Analysis of Taekwondo's Spinning Kicks

Admin July 28, 2014

Since the 1970's, taekwondo has undergone a significant evolution in both form and style. Perhaps the most striking change has been the development and refinement of taekwondo's devastating spinning kicks. Twenty years ago, spinning kicks were considered too risky for all but the most experienced competitors. It was the era of power taekwondo when knockouts were frequent and the roundhouse and side kicks ruled. Spinning kicks were too slow and too obvious to penetrate the defenses of a skilled fighter. However, with the advent of modern footwork and the refinement of strategic maneuvers, spinning kicks have become the most powerful and dangerous kicks in the taekwondo competitor's arsenal.

The Rise of the Spinning Kick

The popularity and effectiveness of the spinning kick became possible with the introduction of the upright fighting stance and the development of intricate footwork. In the early days of taekwondo competition, competitors favored a low, traditional stance. While a low stance is ideal for generating power in linear kicks, it is a hindrance to any type of spinning kick. A spinning kick must be initiated quickly, without changing the height or position of the head. The lower the stance, the more difficult this is to achieve.

Taekwondo Self-defense: Assess, Attack, Adapt

Admin July 19, 2014

In a hostile situation, you have to make a lot of decisions very quickly. In this excerpt from Taekwondo Self-defense: Taekwondo Hoshinsool, Sang H. Kim summarizes the key stages of a self-defense situation and the important decisions you'll need to make in each stage.

1. ASSESS:

• Trust your gut feeling, stay cool.

• Size up the situation:
   1. Hostility intensity: deadly threat, mild conflict, casual unpleasantness.
   2. Environmental factors: indoor, outdoor, sloping ground, exits, available environmental    weapons.
   3. Weapons: attacker has a gun, knife, pipe, or bat.
   4. People factors: numbers, size, athleticism, position.

• What are your options? If possible, escape as fast as you can. If you can’t escape, breathe deeply, stay cool and control the distance.

Common Roundhouse Kick Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Admin July 18, 2014

Excerpted from Complete Kicking by Sang H. Kim

Roundhouse kick is the most versatile kick for both competition and self-defense. For competition, it is safe, effective and powerful for striking low, middle, and high targets. For self-defense, it is useful for striking the knee, groin, and stomach. It is most effective when used in combination with punches, elbow strikes and knee kicks.

However, there are some common errors that make the roundhouse kick less powerful, accurate or fast. The next time you practice roundhouse kick, check for these common mistakes:

MISTAKE 1: The most common error when executing roundhouse kick is incomplete rotation of the hip.

SOLUTION: For maximum power, rotate your body fully to align your hip, head and feet, and to put your body weight into your kick.

ROUNDHOUSE KICK FORM DRILL

To improve your kicking form and ensure proper rotation in your kicks, practice roundhouse kick holding a support. Start with your back to the wall and your kicking foot in the rear. Pivot so your hip faces the wall and your chest is parallel to the wall.

Developing Attributes vs. Skills in Martial Arts Training

Admin July 9, 2014

There are two components to martial arts training: the development of attributes and the development of skills. Attributes include physical qualities such as flexibility, strength and endurance. Skills include learned motor movements like kicking and punching. The development of skills will be severely limited if the development of attributes is neglected. However, attributes can easily be developed exclusive of skills. Of course developing attributes without skills falls into the realm of calisthenics, not martial arts.

In the early stages of learning a martial art, the practice of skills alone may serve to develop a wide range of attributes including flexibility, strength, coordination, reflexes and endurance. As you become more adept and your physical condition improves, you may have to develop certain attributes independent of skill practice by devoting time each training period specifically to conditioning exercises.

Speed Training for Martial Arts

Admin July 5, 2014

Excerpted from Martial Arts After 40 by Sang H. Kim

Here are some training tips to keep in mind when developing speed in your skills:

1. The skill must be conducive to speed training.
Most martial arts skills can be done at full speed, either in the air, with a partner or against a target. Gross motor skills are more easily adapted for speed training than precision skills.

