I've been back training for a year now and it's been a crazy life-changing year at that.

I've gone farther in my career than I ever thought realistic, I've lived in one of the biggest capital cities in Europe and I have a totally different body shape.

And one of them is solely down to taekwondo.

I wasn't very fit when I started back. I remember coughing and gasping for air during my first lesson and being totally embarrassed by it - it was only the warm up!

A year... Read More

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What is the sixth tenet? It's a question that's been bugging me ever since one of the black belts mentioned it almost half-heartedly - 'you think getting all the Korean for stances down is tough? wait til you get to your black belt grading... they ask you stuff there's no real answer to. Like what's the sixth tenet.'

Yes I know I'm only a wee little 7th kup, soon to be testing for - wait for it... green belt! But it got me thinking.

What is the sixth tenet?

At first I tho... Read More

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What kwan do you represent?

This is a question i am amazed by that many Taekwondo instructors(especially in UK) have no idea what a kwan is, they always say ITF or WTF.

Personally having researched much Taekwondo and korean martial arts history i think its important to know what kwan you represent, and teh differences between the kwans. This is just like karate are you shotokan or wad ryu etc..., as we train slightly differently but all taekwondoists.

When i visit a dojan... Read More

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Teaching the Pillars of Martial Arts by Jeremy M. Talbott

Honor (on-er) n. Honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions

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What was the best thing you ever did?

That was one of the topics on a national radio phone-in show this morning. One guy said it was leaving England for Sweden - he loves England, he said, but he loves the quality of life in Sweden more... and his Swedish girlfriend.

For someone else, it was having cosmetic surgery on her eyellids to stop them being so droopy.

Another guy said tracking down his dad's family in Poland.

And it got me thinking. What is the best thing... Read More

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