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This is kind of terrible advice, depending on the individual in question.

The most broadly successful stretching program tends to involve a warm-up, followed by the dynamic flexibility exercises you mentioned: leg raises to the front, sides, and back for the hips, as an example. This is followed by a workout of some kind (an intense run, strength training, a martial arts class) and, after that, cool down with static stretching.

Despite what /u/shinobi3432 said, you should not push to the point of pain. You want discomfort, and you can hold it there, but never for more than thirty seconds, okay? And, once you've developed both some muscular strength and basic, static passive flexibility, you can throw some isometric stretching in there before you do a static passive stretch.

What should happen is, as your static flexibility range improves, you build up your dynamic flexibility to match it, so that you can utilize your full range of flexibility in motion and with little warm up. That said, you should still warm up before actually training; one or two kicks "cold" will be all right, but you still need a decent warm up before you actually push yourself at all.

If you want details on this kind of stretching program, read Stretching Scientifically, by Thomas Kurz.

I quite like the BOB bags if I have to choose one and have limited space. They make really nice targets for round kicks and hook kicks. The wavemaster type standing bags are quite nice too but not particularly versatile. You can use them for assorted drills but best for round kicks in my opinion.

If you want something with more variety you could consider one of the multi station things like this too. In all honesty when I had one I usually preferred to use my other bags rather than it, but it might be to some people's taste if you have limited space.

Honestly I find sidekicks and back-kicks are often better trained with a partner holding a blocking shield (who knows how to move in order to absorb impact), but that might just be my personal taste.

I don't much care for hanging bags honestly.

I think if you have a partner available a set of slap paddles and a blocking shield will go really far.

Not crowd sourced at all! I started here on reddit when the original translation didn't return to the starting position. Then I was able to find a nice Norwegian WTF'er who can read Korean Hangul, Hanja and speak English to help me do a proper translation (not to mention has the General's 1965 Korean book and others and of course Taekwon-Do's himself).

This ballooned into a project that includes Ko-Dang with both presented in the 15 Volume's format for patterns (foot diagrams, 4+ photos per movement, etc.). A number of Master Instructors and Grandmasters have had positive reactions to Volume 16 and I encourage you to at least use Amazon's Peek Look Inside or checkout the PDF Preview I made available on Google Drive before drawing any conclusions.

Stuart Anslow, quite the TKD author himself, has enjoyed the book.

As have others (be sure to read Master George Vitale's comments).

Master O'Mahoney.

Master Malm.

Sabum Hu.

BooSabum Dunbar.

And maybe here.

I would really recommend that you look up this book: Stretching scientifically - Thomas Kurz. There is so much BS broscience when it comes to MA and stretching. So much bad stuff gets done because their master did it that way and their master did it etc... with no regard to how effective or bad it is for your body...

Another great resource is this link that has a great wealth of good information regarding all your MA training needs. Just follow the links on the page.

Best of luck to you.

From 1961 till 1965 General Choi was appointed ambassador to Malaysia. Supposedly he created the forms while he was there.

Ever since the Japanese occupation of Korea there was a very long lasting anti-Japanese sentiment. He created the forms because he wanted Tae Kwon Do to have it's own national identity, and staying with the Japanese forms made that very hard.

As a side note, I believe this is basically the same reason sine-wave was added to ITF TKD. It was to further differentiate TKD from it's Japanese karate roots. I don't think he added this to necessarily make the art better, just to make it different and give it its own identity.

The Korean Martial Arts Handbook is an excellent book for all things Korean martial arts. It's a fantastic reference book for learning about the history of the kwans, forms, etc. I used it pretty extensively when I wrote my thesis.

i hope this link works? mr o'neils book taeguk cipher iseems to be really good for the taeguk series i have not read it yet but ive seen the youtube clips read the reviews and such.. seems to be worth a good long look atleast .. i dont know if theres a book black belt and above though?
http://www.amazon.com/Taegeuk-Cipher-Simon-John-Oneill/dp/1409226026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401176393&sr=8-1&keywords=taekwondo+cipher

This book is pretty much standard in the martial arts world. The cover is a bit creepy but the content is good.

Dynamic stretching is the key!


http://www.amazon.com/Stretching-Scientifically-Guide-Flexibility-Training/dp/0940149451/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z

• As /u/tubbyx7 points out, Ik-Pil Kang's book is considered one of the definitive explanations of Kukkiwon-style poomsae. It's extremely precise and technical, to the point that tournament judges will use it as a reference. If you had only one book, this would be the one to have.
  
  Warning: you want the version of this book that includes both the color belt AND the black belt poomsae. There are other editions in which the two are broken into separate volumes.
  
  The book is out-of-print, but used copies are easy to find. This is the edition you want: https://www.amazon.com/Explanation-Official-Taekwondo-Poomsae-Korean-English/dp/899123724X/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1497879640&sr=8-2
  
  
• Yes, there is a Kukkiwon textbook. I own a copy and refer to it sometimes. If you're building a library, it's a must-have, though in many ways it's not as useful as the above. It contains both English and Korean for every paragraph, though the English translation is not awesome.
  
  The most recently published edition is 2005. https://www.amazon.com/Kukkiwon-Taekwondo-Textbook-Korean-English/dp/8973367501/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497879834&sr=1-1
  
  
• What I love about this book is that it's a good reference for all the Kukkiwon poomsae as well as the older Palgwae poomsae. I have referred to this book quite often:
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Taekwondo-Poomsae-Official-Taegeuk/dp/1880336928/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
  
  
• I assume you already have a copy of "A Killing Art". Of course that's the go-to reference for historical information (though one could argue a fair amount of bias in its story).
  
