CONFUSED! NEED HELP!!!!

Hello. I have recently started taking taekwondo
lessons and although Im doing ok with taking my instructions in class, when it comes to practicing at home, I just dont know what to do. im not sure what to start practicing or where or when to practice or how. I keep trying to think of what we do in class, but a good bit of the stuff we do requires equipment i dont have or it requires a partner to practice it with. I'm having a problem trying to organize a regimen for practising at home and cant quite figure out what to do! Does anyone have any suggestions or helpful advice? or does anyone know of any books or anything else that could help me out? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

- Prodeus

prodeus!how are you? when you are at home try to practice what you learn and memorize what you learn in class and practice it. Practice the stance, the correct way of punching, kicking,the basic block that you learn in class. Basicly practice everything you learn in class. how should I stance before a fight or tournament you know.

when you are at home try to practice what you learn so far in class. Make sure you stretch before and after class

hope this hope

taichi

Here is one purists respnse. In martial arts there should really be no such things as advanced techniques. What I really mean is an expert understands basic techniques and employs them better than a beginner but still the basic techniques contain all the fundamentals of body movement. When you are at home practice the techniques that you already know well with the goal of improing them, the better you are at the most basic techniques the better. A lead hand lunge punch for example if deliveredwith proper timing, distance and technique is as effective as anything else you could learn.

One thing that so many teachers forget to teach their students is how to learn. Kind of the first thing they should teach really eh!! [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

When I began martial arts I read HEAPS of books, and tried to use them to help me learn bits that my teacher would miss, or to jog my memory about things I had learnt in class. Great to use as an aid, but terrible to use solely as a teacher. I found that one of my best training tools for learning new techniques was a mirror. You spend all night at class watching your instructor doing things, then you go home and compare what you're doing to what you saw them do. If you come home and only remember one technique from class, thats fine! Practice it on both sides until you think it looks like your instructors technique. Once you have it feeling and looking good, start experimenting gradually with speed and varied heights and footwork. If you take each technique through this careful step by step way of practicing them you will get a lot better at them than if you just go flat out straight away.

When you start to get several techniques feeling good, try combining them in different orders. Get used to throwing kicks and punches from both sides in groups of 3 or more techniques, then when you spar you wont tangle yourself up if you try to hit someone more than once.

Finally, you can easily train yourself in strength flexibilty and fitness if you think you need more training in these areas than just class time. Ask your instructor for some useful stretches, and for tips on how many pressups, situps etc you should be aiming for. Any sane instructor will do backflips at a student ASKING for extra things to do in their own time, so dont feel like you're being annoying.

I hope you can pick something useful from all that mumbling. Best of luck with your training, train hard and have fun [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

OK thanks everyone! I’ll be sure to take your alls advice! I think I will ask my dad to fix up the porch in the back of my house. I could probably put a mirror on the wall. I’ve been using your ideas for a while and they’ve REALLY helped!!! Thank you for all your help!!!
-Prodeus
P.S.- Sorry for the lateness of my reply. I've been using the computer for my science project and mom keeps yelling at me if I don’t use it only for looking up information on the desert biome and I’ve only just been able to send a reply. Thanks again!
-Prodeus