DWx

Thanks guys I could have gone without the repair and the surgeon said for most people he wouldn't recommend bothering with it and that they should try to build up as much muscle as possible. But because I'm doing a sport/physical activity there were benefits to going through with it for the extra stability. I would say if you can, hold off for as long as possible but if its causing you grief its maybe worth looking at.

I use it for stiff joints and muscle injuries. Good stuff.

Currently typing this one handed with a plaster cast.. Some of you may remember my last post on this but back in 2015, a badly executed dive roll resulted in a complete tear of my ulnar collateral ligament. The UCL is a ligament on the inside of the elbow joint and connects the humerus to the ulna and helps to stabilise the joint. I've been having problems weight bearing on the damaged arm despite a strength programme and was getting a lot of pain from any fast extensions like punching or striking. On Thursday I had what is known as a Tommy John surgery to repair this. A Tommy John Surgery or Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, is very common in baseball players as they damage the ligaments throwing. It involves harvesting a tendon, in my case the palmaris tendon from my wrist, and threading this through in a figure of eight through the humerus and ulna in order to stabilise the joint again. Patients then spend up to 10 days in a plaster cast before switching to a brace which is slowly opened up over the course of 6 weeks until a full range of movement is achieved. My surgeon was an orthopaedic consultant specialising in elbows and shoulders with a background in sports medicine. The hospital itself is a teaching hospital and it must have been an interesting case as various students have had to diagnose me over the past few weeks and 8 of them were brought up to watch when my surgeon did his final assessments. My aim is to be back doing light training in January, with a view to compete again in TKD in 2019. I had postponed this op once already as the ITF European Championships were hosted in my country in 2017 and I wanted to be there. We will now host the 2019 World Championships and I intend to be in a position to participate then. 3 months no training is going to be hard though as I'm normally used to being active 5 to 6 days a week. Thought I might document my recovery in case anyone else has to go through something similar: Day 0 (day of the surgery): went down for surgery at 10.30 am. Brought back around at 4:30 pm with a plaster cast on my arm. Kept in overnight and was immobilised and hooked up to paracetamol drip, morphine and oxygen. Didn't get too much sleep as the morphine made me very nauseous (throwing up) and the nurses had to come take my vitals every 2 hours. Could move my hand but felt very numb. Day 1 (released home): pain was manageable and I was walking around the ward so was released home at around 2.30 pm. Worst car journey ever as my sister can't drive smoothly and seemed to aim for every pothole possible. Trying to move my hand as much as possible and also shoulder exercises from the physio. Day 2 (today): not too much pain, only when I try to move my arm too much and when my mother tried unhelpfully to shove a cushion under my arm - emphasis on the shove. Good thing I started squatting at the gym before this as having to bodyweight squat to pick anything up as can't lean forward. Still numbness in my 4th finger and little finger but can now lightly hold things in my hand.

It's a common tactic employed in sales. Creates a sense of empathy

I look at this as an opportunity to possibly learn something new or see a different side to things. Most will follow that statement with a reason why and explanation of their view point. Through this, it give everyone else a chance to not only see both sides and decide for themselves what they agree with but it also gets the poster's to think and respond. It challenges what we believe in and makes us think. Having said that, it doesn't mean that we have to take their advice or agree but it does make for a good conversation and an exchange of idea's. The main point of the forums is for all of us, most with different back grounds, to engage in conversation so that not only we can learn but also those that are reading can learn. I actually look forward to logical explanations that make me think about my stances. As a old Marine it's rare that my stance changes but it has happened several times since I joined this forum. That is a fantastic thing because it means that I have been able to learn something new that I would not learn tucked away nicely in my old school box. That and it's not personal or should it be viewed as an attack or that they are saying you are wrong. It's a difference of opinion. It's what makes the world go round. How boring would it be if we all agreed and there were never new idea's? If nothing else it enable you to rebut and prove to yourself that your view point is valid. Or not. Great points. I have no problem with people disagreeing with me. I'm not right all of the time neither should everyone share my views. I'm always open to people challenging and changing my views.

