Thursday, May 11, 2006

TKD Rocker? In ballet?

At my voice lesson yesterday, I was informed that I should look into taking a ballet class. I plan to go to college for musical theatre, and to do that, I have to be able to dance. I took a jazz class when I was in 6th grade, but that's the extent of my dance experience. TKD has given me balance, muscle control, and flexibility, but according to my voice teacher, I walk like an athlete when I'm onstage, not like a dancer. I want to improve my chances of getting into a musical theatre program, but that would mean cutting back on TKD. Its a decision that I'm struggling with, but I think that I will look into taking a basic ballet class, just to give me a good base in dancing. TKDmom, any advice on this? How does your ballet affect your TKD, and vice versa?

Friday, May 05, 2006

Did Curiosity Really Kill the Cat?

In light of Taekwondomom's post about looking at different dojangs, I thought I would post about one of my recent experiences.
About a month ago, a new martial arts school opened up in my town. Its called, "Macon's Martial Arts", and the first thing that caught my attention was the fact that they didn't advertise the style that they teach. Paulette told me that the style was American Karate, an art that was recently begun. She noted that that didn't make it bad, but to some traditionalists it has a negative connotation.
So one day before tkd I had some time to kill, so I decided to check out "Macon's". I didn't go in (he had a student with him and I didn't want to interrupt), but I observed from the front window. The first thing I noticed was his black belt. It simply had the name Macon on it in gold; no school name or anything. It seemed a bit fake to me, like you could just order it on the internet (of course, my opinion is biased, but oh well)! In fact, everything about the dojang looked a bit fake. Like they were trying so hard to make it look real, that it just looked phony.
I talked to Paulette about it that night (we tend to share ideas and comments with eachother first, before we take anything to Mr. Coleman), and she told me that it was alright to be curious about other styles, but to make sure its ok with Mr. Coleman before I open that door and go inside. I know Mr. Coleman's policy is that no student should train at another school while they are still students at our dojang, but I wouldn't be training, would I? The last thing I want is for Mr. Coleman to be upset/disappointed/angry with me (he's like a second dad, and I would feel horrible if there were any negative feelings between us). So, I've decided to simply drop the matter for now. My curiosity can wait. I just wanted to see what everyone else thought about it.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Drunken Kung Fu

Does anyone know anything about this style? I'm sure its a fine art, but I have to laugh every time I watch it. Click here and you'll see why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fT2qtoB1sg&search=Drunken%20Kung%20Fu
Be sure to watch the entire video to get the "full effect".