Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwan Schools Newsletter, January 1998

Happy new year!

This year should be a great one as we observe the school’s 25th anniversary. I invite everyone to celebrate this event during our upcoming seminar, which will be held March 27-29. To former students who haven’t been able to participate in any of our more recent seminars, the anniversary hopefully will provide some extra incentive to attend and reunite with old friends. Additional details about this year’s event will be mailed out soon.

So practice hard until then and best wishes that this new year already is proving to be an improvement over the last.

Yours in mutual friendship,

Dong Hoon Kim

Throughout my career in the martial arts I have become a big fan of kung-fu movies. I find myself amazed at the skill level of some of the martial artists like Jackie Chan and big 200 lb Samo Hung. But what has begun to concern me in my old age, and this is something that I had never really thought of before, is that most of the movies deal with vengeance. Of course, you might say, that is what sells the movie. If you made a movie where someone entered a victim's home and wiped out their family and all the martial art hero of the movie did was sit down, meditate and, through letting go of his anger and pain, picked up the pieces of his shattered life and went on; I don't think that would sell of lot of tickets.

But doesn't martial arts teach us not to fight, to become instead, peaceful warriors. Everyone, or I probably should say maybe everyone, admired the peaceful shoalin monks in the "kung fu " series and the wise old master in the "karate kid" movies. In fact, throughout my martial art career I've had a fantasy where I would one day be that wise old mentor; that I would have my chance to guide some young person or persons on their journey though the martial arts.

Well folks, I thought that day had come. A few weeks ago a woman that I work with came to me and told me that her son had been severely beaten up by a bully at school with a history of aggressive behavior. She related how the confrontation had been unprovoked, brutal and now her son had a black eye. She asked if I would be willing to show her son some self-defense to maybe bring back some of his lost self confidence. I related to her that I understood how he felt, being the recipient of a bully's wrath myself on several occasions at that age. I told her that he probably felt humiliated and angry and that his shattered ego probably hurt more than his black eye. I agreed to work with him and even set up a time for us to meet and begin. I then heard her mumble under her breath, "teach him to tear that kid apart."

At this time I began thinking about the lesson plan I would use. Since violence would not solve anything I decided that I would teach him avoidance techniques and blocking in hopes that if he were ever confronted again, instead of standing there and letting the kid hit him, he would know how to block, move out of the way and if possible, run. I then began to think of something "philosophical" I could tell him to get my point across. And then I had it. I would crumple up a piece of paper into a little ball and hand it to the kid. I would tell him to squeeze it as hard as he could and then let it fall to the ground. When it hit the ground I would ask him what he felt when he let it go. When he said "nothing, I didn't feel anything", I would then say, "exactly, and that is what you will feel when you let your hate and anger go, NOTHING."

Well you know what, I never got my chance. The kid never showed up for his lesson. A week or so later his mother came to me and stated that he changed his mind, that he didn't think he needed the lessons anyway. I think he instinctively knew what we have learned in the martial arts; that is, it's better to sit down, meditate, pick up the pieces of your shattered ego and get on with your life.

Although I did not get my chance to be "Mr. Myagi" this time, I have to remember that there are young people out there who do need our direction, who would greatly benefit from the lessons of the martial arts. At this time I would like to sit down and say thanks to my teachers, their teachers and the teachers before them.

For many Americans living with a disability, learning some form of personal protection as well as how to escape a hazardous situation is an important aspect of independence and mobility.

Hello from the Indianapolis Adaptive Tae Kwon Do Club. We are one of the newest and probably most unique clubs in the Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwan Schools. All of the students here have some type of orthopedic challenge or special need. These needs and challenges range from Cerebral Palsy to those with Attention Deficit Disorders. However, when practice begins those challenges are soon set aside and the true spirit of Tae Kwon Do begins. All the various Tae Kwon Do moves are executed with many adaptations depending on specific limitations.

Our club was organized in the summer of 1996. I am a Certified Orthotist and make orthopedic braces and artificial limbs for a living. During that summer, I was approached by two Physical Therapists, Lori Harter and Sylvia Brothers, wondering if I would be interested in teaching Tae Kwon Do to some of their patients who were interested in the martial arts and who could benefit from physical activity. I had been working out on my own and reluctantly agreed to give this special class a try We actually work out in the Liflines Children's Hospital and have students who are current patients at the hospital who come to watch or participate. After our first six week session, the children improved immensely. The therapists and parents noticed an immediate improvement in their activities of daily living. Things like balance, muscle extension and overall self image began to improve dramatically. Furthermore, the children were having fun.

