Dr Arakal Talks About The USA Olympic Taekwondo Team And Spine Health

Olympians from all over the world are competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and American athletes, who come from just about every state, will also be “going for the Gold.” However, with these games, the state of Texas has something (else) to brag about. Every member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Taekwando team hails from the Lone Star state. More on this team, later. Dr. Rajesh Arakal (http://texasback.com/doctors-profiles/doctor-arakal/), a spine surgeon at Texas Back Institute (http://texasback.com/about-us/), is also an enthusiastic martial arts practitioner. In a recent interview, he explained the difference between taekwando (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwondo) and other martial arts. “When I was in medical school, there was a dojo where a lot of us medical students, residents and doctors would attend,” he said. “We would meet twice a week for three to four hours, training for taekwondo and mixed martial arts. It was my first opportunity to be exposed to taekwondo and I truly appreciate the art form. “Historically, taekwondo originated in Korea,” Dr. Arakal noted. “It incorporated the countryside tools of the native farmers as a protection against invaders from Japan. As for karate, this originally came from Japan. “In many ways, taekwondo is a ‘circular’ sport. It’s a lot about balance. Because Koreans were somewhat smaller than say the Japanese, they required moves that would increase their reach. It became a sport that emphasized kicking – specifically round-kicks – so that the athlete could have a great arch of penetration when fighting an opponent. It negated the shorter stature of the people who were practicing.” See the full article at www.texasback.com/blog