The Blue Wave Taekwondo School

Michigan Trip - Taekwondo Seminar with Coach Sherman Nelson jr.

2010-05-13T22:09:00.000-04:00

I will be in Michigan visiting Russ Gale and Tanya Panizzo at Mid West / Milan Taekwondo and attending a seminar with four of my students. I will take some photos and post them to the album running below!

Highlight Video of Blue Wave Winter Camp

2010-04-23T10:57:00.003-04:00

Winter Camp 2010 was a huge success. Our biggest Blue Wave Event ever with over 200 participants. Over 30 testing candidates promoted to 1st dan and higher.

Here is a quick Video with some highlights!

Find more videos like this on The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association

Blue Wave Winter Camp 2010

2010-02-25T13:40:00.007-05:00

Blue Wave Winter Camp 2010 is coming up March 5th, 6th, and 7th.

What: The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association annual Winter Camp and biannual Black Belt Testing

Where: The Sheraton, Burlington VT

When: March 5th, 6th and 7th, 2010

Winter Camp starts on Friday night with a black belt testing. This year we have almost 30 people testing for 1st through 7th degree black belt, Grandmaster Lee will be visiting from Korea. Testing is open to the public and will begin around 6:00pm. It will also be web cast, check back here for a link.

We continue Saturday morning with seminars covering a wide range of Taekwondo topics. Saturday evening is a banquet dinner, followed by social time. Sunday morning we are back in

Dobak until about 11:00am.

Registration for the event is now closed, but the schedule can be seen here:

The Winter Camp Schedule can be seen here

Please visit our photo section of our web site and take a look at past winter camp photos.

2009 Blue Wave Black Belt Conference

2009-11-09T09:07:00.003-05:00

Find more photos like this on The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association

Killington Grand Resort was the host of our Black Belt Conference, as it has been for many years. We had a great turn out of almost 70 Black Belts ranging from 1st - 7th dan, ages 10 and up.

We covered a lot of ground - topics including:
1. Kicking combinations, Speed Kicking and timing Paddle Kicking Drills
2. Sparring rounds with and with out Scoring. Sudden Death Drills with scoring
3. Referee and Corner Judge Training
4. Poomsae - Kukkiwon standards review of Stance and Basics
5. Competitive Poomsae Training drills
6. P.D.R. (Personal Defense Readiness)
7. Variations of Warm up routines
8. Trick Kicking
9. Black Belt poomsae

Blue Wave Winter Camp 2009

2009-03-27T12:12:00.003-04:00

an update! I know its been a LOOOOONG time. A lot has been going on, tournaments, testings, seminars, we had a great Co-oP work out with Pil-Sung Taekwondo of Troy NY. Unfortunately, I have been so busy, I have been neglecting updating the blog.

We recently had our Blue Wave Winter Camp. It was outstanding. Here are the highlights:

175 Participants
Black Belt testing included the following promotions: Eleven 1st Dan, eight 2nd, One 5th, four 6th and two 7th.
In addition to Blue Wave Master insturctors, our guest instructors included Master(s) Gale and Panizzo of Midwest/Milan Taekwondo. Master Ron Southwick of MSU Taekwondo, and Master David Turgeon of CT Chung do kwan. Master Southwick and Turgeon are members of the US National Poomsae team.
Grandmaster Tae Sung Lee taught several semars on both days, working everyone hard and having a good time.

Match Games

2008-11-20T21:31:00.004-05:00

We had about 25 people participate in match games on November 13th. (Match Games are like a "scrimmage" for Taekwondo competitors)

We set up two rings with Electronic scoring. The matches started at 5:45, there were about 15 juniors (11 and younger) most of them had 3 matches by 6:45. The 12 - 17 year olds and adults started around 7, and wrapped up by 8:00.

I think that Tournaments provide a fantastic learning experience for Taekwondo students. The problem is Tournaments often do not provide enough ring time, especially in single elimination. By throwing out the strict divisions, we simply lined the competitors up and matched them by Size (weight), Age and Rank - in that order. We had green and black belts fighting, yellow and red belts - no one cared because it was not about winning or losing, it was about learning and Having fun. The focus was on Performance, not Results. This is such an important concept for younger competitors.

Other then Blue Wave students, a near by school ( American Martial Arts and Fitness )brought some students to join in the fun as well.

Here is a short video of some match highlights.

I hope to do another match games soon, I will keep you posted, and hope we get even more interest. A big thank you to everyone that came and participated, helped run rings and officiate. We had some parents scoring matches which is great. Thank you to Master Robinson who traveled all the way from East haven to help us run things.

The Convocation of Combat Arts

2008-11-11T09:25:00.004-05:00

I have not reported on the Ky Tu Dang Poomsae seminar yet, I will when I have a little more time, but in short it was awesome.

In the meantime I wanted to encourage you to visit a new and improved Convocation of Combat Arts Site. Once a google group, and now a NING site the Convocation is growing quickly with quite a few martial arts bloggers (and their readers) from all over the geographic and style map. Click the Image below to check it out!

Poomse Seminar with Ky Tu Dang

2008-10-29T13:41:00.009-04:00

This weekend on November 2nd, 8 Blue Wave black belts (including myself) will be attending a competition poomse Seminar hosted by Master David Turgeon of CT. Chung Do Kwan. The seminar will be taught by Master Ky Tu Dang of Denmark. Master Dang won his division at the World Poomse Championship this past year, and placed 2nd the year before. He is widely considered one of the best forms competitors in the world. Here is a clip from YouTube of his division from 2006, he is the second competitor in the clip. (Sorry I could not find one from the 2007)

The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has been working very hard to develop the World Taekwondo Poomse Championships. They have done a nice job at creating very clear, rules, guidelines, and scoring criteria. USA Taekwondo (USAT) is on board and are including forms competition at their national events, and has named a National Team.

Ky Tu Dang begins around the 3 minute and 10 second mark

I will be sure to post again next week and report on the seminar, and hopefully post some pictures and Video.

Taekwondo Times article: SCORE!

2008-08-17T16:29:00.005-04:00

Taekwondo Times September 2008 issue should be on the magazine racks now. This issue is about the US Olympic Taekwondo Team, and (almost exclusively) Olympic Style Taekwondo topics.

Long time Taekwondo web author Rhonda Sweet of Sport Taekwondo Today wrote an article about the evolution of Taekwondo as well.

My article (which they called "SCORE") includes 4 different common sparring exchanges, I had sent in 7, knowing they would not put them all in, however I hope to upload video the different exchanges to the blog.

If you have seen the article, let me know what you think! If you are still interested in subscribing to Taekwondo Times and get 20% off, you can click the picture of the cover, and use the promo code bwtkd11

Taekwondo Times 20% off Offer

2008-07-17T21:23:00.003-04:00

Taekwondo Times magazine allowed me to offer this coupon to my readers. Anyone who would like to subscribe to Taekwondo Times can use this code "bwtkd11" (one, one at the end) and get 20% off the subscription.

Click Image to be redirected to subscription page.

The Olympic issue should be out in a couple of weeks!

Taekwondo Shoes - More than you ever wanted to know!

2008-06-20T15:12:00.002-04:00

My first pair of "Martial Arts" shoes were a pair of Kung Fu Slippers. If you ever questioned my geeky martial arts beginning, the fact that I used to wear these things around, surely will put any doubts you had to rest.

Luckily for you, (and my image), the world of Martial Arts Shoes has come a LONG way since then. With many out door Summer Camps coming up, you may want to have some shoes that you are comfortable practicing Taekwondo in. Martial Arts Shoes (Commonly known as "kicking shoes, or kickers") are readily available in numerous colors and styles, from several different companies. The most prominent being Adidas, who offers more styles of Kickers then you can keep track off.

If you decide to purchase some kickers, here are some things to keep in mind.

PRICE: Less expensive kicking shoes, are less expensive for a reason. They are typically heavier, have a lower quality sole, dont fit as snug to your foot, and don't last as long.

SOLE Rubber Soled kicking shoes work well on Grass, Wood, Tile, or other hard type surfaces, however they tend to stick a bit when kicking on the interlocking mats, (some worse then others). This can put additional stress on your ankles and knees. Some of the better kicking shoes have a hard(er) rubber sole, and split the front and back of the shoe with a lifted arch area. These tend to work better on the mats as there is less friction. (see below for examples)

FIT Kickers should be snug. If you are between sizes, lean towards the smaller. Well worn kickers tend to stretch a little. You will see below, that you can pick from Slip on, or laces. This is personal preference, but for me, I like the laces. While the Slip ons can give a good fit, it will depend on how big your ankles are.

STYLE Face it, no one wants to be caught dead wearing these. Get some shoes that Look good. ;-)

Below is an overview of some of the more common styles of Kickers available (click photos for larger size).

Adidas Original These are a little hard to find as they have not been manufactured in several years. Lace up, full rubber sole (not great for mats). The sole is connected with a stitch that runs along the outside edge and has a tendency to come undone.

Adidas SM II This shoe is nearly identical to Original Adidas Kicker. An aesthetic stripe has been added, but the rubber sole and laces are the same.

Adidas AdiKee: This is the replacement for the SM II, which is no longer manufactured. It is one of the less expensive Adidas Kicking shoes, but using the same "sticky" rubber sole. They have changed the shoe stistitching so that is runs across the top of the shoe rather then the bottom.

Personal Experience - I have owned all 3 of these shoes. The original and SM II are decent, but not a good shoe for the long haul. The rubber sole peeled off on my first pair, the stitching came out on the second pair, each after about a year of moderate use. The AdiKee was so uncomfortable that I couldn't wear them. The stitching gave the shoe a strange fit. It uses the same sole as the other two shoes, which is not great for working on mats. Prices Range on these from $35 - $55

Adidas Adilux Who comes up with these names? This is a slip on shoe. It is much higher quality then the SMII and AdiKee. It uses the harder rubber "split" sole for lighter treading on the mats, and the sole does not use the stitching that came undone in the cheaper SM II and AdiKee shoes. This sole is used in all the higher end Adidas shoes.

Adidas Tornado These are some of the best Taekwondo shoes that Adidas makes. It uses the harder split sole, (even though its white, not black like the others) and a more advanced lace up system that gives you more control of the fit. Also an instep flap attaches with velcro to cover the laces. Nice for kicking paddles.

Adidas Ultra III This shoe is the Top of the line, and has replaced the Tornado. (The Tornado is not being made any longer, but you can still find them). The Ultra III has a more advanced lacing system, but does not have the lace cover that The Tornado does. The sole appears to be the same.

Personal Experience - I have the AdiLux slip on, and the The Tornados. I like both of these shoes, but prefer the tornado for training (better fit). If I wear shoes when teaching, I like the AdiLux. The Tornado has been replaced by the Ultra III, but you can still find it on line. I have not tried the Ultra III's, as they are a bit expensive, and I just got the The Tornados. Retail for Adilux is around $70, Tornado around $80, and the Ultra III around $100. I did see prices much lower than this on some discount Web Sites.

Adidas Delta X This shoe has a different lace up system, but uses the old rubber sole. I don't have any experience with these shoes.

Nike Taekwondo Shoes I have not tried these shoes, but they look to have a decent sole, and good lace system, with an instep cover. I believe some of the folks that went to Korea last summer purchased them, maybe they can chime in on how they work.

Pine Tree Martial Arts Shoes These are a "generic" kicking shoe that is re-branded by several companies. They are heavy, have a stiff sole, and make a better Lite Sneaker then a kicking shoe.

