New guy!

[alcapone]

Hey guys, I'm new to this site, glad I found it! Like minded people and all!

I took up TKD about 5 months ago, got a grading on Sunday (yellow tag) then another next Saturday (yellow belt), it's all fun and games!!!! I practice WTF style by the way.

Just a quick question, did anyone start competing at yellow belt level? I want to compete as soon as pos. but don't want to get my head taken off by a reverse turning (roundhouse) kick!!!! Is it better to start early, or wait until I get a bit better??

I've never spared against anyone other than my master (who's 5th Dan) so I have no idea what I would be like, just a bit nervous about my ability!

AL

[Helm]

I sparred first at white belt. About 4 months after starting TKD.

My first fight was against a black belt, and he was crap. It was scarry as hell, but I got a few decent hits in. But somehow he won 2-1, when clearly he only landed 1 scoring kick.

Apparently its not good form for a white belt to beat a black belt. But i left with great experience, but unfortuntely a profound sense that TKD compeitions were very very fixed.

[Tosh]

Originally posted by Helm

Apparently its not good form for a white belt to beat a black belt. But i left with great experience, but unfortuntely a profound sense that TKD compeitions were very very fixed.


If I had a pound for every time someone says it's fixed. Remember it's not what you see it's what the refs see! :D

[Saz]

Hi Alcapone, Welcome to the forum :D

I'm not a TKD practioner, but I can say you shouldn't worry about your ability. Even your master was a begineer at some point. Its all a learning process, you win some, you loose some, but its all good.

Good luck with your grading

[KickChick]

Seems to me you can use maybe a bit more experience.
True, martial arts are fun ... but competing is serious and its NOT all fun & games. No being 'clocked' with a strike anywhere is no fun and you need to have more confidence in your ability.

Competitions are quite intimidating to a beginner and yet they are a learning experience at the same time. I suggest you ask your instructor and let him offer his own opinion as to whether you are ready at this stage of your training.

The competitions that I have been to separate participants into belt divisions and rarely do you see a white or gold belt sparring a black belt...

BTW... welcome to the forum! and Good Luck on the grading & the tournament should you decide to enter!!

[Taeho]

We had to wait until we were green belt before we were allowed to spar. The reasoning is that it takes some degree of training to get an individual to a level that they safely participate in this type of "sport".

I know that some TKD organizations start new participants in sparring from day one. I personally feel that it's like hanging a chicken from a clothesline and expecting it to defend itsself from you repeated attacks with a broomstick. IMHO, You need to learn some basics first.

Good luck however in your triaining and welcome to the forum.

TKDshane Ÿ

[Kof_Andy]

I dont agree about sparring in late grade tho. There are pros and con in both, but the sooner you start sparring the better I say. There are those who are born with fighter instinct and knows how to react naturally. Those who wasnt born with that gift should start sparring as soon as they get the chance. Only by sparring you will develop that sense of awareness. You will only get better in sparring if you spar more. Just because you know more forms and kicks, dosent mean you will spar better. It does helps indefinite. No offense, but with my experience. schools that spars in later grades, are usually Mc dojo. Is another way to keep student there longer.:mad:

Theres no minimum rank you have to be inorder to compete. I have kids started going to tournaments when they were a yellow belt at age 4. Although I have to say theres are a lot of politics in local tournaments tho. Sometimes you will end up having your oppoenet's coachs as ring judges, or people in there school as score keepers. Or even with people who dont know the regulation much and end up minusing too much point for deduction. Only nationals are held at proper standards. Just dont take it too serious, if you lose no big deal. If you win not much to gain anyway other than a piece of metal. "Only in defeats where you can truly learn to improve your mistakes.":Angel:

[ratman]

I started tkd wtf after years of watching loads of martial arts movies(years ago)and reading loads of tkd competition books. And on my first day i sparred(my teacher believed in the " everyone spars in my club" motto) and beat up a black belt(who couldnt kick above his head but was really good at blocking....).Was so proud of my self. And the black belt an i became best of friends in the years to come.

[Helm]

Originally posted by Tosh
If I had a pound for every time someone says it's fixed. Remember it's not what you see it's what the refs see! :D

Figure this.
My dad went into the bathroom after my fight, and there was the guy i fought against, with his dad putting cold compress on his bruises on his body and actually said to his son "You were very lucky to win there", several people came over to me afterwards and said that i deserved to win.