Brian started up a very good thread looking at similarities and differences: https://www.karateforums.com/tkd-forms-a-running-comparison-vt47646.html

I think you would be well adviced to go over the Shotokan Katas again, because the Kukkiwon copied and pasted them as well. I've never studied the Kukkiwon poomse so maybe I don't know. Can you give an example? With the Chang Hon forms there are direct comparisons, e.g. Heian Nidan and Won Hyo. Can you give an example of a Kukkiwon form which matches a Shotokan kata?

I was unsure whether this fit best in Politics or Korean Martial Arts but ultimately decided it might be better placed here as it is solely about Taekwondo. For anyone interested in Taekwondo politics, this might be an interesting read: https://www.nst.com.my/world/2017/09/282723/blown-apart-divided-world-taekwondo Whilst I think most people realise that we have WT (formerly WTF) Taekwondo and ITF Taekwondo, along with many off shoots, I don't think people realise that there are in fact 3 ITF groups all claiming to be the real-ITF. Though they all come from the same place, they are starting to diverge in technique. This is mostly seen at Continental and World Championships where subtle rule changes has meant that each ITF now has its own particular flavour to the techniques and are subtly moving apart. Do you think we'll ever see a united Taekwondo?

For yourself or to supply for an event? These were the first links that come up on Google: http://www.mybacknumber.com/ http://www.ijfbacknumber.com/termek1.html

I've used a TENS machine (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) for pain management and to treat DOMS. Not wholly sure whether it works or is just a placebo effect. Never tried it for muscle growth and I wonder how effective it really is.

Has anyone watched Jack Slack's Ringcraft series? Episode 1 is about the importance of the stance: Do you agree with the points made? Does it mirror what you do in your style?

For what its worth, in my experience in ITF TKD (which does allow head punches and kicks), KO's are much more frequent with kicks. And occur more with spinning kicks like spinning heel and tornado 360 kicks. You would think these would be easier to see coming but with some clever set up the movement can be disguised. One of my favourite ones I got to see in person was this one:

Thought this was somewhat relevant http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2017/09/19/study-links-youth-football-greater-risk-later-health-problems/UF3vWIAraotnJnbU8o8TDP/story.html What are we doing to protect kids in fighting arts?

I think it's this way with everything no matter whether it is Karate, a different martial art or something else. You only have to look at the number of governing bodies for different things to see how political it is. But maybe nowadays with the prevalence of social media it is easier for people to see, comment, and criticise. So-called keyboard warriors.

Yes we allow them for both kicks and punches. Though our tournament rules just changed to no head contact at all for under 13s.

FWIW those shoes aren't really meant to take impact, they are for floor work like running through forms and shouldn't really be used on a bag. Adidas would most likely tell you that you're using them incorrectly. That said, it looks like complete adhesive failure and I would guess that not enough was used in manufacture. Could fix it yourself by applying more adhesive. Anything that is marketed as a shoe adhesive or contact cement would do the job. I've had a pair of Adidas like those ones for years and have had no issues.

It will be slower and it will be harder the older you get. It is possible to improve but will take hard work. Two things that will help will be building muscle and plyometric strength, and developing technique. If you think about it jumping techniques are all about explosive force and the more you can explode upwards, the more time you will have to form the kick and recover. Building strength will also protect your ankles and knees on landing and prevent injury. The best way I have found to train the explosive power is to superset heavy leg exercises with explosive movements. So I would run through the following type of session: warm up with jump rope sets of barbell squat followed by box jumps sets of deadlifts followed by depth jumps sets of Bulgarian split squats followed by lunge jumps sets of weighted calf raises followed by tuck jumps jumping over hurdles etc.

I have to admit I suck at finding a balance. I swing between all in at work, 12-hour days with nights away from home, to spending every night plus all weekend at the gym / dojang to sometimes not training at all for a few weeks. Unfortunately it means my social life suffers and anyone who isn't part of my work life or MA life gets left out. It's not healthy but I figure while I'm young...

