Should I strike back or what?

[Drunken_Boxer]

I really dont know what the problem with my club is...nobody can do sparring, i had a fight with this guy yeah i was better than him, then I dont know how to explain it, he tryed to perform a back side kick you know, he jumped and perform that back side kick and kicked me in the right leg...man that was really painfull for me...and he said "ooh sorry my friend, im so so sorry man" and helped me...the problem is i cant walk like a normal guy lol...so my father asked me "ooh my son everybody is stompin on you, look at you man, why you didnt hit him back?I would hit him in the face my son, look at you"...I was like "man we are practice in the same club, I cant strike back, my master said once to me that Im the best in the club, im not a fool, i know what i do, he apologize to me"...
I was thinkin...man "should i really hit him back or not?" i dont know...my father was really angry and said "you must quite taekwondo"...but i dont want to...i love it, the problem is people cant do perfectly sparring...they like uuf "ima gonna break your face" you know?
What do you think of it all?Man i got some problems last 3 weeks...damn.
Thx, i talk to you later!

 

[terryl965]

Gut it out and if you are the best his club has to offer than take a minute and help out those that are having all this trouble while sparring that is what I ask of my better people to help teach the others proper techniques, Kindness goes a long way in a club

 

[Thesemindz]

I really dont know what the problem with my club is...nobody can do sparring, i had a fight with this guy yeah i was better than him, then I dont know how to explain it, he tryed to perform a back side kick you know, he jumped and perform that back side kick and kicked me in the right leg...man that was really painfull for me...and he said "ooh sorry my friend, im so so sorry man" and helped me...the problem is i cant walk like a normal guy lol...so my father asked me "ooh my son everybody is stompin on you, look at you man, why you didnt hit him back?I would hit him in the face my son, look at you"...I was like "man we are practice in the same club, I cant strike back, my master said once to me that Im the best in the club, im not a fool, i know what i do, he apologize to me"...
I was thinkin...man "should i really hit him back or not?" i dont know...my father was really angry and said "you must quite taekwondo"...but i dont want to...i love it, the problem is people cant do perfectly sparring...they like uuf "ima gonna break your face" you know?
What do you think of it all?Man i got some problems last 3 weeks...damn.
Thx, i talk to you later!

How much experience do the people you are training with have? If they are beginners, or relatively new to sparring, mistakes will happen. That's part of learning. Try to encourage them to use control, and emphasize that knees don't grow back. Bring the issue to your instructor's attention, so he can teach his students to be more accurate and train safely. What you don't want to do is hit him in the face. People make mistakes, if you want to do martial arts, sometimes those mistakes will hurt like hell. That's also part of learning. If people are deliberately hurting you, with malicious intent, and your instructor isn't willing to take steps to correct that behavior, it's time to find a new place to train. As an instructor, I never let an accident go by without using it as an opportunity to teach an important lesson to all my students, not just those involved, and I never let malicious violence go at all. People interested in hurting others can learn somewhere else, those interested in learning here will get hurt from time to time. It's not ballet.


-Rob

 

[Manny]

You Should not hit him back period, it was an accident and he apologyce to you. In suffer a borken nose, and borken theets doing full combat sparring, in the case of the nose the sambknim yelled stop but the kick was on the air already and I drop my guard, in the case of the broken theets it was a a super fast kick I didn't see coming, both cases sent me to doctors/dentist and one of them sent to hospital.

Did I hit back in anger afther those happenings??? NO, as I mentioned was in full sparring.

When I got my nose broken I remeber my dad telling me: I pay TKD classes for nobody beating you in the streets and all the beatings you get are in the dojan!!! Something's wrong!- yes I remeber my dad telling me this.

Now, when a TKD budy into sparring hit me low, or bad, againg and again without pay attention to the sambknim orders then I will hurt the foe to make him understand when is enogh.

Manny

 

[Last Fearner]

I was thinkin...man "should i really hit him back or not?"

What would hitting him back accomplish? Would it make you a better fighter? Would it take away the pain from that accidental hit? Would it make you feel better, or more like a man?

Retaliation in training is never good. Martial Artists rise above petty ego problems, and hurt feelings (or legs). We train to get better! If you are the best in your school, then train the others to be better than you. Then, when they figure out your strategies and can give you a run for your money, you will have someone worth sparring with.

Ever since I was a kid, whenever I would go to our local fair, and ride the bump cars, I always had the most fun trying to avoid contact. Others would be intending to hit each other (that's easy to do). I would zoom around the place missing everyone, and avoiding getting hit. If I wanted to, I could hit anytime, but I got better at maneuvering by staying in motion. If you got hit, even to a low target, perhaps there was something you could have done to avoid it. People in real life don't play by the rules. I would not suggest intentionally attacking low unless you are well padded, and that is the purpose of the drill, but when accidents happen, be alert and try to avoid them. If not, see how well you can defend yourself after you've been kicked in the leg. That's also good practice!

Good luck, stay cool, and don't quit!

"Quitting doesn't get you to the top - - it only clears the path for others to make it there without you!" ~ Chief Master D.J. Eisenhart

CM Eisenhart

 

[Sukerkin]

LF expresses it well, DB.

Training in martial arts is, at least in part, about control and discipline of yourself.

The physical side of the training is the route via which the mental and emotional maturing process takes place.

So don't allow the 'martial' elements of learning how to defend yourself to hamper the 'toughening' of yourself as a person. By 'toughening' I don't mean aggression but rather the development of an internal resilience that stands you in good stead in other areas of life than fighting.

The urge to strike back when you've been hurt is an ingrained instinct, so by learning to take control of that instinct, you are showing greater strength of character (in that you decide what you're going to do rather than your brain-stem).