As time progressed and the children continued to work harder the need for belt tests and a true association became apparent. I tested for black belt through the WTA, but felt this club was so new and unique that I was hoping to find an association that had some similar qualities. I was fortunate while surfing the net to come across the Utah State University Tae Kwon Do Club and the TCS. I had seen Master Kim many years ago at a number of the WTA tournaments. I sent an email and a short time later received a call from Master Kim. I explained the uniqueness of the club and that I was just beginning to work out again myself. He was very open and supportive of our efforts. He offered some tips on teaching and some very warm encouragement for our club. He even set a video with some forms that I was not familiar with over my years of training. Finally, with over a year of training we promoted three students to the rank of yellow belt. Tyler Horn, Olivia Mozzi and Milton Keys were all successful yellow belt recipients in July of 1997.

The interest that our club has generated has even assisted in the development of a physical activity program at Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis for children with special needs. This Motor Activity Clinic offers swimming, gymnastics, Tae Kwon Do, and various other physical fitness activities for children with special needs.

I hope as time passes and students come and go that there are those very special students who will some day make the trip to Arizona to test for the rank of black belt. I have mentioned to Master Kim that we will probably never be the largest club in the TCS or even produce its strongest member; however, we will always practice the Chung Do Kwan way of Tae Kwon Do to the best of each student’s abilities.

I hope to travel to Arizona this spring for the annual seminar and meet many fellow TCS members. In the mean time, if anyone has any tips concerning teaching individuals with special needs, feel free to drop us a line.

Finally, we would like to thank Master Kim for his support and encouragement.

As a former instructor at Utah State University, students from other styles often came to class. This offered me the chance to see a different perspective on techniques and new ways to accomplish the same goal. Many times I found out the reason why we do things the way we do - because our way is superior. The biggest example of this is the roundhouse kick. We are one of the few styles that still kicks with the ball of the foot (rather than the top of the foot). I was forever explaining the advantages of the ball of the foot over the top, to my students and especially to those students who had come from a different style. I reached the point where I could break 5 boards -- easily - with a roundhouse. Breaking a lot of boards with the technique is a good way to demonstrate the inherent power of the kick. In this article I will talk about the roundhouse kick and why we use the ball of the foot. I'll also talk about kicking with the top of the foot - I call that a slapping roundhouse (because you hit with a flat surface like a slap with your hand). We'll compare the two kicks, talk about the advantages of each, and discuss using both of them on the street.

One of my former students recently asked me via email: "Erik, ... you are really good at roundhouse kicks and have broken tons of boards with them. Can you do them the same, with the ball of the foot, with shoes on?"

Yes, and I recommend practicing kicking with shoes every now and then. It is something you want to make sure you are able to do -- kick with your regular shoes and clothes on. Tae Kwon Do is about self-defense and you are much more likely to be attacked while wearing street clothes and shoes -- than in your do-bok. So you do need to know that you are able to defend yourself in street clothes.

But, this depends to an extent on what your shoes are like. It is harder to pull your toes back as far in shoes and some shoes are more restrictive than others. If you are wearing steel-toed boots, kicking with the toes only makes sense! Kicking with the ball of the foot is something that's hard to get right, and sometimes you have to be careful with the angles.

Now before we go too far, you should also know that it's good to practice the "slapping" roundhouse on occasion. On the street, the slapping roundhouse is good for soft targets such as knees, kidneys, or stomachs. The knee is one really good target for a slapping roundhouse since it's easier to actually hit it that way. Try the roundhouse both ways for a knee target and I think you'll see what I mean. Keep in mind that when this technique is used on the street, you should try to hit higher on the foot, near the ankle since it's a more solid surface.