MOOTO- Wings MOOTO has several versions of their kicking shoe as well. They appear to all be slip on. GM Lee has a pair I think, but I have not tried them. They seem like decent quality.

Adidas has the market for Kicking shoes, and it can be confusing, many of the exact same shoes have different names simply because they are a different color. Keep the Slip on vs. Lace, and the solid rubber sole, vs the Split Sole in mind when deciding on a pair. If you have used any of the shoes discussed here, or others, please chime in.

Taekwondo Times Article

2008-06-09T13:33:00.009-04:00

After some prodding from family, friends and fellow Taekwondo instructors, I have written an article for Taekwondo times Magazine. It will be published in the September 2008 issue, which hits newsstands the end of July.

The issue theme is (appropriately) The Olympics. My article is a description of how Taekwondo is played in the Olympics, including an overview of equipment, rules, scoring and techniques. There are some examples of commonly scored techniques illustrated with sequential photos.

Here are a few pictures from the Photo shoot. Many thanks to Rajan Chawla Photography for taking the pictures and to Glenn Xiques for being my sparring partner.

A Second article I submitted will be published in the Online version of Taekwondo Times in December 2008. This articles covers the Korea Trip and Kukkiwon Instructors course I attended with some other Blue Wave Black Belts last summer. You can read about the trip Here.

Spring Black Belt Work Out 2008!

2008-05-21T13:56:00.006-04:00

Find more photos like this on The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association

About three months ago, I realized that this month, (May) would be my 25th year as a Taekwondo practitioner. I understand that this may not be significant to anyone other then myself, after all, I know many people with at least 25 years, if not 35. Still, I wanted to have a party, so I decided to have a "Spring Black Belt Work Out" and do a dinner afterwards. I figured a good work out and chance to socialize afterwards would be all it would take to get a bunch of Blue Waver's together, I was right.

Since the Blue Wave Taekwondo School is above Nectars Restaurant, and Nectars is under new management with an awesome new Menu featuring Vermont Products, I decided we should do it there. They were very accommodating, giving us the entire upstairs (The Metronome Dance Club) set up a buffet style table with ribs, pulled pork, veggie burgers salad, etc.

We had nearly 40 people come and join in the Work out, and about 55 (including my parents and wife and daughter)at the dinner. Rather then waiting another 25 years, I would love for this to be an annual thing! It was a lot of fun.

Nathan Visits from TDA Training

2008-05-12T21:39:00.004-04:00

Nathan from TDA Training stopped by the Burlington Blue Wave Last week! It was really great to meet him after all this time of reading his blog, and participating in the convocation of Combat Arts group.

Nathan was in Burlington on Business. (To sum up, he works for a company the designs and sells all the computer stuff inside of Police cars...very cool) He stopped by the gym and watched some of class, then we went out to the Vermont Pub and brewery and had a nice time talking about our similar addictions with the martial arts.

Thanks for coming by Nathan - looking forward to meeting up again!

Nathan posted about his visit to Burlington Blue Wave Here.

Tournament Photos - Saturday May 3

2008-05-05T06:30:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday we attended the USSSA Regional Taekwondo Championship in Montpelier. See my previous post for an explaination of the various Taekwondo organizations.

The tournament had about 130 competitors, including forms, Olympic Sparring, and Continuous point sparring. This was the first USSSA event in the area that had more Olympic Style competitors then Continuous point, which is GREAT! The goal with these events is to build local Olympic style sparring particpation.

Here are some photos from the event.

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Officials Training and Match Games

2008-04-14T11:05:00.009-04:00

Find more photos like this on The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association

From the first year I started to teach Taekwondo in Burlington Vermont, getting my students (and other Blue Wave Students) to tournaments has been a problem. We host one tournament a year, all the rest of our tournaments are several hours away, and typically a night in a hotel room. Most families are not interested in making this kind of commitment.

A few years ago, several Vermont Taekwondo schools joined the USSSA (U Triple S, A) A multi-sport organizations with over 5 million athletes combined. Similar to the AAU, they offer both Olympic Style Sparring and (continuous) point sparring. Initially the USSSA tournaments in this area were all point sparring, which meant if we attended these tournamets the divisions would be thin. However a couple of schools have now switched over to Olympic, and there is now some additional competition for us.

For our recreational students who want to try out competition, this is a great fit. For our more serious athletes, we continue to attend AAU events (including nationals) as well as USAT events when possible. Being involved with 3 different organizations is a hassle, but necessary given where we live, and various needs of the students.

This last Saturday we held an officials seminar with Master Steve Barrett of the USSSA, and followed it up with match games. This let the officials get some practice in, and the athletes get some matches with the electronic scoring.

There were about 20 participants in the officials seminar, and about 30 in the match games. The photos above were taken by one of my students fathers.

2008 USA Olympic Taekwondo Team

2008-04-10T14:17:00.007-04:00

After the final phase of the Olympic Trial process, the 2008 USA Olympic Taekwondo Team has been selected. Two men, and Two women comprise the team, and also an interesting point, 3 of the team members are siblings.

The Lopez family has been known in the Taekwondo world for several years now, especially after Diana, Mark, and two time Olympic Gold Medal Winner Steven; all won Gold in their respective divisions at the 2005 World Championships.

The final member of the team is Charlotte Craig, a Bronze medalist at last years World Championships.

The team trials were not with out controversy. Diana Lopez needed to beat second seed, Olympic Silver medalist Nia Abdallah. The fight was scoreless going into Overtime. Diana scored a round house kick with 29 seconds left to win the match.

The match was posted on YouTube for a few days before being pulled for copyright infringement. I watched the match (several times), it was from some distance away, (too far for audio) and unclear as to what kicks were kitting hard enough to score.

It did appear that both players had kicks that looked like points that did not go up on the board. Given the fact that 3 out of 4 corners were needed to confirm a point, missing points is not uncommon. Nia kicked more often, and was the aggressor, but I trust the 4 corners scoring the match. In addition I watched the other matches (Mark Lopez Vs. Chris Martinez and Charlotte Craig Vs. Anees Hasnain) and these matches were scored with similarly high expectations for what was considered a point.

Visit USA Taekwondo for more informtion. I have also provided links to each of the team members bios below.

Charlotte Craig
Diana Lopez
Mark Lopez
Steven Lopez

Grandmaster Lee March 2008

2008-03-12T09:14:00.006-04:00

Grandmaster Tae Sung Lee is back in town! We have been getting some great training sessions in with Grandmaster Lee. He attended Winter Camp and taught several seminars there, and has been touring the different Blue Wave Schools. It is a fantastic opportunity for all the students to train with with him.

Grandmaster Lee is an inspiration. (At least) 75 years old, he can still crank off 50 push ups, kick above his head, and perform forms with grace and power. Something to strive for!

After Burlington Class on Saturday March 8th, 2008

Some Video Clips

2008-01-16T22:17:00.000-05:00

Things are going very well over at NING! It is a Blue Wave members only site for now, which makes it hard when friends from the blogging community want to join in, we are looking at ways to open it up eventually.

For now, here are 2 video clips from the NING site, one old and one new.

Firt the old one - this is taken from a video project I did when I tested for 3rd dan. I made Taekwondo Music video of sorts. I won't bore you with the entire thing, but here is the grand finale (no music) with a bunch of breaks and points from "early days" (1987 - 1990).

Find more videos like this on The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association

Next is a new clip. I have been wanting some forms video to use as tutorials. There are much better professional DVDs out there, but recreational students typically don't want to spend the money on these, so I am making some using Adobe premiere Elements. Here is TaeGuek Oh Jang. (Taeguek 5)

Find more videos like this on The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association

Thats all for now. I will try to do better with updating this blog with information from the NING site until we make it more public.

A lack of time....not interest...

2007-12-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

I am finding it more and more difficult to find the time to put into my blog. There is only one thing to blame....NING!

NING is a service that allows you to create a "facebook" style site specific to your organization, group, club, whatever, I have done this with the Blue Wave Taekwondo Association and it is really becoming a powerful tool for us.

I started this blog with the goal of using it to convey interesting information and technical knowledge to my fellow Blue Wave instructors, and really anyone that was interested in participating. I made some great friends from the blogging community.

However, with my schedule, (family, job, dojang) I need to pick where I put my energy, and my priority is working for the Blue Wave Association. NING lets me do that in a more efficient way then my blog can.

So Blue Wave Members - if you have not joined up - please visit: http://bluewavetkd.ning.com

All my other online martial arts friends - I may still post once in a while, and I will certainly continue to visit your sites. Thanks for all the great tips and discussion.

Best Regards,
Gordon White

Fall Report, and the next big thing?

2007-11-07T09:50:00.000-05:00

The 3rd Annual Blue Wave Black Belt conference was held this past weekend at Killington Ski resort. It was a fantastic weekend. With over 50 participating black belts, we had a lot fun, learned a lot, trained a lot, and even had a chance to use the very heated outdoor pool. We will be back in this location next year, same time.

The Kukkiwon recently announced two new Poomsae created specifically for Competition. One of them is geared at younger practitioners, with a lot of jumping, spinning and double kicks. The second is geared at more mature practitioners, is still very technical, but a bit less bone jarring. Master Tom Chase, head instructor for the Randolph Blue Wave has a video link posted on his blog showing the two forms if you want to check it out.

Also, take a look at the Bradford Blue Wave blog. They recently added an interesting post on Ki and Taekwondo.

My blogging has taken a back seat to some other priorities lately. I hope that I am working on the next step in taking the Blue Wave Community online. Interested in helping? Email Me.

Lastly, the Blue Wave Taekwondo School Blog has turned 1 year old! October 30th, 2006 was my first post, and now 12 months and 75 posts later, its Happy Birthday to us!

Defense vs. Offense

2007-10-29T09:38:00.001-04:00

Here is a great match between Turkey and Italy. Italy is ahead for much of the match playing straight defense to the Turkey's offense. As soon as the Italian player changes to offense, he loses is lead and the match goes into over time.

It looks like this is from a European championship. A nice broadcast with slow motion of the points between rounds.

note: If you follow the link to YouTube rather then watching it here, be aware that YouTube comments are not moderated.

Seminar Season!

2007-10-16T10:52:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts! I have been very busy the last couple of weeks.

Seminar Weekend in Michigan

I flew out to Michigan the Weekend of October 6/7 and taught two sparring seminars for Midwest Taekwondo. If you read the Korea Trip posts, you know who Master Gale and Master Panizzo are of Milan Taekwondo / Mid West Taekwondo. They were kind enough to invite me out to teach a seminar.

A bonus of the trip of course was that I got to hang out with Masters Gale and Panizzo. They showed me a bit of Plymouth MI on Saturday night, and Sunday before I flew home Master Gale and I took in the new Resident Evil movie. Honestly, can you ever get enough of Human Eating Zombies?

The first seminar was with 13 and under. We had about 20 kids. The seminar covered "run, jump, skip" style warm up, and covered basic kicking and steps, as well as free kicking, then we moved into paddle drills, and ended with some sparring.

The second seminar was for 14 years and older, and was 4 hours long. We had about 15 participants, almost all black belts. We did a quick warm up, some basic kicking, and jumped right into paddle kicking. We covered forward and back drills, offensive combinations. We took a 45 minute break to eat, and get suited up. The second half we did hogoo Drills (attack/Counter sequences) and finished up with some sparring.

