I’ve heard so many reasons why people have started martial arts:
1) Exercise - Its how I got started.  Got bored of going to the gym and wanted to supplement my workouts. I took my first class and could barely move the next day without pain.I knew that was what I wanted to become my workout from there on.

2) Media - There is a little girl at my school who started training because she saw a cartoon whose main character (a female main character) did Karate. She comes in last week and goes and someone askes her about the cartoon.  She replies with something to the effect of “She won’t be as good as me.”

3) Discipline - Lots of parents start their children in Martial Arts classes so they can learn discipline. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The main focus in these cases, it is for the child to learn to listen, take criticism, and learn to communicate better.

4) Deficiencies - In recent times, with the successes of medical and scientific findings, we can test people and see what they may be deficient in.  It might be mental or physical coordination, but these can all be improved by practicing activities that strengthen these characteristics.

5) It’s Cool - I mean it really is.  Being able to throw kicks, break boards/bricks/concrete. Se’ve seen it for years, people doing quasi-extreme things that baffle and impress us.

I’m sure there are lots more, but that is all I can think of for now.

This will be a short post…sorry kids.  Essentially, I found out something interesting about my 2nd degree black belt in the school system I train in, once you have acquired your belt, they do something that I think is brilliant. They buy your next degree belt (would be 2nd in my case) and they place it on a wall in the front of the school.  The idea, as I guess, is to motivate you past Blackbelt.  Sort of like a carrot on a string.  I think it will work.

Check this link out.  A couple of flash videos of some crazy breaking.  One guy actually breaks rocks…

I’m going to take a break from my bitching to remind everyone that the Olympics is coming up. And if you, my readers, are patient enough, and drink enough Red Bull, you will be blessed with the ability to watch Taekwondo LIVE at about 4:00 in the morning. Or you could just DVR it. Here are some memories from the last Olympics:

I came across this post while searching for kindred blogs:

• http://allfight.freehostia.com/tae-kwon-do-meanings-of-the-belt-colors/#comment-190

Our school has several more colors, but they all have a meaning. In fact, based on their meanings it is easy to see why orange is below yellow:

• White - The beginning of light as it crosses the horizon. Signifies the beginning of ones training.
• Orange - The warm glow of that light as it begins to shine. Signifies the small amount of knowledge and skill that can now be shown by the practitioner.
• Yellow - The more powerful and bright rays of light.
• Green - The plants and animals that have grown and fed by the light.
• Blue - The seas and waters that are warmed by said light.
• Purple - The beginning of dusk as the night nears. Followed by a purple belt with a red tip in our style.
• Red - The burning sun as it is setting.  Followed by a red belt with a black tip
• Cho Dan Bo - Half Blackbelt/Half Red belt - Signifies the final transfer to night
• Blackbelt - The endo fo the day and the end of the beginning of ones martial arts journey.