2. The skill must be physically sound.
Do not try to build speed until you have mastered the basic physical model of a skill. If you have to think about the mechanics of performing a skill or you are performing it without the correct biomechanical form, your potential for speed development is limited.

3. Relax.
Speed training requires relaxation from the point of initiation up to the point of impact. At the point of impact, the muscles should briefly tense and then relax again to facilitate quick recovery.

Vital Points: What are they and Why do they work?

Admin July 2, 2014

Excerpted from Vital Point Striking: The Art and Science of Striking Vital Targets for Self-defense and Combat Sports by Sang H. Kim

A vital point is a pressure sensitive point on or near the surface of the human body. Vital points function like gateways to the nervous system, the main controller of the body, allowing you to use pain to influence the actions and reactions of an opponent. Even a single strike can cause serious damage, unconsciousness or, in rare cases, death.

For example, a forceful strike into the Wind Mansion (GV16) at the base of the brain can result in instant death. The gallbladder (on the right side of the trunk, below the liver) and the Sauce Receptacle (CV24) on the tip of the chin are targets for potential knockout blows in boxing. The carotid artery, temple and Philtrum are common targets for striking in a selfdefense situation.

Vital Points Can Shut Down the System

Because the human body is a highly complicated interconnected system, it is vulnerable to attacks that disable key points of the system, thereby causing systemwide failure. By attacking one of the vital regions of the body, you can paralyze the entire system.

Improve your Flexibility for Martial Arts

Admin July 1, 2014

By Sang H. Kim | Ultimate Flexibility for Martial Arts

Stretch every time you exercise. The only way to improve your flexibility is through consistent stretching exercises. Every muscle is subject to the myotatic reflex (stretch reflex) which opposes changes in muscle length, especially sudden or extreme changes. When a muscle lengthens beyond a certain point, the myotatic reflex causes it to tighten and attempt to shorten. This is the tension you feel during stretching exercises.

The myotatic reflex is desirable because it prevents, in many cases, muscle strains and tears. Without it your muscles would be allowed to overextend and tear easily. But it is also undesirable in cases where it prevents you from fully using your body.

Through stretching, deconditioning of the myotatic reflex takes place. Little by little, you teach your muscles a new limit of safe extension. This is why stretching must be slow and consistent. If you overstretch and injure the muscle, you have to go back to a lower level of flexibility and start over. Set your stretching goals over a period of weeks or months, not days, for best results.

10 Strategies for Teaching Martial Arts to Children With ADHD

Admin June 29, 2014

Excerpted from Martial Arts Instructors Desk Reference by Sang H. Kim

The behavior problems associated with ADD and ADHD tend to lead to other problems. Children who are disruptive in school are quickly labeled troublemakers, ruffians, bullies or just plain dumb. Children at the other end of the ADD spectrum are labeled lazy, stupid, underachieving or spaced out. To make things worse, these children often have trouble understanding why their behavior is wrong. This explains the ADD child’s tendency to look genuinely shocked when he gets in trouble. One of the biggest challenges to improving the behavior of the ADD child is teaching him to recognize the consequences of his actions and to see things from other peoples' point of view.

There are some steps you can take to help manage the behavior of students in your class with ADD or ADHD including:

1. Identify problem behaviors.

Objectively identify what problems are the biggest impediments to the child’s learning. These may not be the most annoying behaviors or the ones you would most like to correct, so take an unemotional inventory, perhaps involving other instructors or the child’s parents. Making a chart can help. For each item, list the behavior, when it most frequently occurs, what triggers it and how disruptive it is on a scale of one to ten. Try to be as specific as possible. For each problem, write down at least one strategy from this report for eliminating or changing the behavior.