Master Gale had a few other instructors participating, Master John Vasquez of Supreme Taekwondo, Mark Kanaar, (sorry didn't get the school name) and Erin Hoard of Infinity Taekwondo. It was really nice meeting and working with these other instructors.

Seminar II

This past Sunday I traveled to Feeding Hills MA where I taught an Olympic Style Sparring seminar at Shugarts Martial Arts. Master Shugart has been including Olympic Style Sparring at his school for almost 2 years now, and it is gaining popularity. We had a group of about 25 participants. We covered basic Warms ups that emphasize proper body mechanics for kicking, Full, Skipping, backward steps and 4 Basic Round house kicks. Offensive Rear and Front leg, and Defensive Rear and Front leg. The we continue with these techniques on kicking paddles and finished with some sparring. The seminar was about 3 hours long.

Other News...
The Burlington School is doing well. Our family classes have been pretty full lately, and the Saturday morning kids class is typically bustling with 5 - 9 year white and yellow belts.

Our next big association event is the Blue Wave Black belt Conference, which is being held the first weekend in November in Killington at the Grand Mountain Resort.

Photos from Seminar and Testing at Dartmouth

2007-10-01T12:23:00.003-04:00

Another Grandmaster Tae Sung Lee trip has come to end. We had a great time. Grandmaster Lee had the opportunity to do a lot of teaching, at a lot of different dojangs. Many Blue Wave students had the chance to experience a practice with him.

Its always hard for students to grasp that Grandmaster Lee is really one of the most senior Taekwondo instructors in the world. He has been Teaching Taekwondo since before it was officially called "Taekwondo", he is not only a 9th dan, but has students who are 9th dan. As far as his physical condition goes, you would never guess he is in his early 70's.

Here are some photos from the Seminar Grandmaster Lee taught at Dartmouth, as well as some photos from the 4th - 6th Dan testing that followed.

Seminar with Grandmaster Lee:

High Dan Testing:

This past weekend was the 3rd Annual Blue Wave Golf Tournament, proceeds benefiting the Bruce V. Twing Scholarship fund. There were 8 teams, and a lot of hole sponsoring going on, total money raised was around $2000. A good day for us, I should have some pictures of that soon.

Bradford, and one more night in Burlington

2007-09-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

Grandmaster Lee taught two fantastic classes in Bradford on Wednesday night. The first had about 15 blue belts and lower. He covered basics, one steps, and Taeguek 1 - 3. The advanced class was well attended with about 25 students from 1st Gup to 6th Dan! Students not only from Bradford, but from East Haven, Hanover, Groton and Warren attended as well. We covered basic kicking combinations, poomsae from Taeguek 1 - Taebaek, and some sparring drills, attack - counter attack sequences followed by some step sparring.

Burlington class had 12 Students, including 10 black belts, a 3rd gup, and 1st gup. We had a good warm up, basics, Kicking combinations and Taeguek 4 - Tae Baek. We went out for a bite afterwards. See below for some pictures from the past two nights.

Grandmaster Lee is done teaching for this trip. Saturday we have our annual Blue Wave Golf Tournament to raise money for the BVT Scholarship Fund. I will try to have some pictures posted from that as well.

Grandmaster Lee In Hinesburg

2007-09-26T13:10:00.000-04:00

We had a great time at Blue Wave Taekwondo and Fitness in Hinesburg last Night. Mr. Monty had a lot of students attending the class with Grandmaster Lee.

After a warm up, we did some basics, basic kicking, Taeguek 1 - 3, one steps, and 3 kick combinations. The Hinesburg students looked great! The Montys have some very hard working and talented juniors coming up through the ranks.

Next Stop Bradford! We are headed down tonight for two classes. Blue Belts and down from 6:15 - 7:15 - and red stripes and up at 7:15.

Grandmaster Lee In Burlington

2007-09-25T09:03:00.000-04:00

Grandmaster Lee taught our all ranks class last night. We had a great time and a good group. The class was mostly lower ranks, which is always fun as Grandmaster Lee knows how to make the most basic techniques fun. Here are a few photos from the work out.

I am still gathering photos and Video from the High Dan Testing and Seminar we had in Dartmouth this past Saturday. It was a fantastic event and I will post about it once I get everything together. I am just noticing that Master Chase over at The Randolph Blue Wave Blog has some photos up from this past Saturday if you want to take a look!

We are off to see Mr. Monty and the Hinesburg Blue Wave Gang this evening!

Stay tuned....

Team Trials, Testing and a Wedding

2007-09-20T06:43:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to my student Christian Centonze for winning the AAU Team Trials and becoming the fly weight team member for the 14 - 17 year old 2008 National Team. Christian had 5 matches to claim the spot. I could not attend the trials myself, so he was coached by his blue wave teammate Todd Sayles, who did an awesome job helping Christian through the day. Nice Work you guys!

We have started the new Schedule in Burlington this week. I enjoyed the 90 minute class on Monday, I think most of the students did as well.

Grandmaster Lee is here! He arrived September 7th, spent a week with Master Anthony at the Blue Wave School in Beverly MA, and is now in at the Sanford Maine Location. I pick him up this Saturday at Dartmouth College where we will be having a Seminar and High Dan Testing. Speaking of the High Dan testing, Good Luck to all the Candidates who will be testing this Saturday!

For Fourth Dan: John Kwiatek, John Scoglio, Brian Anton, Steve Hopkins Sandra Elliott
For Fifth Dan: Joe Anastasi, Milly Rhoades
For Sixth Dan: Mark Rathbun Delbert Reed

Some other things - congratulations to Joe and Amy Anastasi on their recent Wedding! For those that don't know, Joe is a member of the Beverly Blue Wave gym, and was my best man.(10 years ago!)

I was honored to be asked to conduct the ceremony. After applying for a JOP license in Massachusetts's I was allowed to do deliver the ceremony that Joe wrote. We had a GREAT time! Congratulations you guys!

upcoming topics...

Pictures and report on the testing and seminar this Saturday
Grandmaster Lee's visit and classes
A video demonstration of some of the concepts covered during the sparring section of the Kukkiwon Instructors course.

Bong Wan Sa Temple and Summer Camp

2007-09-02T12:08:00.000-04:00

I have been meaning to post these photos since I came back from the Korea trip. The location of both of these pictures is the same, Bung Won Sa temple, which is located behind (up the street) from Yonsei University. The one on the left, was back in 1992, on a group hike to take some outdoor Taekwondo photos. This particular building has been retired at this point, as the temple has grown and larger buildings have taken over.

Its been a busy time, as you can tell from my lack of posts, work has been busy, my daughter starting school again, and a whole SLEW of Taekwondo stuff is going on. Here is the hit list:

New Class Schedule for Burlington Starting September 15th
Grandmaster Lee coming to visit for the month of September
Hosting a high dan (4th - 6th dan) testing September 22
The 3rd Annual Blue Wave Golf Tournament,for the BVT Fund
Teaching a Sparring Seminar for Milan Taekwondo October 6th
Teaching a Sparring Seminar for Shugarts Martial Arts October 14th
Preparing for Blue Wave Black Belt Conference November 2nd - 4th

I can't believe I have not even posted anything about BLUE WAVE SUMMER CAMP! This took place the first weekend of August. We had about 165 participants in one of the best Summer Camps we have ever had. There was a fantastic testing on Friday night, self defense and sparring seminars all day Saturday, pot luck cook out on Saturday night followed by Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, and dodge ball and cribbage tournaments. Sunday we had forms and breaking seminars until noon, at which point we had closing ceremonies. Here are a few quick pictures to give you an idea as to how much fun we had:

Those of you in the states - hope you are enjoying the long weekend!

Kukkiwon Demo Team Videos

2007-08-21T11:10:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I posted, things have been busy getting ready for the fall, but, I am back!

If you read the Korea Trip Blog Posts you know that we attended a Taekwondo demonstration that was done by the Kukkiwon Demonstration Team. The demonstration consisted of some typical stuff, and also some newer breaks and techniques.

My favorite part of the demo was this Multi-Attacker scenario where all of the "attackers" were actually holding boards. The boards were demonstration boards, so they were thinner then usual, but that did not take away from the speed, accuracy and obvious power the techniques were executed with. Take a look:

The team also did a synchronized demonstration of Koryo. The shorter women in the front is Amanda's SaBumNim.

As I continue to dig through the video and photos from the Korea trip I will keep posting about them. I also plan on returning to the sparring drill video documentation as time allows.

Guest Post over at TDA

2007-08-09T14:45:00.000-04:00

I know that I am a bit behind on the Blog Posts! Sorry, still catching up from the trip and such. I did complete a Guest post for Nathan over at TDA while he is away from his computer for while. If you would like to check it out: TDA Training. The Topic is "Why Taekwondo differs from Karate"

Home Safe and Sound

2007-07-30T21:39:00.000-04:00

It was a long flight getting home, but we made it, and our luggage did too!

I have a lot of pictures and video to put up on the blog, but right now I need to catch up on my life that has been on hold for a couple of weeks.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and commenting! I will start posting on a regular basis again next week.

Course is Complete!

2007-07-27T20:29:00.000-04:00

Sorry for missing my "posting window" last night!

We have completed the course! I have more to post but need to find time to do it. We went out to eat with about 30 Chung Do Kwan people last night after the course and got home late.

More to come!!

gw

Korea Trip - Day 8

2007-07-26T08:38:00.000-04:00

The course continues to have to have great content:

Taekwondo Teaching Methods - Chun Taek Son
Taekwondo Demonstration Theory - Kyu Hyung Lee
Dan Poomsae Koryo - ShipJin - Ik Pil Kang

I really enjoyed the Teaching methods lecture, it was very academic, and drew on common well known theories to prove its points.

It feels like there are fewer changes to the Black Belt forms then in the TaeGueks. We went from Koryo through Ship Jin. There were some further questions on the TaeGuek forms and (luckily) some additional explanation - in some situations the hands come up into guarding position during kicking techniques. For example, in Taeguek 2, on the second wing, after the low block, the hands do not come up during the kick because the following punch comes from the hip. However in Taeguek 3, the hands come up during the first front kick, as the hand is extended for proper reaction force for the double punch. Its hard to explain with our a demonstration.

Group shot outside the Kukkiwon with Grandmaster Lee

Morning Poomsae Practice at the Kukkiwon

Grandmaster Hyung Kyu Lee giving the Theory of Demonstration lecture. He is very famous as he created the Taekwondo demonstration for the 1988 Olympics. He is from Chung Do Kwan background, and one of Grandmaster Lee's juniors.

The last day of the course is tomorrow. We will cover more Dan Poomsae, and Sparring tomorrow, as well as having closing ceremonies and the final exam.

Today is my Birthday - 38 years old, my 3rd birthday celebration in Korea. People were asking for some American style food, so I suggested a Chicken Wings! No one objected, we had a good time.

Korea Trip - Day 7

2007-07-25T09:59:00.000-04:00

(Pictures at the bottom of post)

Day 2 of the instructors course was excellent. We spent most of the day in the lecture hall. Lectures today were:

Fundamentals of Club Management - Dr. Jung Yoon Seo
Regulation for rank Promotion - Maser Byuung Sung Kim, Kukkiwon International Division
Taekwondo History - Dr. Ung Yong Ha
Competition Rules - Master Sang Hun Lee

The lectures were very good, I especially liked the History lecture which was done by a Non-Taekwondo practitioner. I think this was especially important because he was able to give a very non biased opinion about the History of Taekwondo and its origins.

