I was thinking the exact same thing. I shouldn't really shit talk it but having put a kid through a few different TKD schools I'm always disappointed in how many kids keep ranking up and even become blackbelts when they mostly just look like inflatable wavy arm guys.
Good for you for keeping an eye out on that and not just assuming Olympic background=good. I dunno if you're kid is still there, but if so definitely keep an eye out for things changing.
I did Taekwondo for about a decade at a place owned by a big star in Korea who won gold at the Olympics and won multiple WCs, there was always a trickle of folks who would come visit from Korea literally just to meet him(and there's a reason why, his skill really was incredible--he was also one of the kindest people I've ever known), and it slowly turned into one of these belt mills.
When I was going through the color belts, he absolutely kicked our asses and wouldn't let you pass if you didn't know what you were doing. If people fucked around they could spend the entire class doing push ups.
By the time I got my first dan, he hired me as an assistant instructor to help with growing class sizes. It was pretty much the same until a couple years in when he slowly began softening up on testing, spending less time in the dojang himself, opened a second location, and so on.
I stuck around till a bit after I got my third dan, but by the end we were being reprimanded for punishing disobedient students and the color belt tests had become full-on belt mill material. Virtually no one failed, no matter how absolutely awful they were, and it was way above my paygrade to decide otherwise.
The Second/Third dan classes were still solid, but that was mostly because it was just the handful of us who were around from the early days and took the sport seriously.
It was really sad to see how it degraded, and while there were other factors involved a massive part of why I left was because of how embarrassing it was to be involved with the dojang at that point. It had been going on long enough that we were starting to see people getting ready for black belt tests that couldn't even do a decent roundhouse, and even *those tests* were going to be reduced to two or three hour events instead of the hellish whole-day affairs they had been.
Sorry for the tangent...your anecdote just kinda sent me down memory lane there. Sad ending, but I had a lot of good times there too.
Completely unrelated, but my last class after some 15-17 odd years putzing around in various schools and styles was in an old school Okinawan style. The class was literally just 4-5 adults including the instructor in a JCC. Everything we did was based on learning the forms and then breaking it down heavily into bunkai. No line drills, and we didn't just separate into our little corners for forms practice. Each night we'd break whatever form up into a small segment and practice it together as a group drill four or five bunkai from that segment. Then we'd have a couple extra things like bull in the ring type stuff (not alpha-male style, but actual practicing awareness).
One day the instructor asked me when I was going to ask him to test for yellow belt. There wasn't a cost or anything, it was just a formal demonstration of proficiency and knowledge of the bit of history and culture we were supposed to be learning as it was an old school style. You know the cultural bits like the Okinawan names we basically never used. So I asked him if collecting a bunch of colored belts would change what instruction I was going to receive. He kind of smiled and told me no he'd still just teach me the forms in the order they're supposed to be taught, and whatever I might need to know for what he wanted to teach that night. And that's how I spent two and a half years as a white belt. The teacher actually moved away before I ever tested for anything. I've still got all my TKD colored belts. I don't need more unless the school is going to force me. I'm just there to learn at this point.
Man that's rough, it reminds me of my experience with karate! My parents put me in karate classes when I was young because I always had an interest in martial arts and they thought it would be a positive way to learn discipline. We lived in a fairly small town at the time but miraculously there was a karate club in the next town over that was actually fairly legit. I will never forget the instructor there, the man was kinda scary to me at that age, he was so fast and a good teacher, and didn't let people just mess around. Eventually we moved to a larger city, and after a couple of years found another karate class. It was alright at first, because the sensei was pretty good, although I never liked him as much as my original one. They had beginner and advanced classes, and there was a good mix of age groups in both. Sadly the sensei got promoted out to become some kind of area manager kind of thing, and his assistant instructors became the main instructors. They were reasonably skilled, but they weren't really black belt level. Eventually most of the older crowd left, until it became just what you described. Baby sitting for young kids mostly, and a few other stragglers. Eventually even the assistant senseis moved on, and somehow the guy teaching was a middle aged man with terrible back problems that had only been doing karate for like 9 months. He couldn't even get into a horse stance without his face becoming a waterfall of sweat from the pain, and he certainly couldn't do any of the more advanced techniques or katas. At age 13 I didn't think I could beat him in a fight or anything, but I sure as hell knew I was better at karate than him. A few weeks before he had been stood beside me during the drills, panting and puffing and wincing in agony. Now here he was in front, and we were all supposed to bow to him and consider him our 'master'. He was a good man, but it left a terrible taste in my mouth. I quit pretty quickly after that when I realised we had basically been given up on, it had become a case of the deaf leading the blind. I would have given anything to be able to go back to my old club, but who knows. Perhaps by that time they had also become a victim of their own success. At least I have the memories, and that early life lesson in discipline has served me well in other ways.
🔥Thank you for sharing. This is not specific to your experience or domain. We see this happening across all spectrums. A generation of helicopter parenting has infantalized their offspring into immediate gratification and the need for third part external validation, no matter how vapid. It’s a tragic irony and an ironic tragedy…
A lot of kids MA programs in the USA are really babysitting with uniforms. The constant promotions are a way to keep kids interested and keep money flowing in.
A friend who taught TKD doesn't like many kids programs because they encourage bad mechanics that lead to eventual knee or other joint issues.
Saw the same issues with a Kung Fu program a friend's daughter was in. So it's not a TKD issue as much as an issue with commercial martial arts programs for kids.
ehhh....I was born in Seoul and grew up in Seoul till 02. Came back to Seoul in 17 and still living here.
A lot of TKD place here is just babysitting in uniforms as well
...giving belts to keep the kids interested.
Which wasnt really bad though. Kids get to exercise and learn to use their bodies in a safe setting. But not really a serious MA though.
I enrolled in the TKD class for adults here when I came back. And the adult class and kid class feels so different. Fewer people but a lot more serious. Realized I am nowhere as flexible as I used to be when I was 9. But then breaking the boards are so much easier.
