Paul Green & Gareth Brown Sparring Seminar Day 2&3

The last 2 days of the seminar weekend were much more intense than day 1. Day 2 emphasized much more on hip strength and utilizing the front leg to cancel out the opponent's front leg. Being able to cancel their front leg and then attempt to score off that appears vital in today's game rather than just going forward with it. There's more to the game than what others call "fencing". In some ways and situations, that it is the case. However, the game is much more mental and more like chess. Some people still likened the game to chess a few years ago but I personally thought it was more of checkers where multiple kicks were favored. Due to electronic scoring, your score attempts need to be planned out whether it be breaking the pattern (kick one spot and then kick at another), making trick shots, or aiming at small gaps in the opponent's guard. 

Overall, while the seminar introduced drills that I have actually seen before/can come up with, the amount of thought and detail that the coaches taught made them feel fresh and understandable. Some of the drills I have done in the past were done without much thought to them and they made them make sense.  Each one has a goal and method to that goal that makes each drill feel rewarding when done and that is the sort of training one needs to seek out to improve their skills. I definitely feel like many athletes/schools in the US do not enforce enough realism and intensity in their drills, especially when the athletes begin to fade in practices. Paul Green and Gareth Brown were constantly on everyone at all times to make sure each drill was done correctly and with the same intensity and realism as in a sparring match. 

I hope to use my newfound knowledge to help other athletes in my region improve and take steps to make the USA a better TKD nation so that they can hold their head high with the other nations that win consistently. 

-Joseph Ong

Paul Green & Gareth Brown Seminar Day 1: January 5, 2018

The first day of the seminar weekend with the former Great Britain coaches gave me great insight of their views and methods of training. Comparing with previous USA coaches, Paul Green and Gareth Brown focus less on techniques to score on the electronic systems and more on preventing from getting scored on. Today they focused primarily on blocks and controlling the space between you and the opponent. They were training the athletes today to be more mentally strong and confident when approaching and being near an opponent. 

But the biggest takeaway from their training today was the theme of the training. Without themes in training sessions, the training will be mostly useless and doesn't help athletes improve their skills. The themes make the drills work and without them, the drills are just more drills that everyone can do. There were 3 notable themes today: Intensity, realism, and speed. Paul Green and Gareth Brown are strong advocates for the phrase: "Fight how you train". They ensured and encouraged all the athletes in attendance to do every movement and every kick as if they were in a competition. This is where the themes come in. Without intensity and speed, one's body will not improve because it will not know how to perform optimally. Without realism, the body will fail to react to situations in the ring if it hasn't been exposed to these situations in training.  

I am looking forward to what the coaches have in store for tomorrow.

-Joseph Ong

Great Britain Coaches' Sparring Seminar

This coming weekend from Friday 1/5/18 to Sunday 1/7/18 is a sparring seminar lead by 2 former coaches of Great Britain: Paul Green and Gareth Brown. I've yet to be informed exactly why they are no longer the head coaches for Great Britain but they are now the head coaches for the United States. Personally, I think they are great new assets for the US Team. For a long time, results from our athletes compared to the other countries around the world have been mediocre. I think we are always, in some way, 1 step behind the rest of the world. It certainly shows through their results and our lack thereof. Going into this, I hope to learn much from their experience and add some of their wealth of knowledge to my own repertoire to share with my own students. It is a big change for USA Taekwondo but perhaps that is what it has needed all along to push it forward. 

-Joseph Ong