Reply. Contracts can be a problem. Contracts benefit the school owner by guaranteeing a steady income for the length of the contact, no matter whether you come to class or not; this helps them to acquire business loans. There is nothing detrimental about the use of contracts for the school owner, if there was, they would not use them.

Supposedly, contracts help the student because they motivate them to come to class to get their money’s worth of training, and they lock in training costs for the length of the contract. However, any benefits contracts offer students are far overshadowed by the liabilities of contracts. Students must pay for the length of the contact as long as the contracted services are offered, even if the services are not used. Over the length of the contract, fees will not increase much normally so locking the cost of fees is not really any benefit. When you change schools or styles, many times you are required to start again at the white belt level. Most students commit much time and effort to training in their chosen art, they develop friendships with other students, and, for those who like their instructors; they develop a loyalty to the instructors. This means that by the time the first contract ends, students are reluctant to change schools or styles, so they tend to sign another contract. Therefore, contracts are always good for school owners and never good for students.

Bad instructors, fraudulent instructors, and rip-off schools and organizations are rampant in the martial arts. These things are bad enough, but when contracts are used to force students to pay for them, it is a travesty.

In your case, you have few choices:

• You can see if the instructor would release you from the contract. Maybe you could buy back the contract at a lesser cost

• You can try to find some loophole in the contract that would release you from it.

• You can file a complaint with the local Better Business Bureau or other agencies to put pressure on the instructor to release you from the contract.

• You can continue to pay and attend classes until the contract ends.

• You can continue to pay and not attend classes.

• You can stop paying and attending classes and see what the instructor does.

  • He may just drop the issue

  • He may sue in small claims court where you may still win.

  • He may try to make detrimental entries about you with credit reporting agencies.

• You can sue the instructor in small claims court. You may win but contracts are generally binding.

As I said, contracts are never good for students, but they may not necessarily be bad. If students like their martial, organization, school, instructors, and fellow students, then contracts, while still not good for them are not necessarily bad for them, the contracts are neutral. These students would be just as happy without the contracts as they are with the contracts.

Reply. Martial art organizations are a confused mess, TKD organizations included. Due to egos and the desire for power, there are probably a hundred or more TKD organizations in the US. Most had humble beginnings with noble reasons for their creation, but as they grew in membership, the people in control began to see that there was more money to be made if you rip-off students with exorbitant organization, school, testing, and tournament fees. Since there is no central TKD organization (the ITF is even split into two warring factions), there is no one organization that is necessarily better than the others. Each has its pros and cons, but most want a lot of money from member schools so the organization’s officials may gain even more money and power.

Organizations do have a purpose; they furnish member schools with a central rank certification point and common rank requirements, offer a way for like-minded schools to hold tournaments, and possibly offer ways to help each school grow. Other than that, they are not needed for students who stay in one location for their martial arts career.

Membership in a widespread or worldwide organization is good for people who change geographic locations regularly. It makes it easier for them to find a school affiliated with the organization in different locations around the US and world. If a person hopes to compete in the Olympics some day, then they must be certified by the WTF. To compete in AAU events, they must be certified in the AAU. I live in Winston-Salem, NC and there are no ITF schools in the city or country; there are a few WTF schools. The most successful group of TKD schools in the area are all owned and operated by a Korean-American who has his own organization.

I train at a school that is affiliated with Taekwondo America, which also uses the traditional Changhun pattern set. Taekwondo America schools are mainly located around the southeast but there are a few schools all around the US. The organization is owned and operated by school owners, who elect one of their own to serve a term as the organization president. The organization itself has minimal costs so the school owners retain their own profits. Students pay no organization membership fees and they know that any money they pay for fees goes to the school owner. If they have a loyalty to the instructor, then they don’t begrudge the fees for they can see where their money is going. However, if a student moves to location where there is no Taekwondo America school, then the student may have to start over from the beginning in a different organization.

Choosing an organization to be affiliated with is a personal choice that requires taking all the circumstances into consideration. Students tend to be loyal to their first school and organization, so change can be difficult. Many organizations require any new member to start over at white belt; that’s what I had to do in Taekwondo America.

If you think your students will benefit from the ITF, then it may be good for you to affiliate with one of them, otherwise, I think you should stay where you are

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Reply. I do not know of any TKD school that does not teach kata. Patterns are an integral part of all the traditional martial arts; they train the mental and emotional side of the martial arts and help build character. Martial arts that are only concerned with the physical side of the martial arts tend to downplay or eliminate patterns from their curricula. Their practitioners, as in other purely physical endeavors, tend to practice them for a while, get bored, and move on to other physical endeavors. For those who train in traditional martial arts, the art becomes an integral part of their lives. One comparison between is Taebo and Taekwondo. Taebo teaches most of the movements of Taekwondo, but it is purely physical and is a fleeting fad. Once the novelty of Taebo wears off, students move on to the next fad of the moment. Since Taekwondo integrates physical, mental, and emotion aspects into its training, it becomes a way of life, and students tend to stay with it, in one form or another, for the rest of their lives.

