DWx

I always liked how the 3 forms learnt at each dan level in ITF all had a different flavour. At first dan you've got Ge Baek which is the "power" pattern, Kwang Ge which I think of as the "technical" pattern. And then Po Eun. (not sure yet what to call this ). As a first dan I loved Ge Baek and hated Kwang Gae. At the time I thought blackbelts ought to be powerful and strong and Ge Baek fits this well. Now, a decade later, I much prefer Kwang Gae due to the level of control required. It's soft / slow until it needs to be, like the stamping backfists and front kick section at the end. The stepping and foot placement is really important too and it's that level of technicality which I have a greater appreciation for now.

Pivoting on the heel in TKD is akin to sacrilege. It's a massive no no. Reasoning is that it gives you limited mobility (less ability to push off or suddenly change direction) and less stability. On the balls of your feet your ankle acts as a shock absorber to keep you more stable and control your centre of gravity. On your heels you don't have that ability. But, when I studied Tai Chi (and I think this is probably more a Chinese thing) it was almost exclusively pivoting on the heel and we didn't turn on the ball at all. Then of course there is your third option of pivoting through the centre of the feet.

Possibly the point of my post was misinterpreted. I wasn't critiquing your use of the word for this topic, not at all. My point was more I don't see my instructor as replaceable, but likewise I don't think that I will always have to study under him so in a sense he is. If that makes sense? He's not interchangeable but he's also not necessarily permanent.

I think replaceable is the wrong word. I think for most people, their sensei is important and not someone you can swap in and out. That said I think you can outgrow them and it would be very naive to think that noone else had something to offer you. Sometimes you may find your sensei cannot teach you something so you have to seek out supplementary teachers (e.g. finding a grappling coach if you want to learn ground work). Other times, and I think this is the goal of most instructors, you eventually have little left to learn from them so must move on to more senior and experienced sensei. And although not the best reason, sometimes your goals and directions no longer align and it is the right time to part ways and move on to something/someone else.

http://news.yahoo.com/taekwondo-fighters-rival-group-now-ok-olympics-122158079.html Without a rule change I doubt this will have much effect on the athletes (ITFers would still have to learn to fight under WTF rules and change style) but it is nice to see an olive branch extended and the two Federations working closer together.

Wow congratulations ps1. Quality in every post

If you're going to university in September I personally wouldn't be too worried. I would agree it sounds like your sensei's job is impacting on how well he can teach and it may be that he is not able to grade you to shodan or send you to someone who can. It may mean you will never get to shodan under him so I think you need to make a decision to either see it out until September and keep training under him to maintain your skills or to part ways for the time being and just practice at home. If it were me, I wouldn't be in a rush to find a new dojo as you won't be there for long; the great thing about university is that it is a great place to pick up new skills and hobbies. Most likely there will be numerous martial arts schools you can join to further broaden your skills as a martial artist. You may even luck out and find a Shotokan club to train with. So is there anything keeping you at his school? If you do decide to just train at home, if you need any support or want to discuss technique and training, there are quite a few Shotokan karateka on this forum who I'm sure would be able to advise. That said, have you raised these issues with your sensei directly? He may not be fully aware of how things have changed or how you feel. If you don't tell him he might not know there is a problem. Could always offer to help out too. I very much doubt you will be compensated for it but if you have an interest in teaching you could offer to conduct warm up and basics on the days he is late? It's a delicate situation though as he may take advantage so you would need to make sure it's not a regular thing.

Welcome to KF Craig!

I have to say I agree with mal. My first instinct would be to tell your Support Officer (if you have one). Failing that, your sensei. If you do approach the teen in question, by non-judgmental and understanding.

That was my guess as well. For all of the countries where heavy gun laws are in place, knife crime take more of a share. Whilst it's not impossible to own a gun in the UK (handguns for sport or shotguns/rifles etc.) it would be more difficult to get hold of one in comparison to knives.

