Coaching and Competitions

I’ve been coaching the GTI Squad which has been a great experience, although I did underestimate the amount of work required sorting out the logistics for competitions.

Keen GTI sparrers travel up to three hours on a Sunday morning to train, which is greatly appreciated.  However, this is now becoming a barrier for some people, which is a shame and I’m not sure what the solution is…. I could rotate the squad sessions in different venues, but then if I go north, it makes it difficult for the people in the south and vice versa.  If anyone has any suggestions, it would be much appreciated!

We have our first “away” non-GTI squad tournament coming up, in Scotland.  I’m hoping this will be a good chance for people to bond and improve the team dynamics.  Things are looking good, although a long drive, it’ll be a nice little road trip and we can also enjoy the sites of Glasgow.

The following week is the PUMA World Championships, which I’m hoping a formal GTI Squad will be debuting.  I’ve made the next squad session compulsory for those who want to be considered to be in the team, we’ll see how that goes…

Two other points before I sign off: I’ve bought the squad a bunch of skipping ropes, which is turning out to be a great little investment – it provides an effective and “fun” warm up.  I do 3 minutes skipping, 3 minutes jogging and repeat this two times (will probably need to cut it down to two minutes and do three rounds – people were hanging last time)!  Final point, I used a round timer in the last squad session – big LED screen and loud beeps indicate rest period, round times and 10 seconds to go etc, and its programmable which means I can join in too :-)

Worthwhile kit investment

Update and Isometric training

It’s been a while, so I’m going to spoil you with a three post wammy!  I competed at the GTI English Open championships the Sunday before last where I lost second round in points sparring and narrowly won the continuous sparring category.  This (and the upcoming comps) has motivated to get my ass back to training.

I’m still working in London, so am trying to cram in as much training during the weekend as I can.  There is hope though – I may have two leads for good clubs in central London; one kickboxing club and one ITF club.  If anyone knows of any decent clubs in central London I’d be happy to hear them!

Before this surge in training I was hitting the gym, mixing it up with some isometric training; static resistance training.  For example one of the most common isomteric exercises is the plank.  

An isometric exercise : the plank

I used the same isometric principles during my weight sessions e.g. dumbbell chest press, pausing for the count of 20 at the bottom of the exercise and at the top.  Likewise for bicep curls, shoulder press, lateral raises and tricep kickbacks etc.

From this experience I found it somewhat frustrating, as you don’t work up a sweat and it’s a different kind of burn, which meant that I felt like I was barely working.  I used to think, if I’m not sweating and if it doesn’t hurt then I’m not working hard enough – with isometric training this is definitely not the case.

I’ve now moved onto plyometric/ballistic training for that explosive power which is much needed in sparring.  See next post for an update on my plyometric/ballistic training experience.

GTI Fight Club/Squad Training/Competition Improvement?!

So I've been tasked with bringing back GTI (Global Taekwondo International) Fight Club/Squad Training/Competition Improvement - not sure what to call it yet as:

• Fight Club sounds a bit thuggish (and cliche with that awesome film with Brad Pitt)
• Squad Training sounds elitist and may intimidate others from training
• Need something along the lines of what it is like Competition Improvement (but that sounds rubbish)... let me know if you have any ideas!

I'm a little apprehensive but excited at the prospect of heading it up and I've got the full backing of the committee which is great.  I guess it'll be a good test for me to see if I can put on a quality sparring session with them all there and show them and everyone my vision for the team.

Losing weight

So the day if the PUMA Black Belt World Championships finally arrives...

Sparring has been scarce due to working in London and I think this has contributed to me not being able to cut weight as easily. I was at 83kg and only had to lose 2kg in 3weeks, which ive done more than before. I haven't been able to this time so its resulted in a 24hr fast before weigh in. Man I'm hungry!

Just checked the scales and I'm 79.5kg, boo yeah! I wouldn't recommend fasting, eating better and increasing the cardio is much healthier! My pee/urine is yellow and I do feel dehydrated. Oh well, since my division is not competing until tomorrow; its time to eat and drink lots :-)

Good luck to all that are fighting this weekend!

