No Excuses

Not only do active children and adults benefit from martial arts training, the elderly and physically challenged can thrive as well. Martial arts is all about using your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. Each martial artist will have their own style based on their strengths, and will adapt their technique depending on the weaknesses of their opponent. Martial artists include paraplegics, the blind, and 90 year old grandmothers. Allow no excuse to stop you from indulging in martial arts training. It offers increased confidence, better health, and mental harmony.

Quality not Quantity

There is a wide variety of tae kwon do and other martial arts schools to choose from. A common mistake martial artists make is to latch on to a school that does not suit their needs. Big schools offer large facilities and plenty of varied partners, but can often neglect the individual lost in a sea of students. Small schools offer individualized attention in a more intimate setting, but might not have all the fancy equipment. Each martial arts student must ask themself why they are studying the martial arts. If the answer is to be part of a large social setting with other martial artists, then a larger school is a better choice. If the answer is to hone your martial arts skills, then you would benefit from the personal attention of a small school. The bottom line is that it come down to quality instruction. Good instructors train quality students. You are not getting quality instruction if you are left alone with someone without a black belt to supervise you. Only black belts are qualified to teach. If a school tells you otherwise, go somewhere else.

Martial Arts Wandering

The study of martial arts should ideally be done under the tutelage of a single qualified master. However, in today's modern society people move, schools close, and students get bored.
A lifelong student of martial arts may need to transition to several different martial arts programs in their lifetime. This can be incredibly difficult if you study a somewhat obscure martial art like hapkido. There are very few hapkido schools, so finding one when you move is a challenge. This is why tae kwon do is a good martial art to study if you plan to move a lot. No martial art is more pervasive in America today. The two largest factions of tae kwon do are the World Taekwondo Federation and the International Taekwon-do Federation. Their systems are somewhat standardized. If you study WTF or ITF tae kwon do, you should be able to find another school teaching pretty much the same way in another city. Your rank will also transfer to the new school. This allows you to continue your studies unabated.

What's in a Name?

I am often asked the differences between tae kwon do, taekwondo, taekwon-do, tang soo do, moo duk kwon, jhoon rhee, etc. They are all descended from Korean martial arts masters developing their own styles following World War II. These masters were influenced by Japanese karate, but decided to take their arts in their own direction. This evolution continued as tae kwon do spread to American and around the world. You might find several martial arts schools in your neighborhood teaching a variety of these styles. They are all essentially teaching the same thing. They may have different forms, techniques, and belt systems, but at the end of the day it is all about punching and kicking. This tae kwon do topic page strives to encompass ideas from all these styles and freely exchange ideas without judgement. It also strives to reach out to cousin martial arts such as karate, hapkido, and MMA. Tae kwon do sits somewhere between karate and hapkido/MMA on the martial arts evolutionary scale. Whatever you decide to study, make sure that it suits your interests. Also remember that you can study more than one style. Perhaps someday you will start your own martial art.

The Importance of Fathers

by Kent Ninomiya

I've been reading more and more lately about the importance of fathers spending quality and quantity time with their children. I know most of you will say "no kidding" to that advice, but how many of us actually make it their first priority and do it? When I say first priority I mean first. That means preferring time with your kids to time in front of the TV, computer or newspaper. That means being home instead of at work or at the bar. That means running around the playground and wrestling on the ground instead of shooing them away and telling them to go play somewhere else. When you think of it that way, guilt slides in and we realize we all do these things to some degree. The truth is we can all do more to interact with our kids.

My father was one of those strong silent types. He went to work then came home an plopped down on the couch. All my friends seemed to have the same kind of Dad. It's what fathers did back then. Nothing more was expected of them and many felt uncomfortable doing anything more with their children. Today's Dads are different. We are both allowed and expected to roll up our sleeves and be hands on parents. Bringing home a paycheck is no longer our most important responsibility. We are Dads first and whatever else we do second. Instead of seeing this as an additional life burden, view it as a gift.

Of course there are limits. We would all go crazy hanging out with the monsters 24/7. The key is notching up the time without ratcheting up the stress. Primarily it's making your kids #1 in your life. This is no small task but it's probably the most important decision you will ever make. Think about it. If you're not here on Earth to raise quality children why are you here? They are your link to immortality and the greatest reflection of who you were are a person. If you have lousy kids you were probably a lousy person.

