Matthew Sylvester
Bunkai
Humility and the humble bow
Every martial art has at least some tenets or ideals that promote ‘goodness’. By goodness, I mean that they require the student to follow a set of morals and ethics, which would generally be viewed by the majority as good. These usually include humility, the ability to keep going no matter what (indomitable spirit), honesty/ … Continue reading
The Burgar Rating System
I recently put up a picture on showing an application for a move from one of the ITF patterns. The application is, to be honest, awful. It’s one that I use to indicate what is an awful application, and why is it awful. Aside from the obvious “that looks awful, it would never work”, I … Continue reading
Beyond the obvious in search of excellence
Bill Burgar is not someone most Tae Kwon Do practitioners will have heard of. This is mainly because he’s a Karate guy. Bill has done what very few people in modern martial arts do today. He spent 5 years looking at one pattern and seeing how he could apply the moves in a street self-defence … Continue reading
Pressure Testing
Pressure testing is a buzz word right now along with ‘reality-based’, ‘pressure points’ and ‘cross-training’. Just as with the other buzz words there is some misconception as to what pressure testing is. Most people seem to think it involves blood, sweat and tears in copious amounts; somewhat like an MMA fight actually. This isn’t far … Continue reading
Applications – They need to be Practical
When looking for applications in your patterns, it is important to always be critical. When you’re doing this from a Practical Taekwondo perspective, it’s vital that you also be practical. Take the picture below. Normally you see this sort of thing performed by people wearing doboks. I took it with us wearing street clothing to show just … Continue reading
Matthew Sylvester 