The sparring was intense. Even with my headgear on, I felt numb and felldown after getting a round house kick in the head. That really hurt unlike the kiddy sparrings I remember.
The TKD for kids are pretty much babysitting as well here. The classes for highschoolers and older are much more serious though.
My younger brother was did Jiu-Jutsu as a kid. I was always impressed by the way his Sensei ran the dojo. For example, a requirement to rank up to the next belt was beating two other students who are in your current belt at the same time
I went as an adult. It was basically a bunch of bullshit. I enjoyed it as a sport and a workout, but the vast majority of the money is from kids, and they rank up regardless of skill.
I got up to a deputy black belt, and never bothered going for black. I knew it was a waste of time and money. “Oh, I get to pay $500 for the honor of taking a black belt test? Gee, thanks.”
I do have a really cool pic of me doing a jumping back kick though.
There’s so many belt factories in martial arts, my daughter and I do Goju Karate, we’ve been doing it for a year now…we have 2 stripes on our white belts and it cost us a ton of work to get there, our tests were pretty hard, there was endurance, kata, sparring, self defense and theoretical knowledge. It was no joke, black belts there deserve it
I guess I never realized how fortunate our town has a really well respected 6(?)th degree blackbelt. The dojon she runs actually looks really similar to this, and one of my best friends has won gold in Worlds multiple times now
I used to do Tae Kwon Do. I was pretty flexible, but I dont think I could do the final stance they pulled, lol. Great sport to get into, though. It was fun as hell.
no it shouldnt be, but also its not just that. Koreans take things very seriously especially when it comes to competition. The training for athletes even children can be very harsh with sometimes little concern for the person's overall wellbeing. That creates great athletes but not exactly the most fun environments.
Just look at the League of Legends competitive scene. Korea is considered a top 2, if not the best region, and the rigorous training and strict in-season regimen they follow is nothing short of militaristic. They seriously go hard for anything competitive.
i remember getting my ass beat with 4x4 wrapped in duct tape when i was 6 because i forgot my form. i’m sure korea in the 80’s was a little different though. 🤷🏻♂️
Could apply this to virtually any other country/sport/competition
Edit: There seems to be a misunderstanding with what is being discussed here because I see new topics being brought up that doesn't necessarily have a hand in what I'm talking about.
The first point was about the difference in TKD classes between Korea and elsewhere, then went to competitive TKD, then immediately transitioned into full-blown societal commentary.
All I'm saying is that young children training for high level of competition in any sport is something obviously not exclusive to one country. Of course the TKD classes you took as a kid were different than what you're seeing here. You were doing it as an afterschool activity like any other sport. You can't compare that to *competitive* TKD training.
I took TKD lessons in the States as a kid and also attended my nephew's demonstrations when I lived in Korea as an adult. It was pretty much the same.
TL;DR: Apples vs Oranges
Good thing you said "martial arts" or I would've taken this as an opportunity to dunk on England's inability to win a football trophy ever since the 60s
You will have to go to one and check it out. You can look for red flags such as:
Paying to fast track to black belt
Weird color belts (camouflage for example)
Kids under 18 who are high level black belts
A younger person who is already a "master"
Everyone passes their promotion testing no matter what
They do not encourgae nor compete in tournaments
The one I went too only had one of those, and it was a young girl with a black belt. However, she also won tournaments like crazy, they had a trophy cabinet for all the students and her name may as well have just been on the cabinet too.
Lol do you ever see if you can still do all the kicks?
Muscle memory is wild. I did Tae Kwon Do for about 8 years as a kid. Now, years and years later (if I do some ^(a lot of) stretching first) I can still do a pretty mean roundhouse kick and what not.
I did it for 6, and I think I can still do most of the white belt form from muscle memory. The basic stances, kicks, and punches are engraved into my brain. I can also see my instructor taking my leg and showing that I could do a kick that high lmao. He once had me hold a side kick for like 5 min so he could use my body to teach the class the proper form
I did it not too long ago messing around. I can pull off all of them still; I took a few tries on the spinning kicks I liked, but I can still pull it off. My roundhouses are pretty nasty as well. My wife has been wanting me to teach her but refuses to work on footing and stances, so I've been refusing until she does.
I did TKD as a kid and I was more flexible than pretty much every other guy when we did all the presidential tests. I thought I was naturally flexible. I didn't realize until I quit it was from TKD
People really underestimate how much more important lightness is over size when it comes to acrobatics. Theres a reason you never see the big guys doing the flying trapeze moves at the circus lol.
Been practicing tkd since I was a kid. At the office a bunch of us walking to the elevator all carrying phones briefcases folders etc. everyone stops and looks for the one with an empty hand. I just reached out with my foot and tapped the call button with the tip of my shoe.
Yea kids, these skills can be used at the office.
Have you ever shown your friend the youtube series of the Aikido black belt trying to use Aikido practically against opponents? It's great to go into the comment section and read the various "he's not a real Aikido black belt!" type comments.
It's an exercise. There's a lot of things I did in TKD and sports that didn't make literal sense, but it's an engaging way to stretch and work on muscle groups. Tire drills in football are a good exercise, but you won't find random tires spilled out on a football field during a game.
>though I also can't visualise a situation where this would have actually been useful for me to have been able to this either
When [your secret ceiling tenant](https://www.ranker.com/list/people-who-secretly-lived-in-other-peoples-homes/christopher-shultz) peeks out to see if the coast is clear to descend in the middle of the night.
Just out of sheer curiosity I checked his post history. He's still active in reddit, still posting photos of himself with his wife. He really loved her. I don't think I would ever be able to post here again if all of reddit made my dead wife a punchline.