Improve your Speed for Martial Arts

Admin June 29, 2014

by Sang H. Kim | Ultimate Fitness Through Martial Arts

To develop overall speed, there are several sequential steps in training:

Basic conditioning
Explosive power development
Skill refinement
Skill loading
Full speed training

Basic condition, including flexibility, strength and agility training, is a prerequisite for speed training. The completion of basic conditioning is signaled by a level of fitness that allows the athlete to begin the more intensive exercises that develop explosive power. Once the target muscles start to develop, begin working on skill refinement. Each skill should be examined to eliminate unnecessary movements and increase biomechanical efficiency.

With highly refined movements and strong muscles, you can begin adding speed to each movement. Start skill loading gradually and observe your body's reaction. If you can add speed and still maintain semi-refined movements, continue to increase your intensity. Eventually you will reach the final stage of speed training in which you can execute skillful movements at high speed.

Taekwondo Sparring Strategies

Admin June 25, 2014

Developing a Competition Strategy

Before developing a competition strategy, each competitor must consider the following elements essential to taekwondo competition:

1) Technical structure and variations according to the competition rules. Every competitor must be able to win within the established framework of the competition rules. He must create unique offensive combinations designed to score points while avoiding penalties.

2) Economical use of energy over the duration of the match. A fighter must plan his strategy over the course of the full nine minutes of the match. He must clearly decide when it is appropriate to conserve energy and when it is necessary to press the opponent.

3) Judicial application of feinting skills. Feinting should be used wisely and sparingly, so as not to be detected by the opponent.

Once the competitor has a general plan, the following process is necessary for the accurate formulation (psychological) and execution (physical) of an individual strategy:

Taegeuk Poomse Symbolism

Admin June 23, 2014

There are eight Taegeuk Poomsaes in the martial art of Taekwondo. Each Poomsae is built upon the previous one, adding more complicated movements, yet every form has unique characteristics and principles:

Taegeuk Il Jang: Keun meaning heaven: the spirit of solid foundation
Taegeuk Ee Jang: Tae meaning river: inner strength and external gentleness
Taegeuk Sam Jang: Ri meaning fi re: the spirit of enthusiasm
Taegeuk Sah Jang: Jin meaning thunder: the spirit of undeniable power and dignity
Taegeuk Oh Jang: Sohn meaning wind: the spirit of gentle power
Taegeuk Yuk Jang: Gam meaning water: the spirit of fl ow and ultimate fl exibility
Taegeuk Chil Jang: Gahn meaning mountain: the spirit of fi rmness and strength
Taegeuk Pal Jang: Gon meaning earth: the spirit of humbleness

5 Principles of Martial Arts Teaching

Admin June 23, 2014

by Sang H. Kim | Excerpted from TEACHING MARTIAL ARTS

1. Planning

The foremost element in teaching is careful planning. Plan the objectives for each class and delegate the amount of practice time you will allow for each. For effectiveness and safety, carefully consider the type and number of exercises and skills you will teach in every class. Set goals for each class. Students can perform better and learn more quickly when they have goals to work toward. In setting your classroom goals, it is best to identify each individual’s strengths and weaknesses whenever possible. This insures smooth progress and avoids unnecessary frustration. For the greatest motivational value, goals must be specific and reasonably difficult to accomplish. (For a more detailed discussion of planning, see Chapter 5)

Power Training for Martial Arts

Admin June 20, 2014

by Sang H. Kim | Ultimate Fitness Through Martial Arts

Power is a combination of strength and explosiveness. It is created by releasing maximum muscular force at maximum speed. To increase power, you must increase both speed and strength. By exerting strength with speed, you take advantage of both the force generated by the muscles and the momentum created through the speed.

Power can be described in three ways:

Explosive power - Explosive power is the ability to exert maximum force in one or a series of dynamic acts. Example: Breaking a board with a punch.
Static power - Static power is the maximum force a person can exert for a short period. Example: Bench press.
Dynamic Power - Dynamic power is the ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously over time. Example: Heavy bag workout.

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