McMinnville Taekwondo

Try this site, " The (Shamelessly) Unofficial Taekwondo Resource ," for step by step instructions in the forms. Click on "the Patterns," then on ITF patterns. It helps to memorize the name of your form!

For some reason, less experienced students tend to forget about front kick during sparring matches. They often rely on side kick and round kick, even when the angle is wrong and a front kick would have been simpler, faster, and easier. Maybe the problem is that from a beginner’s point of view, front kick is not so simple. It does require some skill to produce a proper front kick weapon, and many students struggle with pulling their toes back far enough. This article offers some ways to build those muscles and perfect that front kick. But remember, the black belts have such beautiful weapons of the foot because they’ve spent years developing them. A powerful kick doesn’t happen overnight. The Weapon First, a proper front kick weapon points the ball of the foot (that round fairly hard area just below the big toe and second toe) at the target. The top of the foot is a flat line all the way up the leg, and the toes are pulled back at a ninety degree angle. It isn’t luck that produce...

We are now offering Kim's Taekwondo classes through Chemeketa Community College as a one credit PE class! How cool is that? If you want college credit, just sign up at Chemeketa, either online HERE or at Chemeketa's Yamhill Valley Campus, off of Highway 18 and NE Norton Lane across the highway from Willamette Valley Medical.

Here is an inside view of the padded floor. Here is the outside view of our new place to work out. No more worry about whether the gradeschool will let us in, and no more hauling equipment all over the place! Here is an inside view of our favorite wall: And here is Ed faithfully sweeping the secondary workout area. The dressing rooms are there on the left. We are working on getting more workout equipment and on learning how to utilize this fantastic space to its best potential. To keep it going, we need to recruit more students...

Here is a very good video of Kwang-Gae. There are only a couple of very minor differences between this form and the form that we are taught. Kwang-Gae

Click HERE for a good site for general Taekwondo information. This site has a lot of useful material gathered in one spot: history, vocabulary-- including pronunciation, ethics, vital points, and more. And while I'm at it, HERE is the link for the official International Taekwondo Federation site. It's always good, if you are doing serious research (such as on the history of Taekwondo), to check out multiple sites and consider where each site gets its information. Keep in mind that not all of the information on either site linked here refers to our style. Ask your instructor if you find anything confusing.

Ed and Sean face off!

Board holders are hard to find, even on the internet. Here is an inexpensive model, $70. It is quickly adaptable to various sized boards, can be easily adjusted for height with one hand, and can be held by one person, even a child, while someone practices breaking boards. Currently posted on Craigslist under Portland, OR sporting goods. Search "board holder, one hand."

Oregon National Guard, Maison Armory Tigard, OR May 23, Saturday, 2009. Starts at noon.

Ed's double jumping front kick. Demonstrated at the F. G. Tournament in Feb. '09.

This is team Forest Grove!

Sorry: shaky camera work! A tripod would have been good... but hard to carry around inside a uniform. This is our team competing at the Forest Grove Friendship Tournament, Feb. 21, 2009.

Great tips!