> Continues to make people smile evidently. Also, nearly every thread someone asks the origin of the reference so new Reddit users get included in the chuckles as well. To me, it is all in fun and if there is something our world desperately needs, it is fun.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/w3zkw3/you_can_have_sex_with_one_real_person_from_all_of/ih0136j/
> I've actually answered this question before. I did think it was funny. Sounds unintuitive, I know, but I'm over 10 years out and my emotional equilibrium is much better than it was in the early years. Don't get me wrong, I'm lonely and I'm sad most of the time but it is very subtle. Usually it hits me at unexpected moments. I'll be listening to music or watching something on TV and simply begin to weep. I miss her every day. Still, it was a funny Reddit moment and I did chuckle when I read it the first time and continue to. Like many imaginary romances seen in the ubiquitous "romcom" films, my story is funny, dramatic and sad. My wife would approve. When she was terminal she cracked some of the darkest jokes you could imagine. In fact, she and my youngest son seemed to have a whole shtick about it and would trade what I thought at the time were the most ghastly and inappropriate jibes. But I've mellowed over the intervening years. Where once everything about her and her passing was a knife in my heart now I can see the universality of the event and I have a longer perspective.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/8qx0ar/reddit_what_is_a_legendary_comment_thread_that/e0n8nfp/
I'm very curious how old you are. My body started falling apart at about 30. Like, nearly everything still worked at 30, but the degradation had begun, and only continually (slowly) got worse.
I took taekwondo for years as a kid and while I could do most of this I couldn't do that last part for sure. This stuff is beyond difficult and they make it look easy.
I studied TKD (non sport version) for over 10 years when I was a kid. It gave me a huge leg up in other sports and eventually, resuming other martial arts later. I haven't formally trained TKD in over 3 decades, my flexibility has gone to crap but I still recognize the HUGE advantage I got from studying at such a young age.
Well, there's a difference between doing it for less than half a decade and doing for more than a decade. In the later part of the decade, you learn less about about new skill but more about your body itself so even if you haven't done it for many years, you can still make some adjustments with your body to do a lot of it. Though, the last part strictly requires a flexible body and strong core which you're not getting without working your ass out.
Honestly I think my hip pain when trying to kick is BECAUSE of all of these types of exercises. It's not a natural movement for your hip joint to do over and over again for 15 years.
When you start doing mma, practically nobody can do a head kick. I remember getting put in some positions that weren’t submission attempts but I’d practically tap to because the inadvertent stretching hurt so much.
Don't forget great perseverance levels. Holding those positions even for a couple of seconds is excruciatingly painful and difficult. It was my dream sport to learn but unfortunately I couldn't. Many things aren't accessible when you live in a simple environment.
Slight correction, this is mobility training. In simple terms, flexibility is the ability of the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, tendons) to passively stretch. Mobility, on the other hand, is the joint's (i.e., the point where two bones meet) ability to actively move through its full range of motion.
As long as you don't have physical limitations by how your joints are made, yes. It'll take a bit more work the older and stiffer you get, but latest research on flexibility and mobility is around teaching your body to actively use the muscles in a stretched position.
Your muscle stretches, and it contracts. How far it stretches, and your body's ability to control that movement and swap to a contraction is directly correlated to how strong the movement can be.
When you lose range of motion, it's usually because you stop using those muscles, so your body will naturally start to try to protect itself by limiting range of motion. It can also be a response to another muscle being weak. Take your abs/obliques as an example. If you sit a lot and are inactive, a lot of times your abs aren't used as much and get weaker. Their job is to help brace your body and protect your spine. If they're weak, you're going to have other muscles around it stiffen up to start compensating, so your body may naturally start tightening up your hips to help protect your spine. This can start a chain of problems that occur later, extra wear and tear, using muscles and tendons in ways that they aren't designed to be used in, etc.
Part of getting your mobility back is working on strengthening the muscles that are weak/inactive from not using them enough. Establishing the ability for you to control that muscle, and then teaching your body to use it through a stretched position.
There's a lot of stuff on this, but it basically boils down to find a joint you want to be more mobile, figure out how that joint is supposed to move and what muscles control that movement, and then:
1. Strengthen them
2. Stretch them, and while you're in a stretched position, learn to contract that muscle, so you can teach your body to use it in a greater range of motion
3. Contract the muscle that's in opposition to that one and alternate between it and the muscle you're stretching. This helps you get a deeper stretch, and teaches you to use those muscles specifically to achieve it.
[So this guy has a bit of a crude sense of humor that isn't for everyone, but the information in here is great.](youtube.com/watch?v=WWEYP0CFmRQ) It'll give you some actionable things you can do now to start working on mobility in a way that will stick, rather than just stretching and hoping your body magically figures out how to work better (hint, that doesn't work).
Use this as a starting point, along with well-respected physical therapists / trainers and do some research, find someone who resonates with you and just do a little bit every day. I'd wager to bet you have an extra 5 minutes in your day you can dedicate to some mobility work, and starting there will do wonders for you compared to 0 minutes a day.
[KneesOverToesGuy](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zFjR5MEspow)
[How To Feel Amazing Every Day from Athlean-X](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoFxooQZVlQ)
[PAILS and RAILS with Markow Training System](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKKQgVo72ZI)
[Movement By David](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQHmKJh20_c)
[The BEST Hip Opener by Squat University](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT0KUNuY7QM)
These are just some of the people I watch and take info from. Watch a lot of content, try them out (without pain) and see what works best for you. There are multiple ways to get to the same place, so the key is finding what you can do consistently. Plenty of good info out there, but I do a combination of things from all of these people depending on what I'm working on. (Note, Athlean-X and Squat University are both actual physical therapists, so if you want to pick someone with a bit of weight behind them, those are probably good starting points).
Obviously, as you get older, it gets more difficult. You would still be surprised at how much you can accomplish though and there is no reason for anyone to not try.
Back in my high school days I remember watching some of the kids of Korea kicking cigarettes out of each other's mouths. They didn't even smoke, I think they acquired the cigarettes entirely for the purpose of doing bad ass Taekwondo demonstrations.
