DWx

Right well I definitely want some commission now

Great post by ps1... Unlike you Bob, I was born in the Internet generation Neither's better than the other and I am sure yourself and the Shindokan body are fine as you are. That said I would agree with the following sentiment from Patrick: Nowadays I think for most people having some sort of Internet presence is a given. If you don't have any trace on the Web it can be a turnoff sometimes in the sense that a website provides a story and information about the product or service before you even leave the house ear pick up the phone. If I know of two schools in an area offering exactly the same style and same level of teaching, I probably would be more inclined to the one that has a website/Facebook/Internet presence as, although not technically true, it does convey a sense of transparency. The school that doesn't have a website to me would seem a bit cloak and dagger, like they were trying to hide something or intentionally did not want to be contacted. That's how the younger generation function though. We "Google" stuff first. We want information first. Having an Internet presence makes that possible.

Dare I say but tameshiwari is pretty good indication. You cannot push your way through a house brick. Either you're striking right or you're striking wrong; you'll soon find out which it is!!

That's really nice... Not sure I could justify throwing a sweaty gi and all my equipment in there after training.

Great, which one did you pick in the end? I've had mine for about 10 years. Heavily abused it during college and then university and when travelling. Only thing that's gone is one of the buckles. I've thought about looking at sending it in but not sure if the warranty terms are the same in the UK, besides the buckle is non essential.

What kind of size do you need? Other features? FWIW although not martial arts themed, Jansport bags have a lifetime guarantee, so if it gets broken, it gets repaired. http://www.jansport.com/shop/en/jansport-us/shop/outdoor-bags/outdoor-travel-bags?cm_sp=category-_-outdoor-_-outdoortravel http://www.jansport.com/shop/en/jansport-us/shop/outdoor-bags/daypacks?cm_sp=category-_-outdoor-_-daypacks Northface bags are pretty sturdy too: http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/equipment-daypacks

So what is the answer? Can you share it with us? If you don't mind me asking, do you study Tai Chi currently?

It's all in the hips As far as Tai Chi goes I am very much a novice having studied the Yang form for a couple of years 5 or so years ago. However certainly from the training I did, the external power generation was not all that different from what I was used to in Taekwon-Do. In fact we would spend a great deal of time loosening and concentrating on hip motion and moving the whole body as one that it improved my TKD 10-fold. A lot of has to do with balance and finding your centre of gravity alongside totally relaxing and just letting the movement flow without tension. What always amazed me about Tai Chi was that my teacher, a very small petite lady, was able to move me (5' 10", 200 lbs) with very little effort. I always thought I was able to stand my ground and avoid throws and sweeps in TKD but she was able to move me around the room with ease. Of course there are subtle differences across the various styles of Tai Chi. Chen style for example has a different feel to it than Yang or and I think a lot of people, due to the explosive movements, would deem it to be more powerful.As for internal methods, my understanding is more limited but I think this video is a good explanation:

This is a great article ps1. What do you see as the advantages (and disadvantages) of a rotating curriculum? We've never used one at our school but then we have set classes that only really consist of 1 or 2 belt levels and you only really get taught material for your specific grade.

This is a great read Brian, thanks for sharing your journey with us It must have been hard starting over as a white belt. Not just for the fact that you have to be humble and step to the back of the class but also very hard physically and mentally to rewrite the mechanics. I think it's bad enough trying to pick up a different style and different methodology of moving but when transitioning from one curriculum to another (and a style of TKD that was very similar) it must have been difficult. I'm paraphrasing but one of the masters I sometimes train with often says: "I can correct a white belt in a day, a colour belt in a few weeks but a black belt will take many months". Was there much difference between the ATA's methods and Sun Yi's style?

This is a great article Devin. Having a specific obtainable objective per training session has been something I've been trying to impress on students recently. Ideally the instructor should always also have a lesson objective too but I think having personal objectives too connects the student to their own training and helps to make them responsible for their own development. I find it particularly important in sparring practice. A good deal of students get stuck in a rut of thinking they can't spar and that they lose every time. It is better to set an objective of "Today I'm going to improve X. I will do this by concentrating on Y". If that goal is accomplished by the end of the session, then the student can take it as a win.

Good luck on hear you had a good time. First time at any event is a bit daunting when you're not entirely sure what to expect. Hopefully it will inspire your son to train harder and get better and hopefully in a few years he'll be on the podium too How did you find London? Will next year's comp be in the same place or a different country?

