I thought Taeguk #1 (Il-Jahng) was just a sequence of block/punch combos in all directions, and Taeguk #2 (Ee-Jahng) had the snap kicks at the end. I did not come up in Taeguk but I think I rememebr at least that?

taeguek il-jang has two snap kicks - preceded by a high block and proceeded by a punch - in it's second to last sequence

http://www.natkd.com/movies/Forms/Taegeuk_Forms/Taegeuk1.mpg

ata is ****. my tkd master knows an ata master whos related to the 2nd rated ata fighter in the world. THE WORLD. and he came to sparring class one day and got his ass kicked by one of our black belts.

I don't argue that ATA fighting doesn't compare. There are many divisions (by age and rank) and not one single top fighter, but I still agree that anyone who is ranked so high should still be skilled. Do you remember the master or the student's name?

crowe, what exactly happens at these "state" and "regional" tourneys? how come i see so many "state", "regional", "national" champs walking around?

There are no regional champs, only state champs, which doesn't make sense to me because the tournaments are regional.

You see so many state champs walking around because there literally may be so few competitors for each division in each state. I see 50 year old grandmas get "state champ" because they went to a local tournament on a whim to support someone else in their family, enroll to compete and be the only one there, and then to their surprise months later be awarded State Champ because no one else her age or rank exists in the state of North Dakota (for example).

And I forgot to add that if she competes in all three divisions: Forms, Sparring, and Weapons, she becomes a TRIPLE CROWN Champion!! All for showing up one September and putting on an exhibition.

I'm sorry, let me clarify the way the circuit works.

Competitors are awarded points based on placing at competitions. Depending on the "ranking" of the event (number of attendees), placing may be worth MORE points. Points are doubled at National Championships and tripled at World Championships. Worlds marks the end of the tournament season on Friday and the start of the new one on Saturday.

At the end of the season, whoever has the highest point totals for each category per rank and age group is NAMED State Champion. There is no competition to determine.

The top ten point totals world-wide are seeded for competition at World Championships to determine the title of World Champion.

I'm sorry, let me clarify the way the circuit works.

Competitors are awarded points based on placing at competitions. Depending on the "ranking" of the event (number of attendees), placing may be worth MORE points. Points are doubled at National Championships and tripled at World Championships. Worlds marks the end of the tournament season on Friday and the start of the new one on Saturday.

At the end of the season, whoever has the highest point totals for each category per rank and age group is NAMED State Champion. There is no competition to determine.

The top ten point totals world-wide are seeded for competition at World Championships to determine the title of World Champion.

woah, another bullshit example of where title means absolutely NOTHING...

never got a chance to welcome you to the board. you'll find that people here are kinda brazen, rude, obnoxious, or complete fucktards... but they mean well. we actually respect hard work and true talent and skill... it's about blood, sweat, and tears here.

...you'll find that people here are kinda brazen, rude, obnoxious, or complete fucktards...

Of course, it's a BOARD! I'm sure I'm not the only one with something to say.

Thanks for the welcome.

I've had a bitch of a time findings these "yokes" (extra stripe) you mentioned.What do they denote within the organization?Are they looked on with respect or as an indication of success?

What do they look like?

so... what's the deal with the masters with beer bellies? do they just stop working out? you would have to question the workout ethics of someone who supposedly is well versed in tkd but can't seem to reach his own toes stretching. one of my peers at my dojang lost 50lbs in the past 6 months because of the strenious nature of our workouts and none of our instuctors look like any one of the myrid of ATA instuctors i see on the web... the BJJ instuctors at the school i am investigating for possible membership are also very lean, and if bulky, pure muscle...

and, what do those bars on the right sleeve say??? i've never seen a picture clear enough to read 'em

I'm suprised of how many members do TKD on this board... especially given how badly everyone raps on TKD all the time.

Thanks for your story Crowe, I found it tragically heart breaking as well.
The good news is you can go do Muay Thai! Yeah!

The Masters have beer bellies because you can't burn calories sitting at the Board of Directors or sipping cocktails on your yacht.

The collar stripes are as follows: BLUE = 100 testings/month, SILVER = 250 testings/month, GOLD = 500 testings/month. They correspond to the requirements I mentioned earlier.

Grand Master S.H. Lee wears a 1" Gold stripe with a black center stripe, and pant stripes to match.

The chevrons on the arm represent judging rank. Level 1 = Corner judge for colored belts; level 2 = center judge for colored belts/corner judge for black belts; level 3 = center judge for black belts. The 4th chevron is a weapons judge chevron with a number of stars on it representing the level of weapon they can judge. This is useless as Weapons competition is now a part of the regular tournament curriculum.

I'm suprised of how many members do TKD on this board... especially given how badly everyone raps on TKD all the time.

Thanks for your story Crowe, I found it tragically heart breaking as well.
The good news is you can go do Muay Thai! Yeah!

for many of us, there aren't many choices around... after finding bullshido my interests sparked on bjj... i finally found a school worth looking into. tkd may not be the most effective and because of so many mcdojos out there, it's not suprising that tkd is almost laughable, but there a few rare good dojangs out there who will give you a good, make you wanna puke, workout.

for many of us, there aren't many choices around... after finding bullshido my interests sparked on bjj... i finally found a school worth looking into. tkd may not be the most effective and because of so many mcdojos out there, it's not suprising that tkd is almost laughable, but there a few rare good dojangs out there who will give you a good, make you wanna puke, workout.

I agree that being well conditioned is definitely better than doing nothing and it's great that your dojang gives you that.

You found a BJJ school you're looking into? Sounds great, I'll tell you right now BJJ is a helluva lot of fun. Especially when you pull off your first sub.

all the stuff this man says is true.
-the 'block' schedules
-the 5 year old 'instructors'
-the rushing of students.
-everything.

at the one i went to, we had 1(one) decent instructor, always trying to get everyone to chamber correctly, pivot the foot right, etc. etc. and was teaching the class almost everyday. WAY more than the 'head instructors'.

it was kinda sick to see an' hear all the crap they'd do just to get people in the door an' sign a contract. when you don't know jack-**** about martial arts, it all sounds good. but oh man, is it ugly. they'd actually sent 'teams' out to places and 'recruit' people. and call up people at home too.

the promoting of horrible, i mean, horrible students to jr. instructors, simply because they showed up often. and passing students who are much worse. why should that fat kid who can't even chamber a side-kick, let alone perform it, be promoted to blue belt? even worse, is when someone must "test" twice for each rank, and pay $60 for a piece of electrical tape.

before i quit, they were gonna stop testing and just promote each student to each rank if they came to enough classes before the 'cycle' was over.

thanks crowe,
reading this made my day