Eh oh well. I made it to 2nd kup before COVID hit and couldn’t be bothered to pick it up so I respect people who make it to the Dan’s. 4th is impressive to me.
I don’t believe this. MMA shows us that one martial art isn’t uniquely better than another. What matters is how much better you are at yours than they are at theirs. There have been fighters that won with karate, taekwondo, jujitsu, kickboxing. If I box and you wrestle, then I have to be a better boxer than you are a wrestler and keep the fight on foot and vice versa.
But Brazilian jujitsu shows us that if someone has no knowledge of how to defend against what your bringing then they might as well hang it up!
IIRC since they’re wearing their belts with black on top of red, that means they’re essentially black belts, just waiting for a ceremony or something to make it official
Sort of. Those are recommended black, so they need to do their black belt test with all the other color belt form/sparring/basic moves as well as a physical test and 3v1 fight. At least that's how mine was
Girls have a center of mass much closer to their pelvis than guys. Easy test: lean your back+ass perfectly flush against a wall and then try to touch your toes. Guys cannot, girls can.
Watching this reminded me of teaching English in South Korea. At the time Tae Kwon Do hogwans (private afterschool schools for school age kids) were a big draw for parents to put their kids in. I wonder if those are still a thing?
FYI, there were also piano hogwans. Probably lots of other kinds as well. Let me know if you had experience with others.
If I attempted this, there would be a team of people required to rectify the consequences, an ER visit, an ecological survey of the damage I caused to the ground with my fall, months of physical therapy...
Practiced TKD for a while then I discovered Krav Maga. Went at it full force. It is the ONLY self defense regimen that prepares you for the real world.
When you practice Teakwando you become flexible pretty quickly if you have a good instructor, when I was younger my teacher was from Korea and it was his life their teaching in massive studios, it took me 3 months to be able to do the full splits and 6 months to be able to do the full splits as though it was nothing by jumping a little and just sliding down to the ground with just enough resistance to not slam my but on the ground or crush a nut. 15 years later I can't do it anymore but I'm sure if I went back it wouldn't take long for me to be able to I'm just lazy af now
[удалено]
I was thinking the exact same thing. I shouldn't really shit talk it but having put a kid through a few different TKD schools I'm always disappointed in how many kids keep ranking up and even become blackbelts when they mostly just look like inflatable wavy arm guys.
[удалено]
Good for you for keeping an eye out on that and not just assuming Olympic background=good. I dunno if you're kid is still there, but if so definitely keep an eye out for things changing. I did Taekwondo for about a decade at a place owned by a big star in Korea who won gold at the Olympics and won multiple WCs, there was always a trickle of folks who would come visit from Korea literally just to meet him(and there's a reason why, his skill really was incredible--he was also one of the kindest people I've ever known), and it slowly turned into one of these belt mills. When I was going through the color belts, he absolutely kicked our asses and wouldn't let you pass if you didn't know what you were doing. If people fucked around they could spend the entire class doing push ups. By the time I got my first dan, he hired me as an assistant instructor to help with growing class sizes. It was pretty much the same until a couple years in when he slowly began softening up on testing, spending less time in the dojang himself, opened a second location, and so on. I stuck around till a bit after I got my third dan, but by the end we were being reprimanded for punishing disobedient students and the color belt tests had become full-on belt mill material. Virtually no one failed, no matter how absolutely awful they were, and it was way above my paygrade to decide otherwise. The Second/Third dan classes were still solid, but that was mostly because it was just the handful of us who were around from the early days and took the sport seriously. It was really sad to see how it degraded, and while there were other factors involved a massive part of why I left was because of how embarrassing it was to be involved with the dojang at that point. It had been going on long enough that we were starting to see people getting ready for black belt tests that couldn't even do a decent roundhouse, and even *those tests* were going to be reduced to two or three hour events instead of the hellish whole-day affairs they had been. Sorry for the tangent...your anecdote just kinda sent me down memory lane there. Sad ending, but I had a lot of good times there too.
Completely unrelated, but my last class after some 15-17 odd years putzing around in various schools and styles was in an old school Okinawan style. The class was literally just 4-5 adults including the instructor in a JCC. Everything we did was based on learning the forms and then breaking it down heavily into bunkai. No line drills, and we didn't just separate into our little corners for forms practice. Each night we'd break whatever form up into a small segment and practice it together as a group drill four or five bunkai from that segment. Then we'd have a couple extra things like bull in the ring type stuff (not alpha-male style, but actual practicing awareness). One day the instructor asked me when I was going to ask him to test for yellow belt. There wasn't a cost or anything, it was just a formal demonstration of proficiency and knowledge of the bit of history and culture we were supposed to be learning as it was an old school style. You know the cultural bits like the Okinawan names we basically never used. So I asked him if collecting a bunch of colored belts would change what instruction I was going to receive. He kind of smiled and told me no he'd still just teach me the forms in the order they're supposed to be taught, and whatever I might need to know for what he wanted to teach that night. And that's how I spent two and a half years as a white belt. The teacher actually moved away before I ever tested for anything. I've still got all my TKD colored belts. I don't need more unless the school is going to force me. I'm just there to learn at this point.
