Mu Do Martial Arts

Friday, July 10, 2009

Realistic Perspective on Self-Defense

Check out this article, entitled "Martial arts, self-defense and all that". It has some good food for thought on the self-defense applications of martial arts, and it's implications in today's society.

Good luck at promotion tonight. Don't forget your discipline, drive, and determination!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Learn to Read & Write Korean

The alphabet used by Koreans is called Hangul. This is an easy-to-follow guide on reading and writing Hangul.

I started I think last Thursday, and when I came into the dojang Saturday I could almost understand the Hangul on the Kukkiwon flag... I was just missing a few key letters... and that was only three days.

What makes it easy is that Hangul is a phonemic writing system, so the symbols actually correspond to spoken sounds. Other Eastern languages such as Chinese or Japanese use logograms which are pictorial representations of words. Since there are so many logograns to memorize, these languages are usually more difficult for non-native speakers to learn.

Also, because Hangul is more like a true alphabet, you can use it to try and spell almost any word you know in English, whether it is a Korean word or not. SO, it can be like a secret code! Also, you don't really have to know the rules of the Korean language itself in order to know how to read Hangul. This will teach you how to say words written in Hangul, and to write words in Hangul.

All that mumbo-jumbo aside, if you are interested in some of the culture behind taekwondo, then give Korean Hangul a try:

http://www.learnlangs.com/RWP/Korean/index.htm

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Wikipedia on Kicks

Wikipedia is dangerous to productivity levels! The below article on kicks is actually quite an interesting read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick#Axe_kick_.28hammer_kick.2Fstretch_kick.29

Guns & Hoses Karate Championships

Cho Un No Kon

Check out this traditional Okinawan Kobudo bo kata!

Got Bo?

Tips for Improving Kicks in Poomse

This article (http://home.att.net/~taekwondo.junkie/Kicks.html) has some straightforward advice for improving your kicks in taekwondo poomse (forms).

Snippets from the article...

In a kick with proper balance, the supporting foot does not wobble, the hands do not flail about, and the athlete is not rushed to complete the kick. Also, the athlete begins and ends the technique in the proper stances without having to adjust the stances to accommodate the kick.

And...

The kick in Taekwondo poomse is not supposed to be like a whip -- so fast that it cannot be seen. Instead, the kick is to be savored and beheld as the single most beautiful feature of Taekwondo. It is therefore imperative to control the kick.

Enjoy!