Avoiding Common TKD Training Mistakes

that's not the student's fault but the instructor's because s/he is the one who either allows the student to test or not.

it might also happen that a certain student knows the forms for the grading, but later forgets them because the instructor maybe pays attention to the forms only before the grading takes place, which is in opinion incorrect.

 

Agreed,I ve seen students belt eager and a master who could not say no.I know sometimes its hard for a school to get students(and have them stay) so they can pay the rent and offord to live.So sometimes they let students have to much say in their own training,for fear that they will walk away.I have also seen students who take their time and work hard.Its like many things in life,you will get what you put into it and ultimatly you are responcible for your own training.A master can only do so much,but the student must do the work.I guess this is another training mistake:thinking all masters have their students best interests at hart.This is the topic of a whole different thread:martial arts and business.

 

I know it was mentioned about stretching too far too fast...but I want to add that stretching without a pre-stretch warm-up is bad too.

Gotta get those hamstrings and quadraceps warmed up but any means. I prefer the knees up jog a few times around the dojo, then I move onto a heels up behind jog a few times. I then do the leg swings while holding onto something. We then do stretching at the beginning of class which is fairly intense, and then after class is the best time to do the intense stretching as your muscles should be nicely warmed up.

I am just recovering from a slightly strained hamstring due to not following my own advice a few weeks back, and trust me..you do not want to do serious damage to the hamstrings so warm them up!!

 

definitely, goes without saying!

 

I only do dynamic strecths before my training(with warm up).I do static at the end of training(find I get a much better stretch and it's a good way to cool down/relax) and also after I run(static).Works for me,have not had a injury since I went this way.

 

Please guys do some basic pre stretching and stretching before doing any training. I really badly injured my groin back last year because I was lazy.

Thanks to leg swings, I can kick above my head no worries without any warm up.

 

Question:

My instructor closed his school, there are no other HTF schools nearby, I am not giving up on Taekwondo, but since I have not been training in an actual class setting I find that my focus on every aspect of the art, is lacking, I feel that I am getting a lazy mindset, and that is the last thing that I want because soon I will be teaching I find that my family is enjoying the fact of having me around more often. What can I do to regain, the mental dicsipline to practice, focus, and not just the fact that I want to instruct more than anything, because that isn't working, I find myself drifting when I practice everday for my certification, and I mess up on a certain part of the form that I am doing at the time, and then when I go back to correct the part that I missed, it messes the rest of the form up. What do I have the pre certification jitters or what?

 

Irritating

I find it Irritating, when particing your one step sparring and the person attacking does not step out in to the position right, it kinda makes you feel, that you are doing your one step all wrong. I have to tell those that do that step to a front stance not into a middle stance. After all if I accidently hit you and kick you, you are going to fall, when executing a proper front stance that is not going to be a problem.

 

Maybe when you are just learning technique this can be a problem; however adaptation to your partner is a key component of developing effective skills. Not everyone is the same and not everyone moves the same or attacks the same. Falling into a pattern of having them step exactly the same each time is just developing an expected response for an expected stimuli. In this instance practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent.

 

re- Irritating

I tend to disagree because if the step is supposed to be kick knee, then kick mid section, or if its arch hand to the throat, and they are not positioned right, you get yelled at by your instructor, because you are not targeting right and its all because your partner is not standing right, or how about this one. A step is written where you have to be positioned right in front of your opponent in order to palm strike them in the face and if their attack stance is not right, you will have to strain alot to get yourself into position, in order to execute properly, but then again I guess i can see your point as well, because outside of class, when and if you get attacked the other person isn't going to be stepping anyway. My point was mainly that it is Irritating. Like as in Oh my gosh , I hate that!!!!!

 

lol i know what you mean that's why i was lucky as i was rising through my belts i had another student the same age as me and we knew exactly how to make each other look good so we passed. Like during sparing we would take turns attacking to show off our moves. But now as i go back to train the younger students i somtimes mess up to see how they react. See if they try to fix what i do or just try to work around it. Since i'm a black belt and they are white and yellow they don't think they can ask me to change what i do. Which is wrong in this case. If sombody is messing up what you are supposed to do then you can ask them to fix it (of course ask nicely to higher belts or enjoy the pain of push ups or whatever punishment you get). If you are going to try and work around it then it is your fault and you should be punished if you mess up as should the other person, considering one steps is two sided. if they aren't steping right maybe ask your instructor to have a talk with them? or ask them after class to fix what they are doing. Kinda harsh that you get introuble for someone elses mistake.. But..yeah nobody is going to step in to punch you and sit there waiting for you to do a one step IRL..that's why sparing is great

 

Hey, I was wondering if any of you could give me some advice.

I have this really annoying problem...I'll be doing my pattern and I concentrate on technique the whole way through, never on power and flow. It came to the point when I realised all I was doing was stepping through the moves. Is this weird??? Or do all green belts go through this "stage"
I found that when I did try to incorporate more power into my blocks and kicks, I got sloppy on technique. Is this a case of not practicing enough? (I train 3 times a week. And 2 days I dedicate to practicing patterns and sparring) Or will power come in time?

 

Just pracitse more.

Dont worry so much on patterns, they arent the be all to end all. Just work on your overal technique, and you will find that it all slots together over time.

 

I think I had a similar problem SabishiiObake, well hopefully had rather than have. I use to always keep tense throughout the pattern. Instead of relaxing in-between the blocks/attacks and only tensing when I carry them out. On retrospect it seems like a bloody obvious thing to do, so it might not be your problem. If it isn't then practice, practice, practice and through that maybe you'll have a eureka moment .

 

I shall practice, practice and PRACTICE! Hopefully I'll have a eureka moment...thanks guys, I was going INSANE!

 

To avoid that monotonous movement throughout your form, try changing up the cadence of your performance.

I read this on the TKD Tutor site and this really improved my forms performance ...

"Sting once said about music. "Great music's as much about the space between the notes as it is about the notes themselves." In Taekwondo: a great pattern is as much about the space between the movements as it is about the movements themselves." http://www.tkdtutor.com/10Patterns/PatternPerformance.htm

 

leg swings?

Are leg swings, what we call "stretch kicks" in our dojang? Essentially a warm up axe kick starting low and working up higher and higher as we get loose?

I'm very interested in stretching, because I'm very tight, and at age 44, getting those round kicks head high isn't too easy for me. Would love to learn more about this.

 

We call them "rising kicks" (performed somewhat like an axe kick but back leg rises from a front stance with leg locked) and we primarily use this kick at the start of our classes as a "stretch kick" .... utilising this dynamic stretch for warming up the lower extremities to the various other kicks.

You should look into Tom Kurz and Stretching Scientifically
http://www.stadion.com/column.html..... as he discusses flexibility problems associated with us aging adults.

Helped me out immensely.

 

That's a good tape. A lot goes into learning to stretch properly. Tom Kurz's stuff will really improve your cold kicking. The effects last quite awhile, too.

 

Thanks for the heads up on Tom Kurz. I went to his website last night and printed off some great info on stretching. I haven't ordered his video yet, but I think I will.

He talks about doing dynamic stretches 2x a day, in the morning before breakfast and again later, so today I did it. Quite a challenge before my coffee!

Anyway, I can see how this will really help me, so I want to thank you again!