While surfing the web recently, I came across a Kenpo site that explained why the author did not furnish any useful information about Kenpo on the web site. He said it was because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks; that he did not want to reveal the deadly techniques of Kenpo to any terrorists who may visit the site. What a bunch of bull!
This reasoning posits that a terrorist who is willing to blow himself up and kill hundreds of people and go straight to heaven, with no prior training except for how to push a button, will be searching the Internet for some secret Kenpo technique he could practice using for years so he could kill one person, and then have to wait even longer to get to heaven.
Can you picture bands of radical Muslum terrorists roaming the streets of America secretly killing unsuspecting shoppers using secret Kenpo techniques they learned from a web site? The real reason for not putting free information on the web is that the author wants the public, which could also include terrorists, to pay for the information, either through the purchase of classes, books, or videos. There is nothing wrong with wanting people to pay for your expertise, just don't be afraid to admit it.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Combat-Ki
Have you seen the demonstrations of Combat -Ki on television. Combat-Ki is supposed to be a way of absorbing punches and kicks so that they are rendered harmless.
As you watch Combat-Ki in action, watch the way the practitioners are struck. First, they are always stuck by another Combat-Ki practitioner. Second, most of the techniques are slaps and pushes. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners attack, then I see why they need the ability to absorb punches because they will receive a lot of them. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners spar each other, then don't see the reason they need the ability to absorb blows because slaps and pushes are not going to injury anyone.
Watch how the Combat-Ki person who is kicked is knocked backwards. If a person struck by a kick is knocked backwards, it is because the kick was a push, not a strike. A proper kick only penetrates the target 1 or 2 inches, and then is retracted. This means the force of the kick is a strike, not a push.
I have held a body shield for Taekwondo masters who were demonstrating a proper kick. I was not pushed backwards, I was jarred from head to toe by a shocking, shuddering blow that made me think my teeth filings had fallen out or that my eye balls were bulging. One time, I was sweating from a workout when I held a body shield for my instructor's side thrust kick. When the kick stuck, I was suddenly blinded; all the sweat on my whole head had suddenly rushed to my face and into my eyes.
When using a proper kick, the force of the kick is not expended in moving the opponent backward, it is expended within the opponent's body. Just as you see in the punches of professional boxer, the punch does not knock the opponent backward into the ropes, the opponent just suddenly drops to the floor. If a Combat-Ki practitioner tried to absorb a Taekwondo side thrust kick or a karate reverse punch, he or she would be injured, guaranteed.
As you watch Combat-Ki in action, watch the way the practitioners are struck. First, they are always stuck by another Combat-Ki practitioner. Second, most of the techniques are slaps and pushes. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners attack, then I see why they need the ability to absorb punches because they will receive a lot of them. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners spar each other, then don't see the reason they need the ability to absorb blows because slaps and pushes are not going to injury anyone.
Watch how the Combat-Ki person who is kicked is knocked backwards. If a person struck by a kick is knocked backwards, it is because the kick was a push, not a strike. A proper kick only penetrates the target 1 or 2 inches, and then is retracted. This means the force of the kick is a strike, not a push.
I have held a body shield for Taekwondo masters who were demonstrating a proper kick. I was not pushed backwards, I was jarred from head to toe by a shocking, shuddering blow that made me think my teeth filings had fallen out or that my eye balls were bulging. One time, I was sweating from a workout when I held a body shield for my instructor's side thrust kick. When the kick stuck, I was suddenly blinded; all the sweat on my whole head had suddenly rushed to my face and into my eyes.
When using a proper kick, the force of the kick is not expended in moving the opponent backward, it is expended within the opponent's body. Just as you see in the punches of professional boxer, the punch does not knock the opponent backward into the ropes, the opponent just suddenly drops to the floor. If a Combat-Ki practitioner tried to absorb a Taekwondo side thrust kick or a karate reverse punch, he or she would be injured, guaranteed.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Slow Students
Instructors shouldn't hold a class back so a slow student may catch up; the class should move along at a steady pace. The slow student should be encouraged to keep up and may need extra instruction, but you do not punish the many for the imitations of a few.