While I enjoyed the open discussion of the Competition Rules, it was very much a question answer period, and not a real lecture. Many people wished for more of a formal presentation on rules, but I think the feeling is that a a referee course is where you are suppose to get that.

We finished the day with 90 Minutes of Poomsae, going first through TaeGuek 8, and then working back down again from 7 - 1. It felt great to work out after such a long day in the classroom. Taeguek 8 has no real changes in it.

We found out that the course will end on Friday night instead of Saturday. They plan to extend the time table on Friday night until about 7:00pm to give us the exam rather then having us come in on Saturday for it.

After training today we went out to dinner, and of course grabbed some ice cream, headed back to the hotel and did some video interviews. It got rather...silly...I think we will need a bloopers tape!

Mr. Kline (as expected) has quickly become the center of attention. He was asked to do a TV interview, (2 out of 129 people), he also lines up in the middle front line, and there fore required to yell a command (Jeoshop) to get everyone line up quickly. In addition, on 2 different occasions he has pleaded that leniency be given to some people who were late, and he dished out a mere 10 push ups to them. All the attention is stressing him out a bit, but the rest of us are proud to be part of the "Kline Kontingency".

BIG Thank you to Master Panizzo for bringing her camera today and insisting on taking some photos:

(click on them to see a bigger version)

Some more Classroom shots from this morning.

Master Gale had the fish for lunch, most of us declined it.

Action shots! Working on Poomsae on the floor, Michigan on the left and Blue Wave on the right. (yes, its humid)

2 of the 6 women participating came from our Crew, Mrs. Heathman (left) Master Panizzo (right)

Group shots, one after Training, one at Dinner.

Korea Trip - Day 6

2007-07-24T07:58:00.000-04:00

First Day of Training at the Kukkiwon Today! Here are a couple of shots of us in the class room.

We started out with a lecture from Dr. Oh, the head master of the Academic Training for the Kukkiwon. He basically told us to: Be respectful, Try Hard, and don't be late. Afterwards we went outside for a group picture with President Um, (president of the Kukkiwon).

We had a good lecture from Grandmaster Byung Un Kim, on the basic structure of Taekwondo organization, The WTF (handles the sport of Taekwondo) and Kukkiwon handles the Martial Art of Taekwondo. He identified several unique aspects of each and discussed how they relate to a Taekwondo teacher. The afternoon covered basic techniques, (taught by Grandmaster Jung Kwan Lee, and Master Hyng Jun Noh) we also covered Taeguek 1 - 7. There were several things pointed out that were different then how we are doing them now, but they are mostly small differences. I have a bunch of notes on the day that I am too tired to post right now. I hope to get some more/better pictures tomorrow but its tough to do during training.

A few things to sum up:

Good Stuff:

Very International! there are tons of different countries here, 129 Participants total
The instructors are great
The lecture today was really interesting.
The weather has been a little humid, but it could be a lot worse

Other Stuff

Some times questions are asked in Korean and never translated
We are lined up by student number, I happen to be in the way back, which makes its hard to see and hear sometimes....but I am getting better at working around that.
Its a bit crowded, I think ths class is bigger then they expected.
Some people continue to show up late, which turns into a group lecture from Dr. Oh about respect and following the rules. Hopefully we won't have to deal with that anymore.

After the day ended we went out to eat with Grandmaster Lee. We headed back to the hotel had some ice cream and did some chatting about the day. Everyone is ready to turn in and get a good nights sleep!

Korea Trip - Day 5

2007-07-23T06:34:00.001-04:00

We had a little bit of a slower day today - which was good! Everyone is feeling the effects of the past few marathon days we have had of walking and hiking around the sites.

I meant to post a picture from our pizza party at Bucks house yesterday - here it is:

Pizza Party - Thanks Buck and Kaite!

We went to the Kukkiwon today to register for the course. It was exciting to get our badges and Instructor Course Books.

A Picture of our Manual, and the course banner in front of the Kukkiwon Gate

Today is Grandmaster Lee's Birthday! We went out to eat dinner to celebrate. We had SamGapSal, a pork dish cooked on the table skillet. This is one of my favorite Korean disshes.

SamGapSal!

Grandmaster Lee doesnt look to happy in the picture, but he is! We had a good time.

I have not included a picture of our hotel yet, so here it is, the SamJang Hotel

The other thing we did today (Kline, Emerson, Danforth and I) was go to a bathhouse. We hit the hot (and cold) tubs, which felt great. Mr. Williams and Mrs. Heathman went to Namdamun market, it was experience, but they didnt buy much.

We start the course tomorrow, at 8:30 am, the day ends at 6:00pm. On the schedule is a 30 minute warm up in the morning, followed by a lecture until Lunch. The afternoon will cover basics and Poomsae. I will let you know how it goes!

By the way - thanks to everyone in the group for taking all the pictures on the blog! I have only brought a Video Camera, so everyone else is taking the still photos. Just wanted to give some credit so Mr. Danforth stops whining.

Thanks for the pictures Mr. Danforth!

Korea Trip - Day 4

2007-07-22T09:21:00.000-04:00

Today we hit the ground running! After breakfast we worked out for about an hour going over Poomsae. It felt good to kick and move, as much walking as we have been doing, we have not had a chance to do much Taekwondo.

Afterwards we headed for Namsan tower. This is a communications tower that was built in the mid 1970's, on top of a mountain. It was opened to the public several years later and is a true landmark of Seoul.

Namsan Tower

We took a hiking trail to get to the base of the tower. It was about a 4k hike and was full of steps. Today was the best weather we have seen since we got here, and while it was still hot and humid, we enjoyed the hike.

Mr. Williams leading the way up to Namsan Tower

Master Gale said this was our Rock Band Pose, he of course is the lead

...oh yea, more stairs,

but the view was worth the hike

Some of us hiked back down the shorter side of the mountain, while others took the cable car down, then we took a cab to Yonsei University. It had been 10 years since I last saw this part of town and it had changed so much. Gigantic building have gone up, and there is still tons of construction going on. For anyone that doesn't know, I lived at the International House dorm at Yonsei for a year from 1991 - 1992, I went back for a visit in 1997, but had not seen it since.

My dorm from the year I lived in Korea

After spending some time checking out the area surrounding the dorm, I wanted to take everyone to Bongwansa, a working Buddhist Temple that was (as I remembered it) a short walk from the dormitory. Unfortunately things have changed so much we got a little lost and took quite a "tour" of the area before finding Bongwansa. The Temple was under heavy construction when I left in 1992, and (Like everything around it) has really change.

Not to be confused with the Palaces we visited, this is a modern Buddhist Temple, the building are not ancient, or are meant to portray history in the way the Palace gardens are. This temple is more liken to a modern day church, with history that runs back to 889. About 50 monks live at the Temple.

Here are some photos of the Bangwansa Temple.

Once we were done here, we headed back to the hotel, showered up and changed. We headed over to War Memorial Museum for a little while, and looked over old war planes, tanks and helicopters. We met Grandmaster Lee and his Grandson here and headed over to Steven (Buck) Rogers house who lives on YongSam Army base with his wife and children. Buck is a Blue Wave black belt, he is a Doctor for the Special Forces and the only Eye Surgeon on the base. It was nice to spend some time with him catching up, and of course the pizza and beer didn't hurt!

Another amazing day! We register for the Kukkiwon course tomorrow. I have really enjoyed doing all the tourist type stuff, but am ready to begin the course.

Catch up again tomorrow!

Korea Trip - Day 3

2007-07-21T09:40:00.000-04:00

We had another great day today. It continues to be hot and humid, and constantly on the verge of a thunder storm, but we had some good luck and weather didn't prohibit us from doing anything out side.

First thing this morning we did some more Taekwondo equipment shopping, now I know that we have gone to the equipment stores everyday, but between the 8 of us there was a lot of comparison shopping to do! ;-)

After the shopping we went to Gyeonghuigung Palace, the Kukkiwon Demonstration team puts on a Taekwondo demonstration here twice a week. The demo was really great, I have some video to post of it when I get home.

We met up with Amanda here! It was really cool to meet in person, we also got to meet "good man" and her Sabumnin was in the Demonstration we watched. If you don't know what i am talking about, be sure to visit her Blog: Amanda Takes on Korea.

Most of us on this trip are avid readers of Amandas blog, is was fun to meet in person

Grandmaster Lee met up with us at the demo, afterwards we went out to eat at a Korean-Chinese restaurant. We had Mandoo (dumplings) and fried rice, and for dessert - of coure we hit starbucks!

After saying good bye to Amanda and Good Man we headed to Gyung Bok Kung Palace. This is probably the largest palace/park in Korea, and its quite beautiful. They are doing quite a bit of construction to the park right now, and have been for a while. It has really been improved since I was here in 1999.

This is from Gyeonghuigung Palace, where the demo was

The Bradford Blue Wave gang at Gyung bok Kung

Kings Throne (Gyung bok Kung)

GM Lee and I in a garden (Gyung bok Kung)

Another Shot of Gyung bok Palace

Russ Gale, Tanya Panizzo and I at Gyung Bok, we have really enjoyed having these guys with us. They fit right in with the "blue wave banter" we are so well known for. Some of you Blue Waver's known them from the 99 Korea trip, Master Gale has attended summer camp in the past as well. (10 years ago now wow!) You can visit there Taekwondo School site HERE: Milan Taekwondo.

On the way home we went on an adventure and walked home from a different subway stop, it ended up being quite a hike! We are going to all sleep well tonight!

More to come! Tomorrow we will likely hit Namsan tower, and we are meeting up with Buck Rogers, a long time Blue Wave black belt. He is a Dr. with the military, and he and his family are currently stationed here.

Korea Trip - Day 2

2007-07-20T09:23:00.000-04:00

We headed off to Ittaewon today. Ittaewon is a shopping area famous in Korea, its near the Army Base and is full of touristy type stuff - much of the items in ittaewon are of the fake Rolex variety, but they have some fun things too. Over the last 20 years, I have been to Korea several times, and every time Ittaewon changes, there are many more name brand retail stores now, and less independent vendors. Also not 1, but 2 Starbucks!

Getting some Calligraphy in Ittaewon

Hanging at Starbucks

After shopping we caught up with Grandmaster Lee back at the Kukkiwon, where he had just finished as an examer for a rank testing. We walked for about 15 minutes to the Chung Do Kwan Headquarters office where we met with Grandmaster Hae Man Park.

Group Picture with Grandmaster Lee and Grandmaster Hae Man Park (both seated) at Chung Do Kwan Headquarters. Also pictured a Grandmaster Ihm, another Chung do Kwan instructor.

For the non-Blue Wavers that read the blog - Chung Do Kwan is the family Lineage of Taekwondo that we belong too. Chung Do Kwan literally means "Gym of the Blue Wave" and is one of the original Kwans of Martial arts in Korea.

We went out to eat for Lunch after the meeting. Mr. Kline was very happy as we went to a the "Tofu House" restaurant.

Mr. Kline in front of the "Tofu House" (Vegetarian of the group)

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped back in the Taekwondo equipment stores near the Kukkiwon, (yes, again and it won't be the last time), then we continued to the hotel to regroup. We made a trip to visit Gyongbokkung Palace, unfortunately it was closed when we got there, so we could only see the out side, we will go back tomorrow to see it again. One the way back a quick stop at Tangdaemun Stadium for some Frozen Yogurt and Fruit.

The Outside of GyungBok Palace, more pictures of this tomorrow!

