End of the Month Tournament

Today at the end of the month tournament, I came in 1st in patterns, Gino came in 1st in patterns and Gabriel came in 2nd in patterns, and in sparring Gino got 1st, Gabriel got 3rd and I got 2nd. (us three were the only DeArmas Taekwon-Doins that came this time) In sparring I sparred Eric and won, and then Cassie and lost. She did really well- I got her to back up, but she then hit me in the face once and head twice with fast outside crescent kicks. I learned that I need to keep my hands up a lot better! I actually cried- but not because the kick hurt that bad, because I was so mad at myself! It was a very fun tournamnet, and I can't wait until next month's tournament! Today was also a Taekwon-Do class- my Friday class was switch to today because I am out of town tommorow.

There will probably be some videos from the tournament put up here soon!

More Black Belt Test...

This post includes more pictures from the test and a few of when some of the students joined Master Bosse for pizza after the test.

Lots of Black Belt Test Photos

This post includes a large amount of photos from the recent black belt test! I'll post more in the next post...

What is Model Sparring?

What is Model Sparring? Model Sparring is sort of like Reverse Attacks- there are two sides, an attacker and a defender, and the attacker will step back into a fighting stance (or possibly a walking stance) and kihap, and the defender will kihap in jumbi, in a parallel ready stance. Then the attacker will make an attacking movement or several attacking movements, and the defender will defend him or herself. The Model Sparring sets can include quick exchanges of however many movements desired, and one of the two wins. But within the Model Sparring, there must also be slow motion movements, and these movements should repeat a technique that just happen. The fighters in the Model Sparring fight are allowed to fall down. The whole set-up is pre-arranged.

You are required to make up Model Sparring for your 2nd dan black belt test at our Taekwon-Do school, and I am very excited to make up mine! Master Bosse suggests to create six very clean Model Sparring sets, and have one where the attacker makes one move, the defender makes one move, and so on with one-technique exchanges until one of them wins (which has to be me) and then one where it is an exchange of two techniques until one of them wins.

And yes, in that Korean Taekwon-Do Team demonstration, the step-sparring in the beginning seems to be Model Sparring, from what I read about it in the Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do.

More Black Belt Test Photos

Here are more images from the recent black belt test!

Model Sparring

Here is a video of a demonstration by the Korean Taekwon-Do team. It first shows some sort of Step-Sparring, and then shows more including breaking and Ho Sin Sul. I found it looking for a video with Model Sparring. The beginning might have some sort of Model Sparring, but I don't know.

I need to make up Model Sparring for my 2nd dan test, and watching movies of it will help me understand and maybe give me ideas.

If anyone knows of a good Model Sparring video, please comment with the link or post it here on the blog.

Thank you!

Black Belt Test May 2010 Music Video

Here is a collection of videos from the test set to music! Enjoy! I tried to put it on YouTube, but it had an error and I decided that I might put it there later and add it here now, since Blogger videos are ready faster than YouTube- it takes a long time for videos to upload there.

Patrick's 3rd dan Ho Sin Sul

Here is Patrick's Ho Sin Sul for his test!

Black Belt Test May 2010 Photos

Here are some pictures I took from a black belt test today.

Black Belt Test

Patrick doing a two-directional kick at his 3rd dan black belt test. Patrick, Cody, Nathan and William just tested. Everyone tested for their 1st dan except Patrick, who just got his 3rd dan- everyone passed, of course! I'll add more pictures and some videos in a second- the others just take longer to load. Great job, guys!

Taekwon-Do Videos

A Taekwon-Do Sparring Music Video- Some of the special effects are kind of irritating, but many of those techniques in this video are really cool!


Check out that 180 Turning Kick! I wonder if he got in trouble, though... because I think the guy who got knocked down might have gotten a bloody nose.

Effective Taekwon-Do Sparring

Hello, everyone! I recently read a book called Effective Taekwon-Do Sparring by Master Jim Hogan and James Home, a book that talks about techniques, stances, set ups and more to use to improve your sparring, specifically in competition. Even though this book is meant for ITF, this book can be applied to other martial arts and to other Taekwon-Do styles, as long as the competition rules aren't too different from the ITF Taekwon-Do's sparring match rules. Although I don't always agree with the sparring stance offered in this book, as it doesn't seem to go with the way I spar, the combinations, set ups, and technique ideas are well worth the read, and I think that testing out the sparring stance in different situations is probably worth it, too, and it might fit different fighters quite well. I reccommend this book to any serious ITF student, or any serious martial arts students who spar simmilar to the International Taekwon-Do Federation practitioners. The set ups and combinations in this book are very smart, and trying them out in competition is a great idea, as well as certain foot positions and body positions are great to consider! We especially like The Blitz- a certain way that you step and punch that works really well if you use it at the correct time. Slide your front foot in while falling forward, stepping two times into a middle section reverse punch on the last step. This book is great because other ITF books don't talk much about what to do in sparring, including General Choi Hong-Hi's Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do. The book says that it is a good book for beginner to intermediate sparring levels, but I think that advanced fighters will value this book as well. In the book, there are a few of Master Bosse's sparring tricks, but it also includes some things that most people don't think of using.
Effective Taekwon-Do Sparring should be read by Taekwon-Do students everywhere!