Do you practise Martial Arts?

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Dunno, man... I haven't seen any of that at our training center. I've seen single board breaking... but nothing flashy just for the sake of being flashy...

So... they don't teach grappling in TKD?

But you're not likely to fight against them, either. Dude, I'm not trying out for MMA...

 

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From what I've seen from my instructor, anything he teaches will work for me. Repped.

 

I hear this debate all the time. I have friends that are pure Jiu Jisu. Jeet kune do and a TKD girlfriend. I try and stay out of it and just enjoy my training as everyone has different reasons for training.
They did pit all the different styles against eachother and I'm sure it wasn't the first time anything like this has happened. At least thats the claimed notion behind the original Ultimate fighting championship. It was a long time before rules got introduced and it became a new sport that required cross training to be dominant.
Fair play with the TKD and for getting your nipper involved

The debate rages on though

 

It always has and always will becasuse everyone wants to believe that their style is the best, as why would you want to be doing something that isnt the best?

There are a lot of Martial arts out there, with a lot of good stuff in them but what I have found makes more of a difference is the quality of the instructor, and in BM's case he seems to have found a good one.

 

Well, to be honest, I'm learning TKD not because I believe it to be "the best", but because it is something that my sons and I can share. If I had my choice of martial arts, I'd probably choose Aikido simply because the style interests me. The closest center is Nashville Aikikai - fine for me, because I work in Nashville, but too far for my wife to carry the little ones on a regular basis.

Sadly, neither TaeKwonDo nor Aikido are Chinese martial arts. But there are no Gongfu (Kung Fu) / Wushu centers nearby, and Taijiquan (Tai Chi) doesn't interest me at all.

Fortunately, TKD uses the legs quite a bit, and while my arms are relatively weak, my legs are strong. So the style is a good match for my body.

 

BM thats a damn good reason to do anything! I have done so many martial arts because I learn something new from each style, hence why I am doing fencing at the moment - no use but very interesting.

The people who take part in the my style is best arguement are the ones who have to do the "best" one, didnt mean for it to sound like that was your motivation.

 

Nah, I didn't take your comment that way at all. I just wanted others to know that I've bought into any hype or flash. I'm simply relating what I know to be true regarding my instructors and what they teach... which seems to be quite different from what DMarsh has experienced.

Plus, it's a bargain... it's free for the first SIX MONTHS and after that, it's just a $20/mo add-on to my son's membership fees.

 

I have two young children ( 7 and 8 ) who I religiously send to freestyle kickboxing twice a week. We live in a rough area and I'm determined to ensure they can look after themselves.

They enjoy it a lot and I actively encourage them to take part in the club sparring matches. We've had the odd tear but I have kept telling myself it's better in the long run.

I must admit I would love to give it a try but I'm a pretty big guy (read fat) and the oldest person in the adult club is a good ten years younger.

The fact that they enjoy it is a plus but to me it's all about them learning to kick any low life scum who bother them into touch

 

Read your own link '*Classes available only at participating academies'. I took my TKD classes 10+ years back, its quite likely the Tiger Rock programme did not exist then, its not traditional TKD.

I have been to places like Russia and Mongolia and have witnessed their wrestling firsthand, one russian guy nearly broke my arm !

Read my posts, TKD is excellent fun, I enjoyed it, its great for fitness and confidence, its great for bonding with your family. My points are it does also have some disadvantages.

I don't have a my style is best attitude, I spent more time studying TKD than anything else.

Having 'strong legs' typically for a western person means having large tight quads from sports like football, these aren't great for martial arts that require fexlibility, you are probably looking at a years worth of careful isometric stretching. Children should not do isometric stretching, you should also be careful not overextend while training and damage your joints.

Gingerdave cross training is recommend a lot and Bruce Lee also took fencing lessons and it ties in with the straight line efficiency of movement and defend the centerline ideas of Wing Chun.

