DWx

Great find. In the long run, for both men and women regardless of size, technique will triumph over speed and strength. You'll have less of an understand if you try to rely on speed and strength alone. Building up a good set of mechanics first then add speed and strength later is a better way... one that beginners seems to find hard to grasp.

That sounds like a horrendous school FangPwnsAll7; a toxic environment you definitely don't want to be in. 1st of all, make sure your parents are fully aware of everything that is happening and has happened and document everything fully. Then leave. Furthermore if the school is part of a larger organisation you may want to submit a formal complaint higher up.. any reputable organisation will have systems in place for dealing with situations like this.

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm inclined to consider MAists as fighters who have a code of ethics or morals. Either a personal code stemming from their own pre-existing beliefs or from the system they followed. The Knights had their code of chivalry, the Samurai the Bushido code... basically some sort of notion of right and wrong and a level of honour.

Welcome to the forums Ruben. Taekwondo and Karate are very similar styles in that they are both striking based and in fact Taekwondo developed from Karate in the first place. In terms of what is best for you, either would be a good bet The instructor and the atmosphere in the dojo should be more of a factor in which you decide to go with. Nowadays most schools will let you try a few lessons for free so best thing to do is go along and see which you prefer.

Welcome Dianna

No training is 100% realistic, pads or no pads. And IMHO neither is better than the other for realism. Even if you aren't wearing pads you must be reducing the contact levels somewhat or pulling your techniques otherwise are you routinely sending home training partners with broken bones and internal injuries? As Kuma said, no pads is fine for non or light contact but for medium through to full you should be wearing it if you want to train consistently without time out for injuries.

Congrats and welcome to the forum

As I mentioned to you earlier pdbnb, I have actually now trained with your instructor a couple of times. IMHO the guy knows he stuff and is technically sound. Respect his decision and follow everyone's advice on here. It really does not matter what grade you are or what grade your friends are. It is better to be a really good 8th gup than a mediocre 7th gup. Let your skills speak for themselves and forget about what colour you wear around your waist.

Where abouts are you located? Several schools near LA depending on where you are. Any of the ones listed on these any good? http://www.itf-usa.org/school.html#ca http://us-itf.com/US-ITF/Schools.html Looks like you've got loads of really good WTF schools in LA, including one run by an Olympic medalist. Could be a really good opportunity... Welcome to the forums anyway from a fellow ITFer

I'm of the view that we can't protect kids from all head trauma. They could just as easily experience it playing football or from falling over or just from general rough and tumble. You can take steps to try to minimize it though. I will have to read the research paper again as I just skimmed it but I would be interested to know how much force results in a loss of IQ and whether or not it considered cumulative (minor?) blows. It does refer to "serious fighting-related injuries" but what does that constitute exactly? Now regarding headgear. I would contrast this with the decision by Olympic boxing to drop the headguards because it is safer: http://www.karateforums.com/olympic-boxing-drops-headguards-and-changes-scoring-system-vt44826.html

Welcome to the forums circa1981 What styles are available in your area?

I came across this article which I thought might make an interesting read for some of you: http://artoftherifleblog.com/do-vs-jutsu-as-applied-to-shooting/2012/02/do-vs-jutsu-as-applied-to-shooting.html For those of you that do own a gun, do you pursue the do or the jutsu?

Good Luck Wastelander! Let us know how it goes.

I have the same thing. Thursday nights I don't get home till after 10 pm. Nearly killed me when I had to get to work by 6:30 am. I find always making sure to do a really good cool down and then take an hour or so to chill out when I get home helps.

Welcome

http://www.universityherald.com/articles/4114/20130803/injuries-teen-fighting-deal-blow-iq.htm http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(13)00333-9/abstract

I found this website recently: http://www.martialmakers.com/ Loads of plans and examples of homemade equipment. What I really want to make is a board holder. I did start one last year but my DIY skills kinda suck and it went all wrong. When I get a bit of time I will have to have another crack at it.

Juche will always be the bane of my existence.. had it as a designated pattern in competition a few times now. I think the umpires must want to see me suffer Having said that, I love watching it done well. That and Moon Moo. Current favorite to perform is Choi Yong.

I'd have taken my training more seriously from the start. It's not like I didn't put any effort in but I was content to cruise along at an average level rather than push myself to give another 10% more than I did previous session.

Civ is a nightmare! "Just one more turn...." Currently playing Civ V at the minute. I have a whole stack of things I bought this in the Steam summer sale that I haven't got round to play. But who can say no to 75% off!

Birthdays will tend to do that. I had a early-mid life crisis yesterday. "What have I done with my life? Time's slipping by: heading down the slippery slope to 30!"

To be honest, I personally think it's a less about skill and more about pressure testing him. I think I'd try to get him better sparring partners and get him doing as many lower level tournaments as possible. You need people who are going to push him and who are going to make it hard for him and he needs to be used to the competition environment. It is common for a lot of fighters to revert back to basic sparring when on the mat; the adrenaline's going, the nerves are going, you can't think straight, the crowd is too noisy, you're up against some who is equally as good if not better than you. Nerves are good but you do have to try to counteract them. From personal experience you just have to make competition seem about as routine as class is. Lots of lower level competition and go to different dojos / meet up with people to spar as many other fighters as possible. Lots of pad work, working his combos over and over again will also help as you'll programme his responses to be automatic.

Congrats

Congrats lowereastside

Thank you Feeling old...