Taekwondo

[Ottman]

I understand where you're coming from 1st. My root art is TKD and I'm very proud of where my training in TKD has taken me, but it wasn't until I got my first dan, then stopped my formal TKD training for about 5 years to study other arts that I realized being a 1st dan in TKD wouldn't get me out of any situation. TKD is great, but it has a lot of holes and weaknesses if you take just what is taught in TKD and think it is a complete system to handle any fighting situation. Being a first dan, as others have said, means that you're starting to realize what you don't know. TKD gave me the foundation of discipline, and understanding of the Martial Arts I needed to take the next step and broaden my training. I continue my TKD training because I haven't finished it even though I am a second dan. I still have a long way to go in TKD, and even longer in Martial Arts in general before I will be a master of myself. However, at the time I got my first dan, I thought I was at the pinnacle of my training. It wasn't until a year or two afterwords that I realized I had only just arrived at the base of the mountain, and my climb was about to begin.

[bushido_man96]

A lot of you guys are lucky. I notice on your bios to the right that a lot of you have had the opportunity to train in several different styles. I live out here in central Kansas; TKD or the occasional Karate schools are pretty much par for the course. Our school has added the Combat Hapkido curriculum to the class, but as people dropped out of those classes, it has gone by the wayside.

I envy you guys. I would love to learn how to stick fight (escrima or Kali).

[younwhadoug]

you know i see a lot of people defending themselves and not the arts. when a real situation occurs for me, i hope my martial arts training will pay off cause without it agianst a skilled attack i am useless. now, with that said. if you can train your technique to work on instinct and and your mind to work on targeting, then your in good shape if a real fight happens. personally, our tkd is mixed with lots of self defense and lots of hand movements. tkd for me is a ver practical self defense because of how we train. and because its mixed. but tkd is not for everyone do to size weight preference and instructorship brb