Greetings

[tonydee]

Hello all,

My name's Tony... and I'm a martial artist. (Sorry - couldn't resist the AA style). Been at it since '86... some type of TKD / korean-karate, with a smattering of hapkido, tai chi and other things. Not formally training with or teaching for anyone right now, but still throw my limbs around a few times a week. I consider myself a traditionalist. That's probably all (more than? ;-P) you'd want to know, but so I can refer anyone who ever asks to this post, or for anyone who finds nitty-gritty detail interesting, I'll add a few details below - maybe some conversation will come out of some of it. Feel free to PM me if you think the discussion won't interest others.

Best regards,

Tony

I joined Rhee Chong Chul's Rhee Taekwondo school in '86.

My own understanding follows - though I've never discussed it with Master Rhee and he might put things differently. Having been one of the 12 original masters sent by the KTA and Choi Hong Hi to disseminate TKD worldwide, Rhee's TKD was presumably learned back before the word "taekwondo" was coined ('55). Some time after he set up the first large scale TKD operation in Australia, he severed ties with the world wide bodies. One consequence is he's been stuck at 8th dan all the years I've been training (loyalty=promotion, discuss ;-P). Another is that the TKD practiced stayed static, in a time warp compared to most other schools. My local Chief Instructor left Rhee shortly after I joined, and we also stayed separate and tried to maintain the same training and standards.

Despite learning in a "taekwondo" school, I consider what I practice to be Korean-influenced karate - and still very similar to Japanese karate - especially as I have reverted to shotokan style hip movement. The differences I consider significant are:

* I exhale sharply with most blocks and strikes

* when punching, I sling my arm around my body rather than jam it out in front

* my fighting stances are not overly low, nor are they high or bouncy

* many of my kicks have either early TKD mechanics, or what I've deduced is reasonable, which typically involves more power from the hips than most arts/styles

* I still (only) practice ITF patterns in pre-sinewave form

Being masterless and pretty much isolated in my style, I choose to put "kong soo do" - Way of the Empty Hand - in my profile to avoid confusion between my practice and most modern taekwondo or tang soo do (although the latter was once synonymous with kong soo do, it's been more publicly 'claimed', carries associations I lack, and creates expectations I don't fulfill).

As you can probably tell, I take my training (painfully) seriously. I'm afraid I'm a bit opinionated at times too. But, always glad to discuss issues and acknowledge alternatives. The history bit above I normally spare people, but this does seem the "time and place" for it.

My real interest is in body mechanics and practical fighting skills for self-defense, but in saying that, I consider formal exercises including kata/hyung to be integral to mastering both, and have no interest in competition or sport. Which is not to say I don't enjoy competitive spirit in sparring: just that the rules I find work best are those of self-knowledge and -control from both parties, coupled with awareness and respect. Within that framework you can push harder and faster than it's sustainable (medium term injury wise) to do in sports competitions with feeble padding. Again, not trying to start an argument - just sharing my perspectives so people know where I'm coming from, and anyone who's always wondered "how can anyone still believe that" knows where to come for an attempt at the other side of the issue .

I very much look forward to discussions with you all.

[tallgeese]

Welcome aboard! Looking forward to seeing you on the boards.

[Vierna]

hello

you trained hapkido? cool, I always wanted to try that but I havent seen any schools in Serbia (my country )

[DWx]

Welcome Tony

[joesteph]

Welcome to the Forums, Tony!

[bushido_man96]

Welcome, Tony. I rather enjoyed reading your descriptions above. Thanks for sharing them.

[tonydee]

Many thanks for the warm welcome.

Vierna: I do hope you get a chance to try hapkido. Coming from the old-style, hard, linear TKD background - which might be similar to your Shotokan/Fundokan? - I found learning hapkido helped enormously. Guess the magic of it was that to throw or joint lock someone you have to coordinate your movements with theirs, rather than brutally imposing your movements on them. The former promotes better touch and feel (kind of like wing chun sticky hands), improves minimalism of movement and effort (less diversion from further defense or attack, and good against stronger opponents), moving more proactively to block from more advantageous angles/distances, you get used to selectively tugging or pushing your opponent's striking tools to unbalance, prevent or delay their movements: can be a huge advantage, and done subtly they won't even realise you're doing it... just think their balance is a bit wonky today . All good fun. For me, that touch/control side was more useful than the joint locks and throws - most of which I don't feel can be effectively applied against a similarly-experienced, -bodied and talented skilled hard stylist....

[the beast]

Welcome aboard Tony!

[white owl]

Welcome to the forums Tony!

[Patrick]

Welcome aboard.