Martial arts training in the U.K? why no hard stuff?

Question

firstly i've taken both karate and tai kwon doe training in the U.K by fully qualified and licensed teachers. but i feel ive MISSED OUT all the fun stuff such as the 360, 540 kicks , breaking timber, and etc which they teach in the U.S.A.

!!! (sorry for the bad language) all we've been doing is learning S****y puch and kick routines, regular fitness and self defense

why do the U.K have to make stuff so boring ???????!!!!

Answer 1

It depends on how long you've been training. You're never going to get to all that stuff if you don't stay commited throughout all your "S****y punch and kick routines". You can't just jump in at the deep end. Once you've been doing that fora a while you get to learn more advanced techniques, but you should still practice the basics, as they are the foundation of all the fun stuff.

If you have been practicing for years and you haven't learned these things you might want to check out your instructor's credentials. I've been practicing ITF style taekwondo in Scotland, and breaking, sparring and patterns are all part of the curriculum. Breaking is introduced at green belt level, and as you progress through coloured belts you'll learn more challenging patterns and moves, and the training continues on a  more advanced level once you hit 1st dan.

It's not that UK schools are more boring, it's just that there's a lot less of them, and they don't have as good facilities as in the US. And a  lot of martial artists in the US aren't as good as those from Japan, China and Korea. Their training is usually highly professional, and a lot of people start training at a young age. They also have outstanding dojos. Because of the lack of variety in the UK, and the fact that the government don't contribute towards building better sports facilities, it's a lot harder to find decent martial arts schools. If you have doubts about yours, then hunt around for a while and you'll probably find something that suits you.

Answer 2

Look up Terry Johnston, he's the coach of Team Great Britain.  Email me and I'll give you his email address.

My California based team ran smack into his at last years WTKA World Championships in Italy and he had a large team with a lot of good students.  They did a lot of XMA stuff, too.

And while you're at it, go check out the WTKA tournament this year.  It's in Italy again.  FANTASTIC competition there, and all kids of schools you might be interested in.  Everything from XMA to MMA to Kickboxing.  The Spanish TKD team last year was out of control.