Questions from potential beginner

[elbows_and_knees]

Thanks for the replys. I'm going to visit the Taekwondo University here in Collierville tomorrow. I think their pricing is about the same.

I checked out the bjj website and the judo looks a little too much like a wrestling sport, I may be mistaken though. Great website too btw.

And yes I am looking to stick to Collierville for the classes. I do work in downtown Memphis though.

thanks again!

judo is a standing grappling art. They do groundwork as well, however. What do you have against wrestling?

Thanks for the compliments on the site.

In c-ville, there's not much. if you don't mind going out to germantown, there is a church with good thai boxing, judo and bjj programs. You will have the most luck in memphis though.... c-ville is a smaller burb that isn't really varied at all in terms of martial arts training...since you work downtown, you have to pass all of the good schools to get home anyway. I would seriously go to one of those.

[elbows_and_knees]

Thanks WW for the reply. I corrected the name above, Master Jung Ho Ko. His school is Ko's Taekwondo College. His flyer states "33 years experience, 30x's Korean National Champion, 2x World Champion, Member of U.S. Taekwondo Union, WTF Federation".

Anyways, I went to another taekwondo in town tonight. They too want about $100/month for 2 hrs/week, three times is $150/month, unlimited is $200/month.

This seems like a very expensive undertaking. I'm going to look at Karate schools next. There are two in town I believe.

There are more than two, but they are in memphis. you're probably gonna end up training in memphis anyway... it's to sparse on the outskirts.

[DogDay]

judo is a standing grappling art. They do groundwork as well, however. What do you have against wrestling?

No offence meant. I've never found wrestling interesting.

I've decided to give Kang Rhee a try tomorrow in Cordova.

[White Warlock]

No offence meant. I've never found wrestling interesting.

I doubt offense was taken. However, i would say you're missing out on one of the most important phases of a confrontation. And, as EaK mentioned, judo is primarily stand-up grappling and takedown. Wrestling and groundwork grappling systems, by default, are great for conditioning.

The techniques in judo, bjj, and classical wrestling, if studied, will 'wake you up' as to what 'can' be done. But, choice is choice.

I've decided to give Kang Rhee a try tomorrow in Cordova.

Might want to ask if Kang Rhee is his 'birth' name. Kinda sounds like a run of Jhoon Rhee and "Kang" from Flash Gordon.

As to Jung Ho Ko, couldn't find anything. I know you likely don't want to bother, especially since it seems you've moved on about him, but if you start thinking about it again, might be prudent to ask 'when' he won and with specifically 'what' competitions... seeing as i checked out 8 different TKD USTU-related competitions, running since 1986, and didn't find his name.

[DogDay]

No offence meant. I've never found wrestling interesting.

I doubt offense was taken. However, i would say you're missing out on one of the most important phases of a confrontation. And, as EaK mentioned, judo is primarily stand-up grappling and takedown. Wrestling and groundwork grappling systems, by default, are great for conditioning.

The techniques in judo, bjj, and classical wrestling, if studied, will 'wake you up' as to what 'can' be done. But, choice is choice.

I've decided to give Kang Rhee a try tomorrow in Cordova.

Might want to ask if Kang Rhee is his 'birth' name. Kinda sounds like a run of Jhoon Rhee and "Kang" from Flash Gordon.

As to Jung Ho Ko, couldn't find anything. I know you likely don't want to bother, especially since it seems you've moved on about him, but if you start thinking about it again, might be prudent to ask 'when' he won and with specifically 'what' competitions... seeing as i checked out 8 different TKD USTU-related competitions, running since 1986, and didn't find his name.

I'll investigate the judos a little more then, thanks for the information.

Thats very interesting about the Jung Ho Ko thing, he also had a Medal of Honor on his wall that the manager said was given to him by the President of Korea.

Kang Rhee has been in Memphis for years, he claims responsibility for training Elvis and Bill "SuperFoot" Wallace.

http://www.kangrhee.com/

http://www.elviskarate.com/

[White Warlock]

Hehe, i claim responsibility for teaching Steven Wilcowich. What? You never heard of him? He worked at the local hardware store up the street.

Teaching someone famous isn't a measure of accomplishment, anymore than saying, "i'm a direct descendent of Charlemagne." It may, or may not, be true... but so what?

Anyway, it does look like Kang Rhee has been practicing for awhile, but then again... what are his rates and how much do you get for the price?

/tangent

i'm still getting the strong feeling you're looking for the easy route of finding an instructor. I.e., he who has the largest neon sign out front. Some of the greatest instructors/practitioners simply don't advertise, or not in an obnoxious fashion... or with any 'fame' dependencies. I.e., this Kang Rhee, not disrespecting him or anything, but he maintains a 'dependency' on who he taught, rather than who he is. I feel that is somewhat deviating from the path. Of course, my thoughts here have much to do with the psychological aspects of the arts.

Jackie Chan... obviously rich and famous, undeniably a great martial artist. But, if you ask him, he'll say he's a stuntman, not a martial artist. That... is a sign of a man on the right path. On the other hand, financial security does allow one to easily accommodate the more eccentric concepts.

/tangent off

[elbows_and_knees]

kang rhee is decent, but he's not known for producing fighters. His strong point is forms. They are awesome with kata. FWIW, he DID train elvis, but he wasn't his only teacher. May have been his main one, though. I dunno about him training wallace. I've heard that said, but I'm not sure how much influence he actually had over his training...In other words, he may have trained with wallace while he was in town visiting once or something - I'm not sure.

In any event, let me know how it goes.

[elbows_and_knees]

maybe he did. According to this article from some tripod fan site http://members.tripod.com/beyondthereef__1/tigerman.html

and this one from wallace's own site: http://www.superfoot.com/aboutbill.htm

he and elvis were friends, and he attended college herein memphis. However, the bio does not mention rhee at all. It says that he started training karate in 1967 in indiana after having his right leg injured while training in judo.

since he lived in memphis, it's possible that he trained at rhee's for the length of time he was here.