Commercialism
Ever notice how the people who put down commercialism in the martial arts usually have the least profitable schools. Once again, it is the "have nots" criticizing the success of the "haves." To rationalize their failures, they consider themselves the martyrs of the martial art world. They think they are the only ones who are "true" to arts and thus will not lower themselves to be profitable.
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Olympic Taekwondo
I watched the Olympic Taekwondo coverage on television and it was a major disappointment. Why do the WTF patterns have hand techniques in them if competitors never use them when sparring? Why do the WTF rules permit hand techniques in sparring if they are never used in competition, especially when there are so many opportunities to use them? The reason appears to be because you will not receive a point from the Korean influenced judges if you use a hand technique in international competition. Therefore, WTF instructors do not stress them and they have gradually disappeared.
Tae-kwon-do is the way of kicking and punching. The WTF should change the name of its martial art to Tae-do, the way of kicking. In their effort to remove the influence that Japanese karate had on traditional Taekwondo and to create a uniquely Korean martial art, the Koreans in the WTF have indeed created a new art, but one that is totally useless as a martial art. WTF Taekwondo is now a totally different entity from traditional Taekwondo. It is now a pure sport, such as is Greco-Roman Wrestling, and as such, it is now totally useless as martial art. There is no guard, there is no blocking, and there are no hand techniques. All the fighters just bounce around with their arms hanging at their sides and throw kick, after kick, after kick. It reminds me of a production of Irish Riverdance. There are no defensive techniques, only offensive kicks. An armless person could win an Olympic gold medal in Taekwondo.
I have been neutral in the WTF vs. ITF battle in the past, viewing the two arts as merely two different ways of accomplishing the same thing. However, that view has now changed. WTF Taekwondo is now purely a sport and does not deserve the title of martial art; it should be called leg fencing.
A martial art is defined as a method of self-defense. WTF Taekwondo is useless for self-defense. A WTF fighter would be slaughtered by any street thug, not an experienced street fighter, just an ordinary neighborhood thug. In a real fight, you cannot drop your guard, ignore hand attacks, and ignore kicks just because they will not score. Nothing can be ignored in a real fight, since the purpose of every attack is to hurt you.
You fight as you train. If you train in the WTF style, then, in stressful self-defense situation, you will fight that way. Likewise, if you train in the ITF style, you will fight that way. As explained in TKDTutor, the only difference between ITF sparring and a real fight is range. In a fight, the overall range is merely decreased by one or two inches so techniques are delivered with full-contact instead of a light touch. In a fight, a WTF practitioner that fights as he or she spars would be slaughtered. A street attacker is used to getting hit and getting kicked, so after blocking or absorbing a kick, the street fighter would be all over the defenseless WTF practitioner.
All this would not be a problem except that the two styles share the same name. If WTF Taekwondo had a different name, it could be considered a separate sport and be treated as such. But, because of the Olympic exposure, the world now thinks that the Taekwondo they witnessed in the Olympics is what Taekwondo really is all about. That is sad.
Update
In the the spring of 2005, the WTF rules changed so that hand attacks to the head are now permitted. Time will tell how this will affect the course of sport Taekwondo.
Tae-kwon-do is the way of kicking and punching. The WTF should change the name of its martial art to Tae-do, the way of kicking. In their effort to remove the influence that Japanese karate had on traditional Taekwondo and to create a uniquely Korean martial art, the Koreans in the WTF have indeed created a new art, but one that is totally useless as a martial art. WTF Taekwondo is now a totally different entity from traditional Taekwondo. It is now a pure sport, such as is Greco-Roman Wrestling, and as such, it is now totally useless as martial art. There is no guard, there is no blocking, and there are no hand techniques. All the fighters just bounce around with their arms hanging at their sides and throw kick, after kick, after kick. It reminds me of a production of Irish Riverdance. There are no defensive techniques, only offensive kicks. An armless person could win an Olympic gold medal in Taekwondo.
I have been neutral in the WTF vs. ITF battle in the past, viewing the two arts as merely two different ways of accomplishing the same thing. However, that view has now changed. WTF Taekwondo is now purely a sport and does not deserve the title of martial art; it should be called leg fencing.
A martial art is defined as a method of self-defense. WTF Taekwondo is useless for self-defense. A WTF fighter would be slaughtered by any street thug, not an experienced street fighter, just an ordinary neighborhood thug. In a real fight, you cannot drop your guard, ignore hand attacks, and ignore kicks just because they will not score. Nothing can be ignored in a real fight, since the purpose of every attack is to hurt you.
