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On October 02 2010 19:57 evanthebouncy! wrote:Show nested quote +On October 02 2010 16:53 Xeris wrote:On October 02 2010 13:49 krndandaman wrote:
imo, doing it when you're young is a total waste of time... glad that you're starting it up again when you're older.
i have so many friends who did tkd when they were like 8-12, got their black belt and quit.
they dont remember shit right now. parents just wanted them to get a blackbelt to add it to their resume in the future under awards. I agree, I know a lot of people who were like "ya I got a black belt," but really anyone who does any martial art for 3-4 years will get a black belt. You pay so much money for the classes, they really don't care about pushing people through the system because they're making money in the process. But obviously they care about the students who take the martial art seriously. I mean, when I was younger I was competing in tournaments and such - I want to get back to that level. My goal is to compete in 1-2 tournaments next summer but I've got a long way to go. I understand it isn't the 'flair' or height of my kicks, but the technique... however I think my flexibility affects my ability to kick with really good technique. Also, I definitely should NOT be hurting every time I kick (which is the position I'm in now). I even hurt when I stretch. Maybe this is a good thing? of course it hurts when you stretch and of course it hurts a bit when you kick really high. It's good, just make sure you don't break stuff, how is the freakin tendon gonna get longer if it doesn't hurt lolol Forget about the techniques lol, just do shits that looks legit/solid and awesome. You think the creators of TKD know wtf is a technique? Nah, they just did shits that afelt good and looked good, and it is good. Try to go for that feeling rather than following some silly templates.
stretching should never hurt. if it hurts you're doing it incorrectly and setting yourself up for injuries.
===
Proper Stretching Technique
* Perform balanced stretching. This means you should always stretch the muscles on both sides of your body evenly. Don’t stretch one side more than the other side.
* Avoid over-stretching. Never stretch to the point of pain or discomfort. You will feel slight tension or a pull on the muscle at the peak of the stretch.
* Go slow! Always stretch slowly and evenly. Hold the stretch for about fifteen seconds and release slowly as well.
* Never bounce or jerk while stretching. This can cause injury as a muscle is pushed beyond it’s ability. All stretches should be smooth, and slow.
* Don't forget to breathe. Flexibility exercises should be relaxing. Deep easy, even breathing is key to relaxation. Never hold your breath while you stretch.
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Taekwondo in America is such a joke. You only get promoted in belts not by skill but by money.
Besides, if someone tries to bring a knife down on your ahead, what are you gonna do? High block?
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Hey Xeris!
I've been teaching Taekwondo for ~8 years and training for 12 (when I first met you this was my job). I can assure you 100% that becoming flexible and doing the splits, even for people with tight muscles, is completely possible. Tangible results will take awhile to do, however, and it's very much dependent on your pace and how often you stretch. Working out and warming up your muscles before stretching is very important to prevent injury, and will help you to stretch further. Like the guy who posted before me, proper breathing is important. Take a deep breath in and exhale while going down. Also holding the stretch and not bouncing is very important.
As far as the state of Taekwondo in the Americas, it is an unfortunate fact that people are pushed through the system and aren't promoted based on skill alone. However, that shouldn't deter YOU from pushing yourself to your limits. Martial Arts, like most skill based undertakings, is very much based on your individual level of commitment and drive moreso than someone else telling you how good you are based on a belt around your waste. I used to always tell my students that the black belt meant nearly nothing. It's just a piece of cloth that you can buy at the store for less than $5. What makes someone deserving of that rank is who they are and the trials that they've gone through (or lack thereof) to get there, and not the color of the belt around your waist.
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Canada8033 Posts
On October 03 2010 01:45 omfghi2u2 wrote:
Taekwondo in America is such a joke. You only get promoted in belts not by skill but by money.
Besides, if someone tries to bring a knife down on your ahead, what are you gonna do? High block?
We got taught knife self defense in my club. O.o But yeah, I do agree that belts were pretty much handed out left and right. Kinda unfortunate, but there's not really anything you can do about it.
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Like I said, again, technique doesn't matter so much either, strength and stamina are the critical 'stats' as it were. all the technique in the world isn't going to help you if you can't pin your leg up and time the kick right, nor is height going to be any good if the guy can block it with his face and not feel any the worse for it.
