Above: A Taekwon-Do uniform
A while ago, Master Bosse got a call on the phone. It was a man asking for a Taekwon-Do uniform. "But, can you give me one of those uniforms with all the snap in it?" he asked, and Master Bosse replied, "sorry, but you have to provide the snap yourself!"
Taekwon-Do uniforms, (or 'doboks') don't come with snap already in them- you have to get the snap at the end of your technique yourself. Of course, uniforms help you hear the snap when you are able to get your tecnnique to snap, but they don't make the snap happen; you can't just do a weak punch and it will have a nice snap at the end of your technique, you have to have a powerful punch with an explosion at the point of impact. To make this little explosion, you slightly pull your tecnique back in to simulate a rebound. Taekwon-Do is a unique martial art because it emphasizes rebound on your technique instead of just doing the technique and leaving the technique still. When you block, make it a strike. When you block a kick, strike the part of your opponents' foot that you blocked, and do the same thing for other kinds and blocks blocking other attacking parts of the body of your opponent. The block will hurt your opponent instead of his or her attack hurting you.
You can practice getting snap at the end of your technique just walking around; do various kinds techniques that are more difficult to have an explosion at the end of.
If you don't know how to get snap on your tecniques yet, begin by practicing with front kicks and punches; these are easier to get an explosion at the end of. You can also talk to your instructor about snap if you don't do Taekwon-Do here at the Las Vegas Taekwon-Do Club.