Whilst I think most recognize shodan as the beginning of training, I think GojuRyu's points 4 and 5 above can be very important factors which we shouldn't neglect. For as many cases where we say it was the student's only goal to reach blackbelt, I think the same can be said of instructors; their only goal is to get the student to blackbelt and after that they are effectively left to their own devices because the instructor doesn't know how to teach them. Subsequently the student has to take on a much greater responsibility for furthering their own training and this can be quite a culture shock moving from the very strict and guided path through the colour belts. If it takes a student on average 4 years to get to blackbelt, that's 4 years of very set and guided study. Things are broken down into smaller steps (kyu ranks), there is a set curriculum to follow and criteria for each grade. Even if a student only grades every 6 months, they will have a focus and have a sense of progression.. When they hit shodan, suddenly nidan seems a very long way off and unless they (or their instructor) start making short term goals in order to provide some focus its all too easy to feel like you haven't made any progress over the last however many months.

Posture....balance...movement...after 50 years, I think that I can recognize the difference between a good or a bad technique. And for those testing for Shodan, the beginnings of understanding the essential principles are required!! And for those of Sandan and above, a more solid understanding of these essential principles, i.e., breath control, utilizing reaction force, maximum strength, and concentration of strength. I want to see if there's a demonstrated presence of focus and responsing awareness! The lower the rank being graded, the lower the understanding, whereas, the higher rank being tested the higher the understanding!! Nuances will be present between the styles, the main thing is that I wouldn't have been invited a chair on their testing panel if the CI and/or the governing body didn't think I was qualified. I grade the technique, and NOT the label attached to the core. Similarly at open-tournaments. Judges are expected to render a fair and impartial ruling of the techniques before them; no matter if the practitioner is from a Chinese or Korean or Kyokushin or Shito-Ryu style. Speed...Definition...Intent don't impress me! No! What impresses me is a good technique as I've understood it to be for 5 decades, per Dai-Soke!! Thanks for the further explanation Bob. I would most definitely agree with the bolded part above (bold being my emphasis). An understanding of principles is quite essential. But I guess this is also where I see a breakdown in having someone from a different style assess technique. Take this excellent thread Brian started: http://www.karateforums.com/tkd-forms-a-running-comparison-vt47646.html We're comparing styles within Taekwondo. Even within this there are some pretty big differences in methodology and how the techniques are performed. For example the videos of TTA type practitioners and ITF practitioners doing the same forms have some big differences in how they do blocks or strikes or how they manage the stepping. Without knowing any better I would guess there are also fundamental differences in movement between Karate styles, example: how Uechi - Ryu does Sanchin and how Goju - Ryu does it. Same movements but glaring differences. Thing is, fundamentally, if I as an ITF practitioner did my block in the way shown in some of the videos of other TKD practitioners, I would be missing the understanding of our essential principles. Likewise the opposite case would hold true. Rather long-winded but what I'm trying to get at is how do you say something is good or bad (or a shodan+ level) without understanding the styles key principles. Taking an extreme example, how do I know this is good or bad:

I'm interested in how you would define good and bad as it pertains to technique. What makes something good or bad? Speed? Definition? Intent? The mechanics might be quite different between a Kyokushin Kareteka and a Shito-Ryu. Would you only examine related styles or would you consider evaluating Korean or Chinese styles? To answer mal103's question, this is a regular occurance for us for testing 1st dan and upwards. We often invite other examiners (or send students to them) for their seal of approval. Always within the same style but not necessarily the same national organisation or exactly the same syllabus. Never had someone from a different style though.

Incredible achievement Brian. Not only the number but the quality of each and every one. Have really enjoyed discussing TKD in particular with you over the past few years as it's great to get a different perspective on things.

