Gwai Lo Dan
3rd Black Belt
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2010
- Messages
- 966
- Reaction score
- 174
I am travelling for work as I often do, this time in Mont Tremblant Quebec, and attended my first ITF class. It was more or less as I expected, and made for a nice change.
Taekwon-do Mont-Tremblant - cole de d art martial et d auto-d fense Taekwon-do Mont-Tremblant cole d art martial et auto-d fense qui offre des cours pour enfants adultes. Le Taekwon-do est une excellent fa on de gagner la confiance am liorer votre conditon physique apprendre vous d fendre et s amuser
First, after changing into track pants (since I only have a WTF dobok) I talked with the Master and he asked if I knew the difference between ITF and WTF styles. That's a ton of arguments here on this site about that question, but my response was that ITF felt the influence of General Choi, and WTF(style!) clubs felt the influence of tournament sparring. He talked of punches to the head in ITF, and was very respectful of WTF, with no talk of "real" tkd, so that was nice.
In terms of the class, there was a lot of why I would say is boxing style punching. We did punching drills culminating with jab, cross, hook, duck, hook, then turning kick. I was glad to finally do some practical punching, which we don't do in my current WTF-style club. (As an aside, my current club has a sign outside that says "kickboxing, self-defence, taekwondo" and one teenager commented that he joined in part for the kickboxing aspect. Fast forward 1 year later, we have done a few punches from the waist in a horse-riding stance in 1 class out of maybe 50, and that's it.).
Unfortunately, I somehow pulled a calf muscle. I went to spring up on a turning kick and felt a pop in my calf. Now it is tight and sore. I've never had that before. The only thing I can think of is that I was poorly hydrated, as my workplace this week lacks a bathroom, so I don't drink too much water.
One final aspect I liked is the practical kiup / breathing during a punch or kick. In this class, like at most ITF clubs I think, it was a focussed breath out like in boxing. The exagerated kiup in WTF competitions is one of my pet peeves. IMO, a kiup longer than say 1/2 second is about showboating, especially when it's accompanied by a raised hand.
In closing I really liked the ITF class and club, and I think it is more suited to me than WTF. With that said, I also like the challenge of pracitising more kicking, as we do at the WTF club I attend. All in all, I think ITF suits me well, but will continue along in WTF as it's the path I am already on.
Taekwon-do Mont-Tremblant - cole de d art martial et d auto-d fense Taekwon-do Mont-Tremblant cole d art martial et auto-d fense qui offre des cours pour enfants adultes. Le Taekwon-do est une excellent fa on de gagner la confiance am liorer votre conditon physique apprendre vous d fendre et s amuser
First, after changing into track pants (since I only have a WTF dobok) I talked with the Master and he asked if I knew the difference between ITF and WTF styles. That's a ton of arguments here on this site about that question, but my response was that ITF felt the influence of General Choi, and WTF(style!) clubs felt the influence of tournament sparring. He talked of punches to the head in ITF, and was very respectful of WTF, with no talk of "real" tkd, so that was nice.
In terms of the class, there was a lot of why I would say is boxing style punching. We did punching drills culminating with jab, cross, hook, duck, hook, then turning kick. I was glad to finally do some practical punching, which we don't do in my current WTF-style club. (As an aside, my current club has a sign outside that says "kickboxing, self-defence, taekwondo" and one teenager commented that he joined in part for the kickboxing aspect. Fast forward 1 year later, we have done a few punches from the waist in a horse-riding stance in 1 class out of maybe 50, and that's it.).
Unfortunately, I somehow pulled a calf muscle. I went to spring up on a turning kick and felt a pop in my calf. Now it is tight and sore. I've never had that before. The only thing I can think of is that I was poorly hydrated, as my workplace this week lacks a bathroom, so I don't drink too much water.
One final aspect I liked is the practical kiup / breathing during a punch or kick. In this class, like at most ITF clubs I think, it was a focussed breath out like in boxing. The exagerated kiup in WTF competitions is one of my pet peeves. IMO, a kiup longer than say 1/2 second is about showboating, especially when it's accompanied by a raised hand.
In closing I really liked the ITF class and club, and I think it is more suited to me than WTF. With that said, I also like the challenge of pracitising more kicking, as we do at the WTF club I attend. All in all, I think ITF suits me well, but will continue along in WTF as it's the path I am already on.