  
• See also: http://taekwondo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Book

Noted and added to my list, thank you.

It must be good, if there's a copy for £2,499.50

I like this series for ITF patterns
The Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do Patterns, Vol. 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1906628165/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_oPcqDbQBW70CX

It is easy to follow and doesn't take up too much room in the gear bag.

Completely agree with what /u/campbeln has to say above.

I would just add that if you are interested in the history of TKD,then there is a superb book on the subject, A Killing Art: The Untold History of Tae Kwon Do (which can be found here http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Art-Untold-History-Kwon/dp/1770410228 )

Have you thought about a wall mounted paddle or one that mounts to you heavy bag ?
Examples
Spin Kick


ProForce Paddle Clapper Target

You could always build you something from PVC or 2x4's to.
hope this helps . Look at this guys simple setup

In order to illustrate my approach - check out Stuart Anslow's "Chang Hon Taekwondo Hae Sul" books... Solid applications to techniques with no/minor tweaks in movement/trajectory, that can then easily be applied in sparring/randori.

I've been thinking about getting one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/Si-Stretcher-Flexibility-Cheerleaders-Comfortable-Band/dp/B07DFGLF66

Anyone have an experience with it or the like?

Something like this?

From Amazon: "This new and revised edition of the bestselling book contains previously unnamed sources and updated chapters."

https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Art-History-Updated-Revised/dp/1770413006

This book that the founder of my Association (United States Chung Do Kwan Association) and his wife wrote has all the taeguks plus several other items like basic kicks punches and blocks.

https://www.amazon.com/Forces-Taekwondo-Edward-B-Sell/dp/0983318506/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6NBVVOUZGISE&keywords=forces+of+taekwondo&qid=1559039551&s=gateway&sprefix=forces+of+ta%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-1

Here's the link without the affiliate tag: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1880336928/

Here’s the source:

Pro Leg Stretcher

Ninja edit:

$209 including shipping.

I bought it a long time ago, so I'm not 100% sure this is exactly the same, but my DVD was from bodywisdom.
http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Inflexible-People-Judi-Rice/dp/B00006JXWB/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1413644283&sr=1-1&keywords=yoga+for+inflexible+people

I would definitely recommend "A Killing Art: The Untold History of Tae Kwon Do" by Alex Gillis
http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Art-Untold-History-Kwon/dp/1550228250

If you are in to reading, "A killing art" is a good read.
http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Art-Untold-History-Kwon/dp/1770410228

There is a really interesting book "A Killing Art:The Untold History of Taekwon-Do" (http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Art-Untold-History-Kwon/dp/1550228250) that has a section regarding Ko-Dang vs. Ju-Che (pg. 144). Summarizing, Ju-Che is the name of a (North) Korean Philosophy while Ko-Dang was a pseudonym of a former North Korean leader who was later imprisoned by the North (and was thus no longer in good standing in the north). Thus the ejection of Ko-Dang and adoption of Ju-Che.
"A Killing Art" is a great read, and I recommend it highly as it is one of the few books I've seen that even mention Gen. Choi.

Aside from the General's books the main two would be:

A Killing Art: The Untold History of Tae Kwon Do, Alex Gillis

From Creation to Unification: The Complete Histories of the Ch'ang Hon (ITF) Patterns, Stuart Anslow

There are a lot of people/schools out there that learn and teach a very mythological view of TKD. I once had someone try to tell me TKD was a thousand years old. I laughed at him. The short of it is that TKD's age is measured in decades, not centuries. It is a modified version of karate developed in the years following Japan's occupation of Korea. It has changed over the years - it was originally much closer to Karate than it is now, but the common roots are there. Essentially after the occupation, and having Korean culture subverted, they wanted to make something their own. Adapting Karate was really the simplest and easiest way to do so when you see all the factors that came into play.

I would recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Art-Untold-History-Kwon/dp/1770410228/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346867883&sr=8-1&keywords=a+killing+art

As a good and interesting read. It doesn't have all of the answers, and some of it might be a little sensationalist (it's hard to say for sure), but it will change your perception in a big way!

I was lucky in a sense - I began with Tang Soo Do for many years as a child. Then when I started TKD, it was with ITF TKD in Australia. The standards were ridiculously high. Then when I came to the states, I could only find WTF TKD schools. That's where I ended up getting my 2nd dan (about to test for 3rd in 2 months). So I've seen a lot, heard a lot, and pieced together a pretty good idea of things along the way.

Stylistically ITF is more focused on real-life applications and I would consider the deadlier of the two. That's not to say all ITF schools are 'better' or 'deadlier' than all WTF schools, but that's the general trend. The roundhouse kick (what ITF calls turning kick) are different. In WTF you strike with the top of the foot with both foot and toes pointed. In ITF you strike with the ball of the foot. The blocking preparations are different too, but really in real life nobody does a full block anyway so it's kind of irrelevant.

In ITF you don't see people bouncing around much with their arms by their sides - punches to the head are perfectly legal (although honestly you won't see that at my school either and we're technically WTF because I train them for real life not sport). That changes the sparring dynamic a lot - the ITF you'll see more varied attacks and more frequent attacks. One of the things I hate about WTF is the rules have made it so there is a very narrow band of kicks that score and that's all everyone uses.

They have different poomsae - I like some of the WTF ones better, some of the ITF ones better. But then everyone has their favorites in any style. I dunno if that's more along the lines of what you're looking for?

A book about martial arts would work if they are into that sort of thing. Two books I can think of:

A Killing Art: The Untold History of Tae Kwon Do A history of taekwondo and its unfortunate association with Korean politics.

Living the Martial Way About eastern philosophy and the martial arts. Taekwondo was Forest E. Morgan's first art.