Not happened to me but like Noah I wear compression gear underneath anyway so it wouldn't matter. I have been there when a fellow student was taking the warm up and he says "now get down nice and low into a squat" and he does so his trousers split straight down the middle!

Thank you for the feedback thus far I think you have to be careful with the generalisations. Taekwondo is as broad as Karate with many variations and sub-styles. You are right in that the Taekwondo most people encounter is what is in the Olympics but this is a very narrow definition of the style and is something that has been created as a sport. Unless you specifically train at a sports school, WTF and ITF and other styles alike practice more than this type of sparring. It's like saying ippon kumite is the only thing every single Karate school, from Shotokan to Wado Ryu to Kyokushin, practice. Even in sport sparring you get a lot of hands. Over half of the knockouts in this highlights real of ITF (sport) sparring are due to punches: However a lot of schools also practice this type of sparring too:

Typical body fat for a male athlete is in the region of 6 - 13% and between 14 - 17% for fit individuals. So I'd say currently you're not far off hitting the right range for a sportsperson. Of course body fat isn't the sole thing that determines weight, it is also very much dependent on how much muscle mass you put on too. To be honest, your trainer or training buddies would be better to advise as they will know the circuit you intend to compete on and what your body is like right now. I think in general most amateur fighters tend to just drop the body fat as low as possible whilst maintaining their strength etc. Having said that, take a look at the fighter's on your preferred tournament circuit and try to place yourself height- and build-wise. I'm guessing at 5' 8" you'd probably be towards the middle divisions? FWIW when we try to decide on weight classes for our TKD comps, we try to make sure that the fighter is at the upper end of the bracket for height. There is a definite trend towards the heavier fighters being taller and that extra reach can be a big advantage in competitions.

Interesting thoughts Bob. But to play devil's advocate, can one not have too much confidence and overestimate their ability? Overconfidence in one's ability might lead a student to not practicing as much as they should and could get them into situations they are ill-prepared to face.