Everyone is back at the hotel headed to bed, it was a fun day but I think the adrenaline is wearing off the Jet Lag is really starting to show! I hope to meet up with Amanda tomorrow, her Sa bum Nim is in a demonstration we will attend at 2:00 PM (unless it rains).

More news tomorrow!

Korea Trip - Day 1

2007-07-19T12:28:00.000-04:00

We had a great first day. Grandmaster Lee took us to the Kukkiwon today, we had an audience with President Won Kyu Um, (Kukkiwon President). This is a particularly special event for us, President Um is one of the pioneers of Taekwondo, and the most senior living Chung Do Kwan member.

Group shot at the Kukkiwon , the one with President Um is on a different camera.

After the Kukkiwon we went to a tournament that was about 90 minutes north of Seoul, one of Grandmaster Lee's Junior Masters (Master Shin) was able to get a Van, to take us all there. After the tournament we went out for a nice meal, (kalbi).

We got back to the hotel around 5:30 pm - rested for a bit, then 4 of us headed out to visit Jae H. Kim Taekwondo here in Seoul. A quick back ground on this, Calvin (my wife) came up through the ranks at the Jae Kim School in Boston, when I moved to boston I trained at Jae Kim (hence meeting Calvin) during the 5 years I lived in Boston. I really wanted to Visit the Jae Kim School in Korea since I was here. I had spoken with Mr. Kim before I left, and he made arrangements for me to visit the school.

I took 3 other black belt with me, and after a 2 hour Sub way ride we arrived for a 9:30 class. We had a fantastic time, and a great work out. There was a large class of about 20 people, we did a light warm up, some basics and then shield kicking. It felt great to work out after traveling(and sitting) for so long. The School is beautiful by the way. The nicest I have seen in Korea.

Its late now - almost 2:00am - so I am going to cut this short, and hit the hay, I hope to check in again tomorrow.

OH - Amanda Called today! We are going to try an meet on Saturday at Palace/Park that features a Taekwondo Demonstration on Saturday - should be fun!

I had a couple of people Post Comments - BBM and Nathan I think - some reason Blogger was in Korean and I rejected instead of accepting your comments - but I have managed to get it in English now, so please post again!

Group Shot at the Tournament - Thank you to Master Shin for driving us around in some heavy traffic today!

Sparring at the "Presidents Flag" Tournament

Group shot at Jae Kim Taekwondo

We are here!

2007-07-18T12:04:00.000-04:00

We made it! long flight, after getting to the hotel all 8 of us and Grandmaster Lee went out to eat. now we are back at the hotel and ready to hit the sack.

Having some technical troubles, I can't post to the blog from my Cell phone - something about it being an email address. I also can't make out going calls, although I can recieve calls - Calvin has called me a couple of times. Hopefully we get this straightened out - in the mean time - Russ Gayle (my roommate) brought a laptop, so I can get some posts in that way!

thats all for now!
gw

2007-07-17T13:28:00.001-04:00

Next stop tokyo! see you in 13 hours!

2007-07-17T08:19:00.001-04:00

Getting ready to board our flight to chicago! The trip has begun! we are totally excited!

BBM Challenge Complete!

2007-07-15T23:12:00.000-04:00

Ok - I lied, I have time for one more post.

Back in November of 2006, BBM put up her Challenge, I wrote about it here. In general it was a fitness challenge, a training goal, that you could set for yourself, work on and write about.

I knew that I wanted to go to Korea this summer to attend the Kukkiwon Instructors course, and I wanted to be prepared, so I set the goal to do each of my forms (poomsae) 100 times before leaving on the trip. For my rank, that meant 15 forms, Taeguek 1 - ChonkWon, or 1500 reps total.

I am pleased to say that I completed my final 2 reps today! Thanks to BBM for throwing down the Gauntlet, it was a great experience and it will certainly help me continue to be more diligent with my own forms practice.

If you are interested, I kept training notes HERE (not very interesting)and a running count of my reps HERE.

The Symbols above are part of the TaeGuek Forms Philosophy, if you would like to read more about it, you can follow this link.

4 Days and Counting

2007-07-13T12:28:00.000-04:00

Four days until we leave for Korea! I have been trying to pack and get all those last minute things done.

The entire group is very excited, the phone calls and emails are going back and forth like crazy. I am personally looking forward to getting past the anxiety of the flight and actually arriving in Seoul and getting settled. It will be great to see Grandmaster Lee and spend some time with him.

I don't know exactly what to expect from the Kukkiwon Instructors course, I have read a few journals from other people who have gone, and I have been to the Kukkiwon (and trained there) numerous times, this time it feels different.

I doubt I will be able to update the blog again before I leave, and once in Korea, as I stated below, I hope to put up a daily "cell phone post". there are a lot of internet cafe's as well, so I am sure I will be able to get online.

Cell Phone Blogging!

2007-07-11T22:57:00.001-04:00

You may ask why i have a pic of my cat on my blog, its simple, I am testing blog posting from my Cell Phone. I will have CELL-TXT ability in KOREA so this will be a great way to keep people up 2 date with what we are doing! all I can say is ... SWEET!

we can rebuild him...

2007-06-25T17:03:00.000-04:00

So I went in to see the doctor today - my hope was to get a splint, not a cast, and that is what happened! Power of positive thinking! (HA - to all you that snickered at me)

Here are a few photos, 2 X-Rays and one of the splint, you can see the T Plate and screws pretty well in the X - Rays. (Taken with Cell phone, so they are not great quality, and yes, my thumb really hooks out like that)

(Click for larger version)

Honestly, I feel like now the real challenge begins. I need to be able to make a fist by the time I leave for Korea, and I am no where near that right now, the Physical Therapist gave me some exercises and said if I am good about doing them I should see improvement in the next week or so...lets hope so...all I know, is the "exercises" hurt more then getting it broken.

After a 3 week lay off - I am headed into the gym to start working on forms right now...lets see how much I lost.

I will do my best to get a good Taekwondo post up here soon, I know, my own personal sob story is not nearly as interesting as Taekwondo drills.

Korea, 1992, Basic Paddle Kicking

2007-06-17T19:47:00.000-04:00

About 50% of the training at the high school, was the same everyday. Basic, or technique kicking was something we did everyday, sometimes twice a day. Here is a video clip demonstrating one session of this. There is nothing overly unique about it, and every team I visited in Korea had a very similar routine, first basic kicks in the air (single technique focused), followed by free kicking in the air. Then essentially the same thing on paddles, although the basic kicking on paddles was more combination focused.

Its never too late to make a mistake

2007-06-08T12:46:00.000-04:00

So, my blogging will be slowed for a while as my typing skills have been cut to 50%.

if you are interested in the story....

I have been doing my best to suit up with my students for sparring over the last few months for several reasons. 1st - its fun, 2nd - helps me stay in shape and 3rd, as long as the rounds are not too long, I can still be a decent sparring partner for my competitors getting ready for nationals.

So, Wednesday i managed to get my fingers kicked hard enough to break them.(left ring and pinkie) After nearly 25 years of Taekwondo, you would think I would have learned to keep my hands closed, after lecturing my students to keep THEIR hands closed, you would think I would know better...not so much.

I have had my fingers jammed before, this was the same, just worse. Apparently the knuckle joint is involved, I am going in for a surgical consult on Monday...all I know is that one way or the other, the cast comes off prior to me leaving for Korea in July.

By the way, I highly recommend the new style WTF gloves as they are designed to help keep your hands closed.

yes, that was sarcastic. (I have them, just wasn't wearing them.)

Korea 1991 - 92 and free Paddle Kicking

2007-06-03T10:31:00.000-04:00

In 1991, I traveled to Korea to live for a year as a university student at Yonsei University.

Grandmaster Lee arranged for me to train at Sung Shil High School as it was being coached by one of his students, Grandmaster Lee Bae Gun. This high school was not as prestigious as some other famous Korean Taekwondo high school teams, but the training was great, and I spent about 25 hours a week at the gym with a group of dedicated athletes.

The Team (can you pick me out? ;-) Coach Bae Gun Lee and myself.

A friend of mine, Joe Anastasi had graduated from college, was painting houses and working towards his black belt (he was a red belt at the time). I convinced him to come to Korea for the last 4 months of my trip. He did and joined me at the High School. Joe was suppose to be getting ready for his black belt testing at Kukkiwon at the end of his stay. The High School training was a competition team, we trained for sparring, so Joe, relied on myself for Poomsae practice in the basement of the Yonsei Dorm and once in a while at the Yonesei Foreigners Taekwondo program. (BTW: He was successful in his testing.)

From Left to Right, Joe, GM Bae Gun Lee, GM Tae Sung Lee, me.

I recently purchased this DVD called Taekwondo Training in Korea. The reason I purchased it (other then it was only $19.95)was because I thought it featured Kuk Hyun Chung. Widely considered the best Taekwondo competitor of all time. (Much argument will ensue now that Steven Lopez has matched his World Championship record, and has two Olympic Gold to his one.) While in Korea I had a chance to take a seminar with Kuk Hyun Chung. He was very impressive, and humble and....scary. Fast, powerful, truley in a league of his own, and he was retired at this point!.

This is after the seminar with Kuk Hyun Chung, he is in the middle, my roommate Richard is to his left, I am to his right. I am not sure who the student all the way on the left is, but all the way to the right is Peter Lee, now the Master Instructor for the Harvard Sport Taekwondo Program.

Watching this DVD encouraged me to look at a video that was made on one of Joe and my last days training at Sung Shil I have included a short clip of some free paddle kicking we did that day as a lead in to the next paddle kicking drill I will cover on the blog.

A better Quality version of the video can be seen here (8MB)

There is so much more to say about the year in Korea, I will come back to this topic, and include some more pictures and video. I developed lifelong friendships while there, not just with Joe, but, my roommate Richard, and Scott Trafton,(many of you know Scott) who also spent the last 4 months of the year at Yonsei, and got his black belt at the Kukkiwon.

Basic Kicking Technique At Work!

2007-05-25T13:25:00.000-04:00

In class, we are constantly practicing what I refer to as the 4 basic round house kicks.

Offensive Round house kicks with rear leg
Offensive Round house kick with the front leg (fast kick/running round)
Defensive Round house kick with the rear leg (slide back or pada chagi)
Defensive Round house kick with the front leg (draw back)

There are video demonstrations of them here on the blog if you are interested.

Here is a clip from the 2007 World Championships, where Korea's Jung Jin Hee scores on China's Tseng Yi-hsuan with a classic Draw back Round house kick. Towards the end of the clip they show the technique 3 or 4 times from different angles. This is a fantastic example of perfection of the most fundamental technique.

Karine Sergerie of Canada

2007-05-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

Returning form a 3 - 0 deficit, Karine Sergerie of Canada made an amazing comeback to win the World Championships defeating Korea in Sudden death over time of the Womens light weight finals. This is a fantastic demonstration of maintaining composure and sticking to the plan when trailing in points. This win was extremely well executed and deserved.

Steven Lopez - The Winning Point!

2007-05-21T13:25:00.001-04:00

Someone was kind enough to post some clips from the 2007 World Champioships on YouTube

If you click on the YouTube Logo in the lower right hand corner of the screen above, it will take you to http://www.youtube.com and you will have access to other 2007 World Championship Videos.

Steven Lopez Wins 4th World Championships!

2007-05-20T11:16:00.000-04:00

Many of you already know that the 2007 World Taekwondo championships are being held this week in Beijing China. It was just announced that Steven Lopez of the USA won his 4th straight World Championship today, beating Korea in Sudden Death over time. (Steven is pictured on the right in Red at the 2004 Olympics on his way to winning Gold there as well).