Why is it that the worst parents ignore or abuse their kids when they're small then wonder why they are delinquents when they become teenagers? The best parents do a great job and wonder what more they can do. I decided when my kids were born that they were my primary job. When I had to opportunity to take a sabbatical to be with them I jumped at the opportunity. It didn't help the career but so what. What do money, fame and the adoration of strangers mean when your kids wont come to see you when you're old? Be sure to live your life deliberately and you wont be surprised by the outcome. Invest the time and effort in your kids now and you will have a wonderful relationship with them when they grow up. If you're not going to do that then why did you have kids in the first place? You might as well enjoy them.

broccoli - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya. My son hates broccoli. I mean he really hates the stuff! However, since everyone else in the family doesn't mind it and it is very good for you, we tend to eat it often. Making him eat his broccoli involves a combination of incentives, cajoling and threats. It always involves a battle. When we went on vacation for a week I told him that he didn't have to eat broccoli for the entire vacation IF he promised not to complain about eating it when we returned. He enjoyed his broccoli free week but grimaces every time I remind him that he's not allowed to complain about consuming it anymore. To his credit he eats it anyway. The other day he proposed something that left speechless. He said since he had to eat broccoli, something he hates, I should have to eat pickles. I hate pickles. His logic is flawless. If he's suffering why shouldn't I? The only response I could come up with was "because I'm the Daddy and I'm not eating pickles. Kent Ninomiya

Daddy shift - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya. A long time ago I heard that Ted Koppel spent several years away from journalism raising his kids when they were young. I heard he did this while his wife went to work or school or something because it was fair. To this day I have no idea if this story is true, however, true or not, it inspired me from a young age. I have always taken my job as a father seriously. I don't know why people have kids if they are not going to enjoy them. I can't comprehend how fathers ignore their children when they are young then wonder why they can't relate to them when they get older. Most of the job as a parent is done when the children are new. From birth through their first 5 or 6 years is the most important developmental time they will ever experience. It's a narrow window where you get to influence who they are and cement an unbreakable bond. Once that window closes it is shut forever. You can always work, but if you miss those years of your kids' lives then you miss something precious that can never be regained. I made a deliberate decision to spend as much of that quality time with my children as possible. Work is on the back burner. We play, travel, hang out. There is no specific plan. I'm just there for them. It's an investment that will pay dividends forever.

Kent Ninomiya

Old Man

I challenged my son to a series of foot races. He loves to run. They were from the light post to the trash can then from the car to the playground. I decided to go all out and give him a challenge. So I backed up about 20 feet and told him I was giving him a head start. He looked at me puzzled and said, "why would you do that? You're and old man." Keep in mind this kid is about a third my size and not even in the 2nd grade yet. I burst out laughing and remarked, "sad but true." I said, "ready, set, go" and we were off.

He beat me.

*** Kent Ninomiya AKA the old man ***

Dare Not Blink - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - I took my son to a high school basketball game. He got free tickets at school along with dozens of other kids his age. He was wide eyed with excitement seeing all the action and cheering people. Still, all that noise and activity is intimidating at first to a small boy. I encouraged him to go off and see his friends sitting elsewhere in the bleachers but he preferred to stay close by my side. After more prodding he eventually sought out his best friend a few rows away. Soon he was hanging around the railing with girls, getting drinks of water at the fountain and running off to the gym to jump off things. Every now and then he checked in to make sure I was OK. I spent the rest of the game watching my son, not the basketball. It was the first time I saw him really socialize in a large setting. He worked the room, flirted, and charmed his friends. I wondered how much of that personality came from me and how much was his own. I wanted to take credit for much of it but knew I couldn't. He's his own person now, not the baby I once held in my arms. Sad how quickly that transition happened. I looked around at the little kids faces then at the faces of high school kids nearby. They're not so different. I stared wide eyed at my son's face as he joked with his friends. I dared not blink fearing I would open my eyes to find him all grown up. Kent Ninomiya

Genetics and the Remote Control - Kent Ninomiya

If there was ever any doubt that there's a link between genetics and the remote control... I have the proof. It's a universally known fact that men need to control the remote. It's programmed into their DNA. When man first stood upright he headed straight for the couch to sit on his ass and use his newly opposable thumb to channel surf. Various heretics out there might cluelessly claim this is a cultural behavior. Silly them. Today I watched my just past kindergarten son walk into a room where females were watching television, commandeer the remote control, and proceed to flip through the channels until he found a program with crashing cars. When his sister tried to wrestle the remote from him, my son exerted his dominance with the veracity of an alpha dog guarding a rib eye. Once the remote is in his grasp, it's his. I was never so proud of my boy. It's not just about the program on TV either. He will change the channel if he's told to, but he wont give up the remote. The clings to it like a third world dictator clings to power. Even before he could read he knew how to operate every button on the remote. He even managed to program in his favorite channels. He taught himself to do that. If it wasn't programmed into his DNA, then how else can it be explained? *** Kent Ninomiya ***

Mommy Daddy - Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya - I've been spending a lot of time with my daughter lately. We're hanging out one-on-one. I'm feeding her, playing dolls, watching princess videos, etc. I noticed that she's been calling me "Mommy" quite a bit. She's never done that before so it got me thinking. Remember when you were in kindergarten and you accidentally called the teacher "Mommy?" I imagine it's because the teacher, who was probably a woman, was in the roll of an adult female authority figure. Since that figure in your life so far was your mother, "Mommy" naturally came out. I know my daugther can tell me and her mother apart. Recently, however, i've been doing many things that her mother normally does. So calling me "Mommy" is likely a reaction to her environment, not the person she is talking to. She associates these activities with her mother, so when she requests juice or her doll or a princess video she requests them from "Mommy." It's very interesting. Kent Ninomiya