You fight as you train. If you train in the WTF style, then, in stressful self-defense situation, you will fight that way. Likewise, if you train in the ITF style, you will fight that way. As explained in TKDTutor, the only difference between ITF sparring and a real fight is range. In a fight, the overall range is merely decreased by one or two inches so techniques are delivered with full-contact instead of a light touch. In a fight, a WTF practitioner that fights as he or she spars would be slaughtered. A street attacker is used to getting hit and getting kicked, so after blocking or absorbing a kick, the street fighter would be all over the defenseless WTF practitioner.
All this would not be a problem except that the two styles share the same name. If WTF Taekwondo had a different name, it could be considered a separate sport and be treated as such. But, because of the Olympic exposure, the world now thinks that the Taekwondo they witnessed in the Olympics is what Taekwondo really is all about. That is sad.
Update
In the the spring of 2005, the WTF rules changed so that hand attacks to the head are now permitted. Time will tell how this will affect the course of sport Taekwondo.
Friday, August 13, 2004
Ego
Egotism is the anesthetic given by a kindly nature to relieve the pain of being a damned fool -Bellamy Brooks
Taekwondo, as well as most other martial arts, is overrun by people with egos that are larger than their intelligence or abilities can support. Since most martial artists, and thus most senior black belts, are male, this egotistical behavior is expressed by machismo. You find instructors who say they support the tenets of Taekwondo and they tell their students to be humble and gracious, but then they act as if they are Taekwondo royalty. An example that comes to mind is Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee, the founder of the American Taekwondo Association. Lee is only one example, there are many, many more grandiose Taekwondo masters. Being a high ranked black belt or being considered a master of the occupation of Taekwondo is not enough for some; they feel the need to be called grand master, supreme grand master, or eternal grand master. What is next, "Supreme Grand Master of Taekwondo in the Milky Way and Other Galaxies Far, Far Away."
What is a master of an occupation? He or she is merely an expert in the occupation. There are master electricians, master craftsman, master masons, etc. but there are no grandmaster electricians or supreme grandmaster carpenters. In an occupational, master is a description of the skill level of a person who is a expert in that occupation; it is not the person's name. A brick mason may tell people his boss is a master mason but you will not hear the mason calling the boss "master." If a mason did, he or she would probably be looking up at the boss from the ground.
All martial art masters are instructors, since one who has not been an active teacher of a martial arts for many years cannot become a master. A mere practitioner of a martial art cannot become a master in the art. Therefore, a more appropriate title for a senior instructor should be Teacher, Sabum (Korean), Sensei (Japanese), or Sifu (Chinese). Actually, a more appropriate title should be merely Sir or Ma'am or Mr. or Ms. Donald Trump is called Mr. Trump, not Grandmaster of Real Estate Trump.
Having an ego is not a bad thing. Everyone has some degree of an ego; it is what makes us feel unique in a world full of people. An big ego is valid if it is backed up by a lot of talent and ability, but many people maintain a large ego in an effort to hide their lack of talent and feelings of inadequacy. People who know they have an ego are usually not a problem because they try to suppress it, since they consider it a weakness. It is the people who deny having an ego who are a problem. They tend to have large, out of control egos that make the lives of those around them miserable.
Some psychologists believe that individual self-interest is the motive of all conscious action. They call this trait egoism. But this should not be confused with egotism (an exaggerated sense of self-importance).
Egocentric masters look for ways to make themselves appear better than everyone else regardless of the consequences. They wear gaudy uniforms. They make the simplest techniques seem complicated and then proclaim themselves the ultimate experts in the techniques. They seize on every martial arts myth and exploit it to the hilt. They portray traditional arts as the enemy and consider any student that consorts with the enemy a traitor to their art. They tend to hangout with egotistical masters of other arts and, as a group, they consider themselves the true leaders of the martial arts world. They have no authority or power in any other aspect of their lives, so they make themselves the supreme authority in their schools and make students "worship" them.