The blackbelt then got his ass kicked by a green belt in the next round. :rolleyes:

[djhallib]

I started competing as a yellow stripe.

I am now a yellow belt (gasp!) and have competed twice. I say go for it if you want to. There's not much a chance you'll get hurt and I've never seen a green or under compete against a black belt. (But if the black belt is earned in two years, it could probably just as well be a green belt here without the forms and the fancier kicking) So don't worry about that.

The kicks most frequently used in wtf sparring are usually very "low tech" so you know most already.

You should however train for the tournament if you don't want to feel bad. I was a bit under trained for my first tournament...and believe you me there are few things worse then being incredibly tired, out of breath and unable to muster the energy for a single kick more and having to go 2 more minutes of the first round still!! :) And the other guy not seeming to slow down (went 6-2 if anyone was wondering).

Practicing the kicks/combos you want to use is also a good idea, and I mean practice outside the dojang.

And since I'm on a rant and just in case you don't know, get the smallest body-armor you can wear comfortably, it gives you a smaller area for the opponent to score and easier kicking for you.

Also, wear the forarm protectors just below the elbow. Yes, that is normal but since its often worn on the elbow during practice, to prevent blocking injuries, you might get confused. If you see a kick coming, block with the elbow ;) and counter. Of course, I don't recommend "dirty" tricks designed to in some way hurt your opponent. But this way, he'll think twice about the next kick.

Good luck !!

[flyingblackbelt]

welcome, tell friends, tell relatives i did and man did they just ignore me. Oh well, maybe youll have better luck. About the whole tournament thing, do not participate in a tournament before you watch one. You need to have a feel for whats expected before you enter or you may freeze up.

[47Ronin]

i started competitions and tournaments at 2 weeks into starting as a white belt.
start as early as you can, it will help you learn more about fighting.
my thoughts.

[Taeho]

I will say this...Just because an individual wears a blackbelt, it doesn't make them a good fighter. Some just don't have the disposition.

TKDshane Ÿ

[Silent_Rage]

I have studied Tae Kwon Do for 11 years. I retired from structured training about three years age (I felt the class had gotten too stale). I am a 1st dan black belt and also a certificed instructor through the AMA (American Martial Arts Association). In our association, you begin sparring at yellow belt level, whic requires about 2 months of regular training (Twice a week). I can't imagine a tournament where a yellow belt would ever be paired with a black belt but I do know if it had happened here and the yellow belt won, the black belt should definitely reconsider his training. Early in your training, I recomend focusing on practicing basics and strive for "perfection" of technique. Not that many reach it, its the striving that gets you where you need to be. I have been working on my side kick for 12 years and still feel it severely lacks in technique and power. As for competition, unless you truly feel the need to compete against others, your greatest competetor will always be yourself. Give yourself time to learn and a chance to grow within your art. you will discover for yourself what is right for you. I competed for the first 4 years of training and realized that competitive Tae Kwon Do was fixed, but not in the way described above. The rules and regulations, while used for safety, violated the laws of aggression and self preservation (no kicking below the waist, no grabbing, no excessive contact, etc.) In the tournaments where I did my best to show self control, others were using too much force and not enough skill in order to win.
I'm sorry I'm heavy winded. Just remember, the only person you ever should prove something to is yourself. The rest will come with practice.

[alcapone]

WOW, thanks for all your input, I think most have the same view as myself, start early. This is the same view as my Master, he believes if I start as yellow belt, I can learn from my mistakes by losing rather than learn by getting knocked out which is a lot more likely if fighting a black belt!

I agree I probably need to practice a lot more, I'm obviously not confident in my abilites if I'm asking you guys whether it's a good idea! And I think there's no point in competing unless I have confidence in myself, poisitive mental attitude!!!!!

I passed my yellow tag by the way, 97%!!!!! Now I have.....5 days to improve on every technique and perfect Il Jang for the yellow belt grading on Saturday!!! woops, I forgot about the improving bit when I agreed to do the gradings so close together!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Thanks again guys

AL

[KickChick]

Originally posted by Silent_Rage
I have studied Tae Kwon Do for 11 years. I retired from structured training about three years age (I felt the class had gotten too stale). I am a 1st dan black belt


...when reading this I just had to comment.