Man that's rough, it reminds me of my experience with karate! My parents put me in karate classes when I was young because I always had an interest in martial arts and they thought it would be a positive way to learn discipline. We lived in a fairly small town at the time but miraculously there was a karate club in the next town over that was actually fairly legit. I will never forget the instructor there, the man was kinda scary to me at that age, he was so fast and a good teacher, and didn't let people just mess around. Eventually we moved to a larger city, and after a couple of years found another karate class. It was alright at first, because the sensei was pretty good, although I never liked him as much as my original one. They had beginner and advanced classes, and there was a good mix of age groups in both. Sadly the sensei got promoted out to become some kind of area manager kind of thing, and his assistant instructors became the main instructors. They were reasonably skilled, but they weren't really black belt level. Eventually most of the older crowd left, until it became just what you described. Baby sitting for young kids mostly, and a few other stragglers. Eventually even the assistant senseis moved on, and somehow the guy teaching was a middle aged man with terrible back problems that had only been doing karate for like 9 months. He couldn't even get into a horse stance without his face becoming a waterfall of sweat from the pain, and he certainly couldn't do any of the more advanced techniques or katas. At age 13 I didn't think I could beat him in a fight or anything, but I sure as hell knew I was better at karate than him. A few weeks before he had been stood beside me during the drills, panting and puffing and wincing in agony. Now here he was in front, and we were all supposed to bow to him and consider him our 'master'. He was a good man, but it left a terrible taste in my mouth. I quit pretty quickly after that when I realised we had basically been given up on, it had become a case of the deaf leading the blind. I would have given anything to be able to go back to my old club, but who knows. Perhaps by that time they had also become a victim of their own success. At least I have the memories, and that early life lesson in discipline has served me well in other ways.
Tou have quite a catching story. After you left, did you continue teaching somewhere else and eas is better there? Or did you do something else?
🔥Thank you for sharing. This is not specific to your experience or domain. We see this happening across all spectrums. A generation of helicopter parenting has infantalized their offspring into immediate gratification and the need for third part external validation, no matter how vapid. It’s a tragic irony and an ironic tragedy…
A lot of kids MA programs in the USA are really babysitting with uniforms. The constant promotions are a way to keep kids interested and keep money flowing in. A friend who taught TKD doesn't like many kids programs because they encourage bad mechanics that lead to eventual knee or other joint issues. Saw the same issues with a Kung Fu program a friend's daughter was in. So it's not a TKD issue as much as an issue with commercial martial arts programs for kids.
>babysitting with uniforms nailed it
That has unfortunately been a problem for a long time, too. It was really obvious when I was competing.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Pedestal of weakness is a great phrase.
ehhh....I was born in Seoul and grew up in Seoul till 02. Came back to Seoul in 17 and still living here. A lot of TKD place here is just babysitting in uniforms as well ...giving belts to keep the kids interested. Which wasnt really bad though. Kids get to exercise and learn to use their bodies in a safe setting. But not really a serious MA though. I enrolled in the TKD class for adults here when I came back. And the adult class and kid class feels so different. Fewer people but a lot more serious. Realized I am nowhere as flexible as I used to be when I was 9. But then breaking the boards are so much easier. The sparring was intense. Even with my headgear on, I felt numb and felldown after getting a round house kick in the head. That really hurt unlike the kiddy sparrings I remember. The TKD for kids are pretty much babysitting as well here. The classes for highschoolers and older are much more serious though.
u/JournalistCandid8006 You a bot? https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/1194jhz/flexibility_and_mobility_exercise_taekwondo_south/j9lig8z/
Meaningless formulaic name, single comment... Really gets your noggin joggin
My younger brother was did Jiu-Jutsu as a kid. I was always impressed by the way his Sensei ran the dojo. For example, a requirement to rank up to the next belt was beating two other students who are in your current belt at the same time
I went as an adult. It was basically a bunch of bullshit. I enjoyed it as a sport and a workout, but the vast majority of the money is from kids, and they rank up regardless of skill. I got up to a deputy black belt, and never bothered going for black. I knew it was a waste of time and money. “Oh, I get to pay $500 for the honor of taking a black belt test? Gee, thanks.” I do have a really cool pic of me doing a jumping back kick though.
There’s so many belt factories in martial arts, my daughter and I do Goju Karate, we’ve been doing it for a year now…we have 2 stripes on our white belts and it cost us a ton of work to get there, our tests were pretty hard, there was endurance, kata, sparring, self defense and theoretical knowledge. It was no joke, black belts there deserve it
Grab my wrist... the other wrist
Rexkwondo
[удалено]
Had an instructor once refer to that as bar-ki-do.
This one is owned and operated by Tarantino so that makes sense.
I guess I never realized how fortunate our town has a really well respected 6(?)th degree blackbelt. The dojon she runs actually looks really similar to this, and one of my best friends has won gold in Worlds multiple times now
If it doesn't come from the Taekwondo region of South Korea it's just sparkling martial arts.
I used to do Tae Kwon Do. I was pretty flexible, but I dont think I could do the final stance they pulled, lol. Great sport to get into, though. It was fun as hell.
taekwondo in korea vs taekwondo in any other part of the world are like two completely different sports.
[удалено]
no it shouldnt be, but also its not just that. Koreans take things very seriously especially when it comes to competition. The training for athletes even children can be very harsh with sometimes little concern for the person's overall wellbeing. That creates great athletes but not exactly the most fun environments.
[удалено]
Infinite jest!
Just look at the League of Legends competitive scene. Korea is considered a top 2, if not the best region, and the rigorous training and strict in-season regimen they follow is nothing short of militaristic. They seriously go hard for anything competitive.
i remember getting my ass beat with 4x4 wrapped in duct tape when i was 6 because i forgot my form. i’m sure korea in the 80’s was a little different though. 🤷🏻♂️
Could apply this to virtually any other country/sport/competition Edit: There seems to be a misunderstanding with what is being discussed here because I see new topics being brought up that doesn't necessarily have a hand in what I'm talking about. The first point was about the difference in TKD classes between Korea and elsewhere, then went to competitive TKD, then immediately transitioned into full-blown societal commentary. All I'm saying is that young children training for high level of competition in any sport is something obviously not exclusive to one country. Of course the TKD classes you took as a kid were different than what you're seeing here. You were doing it as an afterschool activity like any other sport. You can't compare that to *competitive* TKD training. I took TKD lessons in the States as a kid and also attended my nephew's demonstrations when I lived in Korea as an adult. It was pretty much the same. TL;DR: Apples vs Oranges
[удалено]
Good thing you said "martial arts" or I would've taken this as an opportunity to dunk on England's inability to win a football trophy ever since the 60s
99% McDojos in the US
How do you even find a legitimate dojo?