Like you said, people have lives outside of the martial-arts so often they can't be there every night. Don't sweat it as they'll be back next week. My instructor holds classes Mon - Fri pm and all morning Sat. They're also structured to grade so that has a big impact on who turns up. In my experience we actually see the reverse of you guys: Monday nights and Tuesday nights can sometimes be the worst attended whereas Friday night is popular. But I think this is in part due to the types of classes on offer over the week. It's a shame Monday isn't better attended as the second hour is our weekly dedicated blackbelt session and it tends to be a sharing of ideas rather than structured class. Can go from 30 students down to <10 sometimes. Saturday is probably the busiest day but more for kids than adults. I would attribute that to us being located in the middle of town and parents leaving the kids so they can run errands. Our other busy day is Thursday as we have a dedicated sparring and fitness session in the second half so lots of adults turn up for circuit training and a kick around. Fridays are unusually busy, I think because there is a group of us that have always trained then so it tends to be a really good session.

Ditto on the no weights sentiment. Honestly as a yellow belt they will be a bit overkill at the his point. You'd be better off taking it slow and working on some general strength building such as bodyweight squats, assisted with a chair if you need to, and practicing kicking slow with a chair or wall for support. Maybe build up a small amount of running distance. TBH no-one's roundhouse looks even remotely like it should until you've had at the very minimum a year of practicing it. Kicking is awkward. Most people spend their lives with their legs going backwards and forwards; walking, running, climbing stairs. Kicks like roundhouses and side kicks aren't intuitive.

This is something I wholeheartedly agree with. It has always been policy at our school (and in the ITF in general) that you get one measure and one break. No more. Most advanced students don't even bother with the measuring and just gauge distance by eye if it's a technique they are comfortable with. If you can't assess your distance by eye or need a really big wind up physically and mentally, kinda defeats the point really? The idea is to hone your skills and mind so you are ready to go, not say to your attacker "hold on I have to psych myself up before I punch you!" I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I compete in the power contest in Taekwondo competitions. The tournaments I go to are very strict about this kind of thing and you can be disqualified for any excess wind ups and behaviour. You have to walk up then you get 30 secs to compose yourself, position, and break it. No extra faffing around or adjusting position or materials.

Now that to me is exactly why one might want to practice tameshiwari. I know from many years of practicing exactly how much I need for one board, two boards, 1/2 inch, 1 inch, pine, bricks etc. If someone puts one board in front of me of a set thickness and type then I know I don't necessarily have to hit as hard as I need as "just enough" will do. There's crossover then into sparring and self defense.

Maybe it's because I've grown a bit apathetic to what other people want to do in their own training but stuff like this doesn't bother me all that much. As sensei8 says "proof is on the floor". Skill speaks for itself and the quality of the students should far outweigh what their classes are called or whether they have patches on their gi. (Though I would say don't wash you're belt because you'll shrink it!)

Its a programme to get people from zero running up to 5 km continuous. Basically gets you to run for a bit, then walk, then run and you gradually cut down the rest time. http://www.c25k.com/

Congratulations

Happy Birthday Brian, hope you had a great day

Happy Birthday Heidi, hope you had an awesome day

Good suggestions so far. It might also be related to the strength of your standing leg and control of your kicking leg. Alongside the above suggestions try some of these slow kicking drills for general strength whilst holding onto a wall or chair:

You have to remember that Taekwondo was born out of the Japanese occupation of Korea; near half a century of cultural and political repression and censorship. Unfortunately whilst virtually every TKD practitioner knows about the Karate influence, it's not exactly a celebrated fact. Besides, it's not purely Karate derived in the sense that some kwan founders also studied Kung Fu and related styles in China. In addition, early TKD practitioners took inspiration from Taekkyon and Subak as a way of distinguishing themselves as Korean martial artists and Karateka or Japanese and so tried to revive the old way of kicking and moving: Whilst it doesn't explicitly say Karate or Shotokan that page I linked does acknowledge that the early kwan leaders came back to Korea having learnt other styles and doesn't claim to be solely Korean in origin. If you're interested there are some really great history resources out there, both on the internet and in print. I would highly recommend A Killing Art by Alex Gillis as a starting point.