General Update & New Years Resolution

Apologies for leaving this blog unattended to - to be honest I had almost forgotten about it, but thanks to an interesting comment by Yakattack, I've made it my New Years Resolution to keep this updated more often.

Since my last update in October 2009, I was peer pressured into competing in a full contact kickboxing match for my university.  Having come back from four months in America (on a rubbish diet), I was a bit dubious.  To cut a long story short, three weeks is not enough time to prep for a fight, which resulted in me breaking my jaw.  
I didn't realise my jaw was broken until four hours later when the adrenaline had died down and the pain started to kick in.  It turns out my jaw was fractured in three places, from just one punch!  I had surgery where two metal plates were put in and my teeth wired, to keep it all in place.  Three months later (~March 2010) there's no cosmetic damage and I'm back in training :)

Soon after that I spent three months in Italy working as a graphic designer, unfortunately no training and an Italian high carb diet meant I started to gain the wrong kind of weight.  Following a few days back in the UK, I flew off to Mexico and travelled around Central America for two months (again, no training).

I've been back in the UK since September and have been training at my old Tae kwon-do club, where training seems to have gotten easier - I enjoy a session where I get to work up a good sweat!  I entered a few competitions in November, which showed me I had a long way to go to get back up to my "peak".  

December/January is always a bit light on the training front, but rest assured I will be training hard once Christmas/New Year celebrations die away.

Martial Arts for Martial Artists

In my opinion to become a great fighter (as well as building on the Triangle hypothesis: technique, power, and speed) you must be skilful in long , mid, and close-range combat and ground fighting.

By long combat I don’t mean metres away from you opponent using guns and ninja stars. Instead, I mean an adequate fighting distance, i.e. before someone invades your personal space. This often tends to be around two metres. Since, most people’s legs are longer than their arms, I suggest a kicking martial art (and obviously from my background), I recommend Tae kwon-do (TKD). One aspect of TKD is learning how to cover distance (by stepping behind, skipping, and jumping etc), which is ideal for long range combat.

For mid-range combat, legs may be ineffective, so I suggest the use of hands through Boxing. Boxing will not only improve your punching power, but agility and body movement.

My choice for close range is a mixture of Muay-Thai and Brazilian Ju Jitsu (BJJ). Once in your opponents comfort zone it’s important to strike as fast as possible without big lavish kicks and spins. Elbows and knees can be effective blunt tools of destruction. However, most close range fights get tied up in clinching or/and go to the floor. That is why I propose BJJ.

So to summarise, I recommend TKD, Boxing, Muay-Thai, and BJJ as key martial arts to learn in becoming a great all round fighter.

Physics behind TKD kicks

The physics behind three TKD kicks: side kick, back kick, and "tornado" kick.

Tae kwon-do vs Kickboxing Video

This is definitely one of the more entertaining fight that I’ve come across on youtube. True showmanship... I felt that both fighters went out not to simply win, but to win in style and to put on a great show. However, the TKD guy is showing a classic example of over using the spinning/reverse turning-kick. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH0dCP4nDzU&eurl

Reasons why ITF is better than WTF

As I have previously said, there are two main types of Tae kwon-do (TKD) practised in the world: ITF and WTF. The main differences between the two are:


Personally, I don't see why WTF is an Olympic sport. It gives TKD a bad name and when my friends ask what I do, I specifically say not Olympic TKD. They spend most of their time bouncing on the spot, waiting to use a counter-attack knock-out turning kick. It just seems like a lot of pointless noise and not much action. ITF has a greater variation of techniques, and thus is better to watch.

Something not mentioned in the above table is that WTF predominately focuses on kicks, whereas ITF uses hands as well. I would say ITF is a more traditional Martial Art, whereas WTF has developed into a sport due to its Olympic participation.