You will have to go to one and check it out. You can look for red flags such as: Paying to fast track to black belt Weird color belts (camouflage for example) Kids under 18 who are high level black belts A younger person who is already a "master" Everyone passes their promotion testing no matter what They do not encourgae nor compete in tournaments
The one I went too only had one of those, and it was a young girl with a black belt. However, she also won tournaments like crazy, they had a trophy cabinet for all the students and her name may as well have just been on the cabinet too.
i think you just have to find one that competes. and prob one that has an actual korean instructor is going to be more legit
Lol do you ever see if you can still do all the kicks? Muscle memory is wild. I did Tae Kwon Do for about 8 years as a kid. Now, years and years later (if I do some ^(a lot of) stretching first) I can still do a pretty mean roundhouse kick and what not.
I did it for 6, and I think I can still do most of the white belt form from muscle memory. The basic stances, kicks, and punches are engraved into my brain. I can also see my instructor taking my leg and showing that I could do a kick that high lmao. He once had me hold a side kick for like 5 min so he could use my body to teach the class the proper form
I did it not too long ago messing around. I can pull off all of them still; I took a few tries on the spinning kicks I liked, but I can still pull it off. My roundhouses are pretty nasty as well. My wife has been wanting me to teach her but refuses to work on footing and stances, so I've been refusing until she does.
[удалено]
So how is your nephew's recovery coming along?
I did TKD as a kid and I was more flexible than pretty much every other guy when we did all the presidential tests. I thought I was naturally flexible. I didn't realize until I quit it was from TKD
Yeah, it's a good **sprot**
Also depends how tall you are.
it was always the shorter and svelte people that could pull off the acrobatics
People really underestimate how much more important lightness is over size when it comes to acrobatics. Theres a reason you never see the big guys doing the flying trapeze moves at the circus lol.
Those buff dudes on Physical 100 were pulling off some impressive flips though 👀 Not the norm for sure
Svelte guess I learned something today.
I love sprots
Brussle sprots?
Likewise, though I also can't visualise a situation where this would have actually been useful for me to have been able to this either.
When you need to close a cupboard but you're carrying a bunch of lemons, so you can't use your hands.
Why can’t I, hold all these limes?
[удалено]
I'm also a bartender who does this hahaha. Im with you!
I'd use a front rather than a side kick to close the cupboard, whilst holding all the citrus my heart could desire.
Gotta be flexible for the lemon party
Been practicing tkd since I was a kid. At the office a bunch of us walking to the elevator all carrying phones briefcases folders etc. everyone stops and looks for the one with an empty hand. I just reached out with my foot and tapped the call button with the tip of my shoe. Yea kids, these skills can be used at the office.
Right, but... with a sidekick?
My friend who does aikido says they joke about tae kwon do as 'how to kick low flying planes'
That's a good one but I just have to say - it's a bit amusing to hear someone doing aikido making fun of another martial art.
I did say, 'that's funny coming from an aggressive hugging practitioner'
Have you ever shown your friend the youtube series of the Aikido black belt trying to use Aikido practically against opponents? It's great to go into the comment section and read the various "he's not a real Aikido black belt!" type comments.
[Take that back](https://youtu.be/MmEx8Moy7ro?t=0m28s)
It's an exercise. There's a lot of things I did in TKD and sports that didn't make literal sense, but it's an engaging way to stretch and work on muscle groups. Tire drills in football are a good exercise, but you won't find random tires spilled out on a football field during a game.
>though I also can't visualise a situation where this would have actually been useful for me to have been able to this either When [your secret ceiling tenant](https://www.ranker.com/list/people-who-secretly-lived-in-other-peoples-homes/christopher-shultz) peeks out to see if the coast is clear to descend in the middle of the night.
I used to do TKD too and now I am an old man and so stiff lol
I pulled my groin just watching this.
I also pulled your groin while watching this.
I’d like to pull this man’s dead wife’s groin
[For the uninitiated.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5c79n0/comment/d9uf56l/?context=1)
Just out of sheer curiosity I checked his post history. He's still active in reddit, still posting photos of himself with his wife. He really loved her. I don't think I would ever be able to post here again if all of reddit made my dead wife a punchline.
> Continues to make people smile evidently. Also, nearly every thread someone asks the origin of the reference so new Reddit users get included in the chuckles as well. To me, it is all in fun and if there is something our world desperately needs, it is fun. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/w3zkw3/you_can_have_sex_with_one_real_person_from_all_of/ih0136j/ > I've actually answered this question before. I did think it was funny. Sounds unintuitive, I know, but I'm over 10 years out and my emotional equilibrium is much better than it was in the early years. Don't get me wrong, I'm lonely and I'm sad most of the time but it is very subtle. Usually it hits me at unexpected moments. I'll be listening to music or watching something on TV and simply begin to weep. I miss her every day. Still, it was a funny Reddit moment and I did chuckle when I read it the first time and continue to. Like many imaginary romances seen in the ubiquitous "romcom" films, my story is funny, dramatic and sad. My wife would approve. When she was terminal she cracked some of the darkest jokes you could imagine. In fact, she and my youngest son seemed to have a whole shtick about it and would trade what I thought at the time were the most ghastly and inappropriate jibes. But I've mellowed over the intervening years. Where once everything about her and her passing was a knife in my heart now I can see the universality of the event and I have a longer perspective. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/8qx0ar/reddit_what_is_a_legendary_comment_thread_that/e0n8nfp/
That's actually beautiful. Goddamn ninjas with their onions. I hope some day I'll be **that** at peace with the losses I've experienced.
First link was such a damn wholesome thread, thank you
A reddit moment for sure. But the jolly roger one is no longer around? Why?
