re: Did you take martial arts classes as a kid and do you remember any of it

I took Tang Soo Do when I was around 11, but only for 3 months then the school moved. I did well though - the one belt test we had while I was there, I was the only one who passed out of 26 or 27 people. It wasn’t like today where everyone passes if you paid your money. I still remember most of what I learned, including the two katas I was taught 43 years ago.

The whole “Tae Kwon Do is worthless in a fight” thing is bullshite. If you’re putting skilled fighters of different disciplines in a brawl, then yes, there are disciplines better in a street fight. But the reality is that 99% of the people in a street or bar fight have never been trained in anything. And any martial art will be very effective against an untrained fighter. My kid is a 3rd degree black belt after 8 years of training (in the organization he was in, I consider 3rd degree to be when you become a “real” black belt - because in most systems today they hand out black belts like candy on Halloween). But by the time he reached around 14, I couldn’t hold the pads for him anymore on full force kicks. Even through the thick pad he’d have my ribs hurting. He started training at age 10, and if you train something seriously, you’re going to get good at it. After you’ve trained kicks by the thousands for years, you develop a kick that will knock someone of their arse or easily break some ribs or take someone’s legs out from under them. You put him up against anyone of similar size but untrained (i.e. the overwhelming majority) and that Tae Kwon Do will be a huge advantage.