If you meet any of the "old" masters of martial arts, they wear a basic uniform, they are humble and unassuming, and they offer assistance instead of commanding respect. A true master has a modest ego. Like the true hero who does not think he or she is a hero, a true master does not think of him or herself as a master. A true master thinks of him or herself as merely an experienced teacher who has seen and learned a lot in his or her lifetime and is willing to share this knowledge with others.
If you want to be a great martial artist and maybe even be a master in your chosen art someday, maintain a healthy ego. All masters have egos, but the great ones never show it.
Taekwondo, as well as most other martial arts, is overrun by people with egos that are larger than their intelligence or abilities can support. Since most martial artists, and thus most senior black belts, are male, this egotistical behavior is expressed by machismo. You find instructors who say they support the tenets of Taekwondo and they tell their students to be humble and gracious, but then they act as if they are Taekwondo royalty. An example that comes to mind is Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee, the founder of the American Taekwondo Association. Lee is only one example, there are many, many more grandiose Taekwondo masters. Being a high ranked black belt or being considered a master of the occupation of Taekwondo is not enough for some; they feel the need to be called grand master, supreme grand master, or eternal grand master. What is next, "Supreme Grand Master of Taekwondo in the Milky Way and Other Galaxies Far, Far Away."
What is a master of an occupation? He or she is merely an expert in the occupation. There are master electricians, master craftsman, master masons, etc. but there are no grandmaster electricians or supreme grandmaster carpenters. In an occupational, master is a description of the skill level of a person who is a expert in that occupation; it is not the person's name. A brick mason may tell people his boss is a master mason but you will not hear the mason calling the boss "master." If a mason did, he or she would probably be looking up at the boss from the ground.
All martial art masters are instructors, since one who has not been an active teacher of a martial arts for many years cannot become a master. A mere practitioner of a martial art cannot become a master in the art. Therefore, a more appropriate title for a senior instructor should be Teacher, Sabum (Korean), Sensei (Japanese), or Sifu (Chinese). Actually, a more appropriate title should be merely Sir or Ma'am or Mr. or Ms. Donald Trump is called Mr. Trump, not Grandmaster of Real Estate Trump.
Having an ego is not a bad thing. Everyone has some degree of an ego; it is what makes us feel unique in a world full of people. An big ego is valid if it is backed up by a lot of talent and ability, but many people maintain a large ego in an effort to hide their lack of talent and feelings of inadequacy. People who know they have an ego are usually not a problem because they try to suppress it, since they consider it a weakness. It is the people who deny having an ego who are a problem. They tend to have large, out of control egos that make the lives of those around them miserable.
Some psychologists believe that individual self-interest is the motive of all conscious action. They call this trait egoism. But this should not be confused with egotism (an exaggerated sense of self-importance).
Egocentric masters look for ways to make themselves appear better than everyone else regardless of the consequences. They wear gaudy uniforms. They make the simplest techniques seem complicated and then proclaim themselves the ultimate experts in the techniques. They seize on every martial arts myth and exploit it to the hilt. They portray traditional arts as the enemy and consider any student that consorts with the enemy a traitor to their art. They tend to hangout with egotistical masters of other arts and, as a group, they consider themselves the true leaders of the martial arts world. They have no authority or power in any other aspect of their lives, so they make themselves the supreme authority in their schools and make students "worship" them.
If you meet any of the "old" masters of martial arts, they wear a basic uniform, they are humble and unassuming, and they offer assistance instead of commanding respect. A true master has a modest ego. Like the true hero who does not think he or she is a hero, a true master does not think of him or herself as a master. A true master thinks of him or herself as merely an experienced teacher who has seen and learned a lot in his or her lifetime and is willing to share this knowledge with others.
If you want to be a great martial artist and maybe even be a master in your chosen art someday, maintain a healthy ego. All masters have egos, but the great ones never show it.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Pain
Pain is only in your mind. An incapacitating injury will prevent you from taking action no matter how much you try. Howecver, an injury that only hurts, but will not be further injured by use, should not be an hindrance to action. You may sit and whine about the pain or you may get up and do something. People with broken legs walk out of the wilderness.
A hiker with an arm pinned under a rock for days cut the arm off with a pocket knife and walked out of the mountains. Professional ball players are expected to play with pain. But there are also people who quit when they get a bruise. You can sit on your butt and complain about the pain or you can suck it up and get going. If you can't stand the heat, stay away from fire.
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