All right, I know from some passing comments here that there are at least a handful of you out there. Probably more. So c’mon, who are you?
I’m a tae kwon doist, training for about 6 years. Currently 1st dan, ideally will be promoted to 2nd by the end of the year. And, I’d like to take this moment (following a rather spirited debate with a friend who trains in Tung Su Do) that TKD is, by far, the best martial art out there.
So, who else is out there getting beat up for fun on a regular basis?
I’m a martial artist and self-defence pratitioner (and very much of the opinion that the two are completely different). I’m grading for my 1st dan in taekwondo before the summer’s out so I’m currently doing ridiculous amounts of training. Also I practise hapkido, thai and western boxing, ground fighting based around brazilian jui jitsu (with strikes added in for good measure) along with pressure points and turite jutsu. To those who say that this is too much for one class - it isn’t when you train for 4 hours a night, every night.
As far as self-defence goes, that of course uses martial arts techniques but approached from a completely different perspective - I won’t go into detail as I’m sure there’s not many people who’re gonna want to wade through it all!
Eternal - if you’re referring to the ‘no-shadow kick’ as seen in Kung-Fu flicks (if I’m not mistaken, it’s the signiture move of Wong-Fei-Hung and family), then no. The actual no-shadow kick is a lot less interesting but arguably far more effective.
NinjaChick - I’m interested to know what “kind” of TKD you do - the more modern, competition based material, or the more traditional aspect. How much emphasis is on forms/kata/poomse? Which do you do?
I mostly do traditional - most of the emphasis on forms. However, several of my school’s instructors (and thus, a good number of students) do some competition: it’s definitely not the focus of my school though. It’s pretty much balanced - and I hate the assumption that someone who practices traditional (non-sport) TKD never spars. We spar at least twice a week in class, and I’ve beaten quite a few classmates who do compete.
Good luck on your promotion, green_dragon. What will you have to do on the day of the exam? What breaks? Also - are you WTF, ITF, or somethin’ else?
Practiced Shotokan based Karate for about 10 years in junior/high school. Only got to 1st Dan because I was completely unco (uncoordinated) as a kid and never really got into it until the last 4 years since I was Shanghi’ed into it by my parents. I was lucky, as my instructor had a nice balance of bad-assed discipline and common-sense.
The classes were usually equally split between basic drills, sparring and kata/set form. I preferred (and still do) the kata and set forms than the fighting itself.
Currently working my way through a university-run Kung-Fu club during the past year. Not taking it nearly as seriously as karate, but I still get decent exercise.
The change-over form the hard to soft style was interesting, I still do karate-style blocks if I’m not paying attention and tend to launch myself and steam-roll my sparring partner rather than using balanced moves at a closer range in free sparring.
I took lessons for a few years back in the early-mid 90s and was essentially forced to stop when I moved to boarding school not long after getting just past 1st Dan black belt.
That … and it got really boring. All those gups didn’t seem to mean much of anything.
1st Dan (at the point of testing for 2nd when I went to college and stopped training), Goju-Ryu Karate.
I was supposed to go to the head school in Okinawa for a one-year stint as a student/assistant instructor, and to get tested for 2nd Dan. Opted to go to college instead. That was a mistake. A year in Okinawa would have been great life experience. But I listened to ‘older, wiser’ heads.
Urban Ranger-
you are correct, the Shaolin Monks, to this day, do not use a belt system as we do in America. In America the art is also known as “Shaolin Kempo”.
On my certificates of rank it is printed as “Shaolin Ch’uan Fa”.
It sounds like you know the history so I won’t spout it out here.
Retired after 9 years in Chito-Ryu-Yoshu-Kai, traditional Okinawan style karate. Not flashy or especially pretty, just gets the job done. Pretty equal parts kata (forms), weapons kata, and sparring.
My martial arts pet peeve is that people disreguard kata, saying it is “old fashioned” or does not teach modern technique. Katas are an enclycopedia of technique. Sure, you don’t fight with your hands in the “skee” (closed fist, palm up on hips)position, but this is teaching you a principle.
Why did I quit? Tendonitus in both elbows, and a crazy job schedule. I still love my dojo and my brothers and sisters there.
The dojo family is a beautiful thing…
I studied TKD in college, and reached green belt. Ten years later I started studying Shotokan, and reached brown belt. For the past six years, I’ve been training with an ex-Ranger sergeant co-worker, who teaches a style we call “whatever works.” Mix of Shaolin kung-fu, shoei ryu, thai kickboxing, classic boxing, swordfighting, kendo, fencing, knifework, and SCA armored combat.
Mi Tsung Lo Han style Kung Fu. Took it for three years and then moved. There are no Kung Fu schools around here and I have been greatly dissappointed by the other martial arts, or at least how they are taught here so I train by myself.
Yes, chinese martial arts have belts… its how we keep our pants up.
Funny to see SCA fighting listed, though it is a fun time. Makes you more sore than anything else I’ve seen. Ever been to Pennsic?
NinjaChick - WTF taekwondo, and as for the black-belt grading, I don’t know everything that I will have to do, but I know for sure that I’m going to have to do:
All the Taegeulk forms
All the Palgue forms
90 One-Steps
90 Hapkido techniques
90 Kicking defences
Sparrring against 1, 2 and 3 opponents, and a sparring run against about 20 opponents one after the other
The rest is a mystery, although I suspect kicking pads will be involved. The grading should last about 2 days, 4-6 hours a day.
