From: the_dojang-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: the_dojang-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: The_Dojang-Digest V6 #566 Reply-To: the_dojang@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: the_dojang-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: The_Dojang-Digest Sat, 13 Nov 1999 Vol 06 : Num 566 In this issue: the_dojang: Re: Who's the Teacher? the_dojang: Kadin - Where in MT? the_dojang: 2 other orgs... the_dojang: Balance in Training the_dojang: demonstrations the_dojang: . ========================================================================= The_Dojang, serving the Internet since June 1994. ~780 members strong! Copyright 1994-99: Ray Terry, California Taekwondo, Martial Arts Resource Replying to this message will NOT unsubscribe you. To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe the_dojang-digest" (no quotes) in the body (top line, left justified) of a plain text e-mail addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. To send e-mail to this list use the_dojang@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com See the Korean Martial Arts (KMA) FAQ and online search the last four years worth of digest issues at http://www.MartialArtsResource.com Pil Seung! Ray Terry, PO Box 110841, Campbell, CA 95011 KMA@MartialArtsResource.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dbuehrer@carl.org Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 10:34:13 -0700 Subject: the_dojang: Re: Who's the Teacher? \ From: "kadin goldberg" \ \ hello people, \ I was just wondering...I live in Montana and I wondered if you need to have \ a certain belt to be the main teacher in a martial arts class. It kind of depends on the dojang, but the owner of the dojang is almost always the highest ranked, and therefor the main teacher. At the dojang I attend the owner is a 7th (or is it 8th?) Dan, and is a Master Instructor. When he is leading class the rest of the Dans are Assistant Instructors. If he is not present (which happens every now and then) the highest ranked Dan becomes the Instructor (and the lower ranked Dans remain Assistant Instructors). However, a Gup rank may become a temporary Assistant Instructor if the class is split up into groups. When we are working on practical self defense techniques the class is often split up into a group of high belts and a group of low belts. Whoever has the highest rank in a group becomes an Assistant Instructor, with the Instructor or Master Instructor travelling back and forth between the groups. So, in a group of low belts a 6th Gup might find him/herself in the role of Assistant Instructor. On the day I received my yellow belt (9th Gup) I was assigned to a fairly new white belt for basic practicles, and ergo was an Assistant Instructor for the duration of that class. Boy, talk about your learning experience :) - -David Buehrer 6th Gup, Hapkido http://home.att.net/~Graht/Hapkido/Hapkido.htm - -- "The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and the more I want to learn." - -Einstein ------------------------------ From: ABurrese@aol.com Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 13:30:24 EST Subject: the_dojang: Kadin - Where in MT? hello people, I was just wondering...I live in Montana and I wondered if you need to have a certain belt to be the main teacher in a martial arts class. Thanks alot. one & only, Kadin Kadin, Where in Montana? I'm in Missoula, and I know a number of people around the State, maybe I can be of assistance. Get a hold of me, Alain Burrese ------------------------------ From: J Thomas Howard Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 14:18:13 -0600 (CST) Subject: the_dojang: 2 other orgs... Two other organizations, one TKD and one Hapkido: U.S. Hapkido Association and U.S.A. Tae Kwon-Do Federation HQ Address: 7707 Bergenline Ave. North Bergen, NJ 07047 Phone: 201-453-0111 GM: Ki-Duk Lee (Duke Lee) 9th degree, World Taekwondo Federation 9th degree, Korean Hapkido Association 6th degree, Korea Kom Do Association Thomas - ------------------------------------ thomcat@binary.net http://www.binary.net/thomcat/ "If you aren't modeling what you are teaching then you are teaching something else." ------------------------------ From: ABurrese@aol.com Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 00:03:28 EST Subject: the_dojang: Balance in Training In a message dated 99-11-09 13:50:56 EST, you write: << Thanks, Alain, for a very informative post. This is very similar to what I've gleaned from Tom Kurtz' work. It still leaves an interesting question open, however - what is the ideal training regimen for an individual who wants to achieve a high level of readiness, and maintain it indefinitely, as contrasted with training to a peak for competition? I don't know if that research has been done, and I don't know how sound it is to extrapolate from research such as Kurtz' and Bompa's. >> I think there is reasearch showing that you won't keep the peak indefinitely, but that does not mean you can't keep a high state of readiness at all times. Periodization training will actually help this, since you don't get stale on one program. Even athletes that peak at a certain time are usually in good shape the rest of the time too. Pick Evander Hollyfield any day of the year and he could still do pretty well, but he does train to be at his best on the scheduled fight day. Same with UFC fighter Frank Shamrock, he is always in shape. I well rounded program that uses periodization and cross training (not cross training in different arts so to speak, but including some swiming, biking, running, and other activities, resistance training, plyometrics, etc.) will keep a person ready for just about anything that comes down the pike. I liked the way the character Ding Chavez thought in Tom Clancy's RAINBOW SIX. He was noting how the Olympic athletes were specialists and he and his team were generalists. Look who was protecting who. Heinlein said it too when he said Specialization was for insects in TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE. Can't remember the whole quote, but it was good. Great book. Anyway, that's how I feel about training, and always have. When I was in the Army, there were only a few of us in the company that were benching over 300 pounds. And those that could out bench me, couldn't out