Matthew Sylvester
Taekwondo
My Taekwondo’s MINE – What’s YOUR Taekwondo?
This is an article that I wrote a few years ago. I recently witnessed a spat between Taekwondo practitioners as to what was and wasn’t correct for a certain technique. Seeing this reminded me of the this article, so I thought I would post it up again. My Taekwondo has changed greatly due to the … Continue reading
Don’t take your instructors for granted
Members of clubs, any clubs, often take what the club provides for granted. This is perfectly understandable because quite often, they are completely removed from the running of the club. This is exactly the same for martial arts instructor. Students turn up, practice – or train – and then go home. The instructor has gone … Continue reading
Instructing – a privilege that can be taken for granted
Let’s face it, when you’re feeling ill, down, tired, grumpy or just plain lazy, teaching of any kind can be a chore. When what you’re teaching is as physical as most martial arts, and as athletic at Taekwondo can be, motivation can be as hard to find as hen’s teeth. This weekend, it was hammered … Continue reading
How adrenalin taught me that low kicks are essential to TKD
Everyone has a certain amount of fear in their lives. Not the sort of fear that has you crying or throwing up as a result, but the kind of fear that presents itself as a spurt of adrenaline, or even the reluctance to do something because of fear of failure. When I was writing my … Continue reading
Open-mindedness is vital to success in the martial arts
As a former technical consultant and features editor for what were the four leading martial arts magazines in the U.K. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of great martial artists with an open-minded approach to training and evolution. I also et a lot of their students and, interestingly, a lt of these students … Continue reading
Matthew Sylvester 