Taken TKD for going on 7 years. 2nd degree black belt. We practice WTF and ITF forms. Love it.

I am grading for red belt in WTF tkd this Sunday.

I hate forms too, I like sparring although the sparring class runs too early for people with office jobs in the city to get to, which is annoying.

Part of my Shodan testing is going to be a form (Kata). We don't really start any kata in Judo until the black belt level. Even then, there are only 10 total katas and most Judoka won't perform more than 2 or 3 of them in their lifetime. All of our Katas are 2 person and involve attacks of genuine strength and speed that have to be dealt with with no discernible effort. The Katame No Kata is ground pinning and it's the partners duty to struggle and try to escape with all of their strength.

I never thought I would like doing a Kata, but forcing yourself to do the throw with absolute precision, timing, and lack of effort really is educational.

Doing a wrestling class this Sunday (normally just BJJ 2x weekly now), really looking forward to learning my No Gi standup grappling so I can make better use of my Judo.

jenmck5- thanks!

I got a distinction and distinction in my class work too, so I was very happy. I was slightly concerned as I had a Korean guy grading me (so I thought he might be extra hard) and my partner was my sister-in-law who was out partying until 2am and was not at her best. But it was all good.

For our colour belt gradings we have to demonstrate the relevant pattern, relevant kicks (this time it was running axe and back foot), two punching drills, self defence- specific defences for club, knife, lapel and ground (sometimes gun- we learnt it but they didn't test it this time), sparring and step sparring showing off any blocks, strikes, kicks, take downs and locks. It took about an hour and a half.

It cost $70 to grade, but I think that is acceptable. My school is very big and has 4 locations, so they hire a big venue for gradings. They have one examiner for every 8 students, first aid etc. Probably about 120 adults/teens graded at the same time as me. They have separate gradings for the kids and black belts.

1st Dan WTF tae kwon do. Taeguek poomsae and some sip pal gi.

I trained shotokan karate for 2 years and got up to yellow belt before moving to a new area with no karate clubs. Did nothing for nearly a year but now I have found an ITF TKD club that is nearby and lets all grades and ages train together in one massive hall meaning my hubby, my 8 year old son and I could start training without having to drive to the sports hall ever single evening.

It's a NIGHTMARE switching martial art! You TKDers have this bouncy thing going on whilst my brain is screaming "STAY LEVEL!!" I think my hubby who has never trained anything before is finding TKD easier than me as he doesn't have old routines to get over.

Blue Belt TKD, test from high blue this week!

I can finally say that I am a yellow belt in WTF TKD :drinker:

Slowly getting into my forms and I'm not scared of the spinning pichagi anymore! yay me!

Black stripe in WTF TKD. Forms are my least favorite thing to do..i would rather be sparring.

Forms are a great way to learn such things as rotation ( hands shoulders hips) hand/foot timing,focus, and power. It is the " text book" of an art's strategy.

I'd avoid like the plague any club that claims their martial art is the only one worth doing. All the martial arts are different and you can learn something from all styles, but you'll learn less from a club with that narrow a view.

The WTF is better / worse than ITF argument is stupid. They're different, WTF obviously has a more amusing name, but other than that it's really down to the club and instructor, more than what they call their style. You get inspirational teachers with good clubs and terrible teachers with terrible clubs in every style of every martial art.

Another common stupidity is 'oh but $martial art is just a sport, mine is the real deal'. No it isn't. You don't have to fight for survival, people don't regularly try to kill you, you go to a class with friends and practice. Even if you practice really hard it's still a sport. If you get proficient in any martial art you can use it effectively in a real fight situation, but it's still a (useful, awesome) sport.

Agreed. There is no perfect art. The success or failure of practical application depends on the practitioner.