Finding a good Taekwondo (or other Martial Arts) club

First up, this isn't purely relevant to Taekwondo - feel free to apply this to ANY martial arts club you are either already at, or considering attending.

We met a great family on our holiday this year - the two younger girls in the family were twins, and when the subject of Taekwondo came up they told me that at their club you achieved black belt in three years ie it was not a question of anything other than time (and paying for the gradings of course!).

I would suggest this is a great way to find out whether the club you are inquiring about is run purely to make money, or has instructors who are genuinely keen on passing on teachings and developing their students. If the answer is "you'll get a black belt in X number of years" you need to ask more questions. If the answer is "not everyone achieves a black belt and there is no specific time frame" you are probably in the right place to learn.

Another consideration, of course, is going to be convenience. If a club trains on a night you can't make, or at a location that's too far away most people won't make the effort to give that club or school a try. I sometimes train at the Monks Hill class. That's a 10 mile round trip to get to the lesson, but for me it's worth it.

And finally, what governing bodies is the school/club affiliated to? In WTF Taekwondo, the biggest governing body is the BTCB. They pick the British Olympic Team and organize the biggest competitions in the UK. If you join a club that isn't affiliated to a large governing body, you may find your club isn't allowed to participate in the bigger tournaments and/or competitions. This isn't to say there are not some great independent Martial Arts clubs, but it may be worth looking into exactly why the club is independent. Unfortunately, some independent clubs are run by instructors who have only achieved a 1st Dan through the official channels (in WTF Taekwondo black belts should be Kukkiwon certified) and then split away to run their own clubs, sometimes awarding themselves higher Dan grades without being graded. Shocking, nevertheless true.

First leg technique

Finally got around to adding the first leg techniuqe (Kibom Aree Il). Here's the page:

First Leg Technique

Be great to get some feedback on whether or not it makes sense done just in text - will try to do some images for it at some point.

***yikes - for some reason I originally posted this with "third" when obviously it's the first! Don't blog half asleep;)***

Aches and pains

Strange how quickly fitness suffers when you don't train even for a short space of time. One small two week holiday in Gran Caneria and seemingly my fitness, strength & flexibility have all evaporated (maybe it's all the sangria!).

Managed to make Master Drury's Tuesday lesson last night and boy, are the muscles (particularly the legs) complaining about it today. Even managed to over stretch on a side kick causing my left leg to twitch all day today.

We went though some self defense towards the end of the lesson. Master Drury gave a great bit of advice - above all else DO SOMETHING and do it QUICKLY. If it doesn't work (maybe your attackers' grab is too strong etc) do something else RIGHT AWAY and keep doing different things until the attack has been stopped. Once I heard it, it was so obvious, but just prior to that I'd been standing there scratching my head wondering what I should do. Don't want to get caught like that in a real situation.

Are patterns (forms) useful in Martial Arts?

Many practitioners of other martial arts seem keen to question the usefulness of learning patterns (forms). Particularly those training in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and other purely combat based systems. The argument runs that learning patterns does not in any way aid fighting ability. There are two problems with this.

Firstly, Taekwondo is not just about fighting & self defense. It is a complete martial art in that the student is learning a wide range of skills that apply to situations in life other than combat situations. Mental discipline and physical fitness aid the Taekwondo student in most aspects of their lives. Learning patterns helps with mental discipline, gives the student a means to practice when alone and is of course the backbone of the grading syllabus. If Taekwondo were merely about combat ability a grading/belts system would not be needed. The senior students would be simply measured by their success in defeating other opponents.

Secondly, patterns, when executed correctly give the student the chance to practice techniques which are simply too dangerous to try out on a real opponent. The patterns teach us how to combine techniques effectively (block/counter attack). For techniques to become second nature and applicable in real situations, you need to have practiced them repetitively hundreds/thousands of times so that your brain can react instantly with the appropriate technique in a given situation. Taekwondo Poomse's are designed to simulate complex situations in which the student has to deal with multiple assailants coming at him from all directions - something that without doubt can be carried over into real defensive situations.