DWx

Comparing historic injury patterns to strikes in modern European sword arts http://www.tameshigiri.ca/2014/06/12/fact-checking-fight-books-comparing-historic-injury-patterns-to-strikes-in-modern-european-sword-arts/ I know not many of us practice Western MA but this is a great read comparing historical data to reconstruction of European and Renaissance weapon styles.

Hi, I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know the exact answer to this. I chose the school because I really really like the instructor, he's great teaching me and my kids, and we have a blast each and very class. The bottom of my last certificate says World Tae Kwon Do Federation...does that answer the question? This is obviously something that I need to get smart on. Sounds like WTF to me. That is a good question, Danielle. I'd love to know, but I've never asked him about it. From what I can gather, and this is just from what I've picked up on, he must have done WTF at one time (whether it was before the current pattern set, or the pal gwe set, I don't know), and when he left Korea, he changed to the ITF set, but I'm not sure when/how he learned them. As for examples, I can give a few real quick, and more when I have time. In Yoo Sin, when you do the U-shaped punches, we do a knee level side kick prior to each one. In Choong Jang, instead of the middle block/down blocks at the beginning, followed by the circle punch, we do nine blocks, and then slowly come into the fist over fist ready position. Like I say, wish I knew why. My instructor has said that our GM claims that "Choi didn't necessarily make those forms..." and doesn't say anymore. I know that Choi had input from other instructors in the creation of his tuls, but I don't know what my GM is really getting at. While Choi didn't create them solely by himself, they were his forms in the sense that he pioneered them and pushed for all Taekwon-Do instructors to adopt and teach them. It's interesting the changes your GM made. They are quite definitive differences and not just say changing a middle side kick to a high side kick. Have you ever compared them to the original Kata the Chang Hon forms take inspiration from? Maybe one of the Karate guys on the forum could suggest if there is a kata this bit in Yoo Sin matches up to: Yoo Sin - Suska: http://youtu.be/iWCaMPfq0cI#t=1min17s Does it have side kicks in the kata version (if there is one?).

I'm with Brian on this one. I definitely agree that the force is dissipated somewhat with the ball of the foot versus the toes. So in theory the toe kick can do more damage to a localised point. However I would argue that because the ball of the foot is naturally built to withstand impact, more force can be applied thus it can be a more powerful kick. The toes are not built for impact. And definitely not impact along the length of the toe. The limiting factor with this kick is how strong you can build up the striking area and it is much easier to break your toe than it would be to break the bones that make up the ball of the foot. It's Newton's 3rd Law: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Whenever you strike something force will travel back up your arm or leg. Your striking tool has to able to withstand whatever you're dishing out. Even with conditioning I'd still reckon a ball of the foot kick could be stronger.

If you don't like running you don't have to do it... It's not the end all and be all of fitness. Hill sprints are really great but so is any interval training (HIIT) if you do it right. Skipping is a great cardiovascular builder. I personally prefer to do interval swimming and intervals on the rowing machines. Blast it for a lap or for 30 secs, take 10 seconds rest and go again. Or try something like tabatas: http://www.intervaltraining.net/tabata.html

Congrats

Is this just personal preference of your master or are there technical reasons for the changes? I'm curious Do you have an example? Must be difficult to learn new forms without being able to refer to the common videos and source material.

http://www.kukkiwon.or.kr/front/pageView.action?cmd=/eng/information/taekwondoSkill2 Whole (most?) of the Kukkiwon (WTF) Taekwondo techniques are now online. Thought this might come in handy for some of you guys. Includes a list of techniques in Korean and English with accompanying pictures and explanations.

This is spot on for me. There is no one ultimate style but you can't deny that some are better that others for certain goals. Don't do Tai Chi if you want to compete in full contact. Don't train BJJ if you want to strike. Don't join a boxing gym if you want to grapple. When choosing a martial arts school you should really make sure the style aligns with what you want to get out of your training.

TKDTutor is a great site. Lots of great articles on there. What kind of TKD are you doing Archimoto? Maybe others will find it boring but ITF Taekwon-Do has a rigidly defined tempo due to the use of sine wave and strict rules around what the timing of individual moves are. The cool thing is that when practitioners from different schools and countries get together at seminars and tournaments, even though they've never met or trained with each other they all move as one unit.