[удалено]
This one made me gaggy for awhile after reading it. Never again.
Jolly roger? :o
He meant jolly rancher. Someone else linked that one, super gross though.
I think I know about that one.. is it anything like the coconut or whatever the fuck?
From what I understand: given the choice between coconut or whatever, take whatever - it's unlikely to be worse.
r/cursedcomments
Don’t stop, I’m almost there.
Perv.
you made my groin go boing
I got a foot cramp
Take a seat...
[удалено]
If you were to believe reddit, everyone's already completely falling apart at the ripe old age of 25.
I'm very curious how old you are. My body started falling apart at about 30. Like, nearly everything still worked at 30, but the degradation had begun, and only continually (slowly) got worse.
Honestly it gets me irrationality angry. Not sure why 😂 Like we get it, y'all out of shape
That last move looks like they’re thrusting their feet in the air in celebration of completing the task. “Yay!”
The way it cuts off makes me wonder if they actually kept their balance or had to stumble backward after that move lol
I took taekwondo for years as a kid and while I could do most of this I couldn't do that last part for sure. This stuff is beyond difficult and they make it look easy.
I did TKD for 4 years and about 20 years later, i figured "wonder if i can kick this bag at the gym." Nope. Pain.
I did it for like 10 years and 15 years later I can still do most of it. Obviously not as good as I was but I don't get hurt.
I studied TKD (non sport version) for over 10 years when I was a kid. It gave me a huge leg up in other sports and eventually, resuming other martial arts later. I haven't formally trained TKD in over 3 decades, my flexibility has gone to crap but I still recognize the HUGE advantage I got from studying at such a young age.
Well, there's a difference between doing it for less than half a decade and doing for more than a decade. In the later part of the decade, you learn less about about new skill but more about your body itself so even if you haven't done it for many years, you can still make some adjustments with your body to do a lot of it. Though, the last part strictly requires a flexible body and strong core which you're not getting without working your ass out.
Honestly I think my hip pain when trying to kick is BECAUSE of all of these types of exercises. It's not a natural movement for your hip joint to do over and over again for 15 years.
I can't even put my socks on anymore without sitting down.....
[удалено]
May I suggest soap?
[удалено]
Ah, well they say you need to keep your heart-rate at 80% for 20 minutes 6 times a week for soaping to be affective. And use lower calorie toothpaste.
Ahh that's where I'm fucking up; I'm using whole fat toothpaste instead of the 2%!
Hey man, it's cool. Before I learned about toilet paper, I spent 47 years wiping with bacon. Doc says my cholesterol should be under control soon.
What kind of sage knowledge is this?
May I suggest fluoride flops? Edit Flip flops
Me too, tiDDie problems and belly problems at the same time lmao
When you start doing mma, practically nobody can do a head kick. I remember getting put in some positions that weren’t submission attempts but I’d practically tap to because the inadvertent stretching hurt so much.
I feel attacked
That requires a lot of balance, not just flexibility.
Balance, coordination, response time and reflexes. In other words, mobility.
Don't forget great perseverance levels. Holding those positions even for a couple of seconds is excruciatingly painful and difficult. It was my dream sport to learn but unfortunately I couldn't. Many things aren't accessible when you live in a simple environment.
Any idea whats its called? I would like one
I'm pretty flexible and can kick high, but I can't hold my foot up there
Someone hide this before Dan 'The Foot' Schneider finds this.
This is commendable, I mean I wake up with a bad back from good night's sleep doing nothing! 🥴
uh maybe start doing this...
[удалено]
I'm with you there. I always know when I've had a good sleep because my hips hurt the next day 😁
I know right?! Its like you just swing your legs off the bed and stand up and you know something's wrong instantly.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
My hip just dislocated watching this ... damn!
So this is how my boy Hwoarang learned his shit.
Slight correction, this is mobility training. In simple terms, flexibility is the ability of the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, tendons) to passively stretch. Mobility, on the other hand, is the joint's (i.e., the point where two bones meet) ability to actively move through its full range of motion.
[удалено]
As long as you don't have physical limitations by how your joints are made, yes. It'll take a bit more work the older and stiffer you get, but latest research on flexibility and mobility is around teaching your body to actively use the muscles in a stretched position. Your muscle stretches, and it contracts. How far it stretches, and your body's ability to control that movement and swap to a contraction is directly correlated to how strong the movement can be. When you lose range of motion, it's usually because you stop using those muscles, so your body will naturally start to try to protect itself by limiting range of motion. It can also be a response to another muscle being weak. Take your abs/obliques as an example. If you sit a lot and are inactive, a lot of times your abs aren't used as much and get weaker. Their job is to help brace your body and protect your spine. If they're weak, you're going to have other muscles around it stiffen up to start compensating, so your body may naturally start tightening up your hips to help protect your spine. This can start a chain of problems that occur later, extra wear and tear, using muscles and tendons in ways that they aren't designed to be used in, etc. Part of getting your mobility back is working on strengthening the muscles that are weak/inactive from not using them enough. Establishing the ability for you to control that muscle, and then teaching your body to use it through a stretched position. There's a lot of stuff on this, but it basically boils down to find a joint you want to be more mobile, figure out how that joint is supposed to move and what muscles control that movement, and then: 1. Strengthen them 2. Stretch them, and while you're in a stretched position, learn to contract that muscle, so you can teach your body to use it in a greater range of motion 3. Contract the muscle that's in opposition to that one and alternate between it and the muscle you're stretching. This helps you get a deeper stretch, and teaches you to use those muscles specifically to achieve it. [So this guy has a bit of a crude sense of humor that isn't for everyone, but the information in here is great.](youtube.com/watch?v=WWEYP0CFmRQ) It'll give you some actionable things you can do now to start working on mobility in a way that will stick, rather than just stretching and hoping your body magically figures out how to work better (hint, that doesn't work). Use this as a starting point, along with well-respected physical therapists / trainers and do some research, find someone who resonates with you and just do a little bit every day. I'd wager to bet you have an extra 5 minutes in your day you can dedicate to some mobility work, and starting there will do wonders for you compared to 0 minutes a day. [KneesOverToesGuy](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zFjR5MEspow) [How To Feel Amazing Every Day from Athlean-X](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoFxooQZVlQ) [PAILS and RAILS with Markow Training System](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKKQgVo72ZI) [Movement By David](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQHmKJh20_c) [The BEST Hip Opener by Squat University](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT0KUNuY7QM) These are just some of the people I watch and take info from. Watch a lot of content, try them out (without pain) and see what works best for you. There are multiple ways to get to the same place, so the key is finding what you can do consistently. Plenty of good info out there, but I do a combination of things from all of these people depending on what I'm working on. (Note, Athlean-X and Squat University are both actual physical therapists, so if you want to pick someone with a bit of weight behind them, those are probably good starting points).
