The video below provides a very detailed demonstration of how to tie the martial arts belt. It shows you in various angles: front, back, and side.
Running: How to Avoid Injuries from Slips and Falls
If you are a runner, it is only a matter of time before you find yourself on the ground having fallen or slipped during a run.
Running as a hobby or a way to stay fit is great. If you have a great running route, it is a way to enjoy the beauty of your neighborhood, your park, or nature’s landscapes. It is definitely a way to feel the inner you once you’ve reached a state of equilibrium during a very long run.
However, this feeling can quickly be interrupted when you take a spill. If you don’t know how to roll, you can end up with injuries that will put a major damper on your training.
Below is an illustration of how a shoulder roll is done. Although it is shown in a martial arts setting, the rolling concept is exactly the same. Once you get used to rolling, your body will automatically go into rolling mode when you find yourself taking a trip.
How to Virtualize and Access Your CD Library
With the price of USB disk drives at an all time low, it makes more and more sense to convert your library of CDs into ISO images and access them digitally.
Note all this is applicable to Windows based computers.
ImgBurn: Create ISO Images
Virtual CloneDrive (source: www.virtual.cd)
To virtualize your library of CDs, you’ll need a program like ImgBurn (the official ImgBurn site is at http://www.imgburn.com/ if you wish to learn additional details about it) to convert your CDs into ISO images.
After you convert your library of CDs into ISO images, you’ll need a program to virtually load or mount them. For this a program like Virtual CloneDrive will do the job.
YUMI: A USB Multiboot Creator
YUMI: USB Multiboot Creator (source: pendrivelinux.com)
I don’t know what YUMI stands for, but one thing for sure this tool is the greatest tool created for us mere computer mortals. Note that YUMI is a from Pendrivelinux.com, and it is FREE.
With YUMI you can take a simple USB flash drive and turn it into your portable boot-able operating system of your choice.
Personally, I find this tool perfect for recovering a forgotten local administrative password on a computer, or for recovering data from a boot drive where the operating system is no longer boot-able.
To use it, you need a Windows XP/Vista/7 computer to download and run the YUMI utility. You then need to build a multiboot USB flash drive using it by specifying the drive letter where the flash drive is.
In building the multiboot USB flash drive, you will need at least one ISO image of whatever it is you want to boot to. Say for example you have a Trinity Rescue Kit ISO image, and you want to use that to help you recover data from a non-boot-able computer (maybe because OS is corrupted). When you run YUMI, you will need to specify an ISO image, like below:
Selecting a distribution ISO Image in YUMI
If you don’t yet have the ISO image, you can check the option “Opted to Download the iso.” After the ISO image is downloaded, you can go to the CREATE phase. Also, before creating, make sure you have the correct USB device selected.
That is pretty much it.
How to Setup an HTC HD7 on Windows 7
Zune with HTC HD7
I have a HTC HD7 for a phone. I’ve been synchronizing it with my Windows 7 laptop, until my laptop’s disk drive got corrupted, and I had to re-install the original manufacturer’s image on it. When I did, I had to re-install a few things to get my HTC HD7 phone to work with my laptop again. For my benefit, I document what I had to do and where I obtained the software to make things work again.
- Download and install Microsoft’s Zune software.
- Download and install the HTC Sync Manager.
Install these and your phone will be detected by Zune when it is plugged into your computer.
At this point, follow the setup prompts from the Zune screen:
Click Next.
Zune start of setup
Name your phone, and click Next.
Zune Name Phone
As soon as it links with your phone, it will start doing some initial synchronization.
Zune initial synch
Now click Settings.
Zune Settings
You’ll see a detailed synchronization settings page.
Detailed Synch Setttings
Once you’ve made your choices, click OK and you will see the updated synchronization to match your specifications.
Zune Now Synchronizing
That’s it!
Importance of Perseverance
Running uphill is a good analogy to perseverance– keep moving even when you feel like giving up
Perseverance is the third tenet of Taekwondo. Aside from being respectful or nice to others (courtesy), or being responsible or doing what is right (integrity), applying perseverance can help you succeed in life.
The dictionary defines perseverance as:
“steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement”
The one thing this makes clear is that perseverance is the act of being persistent at some purpose or action despite hurdles, obstacles, or discouragement.
At Koryo Family Taekwondo Center, we regularly review the meaning of perseverance, what it means, how it applies to life, and share examples of it.
Our curriculum is extensive. This means that some students may not pick them up right away. It is through this learning moment where we teach them perseverance. We help them understand that the only way they will fail at something is if they give up. As long as they continue to try their best, they will eventually succeed.
