Micro Post: 100 ways to attack the groin!

The groin is a vital target of every serious combat art in the world. It is not a definitive fightstopper and you can not really only rely on one kick to the groin to save you in a fight but it is a valuable target nonetheless. In the excellent video below you can see 100 ways to attack this vital target. The video is only a few minutes long and it will be required material for all the future black belt gradings I will conduct at my future Dojang. So you just know this is some serious shit (pardon my french).

Micro Post; This months quote:

I think this is a quote that speaks for itself:

(Part 1) Applying Eulgeul Makki

I recently had a discussion going on wether "deep" Applications can be found in the KTA Poomsae (Taegeuk/Black belt Poomsae) or if it was impossible to find them because they were never meant to be there. This is a discussion I have had time and time again. I use my forms as a fundemental part of "my" Taekwondo and everything I do when it comes to Taekwondo and the martial arts are found within Poomsae. So for me practising Poomsae empty performance will make me better at all Things Taekwondo since my mental intent is different to those who practice for movement education, Block,

kick punch Applications, etc. After debating the historical facts for a long time (we agreed upon most Things but interpreted them differently) I said this (which the other party did not have a good Counter argument for):

"All Poomsae consists of roughly the same building Blocks as Karate Kata. We agree that Karate Kata had practical Applications. We are both fans of the excellent work that Iain Abernethy, Vince Morris, Patric Mcarthy, Jesse Enkamp and others has put forth on Karate Kata. They all say that each technique in Kata can be several Things however. So each basic technique has several different Applications. Making New forms out of the same building Blocks would therefore be like playing Scrabble With only the white pieces (the ones without letters). They can be any letter you want so eventhough there are New unique sequences in KTA Poomsae that are not found within Karate Kata we can still make Words and sentences With them."

Kukkiwon shares grappling techniques on facebook

Lately I have observed that Kukkiwon has shared a lot of grappling techniques on their Facebook page. This blog has for a long time stressed the combative applications of Traditional Kukki Taekwondo and I have referenced Kukkiwon Textbook in my earlier writings, but it is one thing to read a short mentioning that

Pressing and Snapping

Taekwondo has pressure against joints in them and the Kukkiwon going out on their facebook page and write about techniques many people believe are not part of Taekwondo. This makes me EXTREMELY happy and if this continues I believe that the old stupid myths about Taekwondo lacking vital components in their arsenal as a combative martial art (not sport) will dissapear over time. We do have a long way to go though as evidenced by one man who imidiatly commented: 

"So now we're officially mixing Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido?"

Sparring against 2 opponents!

A few weeks ago we did a belt test at our Dojang. The main instructor at the Dojang could not participate and I am a few Dan ranks short of taking care of a belt test on my own so we had a master instructor who has not trained with us in a few years come in and help us with the grading. Comming from the outside in he asked the highest ranked people who tested that day to spar two opponents at once (they were red belts).

This is something that we did relativly often in my Dojang a few years back but which we have not done in ages. Unsuprisingly the students tried their best but it was not an effective display of strategy and tactics. Now since sparring two opponents at once is a "lost art" (in the Dojang I practise at least) I thought I should share a few thoughts that I discovered when I was engaging in this kind of training.

Nominating General Choi Hong Hi for the Taekwondowon's (Taekwondo Park) Hall of Fame

I read a post on the Sooshimkwan blog about nominating Choi Hong Hi for the Taekwondo Parks hall of fame. This is something I wholeheartedly

support and I hope every Taekwondoin who reads this will read on and then write an email nominating Choi Hong Hi (and anyone else they fell should have this honor) to the hall of fame. There has indeed been a lot of bad blood between the Kukkiwon/WTF on one side and the ITF on the other but what every Taekwondoin needs to understand is that no matter what "lineage" you hail from be it Kukkiwon, ITF or any independent group practising Taekwondo; Choi Hong Hi was instrumental in the formative years of Taekwondo. In fact he gave Taekwondo its name! In my view that should be enough to secure him a place at the hall of fame. Lets stop buckering over old politics, and lets give this man a vote eventhough you might not agree with everything the man did or said. I am not found of his "Sine Wave Theory", nor do I like the political association behind the pattern name "Juche", but I recognize the huge contribution this man has had on all of Taekwondo still. Please read on and send an email:

Micro Post; This months quote

The bad blood between WTF/Kukkiwon on one side and ITF on the other side has in my opinion divided the Taekwondo students for far to long now. Both sides could do well to open up and take in the knowledge and wisdom that each group has gotten over the years. All of the original masters, pioneers and todays grandmasters are merely human and nobody is perfect, but we should take the positive that we can get and incorporate that into our own Taekwondo.

 

For Kukki-Taekwondo exponents Choi Hong Hi is merely known as the founder of Oh Do Kwan and ITF Taekwondo and little else. I think that is a shame as there is a lot in his writings that we could learn from and he did make many contributions to early Taekwondo so both sides should respect and honor his memory. Even the name "Taekwondo" we have and use today he came up with to just mention one of his contributions to our art no matter the lineage.

 

Below is a quote that Kousaku Yokota shared on his facebook page a while back that he attributed to Choi Hong Hi:



 

“A warrior who over reacts will rarely finish anything successfully.”
-Choi Hong Hi