Believe me, if you spend a month strengthening your core muscles and then pump out some chest high sidekicks, you'll feel pretty darn sexy when the kicking bag swings back so hard it makes a dent in the roof... (I feel obligated to add that I've only managed to pull this off with a 20kg bag, not one of those crazy hyperstuffed weighty ones)
A lot of the TKD training I've seen emphasizes speed and flexibility too much, the place I went to was a bit more hardcore, we never trained with pads or padding and sparring was generally full contact H/F after blue belt. You eventually could just wear one of the turning kicks to the side and just relocate a bit. When I left town, I went to another school, and the sparring was just terrible, I could let them kick me all day, because all they knew how to do were turning kicks and hooking kicks. their direct kicks were so weak you could catch them and hold their leg if you were fast enough.
Of course, I dunno what you're aiming for, self defence or competition, I come from a very strong tradition of the former, and the latter doesn't really require your shots to have the power to break a femur or ribcage open.
I imagine, however, that the same principles apply. If you can increase your muscular stamina in those critical areas, you'll definitely be less sore after a workout, more able to hold a stretch and more able to pull a high kick off and less vulnerable to counters because you'll be way more stable. So give it a shot.
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On October 03 2010 06:18 {Mr.X} wrote:
Hey Xeris!
I've been teaching Taekwondo for ~8 years and training for 12 (when I first met you this was my job). I can assure you 100% that becoming flexible and doing the splits, even for people with tight muscles, is completely possible. Tangible results will take awhile to do, however, and it's very much dependent on your pace and how often you stretch. Working out and warming up your muscles before stretching is very important to prevent injury, and will help you to stretch further. Like the guy who posted before me, proper breathing is important. Take a deep breath in and exhale while going down. Also holding the stretch and not bouncing is very important.
As far as the state of Taekwondo in the Americas, it is an unfortunate fact that people are pushed through the system and aren't promoted based on skill alone. However, that shouldn't deter YOU from pushing yourself to your limits. Martial Arts, like most skill based undertakings, is very much based on your individual level of commitment and drive moreso than someone else telling you how good you are based on a belt around your waste. I used to always tell my students that the black belt meant nearly nothing. It's just a piece of cloth that you can buy at the store for less than $5. What makes someone deserving of that rank is who they are and the trials that they've gone through (or lack thereof) to get there, and not the color of the belt around your waist.
I remember Adam =D ya I decided this summer to start again. Going for purple belt next month (skipping orange ftw)
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On October 02 2010 23:04 SoMuchBetter wrote:Show nested quote +On October 02 2010 19:57 evanthebouncy! wrote:On October 02 2010 16:53 Xeris wrote:On October 02 2010 13:49 krndandaman wrote:
imo, doing it when you're young is a total waste of time... glad that you're starting it up again when you're older.
i have so many friends who did tkd when they were like 8-12, got their black belt and quit.
they dont remember shit right now. parents just wanted them to get a blackbelt to add it to their resume in the future under awards. I agree, I know a lot of people who were like "ya I got a black belt," but really anyone who does any martial art for 3-4 years will get a black belt. You pay so much money for the classes, they really don't care about pushing people through the system because they're making money in the process. But obviously they care about the students who take the martial art seriously. I mean, when I was younger I was competing in tournaments and such - I want to get back to that level. My goal is to compete in 1-2 tournaments next summer but I've got a long way to go. I understand it isn't the 'flair' or height of my kicks, but the technique... however I think my flexibility affects my ability to kick with really good technique. Also, I definitely should NOT be hurting every time I kick (which is the position I'm in now). I even hurt when I stretch. Maybe this is a good thing? of course it hurts when you stretch and of course it hurts a bit when you kick really high. It's good, just make sure you don't break stuff, how is the freakin tendon gonna get longer if it doesn't hurt lolol Forget about the techniques lol, just do shits that looks legit/solid and awesome. You think the creators of TKD know wtf is a technique? Nah, they just did shits that afelt good and looked good, and it is good. Try to go for that feeling rather than following some silly templates. stretching should never hurt. if it hurts you're doing it incorrectly and setting yourself up for injuries. === Proper Stretching Technique * Perform balanced stretching. This means you should always stretch the muscles on both sides of your body evenly. Don’t stretch one side more than the other side. * Avoid over-stretching. Never stretch to the point of pain or discomfort. You will feel slight tension or a pull on the muscle at the peak of the stretch. * Go slow! Always stretch slowly and evenly. Hold the stretch for about fifteen seconds and release slowly as well. ******* * Never bounce or jerk while stretching. This can cause injury as a muscle is pushed beyond it’s ability. All stretches should be smooth, and slow. * Don't forget to breathe. Flexibility exercises should be relaxing. Deep easy, even breathing is key to relaxation. Never hold your breath while you stretch.
