Kacey, I guess I should have been more specific, sorry.
No problem - you have to start somewhere.
My return from a snap kick isn't straight back (torn cartilage in my knee, I'm not changing this one).
I took this one out of order because it is a different issue than the rest of them. This one you need to discuss with your instructor. If you have an injury that affects your ability to perform a technique as instructed, your instructor needs to know about it.
I keep a hand low, a couple inches above the floating ribs, in walking stance. I have tendency to switch tools during punches, so instead of a basic fist I occasionally us a palm thrust or something. I switch to a knife hand on some blocks. I rotate the back foot on kicks, depending on the kick. My return from a snap kick isn't straight back (torn cartilage in my knee, I'm not changing this one). I rotate the back foot on kicks, depending on the kick. When we were practicing falls I kind of rocked instead of falling flat on my back, didn't throw my arms out to slap the pads, and I did a roll once. I push my middle block too far out, so an attack wouldn't hit any part of me. I keep my hands in front of me in a relaxed position. I throw my snap kicks too high. My jump switch is too low. I don't count off pushups, and such, in Korean. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Some of these I know I should change for the class, but others seem harmless to me, and others are so habitual I don't realize I'm doing them.
And thanks for all the advice.
These may seem harmless to you, but your instructor wants you to do things his way for a reason. As I said before, your instructor may or may not share his reasons for doing things the way he does - but he is the instructor. Since you differentiate between "seem harmless to me" and "habitual", I'm going to assume you see a difference in the two sets.
For the first set, just because it seems harmless to you doesn't mean that it is. There was a guy I trained with as a color belt and I Dan - he had a habit of holding his mouthguard in his teeth, a half inch or so forward from where it should have been. We kept telling him he was going to get hurt, but he said he had trouble breathing through it, and he would just be sure to block his face... that lasted until he got to his first tournament, and someone punched him in the mouth. Luckily for him, all he got was a split lip and a cut on his tongue - he could have lost teeth from something he considered to be harmless.
For the second set, the things that are habitual, as above, there are reasons why your instructor wants them done a different way - and you will have to change your habits it you're ever going to perform the way he wants you to... The only way to change a habit is to work on it until it is different - and as long as you're not doing things the way he wants, you're not going to test, because you're not going to pass - because he is teaching you the things you need to know to pass - and more, he is teaching you to do things the way they will work (in his training and experience) in a self-defense situation. In addition, when I was coming up through the ranks (and I'm a IV Dan now), testing was at the instructor's discretion - my sahbum told me I was testing when he felt I was ready. People who weren't ready didn't test, and it was up to them to find out what to work on. People who asked to test didn't. I still run my class this same way.
And I have to say that ArmorOfGod is correct - if you don't like the way he teaches, find another class. You are the student - it is not up to you to tell the instructor that he is wrong. Think about it this way: when I was a teen, my mother and I took a road trip before I learned how to drive. She taught me enough to be able to get the car off the road. When I started Driver's Ed., some of the things my mother had taught me contradicted things the Driver's Ed. instructor taught me - but it never would have dawned on me to tell the instructor she was wrong. You are in a similar situation - you learned a different way from a different person, and therefore you are willing to tell a different instructor he is wrong. Different is not necessarily wrong - it's different.
Gen. Choi, who founded ITF TKD, wrote a set of volumes called
The Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do. The piece that is relevant here is the Student/Instructor Relationship - pay particular attention to the bolded lines.
10 Parts of the Student/Instructor Relationship:
1) Never tire of learning. A good student can learn anytime, anywhere.
2) A good student must be willing to sacrifice for his art and instructor.
3) Always set a good example for lower ranking students.
4) Always be loyal to your instructor.
5) If your instructor teaches you a technique, practice and attempt to utilize it.
6) Remember that a studentÂ’s conduct outside the dojang reflects on his instructor and school.
7) If a student adopts a technique from another gym and his instructor disapproves of it, the student must discard the technique.
8) Never be disrespectful to your instructor. Though a student is allowed to disagree, the student must follow instructions first and discuss the matter later.
9) A student must always be eager to ask questions and to learn.
10) Never betray your instructorÂ’s trust.
This the philosophical base your instructor was likely taught from, and it is this base that leads to your disagreements.
Especially since you say that you learned other arts/styles, you need to recognize that what is correct for one art/style doesn't mean it's correct in TKD, and you will have to modify your training/habits to suit the style you are learning now, because that is how this particular art does it - and it's not going to be easy. Several members of MT have learned multiple styles, and have gone through this same issue - you could probably find quite a bit about it using the search feature, or you could ask about learning multiple arts/styles and how to adjust from one to another.
