How common is it to break something?

[Shaderon]

I don't have the answer, but that is a very good question. I would like to hear what the more experienced TSD practioners and teachers think about that.

I would expect from my TKD experience that a whitebelt would be learning the basic blocks and punches and some basic kicks along with a basic hyung/kata.

Like my teacher says, "you gotta crawl before you can walk."

Please forgive my ignorance of TSD, but is that something a typical white belt in TSD does? Running jump kicks?

In out TKD class our white belts do running jumping kicks, but they aren't expected to perform well or even jump very high, the instructor always says do as much as you are comfortable with to them. We all do the flying kicks basically because the higher grades have got to have a go at them and we can't just leave the lower grades standing around talkiong amongst themselves about how they'd like to have a go. If they've seen it, and they would like to do it... likelyhood is they'll have a go in their back gardens together, and it's better to have them doing it in a controlled environment with the boss watching over ready to correct technique. The higher grades have to jump over pads to kick one, the lower grades don't, they just jump at whatever is comfortable for them.

 

[Makalakumu]

Please forgive my ignorance of TSD, but is that something a typical white belt in TSD does? Running jump kicks?

No, it's not...or at least it shouldn't be. Most white belts can hardly throw a standing kick, much less run and jump with it. Even if the students do not hurt themselves, the focus on running and jumping rather then kicking is going to detract from actually learning how to throw the kick in question. I usually do not broach running and jumping with a kick until Red Belt.

 

[Cirdan]

Jumping kicks at white belt, black belt clubs... you must be with the ATA

 

[Lynne]

We join the ATA when we test for our orange belt.

But we do running jump kicks from the beginning.

The two students that broke something had different instructors.

We usually have at least 4 instructors on the floor. One instructor for the black belts, and 3 for the colored belts (about 3-8 students per color belt group). (Unless it's black belt club week.)