DWx

If you want to know any more about ITF, I'm an ITF-er and can have a go at answering any questions regarding that. I wouldn't be too worried about the kicks and your knees tbh. You will learn them but all instructors should help you to adapt the movement to fit any limitations you have. Contrary to popular belief you also won't be doing too much kicking at the start anyway. As far as the patterns go its only front kicks up to mid-colour belt level, then side kicks. More complicated kicks aren't really learnt until 2nd kup and beyond. There's a lot more in the way of hand techniques first. Focus on getting your stances right at the beginning and this should help you strengthen your legs and your knees ready for when you start kicking. Alongside this its also probably worthwhile doing extra exercises like squats and whatever your physio has suggested in addition. If the jogging is causing issues, please please speak to the instructor about alternatives exercise you could do. You don't have to jog. They could give you something that's a bit more lower impact and won't cause as much damage. Also see if a knee support helps? I can't comment on Koku-Ryu but if you are interested in the TKD you'll see that there are bits and pieces that resemble Shotokan as that's where most of TKD comes from. Whole sections of the patterns will be identical to the kata you learnt previously so you may be able to pick things up pretty quick. A lot of the blocking and striking movements are very similar too and the stances are also very similar. Perhaps the biggest difference is the use of sine wave between stance transitions in TKD. In Shotokan you were probably taught to keep level when stepping but in TKD you are encouraged to return to the neutral position as you step through. It'll be hard at first to get this at first but if you persevere it'll eventually come naturally . PS if you want to know whether the ITF school you're going to is decent, feel free to PM me the details and I'll have a look for you.

Great post Bob. Looking forward to reading more you'll have to tell us all where we can get a copy when its done. I compete in tameshiwari competitions and its insane what some people will do to themselves in order not to be defeated by the boards. And a lot of the serious competitors do have that look. That thousand yard stare. Totally agree. Kinda like the old quote: "With great power, comes great responsibility"

Hands down annoys me too. But I think its the rules that have done this. Roundhouses count for more points than any other technique so they're done more. Since they score at the sides of the hogu and you don't have to worry too much about other kicks (side-, back- etc.) it's more convenient to just have your hands at the sides to "guard" that area.

I think it must be the stress. I usually can't remember what I did in tournaments and when I come off the mats and watch back any videos I always have a "did that really just happen?" moment

We do something similar. We actually did it last night. My instructor pulls people out in front, they do their thing, then everybody votes who was best and gives corrections. Doesn't matter what rank, anybody can correct anybody. TBH the isn't much of an issue in my school because my instructor doesn't breed that environment. Rank isn't much of an issue.

Dunno how many I actually own but I have 2 regular ones I alternate for training. They both get washed after every session then hung outside to dry so I usually get away without ironing. They then stay hung up until training where they get folded and put in my bag. I do have an extra one to put into the rotation if I need to but I don't like wearing it as much. I then have 3 reserved for competition and one for more formal occasions. These are always ironed and put in the wardrobe then transported in a suit bag. I have others which I sometimes wear but I don't like them as much.

Haha often that student is me in our classes although a respectful heated discussion is probably a more accurate description and me and my instructor tend to argue the finer points where there might be variations on how to do it. Having said that, if it's something that is most definitely done only one way for a specific reason, actions speak louder than words so I'd give them a hands-on demonstration.

Good luck. Practice striking lightly on a solid surface like a table or something to make sure you're hitting with the correct part of the fist and not your pinky finger.

No as far as I'm aware, that's the way they've always done it. Compare it to the 1988 Seoul Olympics (where TKD was first seen): and it looks largely the same.It is technically a continuous fighting style and perhaps at lower levels it does seem more continuous. But if its the same as ITF, at the top level fights not much happens and there is a lot of standing still. The fighters are so on edge and waiting for a tiny movement from their opponent that it ends in stalemate. There's also the factor of tactics to get the centre referee to help you out. In ITF fights, often if you're in punching range but it's getting uncomfortable, you're losing too many points and can't increase the distance, a tactic is to just grab your opponent and force them to clinch. After a few seconds, the referee will break you up and reset you to a point where you are a stance away from each other which is now kicking range. You've stopped your opponent from scoring the punches and now you're in a position to again work angles and try out some other tactics. I can't say for sure as I'm neither a WTF player nor a WTF coach but maybe they have a similar tactic going on. As I alluded to in an earlier post, once you get past the point of being able to score with the legs, you're probably better off just cutting your loses and forcing the clinch leading to the match stopping all the time.

yeah but on the downside we have to pay a yearly license fee to watch tv, even if you don't intend to watch much BBC. Are NBC doing your paralympics coverage? We've got another broadcaster doing ours, Channel 4, so should be interesting to see how they compare to what the beeb did.

