Various Weapons Tang Soo Do Muay Thai Krav Maga
My History in Martial Arts
My name is Kayla and I have been taking martial arts since the young age of four. My parents gave me a choice between ballet and karate. Now I am actively pursuing my dream of becoming a karate instructor.

I first started at a small school of three students, all my age. The instructor had to sell the school and I was devastated because I still wanted to continue with it. I wanted to be like Kimberly, the Pink Power Ranger or like the Ninja Turtles. After all, they were my inspiration to begin karate anyway.

After the school was sold, I ended up starting at a new school in Norwich called Mike Bodanski's Martial Arts center where I studied and trained in Tang Soo Do. I loved the female instructor there, Ms. Pellegrini. I looked up to her and wanted to be just like her. Unfortunately, she got married and moved and had to quit there. I remember she took me in the back office to tell me personally she was leaving and said she was going to miss me and to keep going with it because I would do great.

Then Mrs. Haggerty took over the school and became the head instructor. She always used me as an example and it made me feel wonderful about myself. We always had so much fun going to class three times a week. However, she was more focused on making sure everyone had fun and did not teach the techniques as well as she could have. Then came the day when she sold the school.

She talked very badly about the man who was buying the school from her saying how bad of an instructor he was. My mom gave me the choice to quit, and stupidly, I did as an apprentice black belt.

From there, I went to Black Dragons. I had shin splits one summer and he forced me to spar with a boy who kept kicking me in the shins. It hurt so badly I started crying. The head instructor got in my face and started yelling "It doesn't hurt! Stop being a baby!" in front of my parents. I never went back.

After a year and a half break, I had the desire to start again. I went back to where Mike Bodanski's Martial Arts Center used to be. It is now Northstar Martial Arts. My mom and I went to talk to the head instructor there, Mr. Platteborze [now Master McShane]. He said I could start from green belt because I had already had a lot of experience in Tang Soo Do. However, I wanted to start over from white belt again. Now, I have been there for about six years and I instruct and earned my black belt September 9, 2006.

Since starting over, I have competed in five or six tournaments and there has never been a time when I haven't placed. My proudest moment at a tournament was when I was the only girl in my division. They had no choice but to put me in the guys division. There were six guys, and me. I was the smallest, I was one of the junior belts, I was the only girl. I competed in forms and sparring. In forms and sparring, I blew the guys out of the water and got first in both. Four of the guys were from my school. They were shocked. After that tournament, they started taking me seriously and never wanted to spar against me because they did not want to lose to a girl- again.

As a girl in martial arts, it is a lot harder to be taken seriously than guys. When I am partnered up with a guy who does not know me, they go easy on me and its frustrating. However, after a while they learn not to do that. It is a big mistake. My instructor has told the guys that he would put me in a cage with nearly any of the guys at the school and expect me to be the victor. He uses me as an example consistently because of my dedication and commitment.

So far I have been told by three girls that I am their role model. In school once, a girl was given a journal assignment to write about someone who is a role model to her and who inspires her, and she told me I was the first one who came to her mind. That blew me away. When partnered up with a girl in the kids BBTC advanced class she got very excited and yelled "Yes! I'm with my role model!" Another time, my friend was talking to a parent there while he was watching me and said that he was friends with me and the parent said "My daughter really likes her and looks up to her, she makes her feel like she belongs." It is such an incredible feeling knowing I'm making an impact on someones life and that I am a big influence and role model to a lot of little girls, and even some of the adults.
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Dao Jin Nunchuk Bo Staff
The Dao is a single edged Chinese sword used for slashing and chopping. It is one of the four major weapons in Chinese culture. In English the Dao is very often called a broadsword. It is used for everyday cutting and slicing, similar to a knife. As you can see from the picture, they are slightly curved and single edged. The curve makes it effective in thrusting. In battle, it was designed for cutting through armor and slicing across the body.
The Jin is the Chinese straight sword. It was designed to be very flexible and lightweight and used to stab vital organs in battle. It is a double-edged straight sword that has been used for the last 2,500 years. They range from one and a half to two pounds. The Jin is referred to as "the gentlemen of weapons" and is also one of the four major weapons in Chinese culture, like the dao. The jin is also called the jian.
Nunchuks consist of two sticks connected at the ends with a short chain or rope. The certain origin of this weapon is disputed, but the most accepted, popular belief is that the nunchuk was originally used as a flail to thresh rice and/or soybeans. After Satsuma daimyo invaded Okinawa the weapon was most likely developed because peasant farmers were forbidden any actual weaponry such as arrows or blades. That made them have to improvise and use what was available to survive.
The Bo Staff is basically a long tapered stick made out of hardwood. When held, it is usually held in thirds with the left hand facing palm down gripping the staff about 1/3 of the way down, and the right hand facing palm up about 1/3 the other way which enables the bo to rotate. Rotating the wrist as generates power if you were throwing a punch. They were originally used to carry water buckets over the shoulders across the back, but after the takeover of the Okinawa they developed into weapons to defend against swords that could not be confiscated.
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Krav maga is a close, hand-to-hand combat form of martial arts and emphasizes the neutralization of threats in a real life context. It was developed in Israel and is used by the Israeli Special Forces.

There is no distinction in a difference in training with men and women. There are no set rules. It is definitely not a sport, and there are no uniforms.

The defenses are designed for potentially lethal positions and aims for escapes from these situations through maximum pain and/or damage to the opponent. It focuses on attacking the opponentŐs weakest areas such as the eyes, nose, and groin.

With krav maga, you do not prolong a fight, you do what you need to do to escape as rapidly and safely as possible. Training is done thinking of worst-case scenarios such as attacks against several opponents, when having to protect others, or against armed opponents.
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Tang Soo Do is an empty handed and traditional Korean martial art. In its early history, Tang Soo Do and other primitive means of martial arts were effective in warfare when Korea was divided into three kingdoms.

In the 20th century, people became more exposed to other forms of martial arts and people from other countries and the martial arts mixed. Even today, Tang Soo Do has changed and it begins to expand under new federations and organizations (for example: I have studied Cheezic Tang Soo Do and Pyong Hwa Kunin Tang Soo Do).

It is argued that Tang Soo Do is the most practiced martial art in the United States, although there is no official "census" of practitioners. Hyungs, one-steps, grabs, sparring and board breaking are also incorporated into this art.

Tang Soo Do uses a belt system. The colors of different ranks can vary from school to school but it always starts off with white and ends with black or in some cases midnight blue.

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Muay Thai derives from Thailand and is the nations national sport. It is also known as Thai Boxing.

Its known for its devastating knees and elbows and shin strikes. All strikes are allowed in the ring. Also, muay thai is very effective in self-defense. With its shin strikes, the leg is used like a whip and the power comes from the strikerŐs core. With knees, the hips are pushed forward to use all of the person's core muscles to hit instead of just leg muscles. Also, it is important that toes are pointed down. Elbows can generate tons of power without much effort.

The combination of these three techniques is what makes this style of martial arts very effective. Muay Thai focuses heavily on body conditioning. With all self-defense fitness is key. Conditioning involves heavy bags, gloves, and thai pads generally.

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