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Reply. I’m not a doctor but I have had a few students who had knee operations before starting TKD, and they had no problems performing any techniques (however they were younger). Usually when doctors speak about “low impact,” it is related to compression impact, such as the feet impacting the ground during running or jumping. In TKD, the impact is usually from the joints stopping suddenly after a kick or punch (there is probably a medical term for this). However, in TKD you are constantly on your feet while twisting and turning the body in all directions, which is what medical experts recommend for people as they get older.

As you are experiencing, bruises are the most common injury in TKD. I’m not familiar with any bruise treatments other than the old reliable R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) that is recommended for sprains. There are some Chinese herb treatments but their actual effectiveness if questionable. If it is a deep bruise, you need to wear an arm pad over the spot to protect it from more strikes on the same spot until the bruise heals. Over a relatively short time, the arms will adapt to being struck and the number and severity of bruises will be lessened.

Age certainly has a negative effect on flexibility, but genetics has an even bigger effect. Although anyone may increase their flexibility, extremely flexible people are born that way.

Stretching is actually the wrong term to describe exercises used to increase flexibility. Muscles and ligaments don’t really stretch. What you are actually doing is teaching them to relax them while they are under tension, If they relax, they do not contract to protect themselves when placed under extreme tension, which allows them to lengthen (or stretch) more easily.

I’m over 60 and more flexible overall than my 30 something instructor. However, he is flexible where it needed for performing TKD techniques. Although he is not flexible overall, he is able to perform beautiful, powerful kicks with ease due to his performing the kicks daily.

Sometimes very flexible people are prone to injury since their joints are not as stable as less flexible people (you can’t have it all, with the good comes some bad). Therefore, the ideal is to have a flexible, powerful, and stable body.

Yoga specializes in total body flexibility; just pick yoga poses that stretch the muscles you need to perform the techniques you want to use. One of the best exercises for kicks is to hold to something stable and perform slow motion kicks, concentrating on using perfect form. As the body learns to perform the motions, it will relax and the kicks will naturally begin to get higher. When training, most students try to kick higher, harder, and faster, and they neglect form. A perfectly performed kick to the knee is much more effective than a sloppy kick to the head.

I don’t know of any martial art book for those over 40 but I haven’t looked for one. For any age, the best training method to concentrate on performing techniques with perform form. People who concentrate on perfect form improve in all aspects of TKD. Those who concentrate on one thing, such as high kicking, may get better at it, but they do not improve overall. Concentrating on perfection will not yield quick results, but, after a few years, the perfectionist will be a much better martial artist in all aspects of TKD than anyone else in the class.

You are not getting any younger. Instead of trying to be what you could have been when younger, always try to be better than anyone else your age. Along the way you will find, that as a side effect you will be better than many of the younger students.

As I always say to younger opponents, if I beat you, shame on you for being beaten by an old man. If you beat me, shame on you for beating an old man. Either way, it is shame on you—not on me.

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Reply.  (04/16/07) Whether you are attending class regularly, attending when you can, unable to attend class due to your location, or just training on your own, here are some secrets to achieving your best.

Reply.  Even in Iraq, most people go about their normal lives without worrying about dealing with terrorists. The suicide bombings are mostly in Bagdad, not in every city in the country. For most people in the United States, having to deal with terrorists, or even with ordinary criminals, is only a rare possibility; there is more of chance of being killed in motor vehicle accident than every even seeing a terrorist. However, no matter the slight chance of ever having to face a terrorist threat, when it happens to you, it has a 100% chance of occurring.

Intensely training for something that is only a remote possibility is a waste of resources. Even people whose job is responding to disasters do not spend a lot of time training for remote possibilities. In earthquake prone Oakland, California, fire departments train more for fighting the yearly grass fires than they do for earthquake response.

If one trains in the martial arts for the purpose of fighting to the death, the person will soon tire of the training and will probably stop any type of martial art training. If one trains in a martial art for fun, then the person will probably train for a lifetime. Which is better?

It is relatively easy to fight for sport and then step things up for the real thing. However, it is difficult and dangerous for a person to train for deadly effect, and then try to tone things down to fight for sport. Under the right conditions, a normally calm person can become angry enough to kill. However, a normally angry person finds it difficult to calm down under any circumstances. A sport fighter has to take purposeful actions to be deadly, so a sport fighter is usually not accidentally deadly. However, a deadly fighter has to be constantly vigilant when sport fighting so as to not harm the opponent. In the heat of an intense fight, a sport fighter is not tempted to be deadly, whereas, the deadly fighter has to be constantly vigilant or he or she may revert to training and harm the opponent.

Being a warrior is more of an attitude or state of mind than it is training to be a deadly fighter. Anyone can be deadly when they choose to be. To be a warrior and still live a normal life, one only has to maintain a warrior attitude. This is easier to accomplish for people who have been raised to believe there are worse things than death in life, such as disgrace or dishonor. For others, they have to train to achieve and maintain a warrior attitude.