At this point, Steven is (unofficially) the most successful Taekwondo competitor of all time, winning 4 World Championships and 2 Olympic Gold Medals. If you are interested, here is a link to Stevens Profile.

In 2005, all 3 Siblings of the Lopez Family won Gold at the World Championships, unfortunately the "Three-Peat - Repeat" did not happen when earlier in the competition Mark Lopez lost to Korea in the Quarter Finals, and Diane Lost to Korea in Semis to claim Bronze.

You can get more information and updates on the World Championships at the following Locations:

USA Taekwondo - National Governing Body of Taekwondo in USA
WTF - World Taekwondo Federation, World Governing body for Taekwondo
OE Players - Taekwondo Forum
WCSN - On Line Sports Broadcasting

Side Note: The World Championships have competitors participating from over 120 countries, Steven had to fight 6 times in order to claim gold!

USAT RI Qualifier

2007-05-08T22:39:00.000-04:00

We recently had 4 students attend the USAT Qualifier in RI, here is a quick clip of a very sweet spin hook kick Mr. Sayles scored in his second fight. I should have another Paddle drill up over the weekend.

Sparring Day 1

2007-05-02T22:14:00.000-04:00

We recently started an introduction to sparring class and opened it up to your 9th gup juniors as a way to prepare for the upcoming Blue Wave Juniors Tournament.

As a Taekwondo instructor, there is something very exciting about a bunch of 6, 7, and 8 year olds getting their first set of sparring equipment. I did not get much in the way of action footage, but here is a very short clip of a couple of drills - if you scroll down to the slide back double video, the 2 black belts in that clip were not much older then these guys when they started.

Paddle Kicking Drills - Slide Back Double

2007-04-29T08:36:00.000-04:00

Here is a common Paddle Kicking drill to practice Slide Back or counter Double Round House kick.

While this video is not intended to teach Double round house, here are a few key points to keep in mind for this technique.

1. Keep your back straight, do not lean forward or backwards

2. This double motion is similar to running in place with High Knees, you do not need to jump high to execute Double.

3. Be aware of where the first kicking foot recovers. Where this foot steps down will determine the distance from your opponent, and is key to the second kick landing effectively.

Thanks to Mr. Sayles and Xiques for helping out with the demonstration.

A higher Quality Windows Media Version: ~5 Meg
Slide Back Double Paddle Drill

Mark Lopez VS Song Myung Sop

2007-04-23T22:13:00.000-04:00

While I am working on the next paddle drill video .....

I found this match from the 2005 World Championships, of Mark Lopez VS the Korean Player Song Myung Sop. Its a really fantastic fight with very clear points, and a couple of unclear ones. In the 3rd round it looks like Mark may have received 1 point by accident, but in my opinion, it all came out in the wash as a couple of points were missed earlier in the match.

Its nice to see the basic techniques we work on in class all the time scoring in this match - the Korean Player has a fantastic fast kick, and Mark has extremely strong doubles and triples. Enjoy!

Note: If you click the arrow inside the picture twice the video will play in the blog, If you click the YouTube Logo, it will bring you to the YouTube site.

Part II: Paddle Kicking Drills using Checks and Traps

2007-04-09T22:13:00.000-04:00

This next section will build off the last. We will continue to use basic steps as a "trap" and follow up with a round house kick.

This video demonstration adds two new techniques to the paddle drills. A full step forward, used to advanced, and set up the "trap", and a switch step round house kick; which is simply switching your stance, and executing a rear leg round house kick. The switch step round house kick is an important technique in that it allows for a more powerful kick then a front leg, and therefore increases the chances of scoring.

1. Forward Step, Followed by Angle slip step round house kick
2. Forward Slip Step, Followed by angle switch step round house kick

These drills can be done as a basic paddle kicking drill,with the target being held in place prior to the kicker moving, or the holder can drop the paddle into place after the trap-step has been executed, making the pace a timing drill.

Full Step, Switch Round House Kick Examples

Paddle Kicking Drills using Checks and Traps

2007-04-09T09:46:00.000-04:00

In Taekwondo sparring, fake motions known as checks and traps are an essential part of a match. In any strategic game, the best players think several moves ahead. In Taekwondo, the use of a check or trapping step is used to lure the opponent in.

Term Definitions:

Check: A fake motion is used to illicit a response from your opponent. Typically, check motion is small, and does not really constitute a "step" - however, if the opponent reacts in a favorable way, the check becomes a trap. The information learned by doing a check, often leads to executing the trap at another time in the match. For example, I make a check motion and by the reaction of my opponent, I learn they are sitting on a back kick counter. I have now learned something about my opponent that could be useful later on.

Trap:A trap is executed with the hopes of luring your opponent in. You make them think they have a great opportunity to score, when in reality, you already have plans on countering their attack.

The most basic traps include a slipping step, and a full step. A slipping steps moves you towards or away from your opponent while maintaining your stance orientation. (Left foot forward for example) While a full step (forward or backwards) would change your stance.

Slip Step, Rear Leg Round House Kick Examples.

The following Video Clip demonstrates 3 "Slip Step" trapping techniques, demonstrated on a kicking paddle.

1. Forward Slip Step, followed by offensive (forward moving) rear leg round house kick.
2. Forward slip step, followed by defenvise (backward moving) rear leg round house kick.
3. Forward slip step, followed by angle step (45 degree angle) rear leg round house kick.

Slip Step Trap, Rear Leg House Kick Examples

Paddle Kicking Drills

2007-03-29T11:28:00.000-04:00

Its been a while since I made any technical posts. I want to start a series of paddle (target) kicking drills, but before I do, here is a short explanation of various types of paddle kicking. This is "old news" for many of you, but its an important starting point before we move into more advanced drills.

1. Paddle Kicking, Basic Drills. In this style of practice, the target is stationary, and the distance consistent with each repetition. The kicker is executing the technique at their own pace. This is used for technical practice, and is a great way for novices to work on new kicks, or kick combinations.

2. Paddle Kicking, Timing Drills. This style of kicking has the holder assuming sparring pace, and dropping the paddles into position for the kicker to react to. It is very important the holder make realistic steps and motion for this to be an effective drill.

3. Paddle Kicking, Speed Drills. In Taekwondo, speed is defined by the time it takes for the strike (foot or hand) to reach the target. In order to increase kicking speed, not only the speed of kick should be increased, but the speed that the athlete moves from one kick to the next. Speed drills typically call for the kicker to do the techniques in continuous motion, with no repetition reset.

Here are the clips in Windows Media Format format as well:

Basic Paddle Kicking Examples

Timing Paddle Drill Examples

Speed Paddle Drill Examples

Winter Camp 2007 - Testing

2007-03-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association has 2 Black belt promotion tests each year. The first at Winter Camp, and the second at Summer Camp. (Typically held the first weekend of March and August respectively.

In the Blue Wave Association, (like many organizations) 1st Degree Black Belt requires 2 physical tests, the first is called Recommended, the second Decided. Typically its 6 or more months between the testings, 1st degree black belt is the only rank that we require the two stage testing.

At Winter Camp 2007 Testing, there were 9 candidates testing for 1st degree decided black belt, 10 for 1st degree recommended, 3 for 2nd dan, and 1 for 3rd. This was an average size testing for us, however the number of 1st degree candidates was quite large. This is GREAT NEWS as we see our Black Belt ranks continue to grow.

Congratulations to Everyone! Remember, Blue Wave Black Belt Conference is November 3 - 5 2007!

Winter Camp 2007 - Sparring

2007-03-13T10:37:00.000-04:00

(CLICK ON PHOTOS for larger View)

Winter Camp 2007 had some great sparring activities. Saturday night at black Belt testing the candidate had some excellent matches. (above)

We tried something new this year. Rather then having match games, we had a "practical" following the sparring Seminar.

For the Seminar, we split everyone up into three groups. 10 and Under,

10,11,12,

and 13 and up.

Each seminar used hogus drills as the training method. After the seminar portion, we brought everyone into the main room. All the black belts lined up on one side, and we put all the gup ranks into 9 lines by Rank on the other side. Each gup rank came out, (one per line) and had to go get a black belt to come out and spar with. The last couple of rounds the requirement was they pick a black belt they didn't know, which was very fun.

Around 130 people participated in the sparring practical, everyone got at least 3 or 4 rounds in. This format proved to be much more inclusive then match games, (and less intimating) the only down side being higher level practitioners did not always get a chance to match up.

Winter Camp 2007 - One Steps, Self Defense

2007-03-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

Like the other aspects covered at Winter Camp, One steps were performed both in Testing on Saturday night, and in a seminar on Sunday Morning taught by Mr. Tinkham and Mr. M. Ramini.

This was one of the first events where we did not have SPEAR/PDR Self Defense seminar. It was missed for sure! However, The Ho Shin Sul (Self Defense) displayed at testing looked good.

Winter Camp 2007 - Breaking

2007-03-07T10:08:00.000-05:00

(Note: Sorry to anyone who does not see a picture of themselves, I tried hard to get as many different people posted as possible, but just did not have pictures of everyone.)

There was some great board breaking at Winter Camp. Testing on Saturday night was proof that people have been putting some work into their breaks Here are a few action shots of the recommended black belts breaking. The first is a series of a 360 Flying back kick:

The Decided Black Belts:

Dr. C - 360 Back Kick

Decided Poome (Jr. Black Belt):

2nd Dan Candidates:

3rd Dan:

11 Board Attempt - all cracked

9 Board- clearly broken, and a 360 Crescent

In addition to the testing break, Mr. Brochu taught a breaking seminar on Saturday afternoon.

Winter Camp 2007 - Forms

2007-03-06T15:02:00.000-05:00

Following Mr. Klines awesome morning PT (physical training) routine, the participants were split up by rank and sent with different groups of instructors for about an hour to work on forms. After the seminar a forms mini-tournament was held, which was a lot of fun. It gave people a chance to do their form under a little pressure and get some feed back. I put a few forms photos from this section of the camp above.

Master Turgeon from CT. Chung Do Kwan attended the camp to help teach some semianrs. Master Turgeon was a member of the US National Team for the 1st World Poomse Championships. Here is a video of him performing Jitae for the group:

Master Turgeon - Jitae

Winter Camp 2007

2007-03-05T13:08:00.000-05:00

WOW - what a weekend.

The Blue Wave Winter Camp 2007 was a blast! About 145 participants gathered in Sanford Maine for our 8th annual Winter Camp.

A big ugly New England storm was predicted for Friday, so we rescheduled the Black Belt Testing for Saturday Night to allow people extra time to travel. The testing consisted of 9 Candidates going for Decided 1st Dan, 10 for Recommended 1st dan, 3 for 2nd Dan, and 1 for 3rd.

The Saturday Schedule was packed with a lot of great seminars. You can see the Schedule HERE if you are interested.

I need to sort through the many pictures and video clips from the weekend, but I will do several posts over the next few days about the camp and testing. Thank you to Jonathan from Dartmouth Taekwondo for the photos above.

Korea Trip 2007 - it has begun!

2007-02-24T08:37:00.000-05:00

I have not posted any new video clips lately. With Winter Camp 2007 coming up next weekend, and other wonderful diversions (like taxes) my Blogging Time has been cut back. Don't worry - I will be back with some more fight footage, some more Blue Wave Taekwondo History, and a new section I want to start (by request) "Training Drills"!

