 sparring too. This is followed by breaking for all grades. 1 hand, 3 feet. I think from about 6th gup and below the student doesn't have to actually break on all of them, they just have to show a good measure and attempt to break a few. After that its theory time! Questions and answers in front of the panel on what certain moves are in korean, what belt colours mean, what the tenets are, who the forms are named after etc. Blackbelt candidates do a pre-grading 1 month before, where they are picked up on any faults which they must correct before the grading. They do a written theory test on the same day as the pre-grading. Candidates must also hand in a thesis on any subject of their choice within TKD. For junior or less able students they can choose to write about how TKD has affected them or what they have learned... The blackbelt test itself pretty much is identical to the coloured belt grades but longer and in more depth. The test is held by a panel of masters or higher ranking blackbelts, this is usually open to anyone in the country. The only exception is where there is a particular school or group of schools in an area that have a number of candidates, then the grading can be held in the school's dojo and conducted by any examiner. A master must be present though. The only real difference in sparring is the candidates have to do more bouts in free sparring and do 3-on-1 instead of 2-on-1. For breaking, they must do 2 power breaks (examiner chooses what material and how much), no exception, but they get to choose the techniques. When testing for 2nd degree or higher, the student can choose to do 1 power and 1 "special" break instead if they want.

It all depends on what the file names are, some people might have named the images as "so and so perform a side kick after their twisting kick" I dunno...

Boy, that is a good question. Thinking about my training, I think that I would have a harder time at this point learning to do it, than dropping it, because of my natural tendency to try to piece together combinations in forms. That is just me, though. What about you??? Well I've been doing Tai Chi for about 2 months now and I find it extremely difficult to keep my height level. I keep wanting to come out of my stance and arrive back in it, my teacher keeps telling me off as I do it nearly everytime but its kinda hard to stop.

Yeah, I think I really need to do that, but there are no specific gymnastic training centres around here. One of my friends who does gymnastics and capoeira sent me this information on an "air-Alert" training programme. Its supposed to improve your vertical height when jumping. Has anyone ever heard or used the programme before? I've always had the twist kick described to me as if the inside of your foot was to kick a football (or soccerball?) but continue through and keep twisting it. Essentially you are kicking something to one side of you. http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=%22twisting+kick%22&ndsp=20&svnum=10&hl=en&rls=DVXA,DVXA:2005-52,DVXA:en&start=0&sa=N If sine wave is done properly it should not bob. The aim of it is not to bounce up and down in your stance but to arrive in your stance from a higher point and drop your mass downwards at the moment of impact. A common problem is for people to bring themselves out of their stance too soon before the technique is complete and showing this bobbing motion.

Thanks for the help everyone, I tried Bushio's suggestions in class today, it really helped to know what I was actually doing with my legs... If only someone could slide me a trampoline just before I attempt to take off.... Will try positioning my legs while sitting down too. I think part of the problem is I'm concentrating so much on kicking out in the air that I haven't really paid much attention to where I'm kicking or how.

I think originally sine wave was meant to reciprocate the rising and falling of the body when walking or running or whatever... over the years it has become more and more exagerated... I've always been taught it so it seems natural to me and not doing it seems un-natural. There are benefits of doing it and of not doing it.. just preference I suppose... Slightly off topic but: do you think it would be easier to learn to use sine wave after say having 10 years of training without being taught it or would it be easier to learn not to do it after training for 10 years and doing it?

Just wondering where you would be "jamming your fingers" and why you'd go sticking your hands there? Other than that, had very little experience in any kung fu so ignore this comment...