Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The name of Eastern Way martial Arts has changed. Please see the new blogspot for:

Training Hall of Lions: Simba DoJang

http://simbadojang.blogspot.com/



What can you learn at Eastern Way Martial Arts?
At Eastern Way you will learn classical Tae Kwon Do (TKD). If you have no knowledge of martial arts, this will give you an idea of what is taught here. If you know what TKD is about, just read on. You may be surprised.

Classical TKD is low to the ground and focuses on straight attacks.We do the old school stances that generate great power from the ground up. This is especially good for the smaller person who will naturally have less muscle power. Traditional stances teach you to use your entire body and much of the power of your hand strikes will come from your feet, legs, and hips. When your entire body works in cooperation you have awesome power.

TKD is known for high kicks and flying kicks. We do those kicks, which are great for certain body types. Personally, I love them for kicking bags, they are so much fun. But in sparring and self-defense, practical is better for me. Techniques that use less energy are better for me. My decision was to move toward economy of energy and practicality. But some people have the power and energy to make those flying kicks work when sparring. Rather than decide that for you, I teach everything my teacher taught me. Once you become a black belt, then it will be time to decide what to use for yourself.

Some TKD has become so enamored of kicking, that they rarely even use their hands. In fact, some people who only know a little about TKD believe that hands are rarely used in TKD. That was not always the case. Because my teacher and his teacher and his teacher did not adopt that view of TKD, we still practice all the hand techniques.

Why is that a good thing? Because while we use the powerful legs when the situation calls for that, kicking uses more of the body, so it is slower and takes more energy. Also, you will need more distance from your opponent to kick. When in close, you will need to use your hands, elbows and knees. And, some of the best self defense targets are more easily reached by hands than by feet. Kicks have their place, but they are not the only weapon you will learn to use.

We all know the saying, "When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Taking away the very versatile hands as one of your tools would limit what you even see as a self-defense target. That is the last thing you would need if you had to defend yourself. You will need the knowledge to use the targets and tools you have available in the situation, whether it is sparring or self-defense.