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. Taekwon-do, the way of the foot and hand, is a martial art often characterized by its high, spinning, jumping and flying kicks. Attacking and defending with the legs promotes flexibility, coordination, balance and so on and a well executed kick can be infinitely more destructive than a blow with the fist. The legs naturally also have a far greater reach than the arms and taekwon-do methodology dictates that the practitioner keeps the aggressor as far away as possible. However, kicks aren't the only techniques to be found in this Korean art. Kicking can be risky as the kicker can lose balance, and what happens when the aggressor comes inside kicking range? Depending on the style of taekwon-do taught, hand techniques can account for more than half of all techniques learnt. In fact in the style of taekwon-do I practice, nothing more complicated than a front kick appears in the curriculum until mid-color belt level and even then the kicks taught are fairly basic until 1st Gup. On the other hand, a wide variety of attack and defense hand techniques are taught. This article will take a closer look at some of the hand techniques found within the style. In general, taekwon-do hand techniques can be classed as one of several types. Attacks Punches (jirugi) Strikes (taerigi)Thrusts (tulgi) Crosscuts (ghutgi)Defense Techniques Blocks (makgi)Checking (momchugi) Covering (karioogi) Holding (bachigi) OtherAttacking Techniques Broadly, attacking techniques can be sub-divided into punches, thrusts, strikes and crosscuts. Punches are the most basic of hand attacks taught. As in most styles, the majority of punching techniques connect with the target using the forefist. However, in taekwon-do, we also class a number of techniques which use the index and middle finger knuckles, or other variations including the open fist (pyon joomuk) or long fist (ghin joomuk) as punches. Essentially punches are any attacking technique where the line of power travels up the forearm in a straight line. Typically, though, nearly all punches rely on a twist or corkscrew effect whereby the punching arm will revolve through 180 degrees over the course of the punching action, and the opposite hand will be withdrawn to the hip. The first and most recognizable punch is the straight front punch using the horizontal fist. Similar in a lot of ways to the karate straight punch, it can delivered from many stances with both the leading arm and reverse arm. Related to this are the side and side front punches, which essentially differ by body positioning. Other notable variants include the vertical fist (sewo jirugi) punches which tend to be those you'd use in closer quarters, and are typically aimed at the gut or jaw, and the crescent (bandal), angle (giokja) and turning (dollyo) punches, which could all be considered variants on the haymaker. Finally, the upward punch (ollyo jirugi) is very like an uppercut aimed to the chin or upward into the face at close range. Strikes are smashing techniques that employ the use of the knifehand (sonkal), reverse knifehand or ridgehand (sonkal dung), backfist (dung joomuk), elbow (palkup) and backhand (sondung), among other tools. There are many variations of strikes, far too many to describe here, however next to punches they are the second most commonly used hand attacks. Thrusts, in comparison to punches or strikes, are directed to softer target areas such as the eyes, neck or solar plexus and are intended to almost stab or travel into the target in a linear motion. Thrusts are only performed with either the fingers or the point of the elbow. Crosscuts are somewhat unusual and are comparable to a slashing technique using the fingertips. Travelling either inward or outward, they slash across the target's eyes. Defense Techniques Although the leg can be used to check or block movement, generally the most preferable option would be evasive action. If this is not possible then it is often better to block or check movement with the arms as this usually is a more reliable method of preventing an attack getting through whilst also presenting options for the defender to grab or throw the opponent. Blocks would be the most prevalent type of hand defense and can be further subdivided into different types. Impact blocks can really be considered a striking type of technique as the goal is to make hard contact in order to stop an attack from reaching you. As such, these blocks can also potentially cause damage to your opponent in the process. The difference between attacking strikes and a blocking "strike" being that whereas attacking strikes are aimed to an opponent's weak spots or vital areas, impact blocks strike against the opponent's attacking tool. So if your opponent punches towards you, an impact block will smash the arm to intercept the movement and will redirect the attack and be likely to cause some damage in the process. Impact blocks are primarily delivered with the forearms (palmok), knifehand (sonkal) and reverse knifehand (sonkal dung). Non-impact blocks are those that are softer and are intended to redirect and parry an attack in order to unbalance an opponent. In addition, they can be a preparation to grab. Unlike impact blocks, these blocks are those that maintain contact throughout the blocking motion (impact blocks strike and transfer motion much like a Newton's Cradle). Non-impact blocks primarily utilize the palms (sonbadak), arc hand (bandalson) and x-fist (kyocha joomuk) and x-knifehand (kyocha sonkal) tools. Aside from blocking there are also a number of methods within the system in order to check an attack (momchugi), positions to cover up (karioogi) and methods of grabbing or holding the attacker (bachigi). Although this has been a very brief introduction to the many hand techniques found within taekwon-do, I hope it has provided a little more insight into the style beyond the kicking techniques for which it is known.

Congratulations

You're welcome. However, not to criticise but although it will give you variety and interest, in terms of progress this might not be the best way to structure your workouts. Whether working with weights or with just bodyweight I think the general consensus that for increased strength you should really have a programme that promotes progression on the exercises you are doing and not just work to add reps and that you should try to be structured with it. So for instance, you would typically try to add weight to a barbell over time or move from pushups through to elevated and then one arm variants.

This thread isn't exactly saying much for longevity in the martial arts!!! Try being in your mid 20s with niggling injuries. I can't look over my right shoulder properly as about 5 years ago I got punched hard enough to give me whiplash. Never healed right. For the past year I've also been nursing what I think was a pulled piriformis that didn't heal right. My right leg is noticeably weaker with any movement that requires me to extend the leg or pull downwards with it (axe kicks etc.) and I also get mild sciatica.

Happy Birthday John

Wastelander hit the nail on the head with periodization. There is no on/off season per se for martial arts but that doesn't mean you can't structure your year. Annual tournaments tend to be held around the same time of year every year. Pick a few that you will wan't to attend next year and create yourself a training programme based on building up to those dates.

Wow this is a really great article Justice. Certainly in my experience, people get bogged down by almost pseudo-physics - they take snippets of things like F = MA and misunderstand and misapply it.

In all seriousness have you tried the Insanity DVDs? They are actually really good for this type of stuff and will also give you a lot more exercises to work with. I know they are expensive but maybe you can find a 2nd hand copy. YouTube really is a great resource for workouts/exercises if you're stuck: Instead of writing workouts out, why don't you just put all the exercises into a hat and pick out 5 every time you come to workout. Then do circuits of x amount of reps. You should end up with a different work out each time.

Sounds like your really need to see a doctor. Good luck for the MRI Maybe try to write down where you are, what you're doing and what time it is every time they happen. Might be something in common triggering them.