While training in a sport martial art, one must always think about the practical application of techniques and the attitude required to be able to use them in real situation. When teaching a technique or drill, I am always stressing its application to a real situation in an effort to keep students thinking about real fighting situations.\

When training in class, sparring, performing a pattern, or while driving home from work, always think about how you would use your skills in a real situation: what you would be feeling, what you would be saying, and the attitude you would have during the confrontation. Then, when, or if, the real thing occurs, you will be more prepared for it since you would have dealt with the situation many times in your mind.

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Reply. Since schools and organizations that use the Chang-hon pattern set have many variations of the movements and how they are performed, it is difficult to interpret their intention of a movement. Your instructor should have more insight as to the school's interpretation of movements.

The movement in question a slow pressing block to the side using arc hands. As to its practical application, there is none. In a self-defense situation, one would never use a slow block since it would not be effective. Although, it may be used as a posture to show the attacker you are prepared and determined to defend.

 Patterns are supposedly imaginary fights against multiple opponents. Therefore, sometimes blocks and attacks are performed toward different directions. This means that, while a sequence of movements may not seem rational when used against one opponent, the movements make sense when used against multiple opponents. Also, patterns have little practical application anyway.

As you know, attacks come fast and furious so there is little time to perform traditional blocking techniques. In a fight, you keep your guard up, go with the flow, maybe block if the opponent is using single technique attacks or the attacks are slow, and take advantage of any openings the attacker presents to attack and finish the fight.

It is practically impossible to fight more than one opponent, except in preplanned demonstrations. Think about the difficulty in sparring one opponent. Now think about having to also spar another opponent directly behind you who attacks simultaneity with the first opponent (real attackers will not take turns attacking). When concentrating on one opponent, you have no idea as to what is happening behind you. The best you can do try to maneuver so both opponents are in view, and then try to eliminate one opponent with a deadly attack so you only have one opponent to fight.

If one persons attacks, you have a choice as to whether to stop, injure, or kill the person. Which option you choose depends on the intent and actions of the attacker. If two persons attack, at the first opportunity you must eliminate one of the attackers. The one you choose may not have intended to seriously harm you, but that's too bad. One opponent must be eliminated quickly and it will usually be the weakest one.

Think about a pattern as a dance routine that is performed using power, perfect movements, and some artistic expression. Pattern practice will make you a better martial artist, not because of the sequence of movements used or their practical applications, but because of the balance, control, perfection of techniques, concentration, etc. that is learned, Good pattern performers are usually good at sparring, since the skills learned in pattern performance help when sparring. However, people who are good at sparring are not necessarily good pattern performers since the skills learned in sparring do not directly translate into better pattern performance.

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Reply. The pattern chonji represents heaven and earth. Why? Because the person who named it said it did. This seems to be rather straightforward but many times things that persist for many years take on unintended meanings.

Reply. Some training techniques to use are:

Spar where When practicing techniques in class, most schools have students practice using one technique repeatedly, such as kicking a target with a round kick to a called count. This helps students perfect the technique, but it trains them to throw only one technique at a time. When training in a specific technique, it is best to include another hand or foot attack before and after the technique. All techniques are practiced in combination with another technique.

Each round has a different stipulation, such as:

• With any kick, the leg must kick at least twice before being returned to the floor.

• Each kick must be used in combination with another type of kick.

• Every kick must be preceded with a hand attack, and vice versa.

• Any attack must continue with a combination of attacks until the referee stops the action (no one or two technique attacks).

• At the first movement of an attack by the opponent, instead of avoiding or blocking the attack, the student rushes in with a flurry of counterattacks.

One person holds a bag and move around while the other student continuously attacks the bag for one minute with a fast and furious hand and foot attacks.

Practice blocking with one side while simultaneously attacking with the other side, such as blocking a high round kick with an outer forearm block with one arm while simultaneously punching with the other arm.

Practice blocking and attacking with the same technique, such as blocking a kick with your leg and then the same leg firing a kick of its own, or blocking a punch with an outer forearm block that instantly changes into a punch.

Stress going with the flow of the action instead of looking for an opportunity to use a specific technique. Stress using the right technique to an opening instead of just throwing specific techniques at targets that are not open.

As to your tournament preparation question, I am not experienced enough with teaching children to answer that question properly. However, from what I have experienced, adult training methods may be used if they are adapted to take the child’s age, physical size and condition, attention span, etc. into consideration. Children are children, not merely little adults. They play hard and they can train hard as long as the trainer keeps in mind that they are children, not adults..

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Reply. Round kicks may be performed two ways; striking the ball of the foot or striking with the instep (top) of the foot. The ball strike is more powerful and may impact with tremendous force with little chance of damage to the foot, and it gives more penetration. For example, the foot may extend behind a blocking arm and still hit its target. The instep strike has move range, is easier to use, and is a little faster, but it is easier to block and the instep has many fragile bones and is easily injured.

For breaking, the ball strike is best. For sparring, the instep strike is usually preferred.

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