Last night I had the pleasure to travel to Bradford Blue Wave to teach Black Belt class. What a blast! About 20 Red and Black belts. We focused on basics, Taeguek Poomse, and one steps. After class several black belts stuck around and we worked on Yundanja poomse as well. (Black Belt Forms)

This was the first group work out for the Korea Trip gang. This summer 6 of us are headed to the Kukkiwon Instructors course! Here is a picture of the motley crue, of course I will be tracking our training prep and trip here on the blog.

Spin Hook Kick

2007-02-11T20:56:00.000-05:00

Spin Hook Kick, Wheel Kick, Whip Kick, another technique with a lot of names.

A well timed spin hook kick can be devastating; as you can see in the Heavy Weight final of the 2004 Olympic Games:
Moon Dae Sung 2004 Olympic Final
The video is 7 minutes long, but "ends" at around 3 1/2 minutes.

Spin Hook kick can be used much the same way as Back Kick, a trapping technique or a straight counter. Here are some examples:

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Some of the clips are poor video quality, and look better in the Windows Media Format below. File size is about 3.5 meg.

Windows Media: Spin Hook Kick

Clip Notes:
Fight Clip 1: Kicker, Lesley Edquid, AAU Regional, 2004
Fight Clip 2: Kicker, me, MA States, 1998
Fight Clip 3: Kicker, Todd Sayles, Quebec Cup, 2003
Fight Clip 4: Kicker, me, Goodwill Games Canada, 1995
Fight Clip 5: Kicker, me, New England Open, 1994
Fight Clip 6: Kicker, me, CT. Classic, 1996

I find teaching Spin Hook kick a challenge. Students often bring the body around first, and follow with the kicking leg, this turns the kick into a Spin Crescent rather then hook. Another common mistake is arching the back, which typically comes from attempting to spot the target, this prohibits the leg from following through and limits the height of the kick.

Axe Kick

2007-02-05T09:26:00.000-05:00

When I first started competing in Olympic Style Taekwondo, the Axe Kick was a bomb. The idea was to bring it up as high as you could, and drop it as hard and fast as possible.

Over the years, to accommodate for increased speed of the game, the Axe Kick became more linear. It was chambered similar to a front kick, rather then executed with a straight leg. In addition, the kicking leg was brought up only 3 - 6 inches higher then the target.

For me personally, Axe kick worked well for "kicking on the motion" of my opponent. That is to kick on the opponents forward motion, but not necessarily waiting for them to kick.

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Windows Media: Axe Kick
Clip Information:
Clip 1: 1996 World Cup
Clip 2: 1996 President Cup
Clips 3 &4: 1993: USTU (USAT) nationals

360 Round House Kick

2007-01-29T09:39:00.000-05:00

360 Degree Round House kick, back turn kick, hurricane kick, tornado...this kick seems to have more names then most!

From Right leg forward stance, the kicker takes an advancing step by turning towards the back shoulder, and pivoting on the right foot. When the left leg has come around 180 degrees, a right leg round house is executed. This can be done stepping, (putting the left foot down) or jumping as shown in the video.

To be more cross platform friendly I am trying out dropshots to embed the demonstration clips. You can still download a higher quality .wmv file below.

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This kick is effective in sparring, but is also popular as breaking or demonstration kick. When working on this kick for sparring, remember to keep the back straight (maintain a good posture, do not lean back). If kicking with the right leg, after you begin the turn, reach toward the target with your left leg, do not begin to kick with the right leg until the left is in line with the target.

360 Round House Kick

Clip Information: More dinosaur era footage! The demonstration footage is recent, but the fight clips are from (in order):

1991 Vermont State Taekwondo Championships

1998 MA State Taekwondo Championships

1991 USTU (now USAT) National Championships

High Section Back Kick

2007-01-18T22:54:00.000-05:00

Here is the video post of High Section Back kick. Technically, the kick works the same way, often done with a slight jump, but with an upward trajectory. Sometimes the face is hit by accident, with the kick sliding up the chest pad, or the attacker lowering their body.

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High Section Back Kick

Back Kickers: 2 very talented Blue Wave Athletes!

Clip 1 & 2: Christian Centonze 2003 Quebec Cup
Clip 3: Sara Sayles, Dan Do Cup 2006
Clip 4: Christian Centonze, WTM Tournament, 2004

Trapping Back Kick

2007-01-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

In part two of the Back Kick series, I have some examples of Trapping back kick. This could be considered an offensive application of back kick, because the back kicker is making a motion or kick to draw a counter from his/her opponent, this is called a "trap". The counter attack of the opponent is what opens them up for the back kick.

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Trapping Back Kick

Information on the video clips:
clip 1, 1996 World Cup, Back Kicker - me
clip 2, 1998 MA States, Back Kicker - me
clip 3, 1995 Olympic Festival, Back Kicker - me
clip 4, 2003 Quebec Cup, Back Kicker - Taylor McNally-Anderson
clip 5, 2004 US Classic, Back Kicker - Todd Sayles

Back Kick!

2007-01-07T09:54:00.000-05:00

In Olympic Sparring matches, a well timed back kick is always a crowd pleaser. It is difficult to perform, exciting to watch, and a powerful kick.

The development of back kick can be traced from side kick and spinning side kick. Because of the fast nature of Olympic sparring, the spinning side kick was often too slow. The kick was modified so that the kicking leg traveled very close to the standing leg, and straight back (with toes down), rather then coming around from the side like a typical side kick.

Here is the first of a 3 part series of Back Kicks.

Counter Back Kick: From defensive position, the kicker holds their ground, or adjusts backwards as the attacker approaches. Timing is crucial, and the kick is best executed as the attacker turns towards the defender (typically) attacking with the rear leg to the open (front) side. Note: Counter Back Kick is often done with a jump.

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Counter Back Kick

Stay tuned for posts on "Trapping Back Kick" and "High Section Back Kick ".

Old Back Flip Video

2007-01-04T22:28:00.000-05:00

I have a "Back Kick" technical post I am working on, but it probably won't be posted until Sunday...I have some video editing to do, but I promise it will be worth the wait!

I did come across this old (1989!) video clip of me doing a board break I have not done in many years, and probably won't be doing again any time soon. But I am posting this as a challenge to some able bodied Blue Wave Black Belt to do it for our next demo.

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Back Flip Board Break - 1989

Chung Do Kwan Training Osan Airforce Base, 1963 - 1964

2006-12-31T09:10:00.000-05:00

Grandmaster Twings time in Osan Korea (1963-64) was very early in the history of modern Taekwondo. In my previous history posts, you can see the name "Tae Soo Do" being used along side "Chung Do Kwan " in many places. The name Taekwondo was not yet fully adopted.

In the early to mid 60's, martial arts training in Korea was still heavily influenced by Japanese Karate. Here are some examples:

The photo (above left), shows Grandmaster Twing is using a Makiwara Board, a common tool used in Karate to toughen up the hands striking surfaces, and build strength in the wrists. You can see the results in the photo on the right.

(Above Left) Grandmaster Twing and Grandmaster Lee Sparring (Osan, 1964). No equipment was being used yet. The Hogu (photo on right with Grandmaster Lee in the background) was introduced to standard practice in the late 1960's.

The forms taught to Grandmaster Twing while stationed in Osan were based on the Pinyan Karate forms.
Here is a clip of Grandmaster Twing as a red belt, performing Pinyan Oh Dan. This would be the equivilant of Taeguek 8.

Grandmaster Twing Pinyan Oh Dan

Here is a clip of Grandmaster Lee, peforming a Black Belt form. I have seen several versions of this form, named a few different things. My best guess is it called NaiHanchi ShoDan. (1st or 2nd dan form)

Grandmaster Lee NaiHanchi Shodan

These forms are still practiced by many Karate, and Tang Soo Do practitioners today.

Holiday Break!

2006-12-30T21:17:00.000-05:00

I am working on some new posts, 1 history, and 1 technical, I hope to have them up in the next week or so.

The Blue Wave Taekwondo School (burlington) has been closed for the Holidays, but we did have 2 "informal" classes this past week. My daughter, Addison, came along to family class with me. She is a 9th gup, (yellow stripe) and fits Taekwondo in between Violin, Ballet, Art classes and everything a 1st grader does. Here is a photo of us headed out the door! Happy New Year Everyone.

Mr. Sayles - Fight Clips

2006-12-20T22:10:00.001-05:00

Most of you know Mr. Sayles (one of my Senior Black Belt athletes)but for those that do not, he is a long time competitor, and 2005 AAU featherweight national champion (among other accomplishments). Here are a few nice points from some of his past fights. (Click the "Play" Arrow Twice).

Promotion Testing in Burlington

2006-12-20T08:48:00.000-05:00

We had a great Rank Promotion test at the gym last night. Two new Red belts to pick on! It is very satisfying as an instructor to watch a student test for red belt, and know, that in 8 - 12 months, they are going to make very good black belts. Congratulations to Peter and Daniel! Nice work guys! (pictures coming) 2 Great lower rank testings as well, 1 for yellow stripe and one for green stripe. Congratulations Marley and Ryan.

When I got to the gym last night, there was a present for me under the door. A CD with pictures and videos from the Blue Wave Festival. Thank you Mr. Emerson! Here is a clip of my break:

540 Spin Round and Spin Hook Break

Blue Wave Taekwondo Festival 2006

2006-12-12T10:08:00.000-05:00

The Taekwondo festival on Saturday was a blast! We had nearly 90 participants for match games, from 5 to 58 years old, and everyone got at least 2 matches. (many got 3 or 4). We started at 10:30, and were packing up by 3:30.

This was a chance for people to experience a scored match (Matted rings, Electronic scoring) with out the stress of it being a "Tournament". We also did several learning matches, teaming up a black belt with a gup rank.

There was a 15 minute demonstration during the lunch break. Some forms, Self Defense and Breaking demonstrations.

I LOVED this event. Its all about experience, learning and self improvement. I would like to see it be expanded to include some Forms, Breaking and even One Step Demonstrations in the future, or perhaps make a second event to include aspects other then sparring.

I hope to add some Video Clips, and additional pictures. (Yes, there were a LOT of adults sparring). Thanks to Sonja Buckholts for getting me the pictures you see here.

Drills From Black Belt Conference

2006-12-04T08:52:00.000-05:00

We are going to take a little break from the history posts, but don't worry, there is a LOT more of them to come.

I have been meaning to document the sparring (Paddle) drills I taught at black belt conference. Mr. Sayles and Xiques helped me record some video for the Cut Step drills on Saturday that I included below. (Pictures above)

The seminar built from the 4 basic styles of Round house kicks used in Olympic Style Taekwondo. (Note all Video Clips are between 1.5 - 2.0 meg each.)

1. Offensive Back Leg Round House

2. Offensive Front Leg Round House (fast kick, running round house)

3. Defensive Back Leg Round house (Slide Back, Pada Chagi)

4. Front Leg Defensive Round House (Draw Back, Front leg Pop)

After Reviewing these techniques, we moved on to implement a cut step (45 degree step) one starting with the kicking leg in back,(Slip Cut step) and one in front (Switch Cut Step).

1. Slip Cut step, followed by Round House; Kicking leg starts in back

2. Switch Cut step, followed by Round House; Kicking Leg Starts in Front

The, kicker assumed sparring pace, and the holder would put down a paddle on either the right or left side, then the kicker had to react to the target, either doing the slip step, or the switch step.