I will say again my instructors were excellent, both as instructors and as martial artists, I disagree that an excellent instructor trained in one system will overcome a poor system for a student.

 

Bizzarely the centre line therory is exactly what I thought of when I started doing the fencing a few weeks ago, and I find myself almost "translating" the fencing movements into ones I have done in previous things and will worry about the names later on.

I know Bruce Lee loved cross training, and the central tennent of Jeet Kun Do was take what works for you and use it, its a shame that in the years after his death JKD became codified in a set "style" almost that from what I have seen seems to miss that point.

I have to disagree on the instructor issue, because a good instructor will tell you how to adapt your style to be effective, I agree with your earlier bit about not kicking above the waist and a good instructor would tell you that, they would fill in the bits around the core syllabus you require for grading -an average or poor instructor wont.

I come back to the which bits of TKD aren't effective? its all punches and kicks, all that needs to change is the target.

I will agree it is not the most directly applicable art to a self defense situation but it is far from the worst.

 

Yeah, this is what I'm thinking... or rather, currently experiencing. I was practicing some *very* basic moves, and the instructor corrected my form, advising me that if I didn't position myself differently, I would leave myself open to attack during and after the move.

 

Ah, gotcha. I don't know much about the history about all the different TKD programs. From what I can find, Ho-Am Tiger-Rock TKD started in 1983 (as the USTA), but I guess it might not have been very big back when you were studying TKD. The Tiger Rock program seems to be good, though I don't have much experience to base my opinion on. I may very well progress and find out differently, but it looks great so far.

Nah, I never played much football. I've got runner's legs. That said, I'm nowhere near as flexible as I need to be. Not bad for a 40-year-old... but there's plenty of room for improvement.

 

Totally agree about the Jeet Kun Do, its 'the Way of No Way' ! ;) Remember the part in Enter the Dragon where he points at the moon ?

I think most instructors will teach the sylabus and possibly add a few ideas of their own, if the sylabus is no good and they have not been exposed to many other ideas then theres a problem, this applies to any subject.

Yes they teach self denfense moves every now and then, sweeps, escapes, shin / heel stamps, etc, but only every now and then. Most of the time is spent exercising, pad work and sparring.

You need to be highly proficient to land most of the kicks in a street fight where things get ugly, especially some high kicks, spin kicks, flying kicks.

It has good basic blocks, but they are all 'strong arm' blocks, the concept of a 'weak block' seems totally missing, at least below black belt.

In sparring there is no kicking to legs, few sweeps, no elbows, fairly ineffective punches, kicking with the ball of the foot, grapling not allowed. The way people spar is likely going to be the most natural reflex when they are attacked, it will be 'trained into the muscle memory', thus their first reaction is likely to be to use a style that is designed for competition and not for defense.


Wing Chun was described to me like learning to catch a ball, you train reflexes so that in a fight situation they will be there for you.

 

Yes it was awesome

Perhaps it was just the TKD class I went to, but about 25% of the class time over the week was spent on self defense. A good instructor will have seen many things around what they teach, as if you spend enough time learning and attending courses you will be exposed to complimentatary things that will be passed on to your students.
I take it you do Wing Chung now?

 

I've not really actively taken Martial Arts classes for 10+ years now.

I did some boxercise and various other stuff, traveling in Asia at the moment, did some massage, yoga, tai chi, muay thai, just trying out different stuff, when I get a more permanent base I plan on looking into one again.

Like I said I will be looking at something like Krav Maga and maybe some softer stuff too like Yoga and Tai-Chi.

Yoga seems a great strength and flexibility workout, and I also find Tai Chi quite fun.

I probably won't do anything high impact like TKD, my knees are not so great these days, can't take all the jumping kicks.

I'd quite like to visit Japan at some point, if I do will probably try Kendo just for fun.

 

Did my white belt test today... yellow belt, here I come!

And... I've dropped about 10 pounds!

 

Congrats BM! first step on a long (and fun) road!

 

Good job! My next belt test is in a couple of weeks