What if Taekwondo weren't there for you?

"We train for the fight we hope never happens."  I say this all the time.

A couple times a week, we come to class and kick, punch, sweat and yell.  We get color tapes on our belts, take our promotion tests, and move slowly up towards black belt. All the time believing we are getting better, stronger, faster.  But are we kidding ourselves?

What if you really needed Taekwondo to be there for you....and it wasn't?  What if you really needed to protect yourself, or someone you love, and your block wasn't strong enough?  What if your kick or strike didn't finish the job?

Taekwondo is wonderful because it offers a little something to everyone.  It offers physical exercise, self-defense, Olympic Sport, a community, a family, an avenue for stress-relief, and a moral code to live by.

But at its core, Taekwondo is a martial art. A series of techniques designed to defend against, and defeat an attacker.  So how do we train for this?  How do we prepare ourselves for a real punch?  A real grab? Delivering a real strike that will disable an attacker?

The answer is we do it in layers.  Each building upon the other to strengthen, toughen and prepare ourselves. The first layer is poomse and basic techniques alone against the air.  No resistance.  Just concentrating on technique.  Next is kicking and striking against the hand-held targets (affectionately called "Pork Chops" here at ATLU TKD).  Next is the heavy bag, or large body targets.  We then move on to one-step sparring, free sparring, and self-defense work with a partner.  Each of these allows us to safely practice our techniques with speed, power, and accuracy against an opponent without injuring them.

One of the most important layers is board breaking.  That said, I must admit, that Mr. Miyagi was right when asked by Daniel, Can you break that?.  "Don't know...Never been attacked by tree".  It's a great line.  But board breaking allows us to see, feel, demonstrate and experience just how hard, how powerful, how accurate our techniques really are (or aren't).  They also allow us to conquer our internal self-doubt and fear.  They give us a reality check of just how powerful we are....or are not.  Our boards come in three thicknesses:  demo, small adult, then adult (1" thick).  Each harder to break than the previous.  Able to break one Adult board with your side kick?  Great!  Now let's try two.

In order to train for a fight, one must train hard.  Punch hard.  Kick hard.  And if you think about it, you have to train HARDER than the other guy!

So how do we stop fooling ourselves and prepare properly?  Like most things in the martial arts, it's slow, steady practice.  It starts by making a conscious decision to try your hardest...EVERY DAY.  Is this easy?  No.  Will there be days you don't do it?  Of course.  But the goal is to TRY.  Ask yourself:   Are my hands and feet sore after hitting the heavy bag or body targets?  Am I pushing myself during basic techniques to be as fast, smooth, sharp, and balanced as I can?  Did I just do that One-Step with power, speed, accuracy and control?  Did I practice that self-defense technique like my life really depended on it, or did I just go through the motions?  If the answer is no to any of these questions, then you're not training hard enough.

Now, I KNOW that training is not always fun.  Sometimes it's uncomfortable, even painful.  And no one likes pain.  But it's accepting and pushing through the unpleasantness of today that makes us stronger for tomorrow.

Until next time, train hard and I'll see you on the mat.