FTF

[Flatfish]

I was thinking more like Statler and Waldorf:

View attachment 20138

Now that's just plain mean....they're not that old

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

Can't help but wonder if it's an FTF thing to drop the kicking side hand as you use that leg to kick. Sorry - one of my favorite corrections.

Funny I correct it the other way, teaching to drop the hand to beginners who are very stiff. I put the caveat that you wouldn't necessarily always do that, but it makes the kick easier to learn (learning to turn your body more) and leads to a more powerful kick.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

This is what his system looks like. These are FTF combinations

I don't agree with dismissing his abilities. I think he moves better than most of the KKW black belts I see. I am always surprised to see that most of the KKW 1st dans testing have "no" hands, even though the "kwon" part means fists. Personally, I think my hands are marginal, and that is mostly from practising basic punching by myself.

 

[KangTsai]

Not a new organisation, just a brand.

You know what, cancel that. FTF is not a new federation, it's a joke.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I don't agree with dismissing his abilities. I think he moves better than most of the KKW black belts I see. I am always surprised to see that most of the KKW 1st dans testing have "no" hands, even though the "kwon" part means fists. Personally, I think my hands are marginal, and that is mostly from practising basic punching by myself.

His ability to do what?

 

[Earl Weiss]

Funny I correct it the other way, teaching to drop the hand to beginners who are very stiff. I put the caveat that you wouldn't necessarily always do that, but it makes the kick easier to learn (learning to turn your body more) and leads to a more powerful kick.

There is often a trade off when teaching beginners. For instance I teach a Side piercing kick by keeping one hand on the wall for balance while they lift the opposite side leg for the chamber and put the kicking side hand behind their back to grab their belt to keep from rolling the shoulder and exposing their back, they understand this is a learning / practice method and they would not have the non kicking side hand to the rear and the kicking side hand behind their back when sparring.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

His ability to do what?

From what I saw in the video, he looked quite decent in his hands and kicking. I am not saying I would admire him like a super grand master, but he looked as good to me as most other BB's .

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

There is often a trade off when teaching beginners. For instance I teach a Side piercing kick by keeping one hand on the wall for balance while they lift the opposite side leg for the chamber and put the kicking side hand behind their back to grab their belt to keep from rolling the shoulder and exposing their back, they understand this is a learning / practice method and they would not have the non kicking side hand to the rear and the kicking side hand behind their back when sparring.

Funny, although I have traditionally moved my kicking hand outwards while doing a side kick (towards the target), I've been asked to twist my body and put both hands towards my front side, exposing my back. More of a poomse style I guess.

 

[TrueJim]

Funny, although I have traditionally moved my kicking hand outwards while doing a side kick (towards the target), I've been asked to twist my body and put both hands towards my front side, exposing my back. More of a poomse style I guess.

Same...when I first studied taekwondo years ago, it was okay to keep the kicking hand out while doing a side kick. When I returned a few years ago (to a more poomsae-oriented school), I was taught to keep both hands near the knot of my belt.

Recently I was told that if I were in a poomsae competition in Korea, for a front kick I'd want to keep my fists very close to my chest...but for a competition in the U.S., I'd again want to keep both hands down near the knot of my belt.

 

[JowGaWolf]

From what I saw in the video, he looked quite decent in his hands and kicking. I am not saying I would admire him like a super grand master, but he looked as good to me as most other BB's .

I guess the entire black belt thing throws me off because I don't associate black belts or any belt with a skill set. Instead of you saying that he looked as good as anyone with his years of experience, you compare him with other people who have black belts which may or may not reflect skill level:

When I compare punching, I compare it with other people who have the same amount of experience (in years) with training punches and kicks withing their fighting system. In other words, if someone says that they have 6 years of experience with throwing punches and combos, then I expect to see a performance that looks like 6 years of throwing punches and kicks combos training and I just don't see it with him. It may seem like I'm being hard on him, but he's the one that put himself in the position of "the guy with the right experience."

Now compare what he showed vs these students. You can clearly see that they have trained and that they have a comfort with punching and kicking combos that can only come from training.

 

[RTKDCMB]

Thanks. Winning a sparring match or fight with a telltale that big would be extremely difficult since it gives away when you will attack. He might as well just say outloud. "I'm going to attack." You can actually see the same telltale here. I think his sparring partner was exploiting it.

The audience doesn't seem to be very interested.

 

[Wilde]

The concept of the FTF is a good approach and is a lot better than trash talking martial arts systems. I don't know how good it will be but if he goes about it the right way then he may be able to do change the way that people think about training their TKD training. To be honest what he's doing is the same thing that some of us are already doing at our schools except that we don't put it under a different banner and call it Functional Karate or Functional Kung Fu. Now that I've said that, the name FTF may end up causing problems because it creates the assumption that other TKD organizations aren't functional.

There are so many associations, federations, dojos, and dojangs these days, it'll make your head spin. I just find it disappointing that people don't understand why martial arts are the way they are. Sure some of the moves are not practical, but with modification they can be used. But I digress, there has always been a harsh line between tradition and function.

 

[JowGaWolf]

The audience doesn't seem to be very interested.

I thought the same too. I'll have to do some sparring in public to see if I get a similar reaction.

 

[TrueJim]

Not to perpetuate silliness, but here's a new video that's worth watching for those who wish to follow the arc that these guys are tracing out:

It's obviously just trolling; none of these are phrases or arguments one uses when one is actually trying to persuade.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

Going astray, I cringed when I heard "f__k", "like" and "dude" all within a dozen words. I found it extremely ironic when the one guy later said "I can talk really well". Yes I am old.

 

[RTKDCMB]

Going astray, I cringed when I heard "f__k", "like" and "dude" all within a dozen words. I found it extremely ironic when the one guy later said "I can talk really well". Yes I am old.

The very first sentence they uttered is more cringe-worthy.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Going astray, I cringed when I heard "f__k", "like" and "dude" all within a dozen words. I found it extremely ironic when the one guy later said "I can talk really well". Yes I am old.

Reminds me of someone saying recently, "I have all the best words."

 

[TrueJim]

Reminds me of someone saying recently, "I have all the best words."

I was thinking the exact same thing, but since I had already made one Trump comparison in this thread, I thought I should pass this time.

"I'm going to build a new taekwondo federation, and I'm going to make karate pay for it!" ;-)

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

I was thinking the exact same thing, but since I had already made one Trump comparison in this thread, I thought I should pass this time.

It takes a unique confidence to be able to say, "There are a lot of problems in the world, and I have all the solutions".

 

[blackbeltsomeday]

I know this thread is old, but here is an update:

Mr. Kelley has finally done it. He now has a full time gym in Grand Prairie, Texas. I am looking forward to seeing the competition results that his school puts out.