Training Report

Well ol’ Bob is busier than Bill Wallace in a butt-kicking contest! Due to that my at-home training is mainly when I have time. What to report?

My taekwondo school is literally in the last proverbial days. This week we are reviewing test materials and next week we are testing the remaining students for the belts. It will probably close one of the following weeks after the last test. This will end a five year legacy–three of which I was a part of.

This weekend I found the time to record my Korean short stick form. I’ve informally practiced it since that seminar back in winter. The video really showed me that it’s not ready to display on here! I’m annoyed to see that I’m making a bunch of sloppy mistakes including: Not chambering, not following through, not fully extending on a kicks, etc. So to focus on these things I have to practice the entire form at about 2/3rds speed. Give me another few months and I’ll see about posting it.

I’m suspecting that once I semi-retire from taekwondo and practice it at home some of my skills will degrade. So I plan to occasionally video myself and then critique. I know how the forms, techniques, etc., need to look and I think that will be an excellent way for me to not get into bad habits. For sure I plan to video at least one form per month and work on polishing it. I’m think once at the top of the month and once at the end to see if things improved.

As for chin na, well I finally ordered Analysis of Shaolin Chin Na this weekend. It was recommended to me by my chin na instructor as a good supplement. Hopefully it and the DVD of the same name will be a good addition to my weekly chin na reviews. (I’ll order the DVD next month)

I also need to invest in a cheap digital camera that I can keep in the car. I am constantly seeing things that are worth blogging about and the photo would only help. We have a very expensive camera but I don’t want to carry it in my vehicle. So, I’ll have to see what Mr. Wal-Mart has in the way of $20 models. Case in point: Last night we ate at a new strip mall (Indianapolis is the strip mall capitol of the world) and I see a brand new karate school. What did they name it? I kid you not. “Kid Lightening Karate School”! Mr. Patterson where do you train? At Kid Lightening Karate School! Ki-yap! A photo would only enhance that sarcasm!

Speaking of local martial arts schools…

When I was searching for the above link that takes you to the Wallace bio. I accidentally found a video of another local martial artist having a friendly sparring match with none other than Bill Wallace. His opponent is James Theros who owns Level 10 Martial Arts which are located in the Indianapolis area. In fact, one of his schools is about three miles from my home. Anyhow, here’s the video:

Despite the match being light contact and friendly there’s still a lot learn from it. Notice how many more hand techniques a tournament karate fighter like Wallace throws than a taekwondo master? Also notice how the taekwondo master has trouble defending against those hand techniques? This because when you spar taekwondo style–for the most part–you do not have to worry about hand techniques. Thus, you do not develop the muscle memory to slip head shots much less throw them! (or at least as well as a tournament karate fighter)

~BCP