Every generation is the "me me generation." Each generation has its idiosyncrasies, and each generation has its positive traits. Just because they're different, doesn't mean they're less than the others. I have to agree with singularity6 on this one. Every generation throws crap at the generation that follows it. This is nothing new. In addition, lumping an entire generation together either while praising or admonishing them is a bit foolhardy, because individual experiences, privilege, and values vary quite a bit across individuals of the same age. I am 31, so I get lumped into the "millenial" category by many people's definition of the term. However, the stereotypes of what I'm supposed to be like don't make sense to me: Am I... 1. lazy? Well, this is subjective, but I can't honestly remember the last weekend I didn't spend working. The reason is because I love my job, and I write better while siting comfortably in my own abode. I try to leave weekdays free for meetings and lab work. 2. living off my parents? I moved out of my parents' house when I was a teenager because a natural disaster destroyed it, and along with it, both of my parents' places of employment. They weren't in a financial position to pay for my college, even if they wanted to. I went to a state school, got scholarships for some of it, worked and took out loans for the rest. I lived on ramen for a while after, but I paid those loans off. Luckily because I went in-state It didn't take me 20 years to do that. I'm now in the phase of my life where my sisters and I are financially planning for our parents' futures. Mom and dad have worked hard for a long time, but weren't able to save up much due to circumstances out of their control. We've got their backs though. I will make sure they're okay. 3. nacisistic? HAHAHA! Well, I do like myself, I won't lie, but it's not something I go around telling people or something. It took me a while to get to there too. I spent a lot of my formative years with a doctor's note and ankle braces on the side of the gym in PE class. I spent a lot of time in the free tutoring sessions my public school offered on the weekends, because I was slow at arithmetic and am a terrible speller. Maybe in some other universe I could think that I was born to be more amazing than others, but I am blatantly and obviously not superior to anyone. 4. a job-hopper? I've been working in social insect research for 11 years. I often had to work side-jobs to make it through, and I have switched institutions over that time, but I have avidly pursued this career since I fell in love with it while at a part-time job counting ants in college. Now I'm a postdoctoral researcher at an r1 institution. It's been a wild ride. 5. spoiled by constant participation trophies? I am trying to think of a time when I got a participation trophy as a kid. I think one time when I was about 10, I tore a ligament in my right knee and couldn't participate in a girl scout fundraiser bowling tournament as I had planned to.... so I sat on the side with my foot elevated and kept score for everyone else and was MC instead. The troop made me a little trophy that said "best score-keeper" after that. That's the only one I can think of. Does that count? Does that trophy make me spoiled? If so, please elaborate. So go ahead. If you want to, take digs at me for being part of the problem with this ill-behaved fighter, or being somehow like her because of my age. I don't really see the connection though. Great post Shinzentai. At 27 I am also a so-called "millennial". Sure there are probably people that fit the above description of a lazy narcissistic individual... But you'd find that type of person in every generation and neither "baby boomers" or " generation X" are without fault.

That's all well and good but what happens if someone hasn't ever had the misfortune to have been attacked or find themselves in that type of situation? Should they actively go out and seek fights to prove themselves? Whilst experience is good, I would also have a problem training under someone who is "testing" their skills on the street on a regular basis. Either they are putting themselves in stupid situations they shouldn't be in or they are going out to start fights. I wouldn't be happy training under someone like that.

I know I'm TKD but.... Movements should be like water. Sometimes they are slow, sometimes they are fast. Sometimes they crash with a great force, sometimes they gently redirect. Different scenarios and different outcomes. Why we practice some movements slow and others fast: for tension, resistance, balance, emphasis.... and for aesthetics. If, in your application, you feel other movements could be executed slow, then practice them slow. Either in the kata itself or in isolation.

I'd love one but not sure I could just dropping £200 on even just the wall mounted version. Can't be that difficult to fabricate for personal use right?

Welcome Ghesset

Thanks for the responses so far. With the exception of tallgeese, would it be fair to say most here have a traditional-style school logo rather than a more modern one?

Im not trying to take a shot at you, Brian, but why do they have patches that say that? Doesn't the belt say that in its own way? Doesn't their abilities and leading class say that? Sorry, it's just one of those things I can't wrap my head around. For what it's worth ITF TKD also has something similar in their shoulder flashes (inspired by military uniform): https://goo.gl/photos/qyHTbThafUMJiXPY8