Same thing happened to me a few years back. Fortunately I acquired some new goals in my training and our curriculum was modified as our school increased its black belt members. I have since become a 2nd dan and now I find my skills far more challenged .... the way it should be.
Maybe you shouldn't have "given up" so easily Silent Rage... and maybe it is not too late to returned to that "structured" training.

You've expressed many of my views concerning competing Silent Rage... and to alcapone
....Congrats to you and Good Luck On Saturday!!!!!!

[Tosh]

Funny but I also find myself in the same position.

It does not help that there are only a few bbelts in the class to train with. Trying to incorporate some of the TKD "groundwork" this year with some of the advanced class.

Problem is I aint got a "proper" instructor of my own right now!!!

BOOOOOO! :(

[Thomas]

At our school, we do sparring from white belt up, but we run it a bit differently.

Generally white belts spar "no contact, good control"... this is mainly for them to practice footwork and put some of the kicks and punches they've learned to good use without being under pressure of 'losing' (later, they realize that sparring in class is about learning, not beating up your partner)

Usually, yellow belts get to spar with pads in a controlled environment... agin we break them in with structured drills (like the old roundhouse kick - back kick counter) to get them used to contact. Those who have good control get to spar in class but we closely watch the control.

Green and up get the full range of sparring. Keep in mid that we do a lot of slower speed/lighter contact work to develop the skills and techniques that we want to use. Usually at the end of the night, we suit up and spar with the aim of getting a few points on our partner AND to work our defences. We rotate and have differetn ranks/sizes/ages/genders work together for variety. Sparring does NOT have to be competitive and I usually learn more from the slower 'working' sparring.

As for competing, Our school recommends doing a tournament at least once before black belt but preferably once per belt level (yellow, green, blue, red). My first was in the New York State Tournament (State level) in Yellow Belt division... I brought home a bronze in forms and bruises in sparring! It is a big difference to be in a ring with someone determined to beat you. The experience is really good and will affect your mindset. Later tournaments were easier after the first one. Mainly I did them for the experience and to see hopw I compared to similar ranked people. Some I got medals and some I didn't.... but I learned a lot from each one!

[sheslee]

i guess knowing how to fight is one thing, but knowing how to fight taekwondo style is another thing... especially in a competition... i'm personally trained as a fighter, meaning i'm trained to take part in tournaments and to play the game (can't say as much about my self-defense skills though! :P) ... anyways, guess sparring without strong basics has its pros and cons. its bad as you get used to the way you fight before tkd as you've not had the time to master your tkd basics, thus building bad habits which may inhibit u in future... but i guess its good cos sparring is all about experience, the more the better.... however, IMHO, i believe you should have your basics before sparring... (learn to walk before you can run) there's always time to accumilate the experience later :)...

p.s. strong opinion as i hate sparring with juniors cos they just whack (mostly), their kicks go below belt, they kick you everywhere (arms, legs, backs...without thoughts on whether they're scoring or not)... i tend to sustain more injuries with a junior than with a seasoned fighter, cos usually they just aim at the hogu :)

[megk]

I was a yellow belt when I competed in my first tourn. and I was extremely uncertain of my ability. First, if you are competing in a WTF tourn. you will not be fighting a rank higher than you, unless there are not enough entries in your age and rank. I fought a blue belt when i was yellow. I was scared to death but I knew that i had power. I was out of shape in the way endurance so work hard at that aspect. 2min can and does seem like a lifetime when your suckin wind. Second, Jump rope...that seems to help not only with endurance but also with making you light on your feet. I won all three of my matches. I was way less confident then I should have been.

Please do remember that Tournaments are indeed full of politics, at least in the USA. You need to go into it with the attitude that you are going to do the best you can win or lose.

[dfilson]

Well, I wasn't going to post for the reason of not getting a fight started, but I couldn't help myself. Sheslee......ever stop to thing that the juniors you hate fighting so much haven't been conditioned to "score" points. I can't say that I've ever heard of a real attacker making sure his/her blows are hitting in "scoring" locations. Anyway, just my two cents.

[Taeho]

This is where versatility come into play. You can train as a complete MA by concentrating on the sport and the art. You don't have to pick one over the other. The sport and the art will make you a better rounded fighter and martial artist.

We train for both art and competition. It's quite exilerating.

TKDshane Ÿ