Grandmaster Bruce Twing - History Post 2

2006-12-01T11:08:00.000-05:00

Grandmaster Twings first exposure to the Martial arts was when he joined Airforce in 1960. He was stationed in Glasgow Montana where he started training in Judo under a man named Sargent Hudson. (Grandmaster Twing didn't give me a first name)

This picture is of Grandmaster Twing (2nd from left) after a Judo demonstration at the Airforce base in Glasgow, 1963. Sargent Hudson is standing on the right end.

Sargent Hudson encouraged Grandmaster Twing to extend his time in the Airforce, and request to be sent to either Korea or Japan so he could continue his martial arts training. He did this, and was sent to Osan, South Korea.

When he arrived at Osan he immediately visited the Judo gym and signed up. The instructor was a man named Master Ahn, he was an 8th Degree black belt who had studied with Judo's founder Jigoro Kano.

As you can imagine, Grandmaster Twing was very busy while at Osan, training in both Taekwondo and Judo. It paid off though, as he came home with a 1st degree black belt in both arts. Here is a picture of Grandmaster Twings 1st Dan Judo Certificate, from the Kodokan.

Grandmaster Bruce Twing - History Post 1

2006-11-29T08:59:00.000-05:00

Most Blue Wave students know that Grandmaster Twing began his training in 1964, at Osan Airforce base in South Korea while on his military Tour. Here is a picture of Grandmaster Twing in front of the Chung Do Kwan gym sign:

Grandmaster Tae Sung Lee was his instructor, and after 13 months, or training 4 plus hours a day, he came back to the states with his 1st dan. Here is a scan of the original certificate and ID card.

Full Size Certificate.

Front of ID Card

Back of ID Card.

Its interesting to see that the names: Chung Do Kwan, Tae Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do and even Karate appear in various places on all of these pictures. In addition, the ID card is signed by both General Choi and Won Kyu Um, who at the time were president and director (respectively) of both the Chung Do Kwan, and the Korea Taekwondo Association.

The mid 60's in Korea were a time of a lot of change and "shaking out" of what would eventually develop into what we know Taekwondo (in its various forms) to be today.

stay tuned - more to come!

Chest Pad Product Review

2006-11-21T11:11:00.000-05:00

One of the things I want to include on my blog are product reviews. I love Taekwondo gear! Let me know if there are any specific products you would like to see reviewed.

Lets get Started with Hogus - Chest Pads. We are going to talk about 3 different brands of Hogu today, I will try to add some others at another time.

Adidas - Multiple Vendors Carry Adidas Hogus
Retail Cost: $45 - $60

Pros: This is likely the most common Hogu on the market. Its has huge name brand recognition, is good quality, fits well and gives good protection.

Cons: Expensive! The wholesale cost on these chest pads are double that of many other decent hogus. Also, as of late, the Adidas Hogus have been cut a little bigger. I have ordered form 2 different vendors and received larger then normal size 4s.

MACHO
Retail Price: $50, likely cheaper from your instructor

Macho has 2 wrap around Hogus. last year, they released the "Deluxe Tournament Hogu" . It has a very large cut, and is not practical for Olympic Style sparring.

This year, they are offering a much better chest pad, called the "Competition Hogu".

Pros: Good design, High hip cut, light weight. The Retail price is not that much different then the Adidas, but the wholesale cost is about 1/2. This allows instructors to sell it to students for less then the Adidas and still make a little profit.

Cons: runs small. I typically wear a size 4. The equivalent for the Macho Hogu is a Large, and I felt like it was small on me. I only see this as a "con" because the largest size is XL. There is not as much protection (a little softer) then the Adidas, but I would still consider it a "hard" hogu.

You can see the size different here between an Adidas 4, and Macho Large.

Dae Do
Retail Price: $50 (approx)

Pros: This is a very nice Hogo. Good quality, and has a comfortable cut. It is about the same weight as the Adidas, and similar hardness. Wholesale cost is cheaper then Adidas by about $10.

Size Comparison with the Adidas Size 4

Cons: poor availability in the states. The only place I have found you can purchase these are from MDSS Canada which is a great company to deal with, but ordering large quantities from Canada to the US can be a hassle.

Final Thoughts: The most important thing is that the hogu fit you well, and does its job protecting you. For the me, I can wear any of these hogus and accomplish this. I think its worth shopping around before you buy. Take a look at what people are using at your gym, and give them a closer look. Also, ask your instructor before purchasing, they may have further insight for you and might be able to get a better price then if you order it yourself.

Other Hogu Options:
5 Rings From Dynamics World
Competition Hogu ($45) from Kwon
Elite Hogu(~$30) from Xplosive TKD
Vision Platinum Chest Guard ($45) from Vision Martial Arts

BBM Challenge

2006-11-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

In my search for other Martial Arts related blogs, I came across, Black Belt Mama .
Swing by her site. Especially if you are a Taekwondo student AND a parent.

She has presented a fitness challenge to anyone who would like to take it. Here are the steps:

1. create a (fitness)goal
2. have a plan
3. write about it
4. Link to the BBM challenge. (I did this in the sidebar).

If you don't have (or want) a blog, but want to write about your goal, feel free to post in the comment links here.

As many of you know, Summer 2007 some of us are headed to Korea to particpate in the Kukkiwon Instructors course. I really want to be in good shape for that, so this seems like a good challenge for me. I have started the process and will write it up this week some time.

More Black Belt Conference

2006-11-16T14:51:00.000-05:00

Black Belt Conference 2006 Video - 6.5 meg

Here are a couple of group shots from the end of the conference (thanks Mrs. Williams). Also, a link to a short video that Ms. Pavlo put together.

Getting good pictures and video at this event was a real challenge, due to poor lighting, but we did the best we could!

Black Belt Conference 2006

2006-11-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

Black Belt Conference 2006 was AWESOME. We had 50 Blue Wave black belts in attendance, and Grandmaster Lee was there to train all of us!

Seminars Included:

Dissection of Movement: Master Blais taught a seminar that had us break up into groups, and dissect various techniques into their components. It was a very helpful exercise in analyzing how we teach.

Basic Techniques: Grandmaster Lee put all of us through basic technique combinations.

Sparring Techniques: I taught a paddle kicking seminar using Offensive and defensive round house kick with cut 45 step

SPEAR/PDR: Master Rathbun and Mr. Anastasi taught a great seminar. The majority of the time was spent doing ballistic mirco fights from different scenarios.

POOMSE: Grandmaster Lee taught 2 Poomse Sessions, a 1st - 3rd dan session, Covering Taeguek 7, 8, Koryo,Keumgang, Taebaek, PyonWon. Also a 4th dan and up seminar covering Koryo - Chonk won

One Steps: Grandmaster Lee taught one steps, including some from Kneeling position.

Break Out Sessions: Round Tablet discussions about teaching, equipment, testing standards, events etc.

Saturday Night we had a nice banquet/dinner followed by some card playing in the "Crows Nest" room at Mt. Ascutney.

Grandmaster Lee Rocks lil-ole-Bradford!

2006-11-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

As usual Mr. Kline and the Bradford Blue Wave impressed us with large turn outs for both the White through Green stripe group, and the Green belts and higher.

Grandmaster Lee really hit his stride tonight, covering basics and forms, as well as kicking combinations with both groups. Grandmaster Lee is a living example that Taekwondo can be a life long practice. Here is a short video clip of him teaching

Grandmaster Lee teaching at Bradford Blue Wave

Grandmaster Lee Teaches in Hinesburg

2006-11-08T09:29:00.000-05:00

Grandmaster Lee taught two great seminars last night at the Hinesburg Blue Wave. The first group was lower ranks, he focused on basic technique, stance, and the importance of a good Kihap. The second group were more advanced ranks. I put everyone through a warm up and basic kicking. Then Grandmaster Lee had everyone do kicking combinations, including the dreaded JUMP kick combos. We finished the night with Taeguek 3, 4, and 5. Next Stop Bradford!

Grandmaster Lee has arrived!

2006-11-07T09:10:00.000-05:00

The Blue Wave Taekwondo Associations Grandmaster Instructor, Tae Sung Lee is visiting for a few weeks. Last night he taught in Burlington, tonight we will visit the Hinesburg School, and Wednesday a road trip to Bradford.

Grandmaster Lee is a 9th dan, and one of the Chung Do Kwans most senior instructors. Now in his 70's, he is still a very active Taekwondo practitioner.

video clips added

2006-11-03T09:50:00.000-05:00

I took some video clips at the gym last night. The idea is to have a running list of video clips that demonstrate the various drills I refer too.

I updated the post from Wednesday with clickable links to the drills that I taped. I also created a " Demonstration Clips" section in the upper right hand corner of the page where I will keep a running list of them.

All Ranks and Competition Training

2006-11-02T10:02:00.000-05:00

Since I am just getting started with this, I will likely list things out in more detail, and then refer back to them in future posts rather then listing them out again.

Notes from Classes held on Wednesday November 1st, 2006.

All Ranks Class

Participants: 11

We had a great all ranks class tonight. After our typical warm up, and dynamic stretch routine, we moved on to the following paddle drills:

Lines of four people. 3 Reps left, 3 Reps right, 2 rotations of holders.

1. Round House Kick, followed by Slide Back Round House Kick
2. Fast Kick Followed by Slide Back Round House Kick
3. Round House Kick followed by skip in Ax Kick
4. Running Round House Kick followed by out to in crescent/Ax
5. Round House Kick followed by 360 Round House Kick kick. (Stepping or jumping)

The remainder of class was split between basics and forms practice, with 5 - 10 minutes of 3 Kick combinations and kick counter kick partner drills.

Competition Training
Participants: 12

We had good turn out for competition training. We started with a general warm up, stretch kicks and basic steps:
1. In Place Alternating Fast Knees
2. In Place consecutive Fast Knees 10 Right, 10 Left
3. Moving forward Fast Knees
4. Running Step Knee up (continuous motion)
5. Skipping Step Knee up (continuous motion)
6. Pada step Kicking motion (continuous motion)

Basic Technique on Targets (Paddles and Kick Shields) Lines of 3, 1 minute per leg, 2 holder rotation:

1. Back Leg Round House Kick- any round house kick originating from rear leg, for example, Off the line Round House Kick, Skip Step Round House Kick, Slide back Round House Kick and Pada Chagi

2. Front Leg Round House Kick- any round house kick originating from the front leg, for example Fast Kick, Draw back, Switch Kick etc.

3. Doubles -

4. Back Kick - on the RIOT kick shields

Partner Hogu Drills

These drills should be done at Sparring pace; both offensive/defense roles are attempting to score.

1. Closed Stance, Rear Leg Round House Kick attack, Rear leg Round House Kick counter

2. Closed Stance, Front leg attack, Front leg counter attack. For example: Fast kick Attack, Draw back Counter, or Running Round House Kick attack, Switch step Round House Kick counter.

3. For this drill, the stance orientation is determined by attacker. Any Round House Kick style attack, (open or closed side, front or rear leg), either Pada Chagi or Back Kick counter.

We finished the training session with several 75 - 90 second sparring rounds.

October 30th, 2006

2006-10-30T09:23:00.000-05:00

My hope with this Blog is to keep notes on my classes, giving short descriptions of the drills we are doing (and vidoes clips maybe!). Having a history of this will help me organize my practices going forward, and will help me communicate what I am doing to other Blue Wave instructors.

If this works well, Perhaps some other blue wavers can jump on board with their own blogs.

I am not sure how often I will be able to update, my current goal is once a week, knowing me, it will likely become twice a month...we will see. :-)