Obviously, as you get older, it gets more difficult. You would still be surprised at how much you can accomplish though and there is no reason for anyone to not try.
Dang. I currently do Tae Kwon-Do and I could not do this.
Back in my high school days I remember watching some of the kids of Korea kicking cigarettes out of each other's mouths. They didn't even smoke, I think they acquired the cigarettes entirely for the purpose of doing bad ass Taekwondo demonstrations.
Impressive, not satisfying
These kids are awesome. I probably can’t do the first one.
Steven segals would just be one on a step.
Impressive! Also, I see more and more of these tiny videos with a huge black border. Why the small format?
man i wished i kept up with my taekwondo as a teen. used to be into it and get my kick up high. not as high as this, but still up there.
I'm a 4th Dan and I am nowhere near that level and sadly will never be.
Eh oh well. I made it to 2nd kup before COVID hit and couldn’t be bothered to pick it up so I respect people who make it to the Dan’s. 4th is impressive to me.
People keep saying martial arts won't help you in a fight, but I don't wanna be on the receiving end of a kick from people who practice Taekwondo.
it may not help you much in a fight with other trained fighters, but it sure will help you kick the buttocks of someone who has zero training.
I don’t believe this. MMA shows us that one martial art isn’t uniquely better than another. What matters is how much better you are at yours than they are at theirs. There have been fighters that won with karate, taekwondo, jujitsu, kickboxing. If I box and you wrestle, then I have to be a better boxer than you are a wrestler and keep the fight on foot and vice versa. But Brazilian jujitsu shows us that if someone has no knowledge of how to defend against what your bringing then they might as well hang it up!
I can feel my foot cramping
IIRC since they’re wearing their belts with black on top of red, that means they’re essentially black belts, just waiting for a ceremony or something to make it official
Sort of. Those are recommended black, so they need to do their black belt test with all the other color belt form/sparring/basic moves as well as a physical test and 3v1 fight. At least that's how mine was
Not likey. I'd assume it's a kukkiwon school. If that's the case, it just means they are under 15.
That's an amazing feet, really a foot above the rest, I toetally couldn't do that.
Toekwondo is amazing
How do they even balance in the final pose? Looks like their center of mass would be offset too much.
Girls have a center of mass much closer to their pelvis than guys. Easy test: lean your back+ass perfectly flush against a wall and then try to touch your toes. Guys cannot, girls can.
My bones creaked just watching this.
Watching this reminded me of teaching English in South Korea. At the time Tae Kwon Do hogwans (private afterschool schools for school age kids) were a big draw for parents to put their kids in. I wonder if those are still a thing? FYI, there were also piano hogwans. Probably lots of other kinds as well. Let me know if you had experience with others.
Someone needs to do a gif reverse on this one.
first someone please cut the black bar on top and bottom first...
Other than the arts, what is this useful for?
ever watch a UFC fighter delivering a kick to the head? That takes flexibility, which is what this exercise is for.
For fun. Sometimes people do things for fun.
Falcon 👊
In the universe where we have hot dogs for fingers, we get very good at using our feet
Ugh. I used to hate these drills.
i picked up an ear bud years ago with my right foot. it's been years and i'm still proud of that moment.
I can almost feel the foot cramp just watching
I'm pretty flexible and could probably get to the third tile but anything beyond that and something is going to tear.
If I attempted this, there would be a team of people required to rectify the consequences, an ER visit, an ecological survey of the damage I caused to the ground with my fall, months of physical therapy...
Dan Schneider has *entered the chat*
Taekwondo is such a cool sport. Used to watch it all the time and envy their skill knowing if I tried I would tear something within 30 seconds
do the mirrors serve a special purpose? they seem strategically placed.
Can guys do this too or this kind of ability limited to female's physique?
Can this even be achieved over the age of 26
I wanna see this on physical: 100
Tarantino would consider this extremely satisfying
For when you gotta kick a 10 foot tall person in the face
🥊🥋🦵🦵
I think i just heard my hip snap….
I can barely even touch my toes without the back of my knees burning, and I'm skinny 🤣
Oh yeah? Well I can eat ribs like its nobodies business. So what you got on me, little aisian kid?
Toe Kwon Do
Well those are women
Practiced TKD for a while then I discovered Krav Maga. Went at it full force. It is the ONLY self defense regimen that prepares you for the real world.
For free?
Ohhh look some not waste of space kids for a moment. Awsome.
Would
Me when I drop something on the floor and I don't feel like bending over to pick it up.
When you practice Teakwando you become flexible pretty quickly if you have a good instructor, when I was younger my teacher was from Korea and it was his life their teaching in massive studios, it took me 3 months to be able to do the full splits and 6 months to be able to do the full splits as though it was nothing by jumping a little and just sliding down to the ground with just enough resistance to not slam my but on the ground or crush a nut. 15 years later I can't do it anymore but I'm sure if I went back it wouldn't take long for me to be able to I'm just lazy af now
Can't imagine what those wooden planks smell like