The slapping roundhouse, in my opinion, is an easy technique to learn. And if you've got a good ball-of-the-foot roundhouse, it's a simple matter to learn the slapping roundhouse. Another thing that you'll notice is that the slapping roundhouse is a lot louder on the focus pad. Sometimes people take this to mean that it's stronger, but this isn't really true. The slapping roundhouse is going to generate about the same amount of energy as the ball-of-the-foot roundhouse. The primary difference is the striking surface. The slapping roundhouse hits much as a slap would with the flat of the hand. Now think about it -- which is going to cause more damage, a slap or a punch (assuming the same energy in each)? The punch does because the striking surface is smaller. It's the same with the roundhouse. The ball-of-the foot roundhouse has more destructive energy because the striking surface is harder and smaller than the slapping roundhouse. On the focus mitt you should feel about the same amount of energy in each because it's dissipated over the surface of the mitt. But, the slapping roundhouse is louder - just as slapping the focus mitt, or hitting two focus mitts together, is louder - because of the larger contact surface.

The question continues with... "Have you gotten your toes back far enough to (hit hard) consistently? I can do it pretty consistently on the brick walls when I'm at the right angles but I'm curious as to how viable a technique it is on the street when angles are not always right." One consideration for the street is what surface of the foot do you end up striking with? I've heard of a lot of people that hurt or break the top of their foot when doing a slapping roundhouse. The slapping roundhouse is really nice in tournaments with the protective gear on both of you. You can hit quite hard and not worry about injury to either side. I was told by a Korean student at USU that the ball of the foot technique is not allowed to be taught in Korea because they had too many severe injuries with it in competition. But, that points out that the technique is a good one on the street. In competition with contact, the slapping roundhouse is almost always better. On the street, the slapping roundhouse is going to be good for soft targets like the solar-plexus, kidneys, and knees. With shoes on, the slapping roundhouse hits with the soft unprotected surface on the top of the foot. That's the surface that spreads the force out the most and does the least damage. The ball-of-the-foot roundhouse hits with the solid part of the foot and the solid part of the shoe (the sole), and is more likely to hit harder without injury to self. Imagine hitting with the slapping roundhouse for kidneys, but missing and hitting the hip bone -- ouch! This is likely to really hurt the top of your foot. Now imagine the same for the ball-of-the-foot -- a useful technique -- your opponent's in pain -- you're fine. The ball-of-the-foot roundhouse has a problem when you hit with your toes -- ouch! But with shoes on, that problem goes away. So what, if you hit with your toes, the shoes support them! Actually Shotokan Karate-Do has a technique where you do strike with your toes! (you cross them for support). I've even heard of an Okinawan master that would kick holes in metal gas cans with his toes. So one's toe-kicking ability can actually be built up even without shoes. With shoes on you don't need to worry about getting that fancy, the shoes protect your foot. And they do an excellent job of protecting your foot when you hit with the sole -- but not so good when you hit with the top of the shoe. Think about it, if you're going to use your foot/shoe as a weapon, which part makes the most sense - ball of the foot supported by the hard sole -- or the top part of the foot with the softest part of the shoe?

In summary, on the street the ball of the foot is the way to go for any target higher than the knee. For the knee, the slapping roundhouse can make sense. The slapping roundhouse was really designed for contact tournaments, where the ball-of-the-foot roundhouse is harder to pull off. This is the real reason the slapping roundhouse has gained so much popularity . But, the ball-of-the-foot roundhouse makes for a very strong kick that can be useful on the street if you learn it right.

Next time, let's go to a sometimes poorly understood hand technique - reverse knife-hand (Yuhk-Soo-Do) also called the ridge-hand. Until then, let's all go out and practice on some trees and kick some serious sap.

The 1998 West Coast Spring Training Seminar will be held March 27, 28, and 29 at the Bear Down Gym on the University of Arizona campus.

The host hotel is the Clarion Hotel - Randolph Park. Reservations can be made by calling (800) 227-6086. Each room has a TV, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, hairdryer, and one King size or two Queen sized beds. The cost is $65 per room (this is a discounted rate) and up to 4 persons may stay in each room. Be sure to tell them you’re with the 98 Tae Kwon Do Spring Camp and make your reservations by February 27 to get the discounted rate.

The Blue Wave is a quarterly publication of the Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwan Schools. No content may be reproduced without permission. Articles and letters are welcome from all readers. Send any materials to: Dennis Tomlinsin, c/o Tucson Tae Kwon Do School, 4126 East Speedway Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona, 85712 or to Dennis at his e-mail address "SkipDo@aol.com". If you would like to be added to the mailing list for the Blue Wave, please send your mailing address to Jean Hobler at the address above or e-mail to "jeanh@u.arizona.edu".