My ITF Master

Master Mintarja Seongkono taught me ITF, a Tae Kwon Do style, from 1987 to 1988 in Canada while I was studying there. Previous to learning Tae Kwon Do, Master learnt Thai Boxing. Naturally he combined these two styles. Although he was teaching ITF, it was very different form the ITF style I saw in Sabah, Malaysia. His was more speedier and powerful. He combined boxing style and tae kwon do kicks. Very-very fast indeed. I remember sparring against him. It was difficult to block his kicks and punches. He was 31 and a fourth dan ITF master. If he is still alive he would be 52 years old now. I wonder whether he is still practising tae kwon do. He used to be the North America Tae Kwon Do Champion in the 90s. Before that he was the Indonesian champ.

Traditional punches against modern (boxing punches)

Hi .... sorry for the long absence .... been very busy with life. Anyway this is the topic I've been thinking about. The difference between these two punches. Well... my poersonal view and analysis ... based on my experience in fighting and sparring .... I've never used the tradistional punches in any of my fights or sparring sessions .... you know the one which you walk towards your opponent and do the staright traditional punch. It's good to help you build your stamina .... when your're standing stationary and throw out many punches .... and it's also good to help you with the strength of your stand and focus. However, for my fights and sparring sessions I used the boxing punches (a lot of jab, back fist, combination of staright jab, hook punch, elbow). They are fast and difficult to block or evade. I'll talk about how to execute the boxing stlye punches later. These punches I learned from Master Mintarja Seongkono when I was in Canada in 1997-1998. THANK YOU MASTER.