However, a good point about WTF is its full-contact nature. I wish ITF did more full-contact and according to TKD Times magazine, a merger between the WTF and ITF will happen in the next few years. As a style, TKD has been taking a beating from other martial arts who have been trying to discredit it as a legitimate form of self defence or fighting. I think unification would help strengthen the style and help fight back against this bad publicity. My other future hopes for TKD, is to see a stronger ITF or kickboxing influence in the Olympics and less politics within the two major organisations.

Origins of Tae kwon-do and its current status in the UK

Since Tae kwon-do (TKD) has been such a large and influential part of my life, I find it important to understand its origins. I hope some of you will find this interesting too…

TKD is a relatively new Martial Art developed in South Korea by Major General Choi Hong Hi (1918 – 2002) in 1955. It’s popularity is due to the way that it encompasses exercise, self-defence, and philosophy. If you speak to any competent Martial Artist, they will tell you the emphasis of TKD is in the use of feet as a formidable weapon.

“Tae” means to strike with the foot, “Kwon” means to strike with the fist, and “Do” means the way or art. At every grading, the student must answer questions on the theory of TKD; this includes pattern meanings, Korean terminology and personal questions related to TKD etc. There are five tenants of TKD that are engrained to everyone who trains: courtesy, perseverance, self-control, indomitable spirit and integrity. This requirement to understand the meaning behind the art is a unique approach.

There are two main styles of TKD that exist: International Tae kwon-do Federation (ITF, founded in 1967) and the World Tae kwon-do Federation (WTF, founded in 1977). ITF was formed by Master Rhee Ki Ha and concentrates on all the elements of TKD as previously described. WTF concentrates more on the sport element of TKD and is the accepted Olympic style (a bad choice in my opinion - I think ITF is much more of a spectator sport). Many branches exist under these two main bodies. For example, I train under GTI which is part of ITF. Tae kwon-do Association of Great Britain (TAGB) deserves a mention here, as they are the biggest (ITF style) organization in Europe and have produced some excellent fighters (in particular Warren Vice).

Background

So I guess I should start with my background in Martial Arts. I started at the young age of 5 in Karate. I started mainly because my brother started (we’re extremely competitive!!) and my parents wanted me to too. Anyway I can’t remember too much about this being so long ago... but I do recall progressing a few grades and having to stop training after about 18 months (my Dad’s job meant we had to relocate elsewhere).

After unpacking we (my brother and I) started to search for a new place to train. We eventually found Tae kwon-do (TKD) at a local school. I remember starting with a dozen or so other students. As time passed my peers started failing various gradings and then dropping out. Especially during my teenage years everyone left until my brother and I were the only ones remaining from our original group. So the TKD club I joined and am still part of is the GTI (Global Tae kwon-do International) which follows the ITF (International Tae kwon-do Federation) style. I have been training in TKD for over 14 years and although I rarely train with them anymore I still feel/have a close tie to the GTI (e.g. competing at their tournaments, participating in their pre-gradings and seminars etc).

As I have previously mentioned I am studying at the University of Bath. When I started in my first year I wanted to carry on Martial Arts and so tried out Ju Jitsu, Kickboxing and Karate. I’m not a big fan of ground fighting so I dropped Ju Jitsu after a week or two.

The University of Bath Kickboxing club was in decline when I first joined (2005/06), but it still managed to sign up 100+ members during the Fresher’s fair. The club only had about a dozen members training in the second semester. I managed to get on the committee by firstly taking the Treasurer’s position due to the current Treasurer leaving unexpectedly. There was a row between the Kickboxing Chairwoman and the Men’s Captain so I then made it to Men’s Captain. There was then a row between the Chairwoman and Instructors! It was agreed upon by the committee and instructors that I would be a good Chairman to take the club forward next year.

Currently I am in my final year at university, thus don't have the time to fulfil the duties of Chairman. So I am the Kickboxing Captain at the University of Bath, train with GTI in TKD when I can, and have recently started getting into full-contact kickboxing. In reflection this post probably has too much background information about me, rather than Martial Arts. In the future, I will endeavour to make my posts more Martial Arts focused.