That's awesome

Links don't work because you're privacy settings won't let us see them. You can show us the whole album by taking the link from the bottom of the page (when viewing the album overview) which says "Want to share your album? You can give friends or relatives this link". Sounds like an awesome opportunity. Did you get to roll with him?

Welcome madtanker

Yeah does seem obvious that repetition of movement and good mechanics leads to a better punch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19290320

With respect, the parents and students shouldn't even have to know whether the person teaching is leading a more conventional life or an alternative lifestyle. It shouldn't even come up as an issue. Bob, you're always saying "the proof is on the floor" and in this case it should be. The personal life of those teaching shouldn't cause an issue because all that matters is how they teach and can they do a good job of it. I would be concerned if they kept bringing up their alternative lifestyle in class, but equally I'd be concerned if another teacher kept going on about their lifestyle too instead of teaching me like I'm paying them to. It is sad that many people are still closed minded about things and whether we agree with what somebody does or not, IMO it shouldn't mean that we shun them and their teaching. We're the ones who are going to miss out in the end if we can't get past these "issues" and just train.

Where noone actually WAS a black belt can you see how bad their techniques are Even poor old John Saxon was only Brown in reality, at that time (so legend has it!)! Heh that movie was on tv the other day. Obviously the actors weren't blackbelts but it surprises me that the attention to detail isn't there. You would have thought that Bruce would have made sure the simple things like keeping the fists closed and punching straight would have been taught to the actors. That scene where the arrive on Han's island and all the students are training is so funny to watch if you're looking at what the guys in gis are doing.

Funny thing about that is I train one day of the week in my boots. Yes, they are heavy, ridiculously so, but once I put on my sneakers for regular training, my feet are fast as lightning and I have much more precision with them. Since my boots are my "everyday shoes," it's one of the reason I train with them. If I get into an altercation, I want to be able to kick as if I was barefoot. Also, great for leg muscles. No chicken legs on this guy Ha I suppose in that they are like wearing ankle weights as when I train in mine then take them off, my legs feel really light. Since you might get into an altercation in them then you should probably train in them But I wear casual shoes most of the time and the extra weight would just slow me down.

Great post. Learning the language of the style opens up far more opportunities for your training. I know I can, and have done, go anywhere in the world and learn from someone who does my style but doesn't necessarily speak my language. Its good to have a international standard for technique names so that when people get together you all know what's going on. Even if you don't want to go to a seminar or competition with non-English speakers, a lot more training videos and instructional literature become accessible.