Shouldn't the * part hurt?
Why can you only hold it for 15 seconds if it doesn't hurt?
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Okay so I'm living in Korea right now and taekwondo up here is hardcore as fuck. Like seriously you think you can take a roundhouse or a turning kick from one of these guys but no you block it and it pretty much breaks your arm and they feel no pain but instead follow it up with an axe kick to your head or neck depending on how fast you dodge. They are so retardedly flexible and blazingly fast that they can pretty much dodge anything you do and hit you from anywhere in the ring super hard because they train for 2 hours a day 5-6 days a week from when they were like 7. That little kid with the black belt? Yeah he'll do a flying side-to-back kick and nail you in the fucking face with enough power to lay you straight out. What the fuck do you do against a kid that can put his foot in your face before your leg is halfway up? And they're totally not afraid to eat a wussy-ass roundhouse kick from you because they spar with these 17 year-olds in their prime who are faster, stronger and more flexible than you with a ruthless desire to kick you in the face really fucking hard.
I'm exaggerating a little bit. But seriously I've never been kicked so hard in the face through a block in my entire life. I had headgear on and my head was spinning for about 10 seconds with the bright white light and the dark circle in the center and that huge ringing noise that blocks out everything. I've done taekwondo for like 14 years now and I did 5 of that in Japan, where the martial arts is pretty hardcore, but Korea is on a completely different level when it comes to their national sport.
K just had to get that off my chest.
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On October 04 2010 17:44 evanthebouncy! wrote:Show nested quote +On October 02 2010 23:04 SoMuchBetter wrote:On October 02 2010 19:57 evanthebouncy! wrote:On October 02 2010 16:53 Xeris wrote:On October 02 2010 13:49 krndandaman wrote:
imo, doing it when you're young is a total waste of time... glad that you're starting it up again when you're older.
i have so many friends who did tkd when they were like 8-12, got their black belt and quit.
they dont remember shit right now. parents just wanted them to get a blackbelt to add it to their resume in the future under awards. I agree, I know a lot of people who were like "ya I got a black belt," but really anyone who does any martial art for 3-4 years will get a black belt. You pay so much money for the classes, they really don't care about pushing people through the system because they're making money in the process. But obviously they care about the students who take the martial art seriously. I mean, when I was younger I was competing in tournaments and such - I want to get back to that level. My goal is to compete in 1-2 tournaments next summer but I've got a long way to go. I understand it isn't the 'flair' or height of my kicks, but the technique... however I think my flexibility affects my ability to kick with really good technique. Also, I definitely should NOT be hurting every time I kick (which is the position I'm in now). I even hurt when I stretch. Maybe this is a good thing? of course it hurts when you stretch and of course it hurts a bit when you kick really high. It's good, just make sure you don't break stuff, how is the freakin tendon gonna get longer if it doesn't hurt lolol Forget about the techniques lol, just do shits that looks legit/solid and awesome. You think the creators of TKD know wtf is a technique? Nah, they just did shits that afelt good and looked good, and it is good. Try to go for that feeling rather than following some silly templates. stretching should never hurt. if it hurts you're doing it incorrectly and setting yourself up for injuries. === Proper Stretching Technique * Perform balanced stretching. This means you should always stretch the muscles on both sides of your body evenly. Don’t stretch one side more than the other side. * Avoid over-stretching. Never stretch to the point of pain or discomfort. You will feel slight tension or a pull on the muscle at the peak of the stretch. * Go slow! Always stretch slowly and evenly. Hold the stretch for about fifteen seconds and release slowly as well. ******* * Never bounce or jerk while stretching. This can cause injury as a muscle is pushed beyond it’s ability. All stretches should be smooth, and slow. * Don't forget to breathe. Flexibility exercises should be relaxing. Deep easy, even breathing is key to relaxation. Never hold your breath while you stretch. Shouldn't the * part hurt? Why can you only hold it for 15 seconds if it doesn't hurt?
no stretching should never hurt. you don't hold it longer because theres no point in holding it longer
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mm one of my major regrets from growing up was not taking taekwondo more seriously
I wish i'd stretched and practiced more, I had a great time doing it
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EPT