Great post Bob. I wholely agree. Breaking is an important part of my TKD training. It's the ultimate goal of "one hit one kill" or "victory in one blow". To break, the technique has to be perfect. You need to fully understand the correct angle, distance, how the technique works, how to form the right tool, how to generate force and then on top of that how to get over the mental barriers. It's easier said than done and if you can't do all these things you'll just bounce off and injure yourself. For me, it's also a reassurance thing. If I can break at least one board consistently with a certain technique then I can mentally put a tick against it and say that yes I do understand all of the components that go into it. If I know how many newtons are required to break a board, I can also quantitatively assess the power in each of my techniques. Boards not hitting back is not true at all. Newton's 3rd Law tells us that. Whatever force we exert on the breaking material, we receive an equal and opposite force straight back up our arm or leg. It's either your arm or the board which will come off badly... you'll want to hope it's the latter. These two articles are great reads on the mechanics behind breaking. http://www.badmartialarts.com/myths/breaking_stuff.php http://www.tkdtutor.com/articles/topics/breaking/491-mechanics-of-breaking

Hawkmoon started up a great thread on homemade equipment here: http://www.karateforums.com/diy-training-gear-vt45313-30.html Or I found this website: http://www.martialmakers.com/?page_id=6 There's quite a few different methods to building a makiwara on there.

http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2014/kung-fus-identity-crisis/ Great article on how the popularity of Kung Fu is on the decline and MMA is on the rise in China.

Adding bulk will be harder than you think; it's not something that'll just happen. Plus you're right in that women find it even more difficult to bulk up. In all honesty I think your workout is probably a good place to begin if you're doing nothing currently. If your want to know how others on the forum train, take a look at the training log as it might give you a few ideas: http://www.karateforums.com/the-martial-artists-training-log-vt30246-4080.html

With all due respect Gareth, I disagree. Explosive power requires muscle. Look at any athletes that have to move their legs fast. Look at the sprinters Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin, they're all built like tanks with massive leg muscles. Heck look at some of the most successful Karate-ka, Kickboxers and Taekwondo players. JCVD had big legs and did a ton of weight training. Bruce Lee trained with weights too. I would put money on all the UFC roster currently doing some form of weight training. FWIW there are Gurkha's based at our local barracks and those guys aren't exactly scrawny in any case. They aren't exactly kicking a lot either. They're good soldiers mainly because of attitude.

Great points. What does kicking through a block actually accomplish? I would imagine if you are kicking that hard all your momentum is continuing through and maybe upsetting your balance too? If so, a skilled fighter will let you kick through and then take you once you're unbalanced.

If you're based in the UK, the NHS has loads of help for quitting smoking: http://www.nhs.uk/smokefree/help-and-advice http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/smoking-(quitting)/Pages/Treatment.aspx Might be worth a read even if you're not UK based as a nice guide to the different methods of quitting and treatments available.

In all honesty I've only really come across it in the Encyclopedia and had it mentioned as an additional attacking tool for the front kit. It's not something we really train or focus on. Here's the page out of the book: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd109/DWx_album/page264.jpg I couldn't say the origin of it but you're right in that it was most likely taken from Funakoshi's Shotokan although some of the original Kwan leaders had also claimed to have studied under people like Kanken Toyama and had training in Kung Fu... As far as conditioning goes, the toes aren't something I've ever tried to condition At the end of the day, because of the lack of training with it and lack of conditioning, I would most likely choose another attack.

Welcome Spartacus

Actually toe kicks are taught in (ITF) Taekwon-Do with the specific note that many targets only become available when shoes are worn: using the toes (balkut) should only be for front kicks to the groin or possibly to the abdomen when barefoot. When in shoes like heavy boots or pointed shoes it becomes virtually impossible to kick with ball of the foot so the "toes" can be used against the lower ribs, solar plexus or chin / face if the opponent is seated on in a downed position.

Good post ps1. Its semantics but I think there is a difference between training a mixed martial art and training in Mixed Martial Arts / MMA.

Totally agree with the familiarity advice. The more you do it the less scary it will be. Do as many tournaments and events as you can and soon it'll just be routine. Put yourself in training stressful situations as often as possible and tournaments will be a piece of cake. I'm lucky in that my instructor regularly pulls us out individually in front of everyone to have our forms pulled apart and inspected. Same with our sparring. Aside from that, I think it's good to build up a tournament routine. Get some music together and have a warm up of something that you do everytime to get in the zone Another version of that quote from pittbullJudoka is: "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle."

Yeah I can't say I agree with every point. Though I confess to not actually training Karate. Most of our forms and methodology are borrowed from Shotokan so you'd think there'd be a greater deal of crossover... These are the two that would stick out for me. In ITF Taekwondo it's always the ball of foot. The foot/ankle must act like a shock absorber and a spring to launch from. Also contradicts this other post by Jesse: http://www.karatebyjesse.com/why-karates-classic-heel-turn-is-scientifically-wrong/ I liked the suggestion from one of the comments on the article which said to try training 1 or 2 a week... Can really focus on a specific goal during your training

Pretty cool video of a couple of guys rolling underwater. Changes the dynamics a little

Welcome Mokita

Welcome to KF Les