So some more comparisons between ITF and WTF: Format, scoring and the judges: ITF bouts are 2 rounds of 2 minutes with a 1 minute break. If the score is tied after the 2nd round, the fighters have another round of 1 minutes to try to win. If after that minute they are still tied, the fight goes to golden point (sudden death) and keeps going until someone scores. In comparison, the Olympic fights were 3 rounds of 2 minutes with 1 minute breaks. When the score is tied after the 1st round, a 2 minute sudden death round occurs. If the score is still tied at the end of that, the 3 corner umpires and the centre referee decide a winner based on aggression and technique. In the event that the decision is split, the centre referees vote is the deciding one. I think I prefer the ITF method overall. The 3 rounds used in the Olympics is better as it gives fighters more time to work out and deliver their strategy but the deciding factor for me is what they do in the event of a draw. It seems that the Olympic match very much favours the more aggressive and forward attacking sparrer and the one who tries to pull off the technical (read that as "flashy") moves even if actually, these didn't help them to score more points and were a wasted effort. (See my above post about the Obame vs Molfetta fight). At least in the ITF fight, the counter sparrer or defensive sparrer is on more of an equal footing. There is a difference between the two styles in the number of judges. This doesn't really impact on the fights much but I'm mentioning it in case you're interested. In ITF there are 4 corner judges and 1 centre referee. The 4 corner referees score the points on an electronic pad and the centre ref is there to give out warnings and ensure the fighters abide by the rules. Also present is a jury president who can stop a bout at any time or give instructions to the centre ref. In Olympic fights, there are only 3 corner refs who are there to score the head kicks and to mark when a kick is delivered with a rotation (more on that in a minute). A lot of the scoring for London 2012 was down to the Protector and Scoring System (PSS): the electronic hogus. Contact between the fighters gloves or foot protectors and the opponents hogu will register a point if the technique was delivered with sufficient force. (I'm unsure though whether the corner refs also had to count the technique). In each, points are awarded for: ITF: 1 point: hand to the body, hand to the face, kick to the body or a perfect defense (block which knocks the opponent off-balance) 2 point: kick to the head +1 point for being in the air +1 point for every 180 rotation in the air so a 360 roundhouse to the head can net you 5 points (2 for a head kick, +1 for being in the air and +2 for the 360 rotation) permitted scoring area is anywhere above the belt except the arms, back of the body and back of the head. WTF: 1 point for a hand or foot attack to the trunk 2 points for a roundhouse to the trunk 3 points for a kick to the head 4 points for a roundhouse kick to the head permitted scoring area is the coloured area on the hogu (a standard size based on the competitor's weight category) and the whole head, including the back of the head. From that, WTF clearly favours the roundhouse as it score more than other kicks. This would probably explain why in the matches I saw that the fighters did very few side kicks or hooking kicks and spent the entire time roundhousing. Unlike ITF they also don't award points for added complexity (being airborne or added rotations) so perhaps that's why I only saw 1 or 2 competitors attempting the 360 roundhouse. Probably the only time that the more complex kicks are an advantage in the Olympics is a situation like the men's final when it goes to judge's decision as technique-wise the one who did the spins was better. Recently ITF also introduced a rule whereby you had to do at least one kick with a rotation in it per round or you would be deducted 2 points for that round. For the record, I think that sucks. As a competitor (and fighting in the heavyweight category) its not great having to force yourself to pull it off especially if you're not very good at it. However I guess of the two styles you could say that ITF style is more interesting to watch because the fighters are performing these acrobatic kicks. Punches to the face are also not permitted in WTF and since at close quarters the legs often obscure any punch to the body (if it can deliver sufficient force) it meant a vastly different sparring style to ITF-ers. The Olympic fighters were more inclined to keep moving forward towards each other and either end in a clinch (whereby the referee would separate them) or they would actually push each other or use their arms to hold the opponent away so they could get the distance for the kick. Also meant they didn't have to protect their face at that range. Compare this to ITF where the fighters can punch to face and the ITF-ers are a lot more concerned about not getting too close to one another due to the risk of getting hit. Also with the defense, ITF-ers prefer a tighter guard and they will try to block everything just in case they get that point for a "perfect defense". WTF on the other are more concerned with stopping attacks to the hogu. Since these are mainly going to be roundhouses and the don't have to worry too much about full face shots (hand or foot), the arms will remain down at the sides. BTW, you can get the press pack and draws and everything for the Olympics from the WTF website. This is where I got all the WTF rules from so if any are wrong, blame the press pack : http://www.wtf.org/wtf_eng/site/olymic_games/00_Olympic_main.html

Welcome shinka

Respectfully I disagree. Why? In any dojo, imho, the MA is not all that matters because the MA is just a part of what's tangible within the dojo, albeit, the MA is the primary source of why any karateka is there. Nonetheless, we're people and in that, we're so different. From the Sensei to the Sempai to the Kohai to the parents, and to the occasional visitor; we're only performing a thing, and in that as well, imho, the people performing the MA are again, are far more important than the MA. I'll briefly address the following... *Parents: Parents don't have to tolerate anything when it concerns their child/children. They've earned that right, and therefore, their the ones who allow their child/children to partake in my dojo or at our Hombu. As a parent, I'll decide what I'm going to allow my children to be exposed to, and not some Sensei or the like. While the MA is becoming important to my child/children, I'll allow it or I won't for the sake of my child/children across the board. Again, the MA is not the only thing that matters and the MA is just a thing, imho. **Student: Students occupy the inner sanctum of any dojo, and in that, they practice and learn the MA. Having said that, the student, both children and adults, are the ones who want to learn the MA; whatever it might be. However, the student doesn't have to join any given dojo if that student doesn't want to for personal as well as professional reason(s). What ever phobia a student might or might not have; it's very important to that student, therefore, I feel that it's much more important than the MA as a whole. Learning the MA is a want and not a need, and in that, understanding that the students perceptions are those of that student and not the Sensei. ***Administration: Truly, the administrator is there to drive the bottom line profitable; to stay in the black and not in the red. Administrators are fire-fighters, in that, they solve one fire [complaints, etc] at a time. Having their pulse on the heart-beat of the dojo is critical because the best fire-fighters control any said fire before it becomes out of hand. If a parent is complaining about a Sensei who leads an alternate lifestyle, the administration needs to gather the necessary and pertinent facts to come to a final ruling/decision, and then move on because any dissension unchecked takes a lot away from the training of the MA. Concentration is key to learning but how can one learn if one's not concentrating on what one's doing; training/learning the MA. Not every decision is easy for a parent, student, and/or administration, however, decisions must be made no matter how popular they may or may not be, therefore the MA suffers from time to time. I care more about the people than I do the MA, and the MA is a very, very important part of my life, but it's a want...it's just a thing. Interesting and I agree somewhat to not having to expose your child to something if you don't want to or that the administrator has to think about the business. However I've always been taught to leave everything at the door when I come to the dojang to train. Whatever I or any of my fellow students choose to do in our spare time remains there, out of the dojang environment. If its not illegal or not seriously morally wrong (and the two often overlap) and if it is not affecting you, then what business is it of yours to decide that what someone does in their spare time disqualifies them from teaching? No-one should really be exposed to it (whatever it may be) anyway. All instructors, whether they lead an alternative lifestyle or a more conventional one, should be focusing on one thing only and that is teaching. It seems a little prejudiced to me for a parent to refuse to have their child taught be somebody because of the lifestyle they lead if it has no impact on their ability to teach and they keep their personal life to themselves. Or for the administrator to deny a person to teach because of how they choose to live their life. TBH it's discrimination. In the workplace and in other environments there are laws about that kind of thing.