We also remind our students that persistence isn’t enough. If at first they don’t succeed, they will need to look at what went wrong or what they did wrong. Once they understand this and learn from it, then and only then should they try again–only this time, they correct the mistakes of the original action.
Through perseverance, we remind our students that the only limitation they have are the ones they put on themselves. If they put their mind to it, be persistent, and learn from mistakes, there are no limits to what they can achieve.
This is why perseverance is such an important tenet of Taekwondo.
Integrity: The Second Tenet of Taekwondo
Integrity
At every class we mention “integrity” in the process of reciting the 6 tenets of Taekwondo. What is this thing called “integrity”?
For kids, this is such a big word and seems like an abstract concept. However, it doesn’t have to be abstract.
Integrity, in simple terms is all about staying true to yourself and others. Here are a few more things about what integrity is.
Integrity is…
- Promising your mom that you’ll clean your room, and you did!
- Picking up and giving back money that someone else dropped, and nobody around noticed.
- Playing dodge ball, getting hit, and admitting you did even when no one else noticed.
- Admitting you did something wrong even when the consequences might hurt.
- Owning up to your responsibilities.
- Giving credit where credit is due, especially when credit is due elsewhere.
- Paying the $10 you owe someone on or before the due date.
Can you think of other good examples of integrity? If so, just comment below.
Courtesy: The First Tenet of Taekwondo
Showing respect is showing courtesy
We recite the tenets of Taekwondo every day.
“Courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, indomitable spirit, and victory.”
Last week we discussed the first tenet of Taekwondo–courtesy.
What does “courtesy” really mean? In simple terms, it means being nice to others.
However, it goes beyond this. It also means being respectful of others. In other words, treat others as you would like to be treated–the golden rule. This would mean that you would want others to be nice and respectful to you. So you should in turn treat others nicely and respectfully if you wish to be treated that way.
For a child, all this don’t mean much unless you can show examples of “courtesy”. Below are examples that show acts of courtesy.
- Opening a door for someone
- Helping someone pick up their things after they dropped them
- Helping Mom around the house
- Saying “thank you” when someone does something nice to you
- Saying “sir” or “ma’am” when talking to elders
- In a bus, giving up your seat to an older person or someone who can’t stand for an extended period
- Sharing toys with other kids
Can you name a few more examples that show good examples of “courtesy”?
The Uniform: How to Wash It
The Uniform
The traditional Taekwondo uniform is white. That color has remained the same from the start. The one challenge everyone has with washing the uniform is trying to make sure it doesn’t shrink and making sure it doesn’t get discolored. This post shall give you pointers to help make sure your uniform doesn’t go to waste as a result of one bad washing.
First of all, your belt is part of your uniform. Do not wash your belt. This is the only part of your uniform you should leave alone. The reason for this is tradition. When you train, you put your blood, sweat, and tears into it. Some of this is absorbed by your belt. Over time, your belt will get dark. In the olden days, this is how people got their black belt.
Of course if you used your white belt and waited for it to turn black, I would imagine a strong odor would be emanating from it. Fortunately, in modern times, we periodically replace belts with the appropriate color soon after passing a promotion test. Bottom line, don’t wash your belt.
Your uniform is another matter. It is white, and normally you would wash whites in hot water, and introduce from bleach at the same time to help keep it white. Unfortunately, uniforms made of 100% or even those with 50% cotton, tend to shrink when washed in hot water. Here are some suggestions on dealing with Taekwondo’s white uniforms:
- Anything with 50% or higher cotton content should be washed in cold or warm water. Add bleach if there is no other color that would bleed from the bleach. This means you probably have to wash them separately from your normal white clothes.
- Uniforms with a small amount of cotton can be washed in hot water. They don’t tend to shrink. Add bleach if necessary to keep it looking white.
If you aren’t sure about the cotton content of your uniforms, just wash them in warm or cold water and add bleach to help turn it white and to help kill germs and bacteria that normal hot washing would clear.
How do you wash your white Taekwondo uniform? Do you have any tips to share? If so, please comment below.
5 Key Things To Remember When in Forms Competition
Forms (or poomsae) Competition
Taekwondo forms (or Poomsae) competition can easily be won if you keep these key things in mind:
- Know your Taekwondo Forms inside and out; there should be no chance that you forget parts of your form.
- Maintain a good pace for executing the form; this way, you can showcase your skill and balance.
- Keep your balance; at no point in time should you show imbalance during your Taekwondo forms performance.
- Keep your movement precise, quick, and snappy.
- Make your kihop (shout) stand out from the rest.
If you heed these five key things, you should be on your way to placing in the top three. These 5 key things I’ve learned over the course of time teaching and judging forms.
What is your opinion about this?