run me. Those that out ran me, couldn't keep up in the weight room. I've always tried to have balance. That's one reason I like HKD, it incorporates so much. Sure, the HKD person is not going to be as good with the sword as the Kumdo person, and the Judo person will work on throws more, etc. But the Hapkido person does some of all areas and becomes very well rounded. But even with all HKD offers, I practice other things as well. I shoot, and practice point shooting for personal defense. Other arts are better for knife work, so I do a little knife work from outside HKD. If I learn something from other arts, I incorporate it as well. So I think this training for balance and periodizing your training will help you be ready for anything. Yours in Training, Alain ------------------------------ From: "Anthony or Clare Boyd" Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 00:30:33 +0900 Subject: the_dojang: demonstrations A question has been forming in my mind for a while now. I'm curious how people feel about participating in demonstrations. The dojang I attend is in Korea and the kwanjangnim is very traditional. Participation in demonstrations is not a volunteer activity and advance warning is not always all that one would hope for... (as those who have lived in Korea will understand.) Now, I feel that one should always strive to be 'ready' at all times. I approach martial arts as just that - war arts. War doesn't come with a polite phone call and a chance to practice. I feel I should be ready to perform whenever I am called upon to do so. Still, the reality of the situation is that you can't always be ready or at the top of your game. Demonstrations are also not war although perhaps they can pass for one at times. My question resolves into these elements: are demonstrations a necessary part of a martial art? Should a member of a dojang be expected to participate in a demonstration? Should it be volunteer or mandatory? As you know demonstrations by schools are often not all we would expect them to be and can seem like a total, abject failure in the minds of the actual performers. Is this experience of public humiliation a necessary part of training? A demonstration should impress and enlighten the viewers, possibly giving them the desire to join the dojang. So, if you train for solely for the demands of the demonstration are you not letting your real training slide in favour of doing free advertising for the school? If you do not devote special training to the demonstration are you not then increasing the chances for a poor performance? Part of my desire to frame a question or questions about demonstrations comes from a recent experience I had participating in one. Our dojang was given a call to replace a TKD school which had cancelled out of a televised demonstration. The call came on a Sunday morning and I found out about the demonstration around 1 pm. The demonstration was scheduled for 4:30pm - the same day. We didn't have to do much. Some guys had to do some bamboo cuts and another fellow had to cut rice plant bundles. A few of us had to do forms. That was the first problem. We had only two hours to try and figure out how to synchronize the timing between the forms teams as well as trying to learn the proper way to link the chosen forms seamlessly into one. We also had to do this without seeing the presentation space beforehand. So, we had no idea how the forms would fit into the space we had to perform them in, we were performing them with several alterations, we were blending them together and we were doing them as a synchronized team - with virtual strangers. (and me with very limited Korean!) As if this weren't enough it began to rain - HARD. The performance space was an outdoor stage covered in plastic sheets. The stage was waaay too small for even one form. We had to delete a member of the team just to make the forms possible at all and they didn't delete me! Then, as we headed up the stage to perform we were given another change. *sigh* In credit to our training we didn't fall, slide out of control, slice off each others' limbs or blow the forms despite the rain, the puddles, the slick plastic, the screaming crowd, the blaring music or the TV cameras and odd host. We did blow the timing all to pieces and resemble men on ice with no skates. After seeing us the kwanjangnim cancelled the remainder of the forms sets and moved on to the cuts which went very well. End of show. Since that day I've been pondering the whole experience of demonstrations and trying to remember one I enjoyed. I've learned to have more pride in some of my skills - I train indoors mainly and the perfect grip of the padded floor is not the same as a sandy school yard, a gravel parking lot, or a plastic, rain-drenched stage. Despite that I was able to rely on my training to provide the skills I needed to perform my patterns and keep on my feet and cutting on target. So what's the problem? The problem is to the untrained eye... I'd look like some foreign guy in a martial arts uniform, swinging a wooden stick or perhaps an aluminum toy around my head - sliding across hell's half acre. No grace. No surety or poise. Just wind and noise. Is that what a demonstration should be? Therein lies my question... Does any of this spark any response or commentary? Anthony Boyd - Swordsman and Teacher http://victorian.fortunecity.com/operatic/739 ICQ# 45348443 ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 07:55:08 -0800 (PST) Subject: the_dojang: . ------------------------------ End of The_Dojang-Digest V6 #566 ******************************** Support the USTU by joining today! US Taekwondo Union, 1 Olympic Plaza, Ste 405, Colorado Spgs, CO 80909 719-578-4632 FAX 719-578-4642 ustutkd1@aol.com http://www.ustu.com ===================================================================== To unsubscribe from this digest, the_dojang-digest, send the command: unsubscribe the_dojang-digest -or- unsubscribe the_dojang-digest your.old@address in the BODY of an email (top line, left justified) addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. Old digest issues are available via ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com in pub/the_dojang/digests. All digest files have the suffix '.txt' Copyright 1994-99: Ray Terry, Martial Arts Resource, California Taekwondo Standard disclaimers apply.