Nice gi... but awesome dog Name?

Ouch! Hope it heals up quickly. With respect, could you not be pulling your toes back into position properly?

Great Bob, glad you liked them I will post more thoughts, but first of all: Best was definitely the men's final between Obame (Gabon) and Molfetta (Italy). Molfetta was the favourite and Obame was the underdog. Obame had never been to a major tournament before so was pretty much unknown and his country Gabon had never won an Olympic medal. The crowd were just going insane for the fight and since us Brits love an underdog everyone was shouting Obame's name. I had to rewatch it it was that good! Obame was taller and was dominating the first round by just clean good fighting. Molfetta scored first by roundhouse (1 point) but Obame's coach put in a video appeal because he thought Obame had scored via an axe kick. Could clearly see it on the video so Obame got 4 points and Molfetta lost a point (not sure why) so was then leading the match 4-0. Molfetta then cornered Obame and was throwing all sorts of spinning kicks but at the end of the 1st round it was 6-1 to Obame. Not much happened in the 2nd round but Molfetta did pull the score up to 6-3. 3rd round was amazing. Early punch by Molfetta put the score to 6-4 But then an absolutely beautiful right leg round house from Obame round Molfetta's head got him 3 points. Molfetta went down like a sack of potatoes! (Photo of it here) But to add to the drama, Molfetta's coach put in a protest to say that the kick was delivered after the referee told them to separate! So the jury deliberate for ages while we get to watch the replay over and over again from all angles Jury decides that the kick was ok so Molfetta's coach loses the right to protest again and the score goes 9-4. Molfetta then really goes for it trying to get points back and gets the score to 9-6. Looked like Obame was going to get Gabon their first Olympic medal and make it a gold but in the last 20 seconds, Molfetta scored a wicked axe kick to bring the score level to 9 a-piece. Obame tried to then get some points back and just missed with another very good roundhouse to the head but they ended the 3rd round 9-9. Picture I took of the score board: https://dl.dropbox.com/sh/z0sk3yeq71zrr4u/9m5XIvMeSO/DSCF0672.JPG So then they went to a sudden death round but neither guys managed to get a point. Even though they were both really going for it. Obame trying to use his reach and Molfetta pulling 360 roundhouses and jump kicks and everything out of the bag. Molfetta nearly got a reverse hook kick in but just missed. Obame just threw the simpler roundhouses and side kicks hoping to get the point due to speed. Unfortunately neither scored so then it went to judges decision and based on aggression and technique the judges awarded the fight to Molfetta I didn't agree with that as although Molfetta was throwing more techniques and was more aggressive, Obame was picking him off and was leading the entire match and the majority of Molfetta's kicks were missing. Obame didn't need to be on the attack as he waited for the Italian to come to him and then countered to get his point. Molfetta was throwing the more complex kicks but they weren't the most effective kicks. From the noise, the crowd agreed with me. How they behaved afterwards was very telling though. Whilst the judges were making their decision, Obame went up to Molfetta to congratulate him and hugged him and then when Molfetta was declared the winner, Obame put Molfetta's hand in the air and helped him out of his hogu. Molfetta starts doing his lap of honour and Obame is picking up all the hogus and headguards off the mats and giving them to one of the volunteers! It just seemed like the guy was just so happy to be there and it didn't matter whether or not he won. He hadn't even brought a flag into the arena with him so one of the volunteers went and got him one. When they got the medals, Obame definitely got the bigger cheer and even on the podium he was bowing to the crowd and saying thank-you. If you were going to watch only one match from the whole tournament, watch this one! Out of all the matches I've seen, ITF and WTF, this one was one of the best. Score breakdown here: http://london2012.bbc.co.uk/taekwondo/event/men-more-than-80kg/match=tkm180101/index.html UK guys can watch it here (highly recommended even if you don't normally enjoy TKD), part 11 on this video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w336x