TJS

kicking also leaves you open if you miss, you should also train to fight from the clinch, TKD tends to foucus on long range and pucning range, althought it's nice to keep that range clinch fighting usually plays a big part in fights.

I agree that elbows are one of the more difficult weapons to train/spar with. I actually train in Krav Maga, we spar with kicks anywhere(including the groin) knees to the body and light knees to the head, punches anywhere except the throat and usally do light/medium contact with elbows unless you and your partner want to pick up the contact. my main arguments with TKD sparring is the lack of leg kicks and punches to the face...both are huge advantages in a real fight.

where do you throw the punches too?

ok, I was being extreme..what I mean is if someone has never been hit or is not used to a good level of contact they are going to have a whole lot of trouble if someone clocks them in the nose..alot of training is going to go out the window..trust me.

as opposed to not being able to fight and curling up into a fetal position the first time someone punches you in the mouth..i think the benefits outweight the negatives.

when you spar, do you spar with leg kicks? do you do alot of high kicks? i think TKD has alot of flashy stuff that would not work in a real fight, if thats what you use when you spar then you ae not getting good at the techniques you would use.

I hate to break it to you buddy but MT has high kicks too, and they use them quite a bit in ring fighting. the diffrence is they also have effective low kicks and stick to basic powerful kicks until they are brutaly good at them.

dpends, there are martial art centers that offer several styles thent hats fine..but if it is like one or two guys claiming to teach all of these stlyes i would be a little suspicious.

just remember that anytime you try to eye gouge, claw/ bite etc..the person on top is usually ina better position to do these thigns to..so if you are going to do something make it count instead of just giving them ideas.

"BJJ theory and technique" is a really good beginers book by Renzo and Royler gracie.

a friend of mine was telling em a stroy a few nights ago about getting beat up after 2 years of akido...after the fight he asked his instructor what he should do when someone was punching him instead of grabbing him..he replied "Dont get into a boxing match witha boxer..i think that was the end of his aikido training

I wouldent consider a rear naked choke a cheap move...it is one of the best and most popular submissions around.

exactly, trapping looses it's effectiveness when someone wants to take your head off. Muay thai and WC have had challenge matches across the world throught the last 50 years...MT has always dominated WC, usually in a very bad way. I will leave it at that.

a stlye can only give you the tools, it's up to you to go from there. however some stlyes are more effective at certain areas than others.

well you know how in sparring you are free to do what you want..kicks, punches, combos etc.. rolling is the grappling equivelent..you just grapple..you can both try to gain better positioning..go for chokes/arm bars/ locks etc..

1st deg black belt. ATA-sounds good, like I said alot depends on the school and it sounds like you have a good one. but i have to ask are all of the thing s you learn Traditional TKD techniques? the groundfighting for example? do you actually "roll" whitch would be the equivelent to sparring.

Yes I have previous training in TKD, I am taking Krav Maga right now. and should be adding BJJ in the very near future!

Russian fighting stlye, mostly grappling/groundfighing.. similar to BJJ with more leglocks.

oh, for the record I dont Train in Muay Thai..well a little nit but not offically.

ok, well first off I do belive MT has plenty of weaknesses but It is proabably the best standup fighting stlye in the world. weaknesses- -lack of ground fighting -lack of sparring with groin kicks -lack of weapon defenses -lack of defenses from things such as headlocks/chokes/holds etc. -sometimes too sport oriented. MT has evolved into a sport but it was no more made to be a sport than TKD and i still belive tkd has alot more rules than mt. depends on the school, i would say for thats one of its weaknesses..too sport oriented, but I still belive MT teaches fighting..and they would be bale to defend themsleves better than most in a a real fight. everyone thinks that once a MT fighter steps out of the ring he can no longer fight and that bothers me. sure there are people who trian in tkd who can wipe the floor with most people it all depends on the school/teacher..but the fact remain that when it comes down to it, certain stlyes would dominate it in 1 vs 1 fighting. what i see is this..everyone is saying TKD teaches real self defense/fighting etc and MT is a sport. like i said before, - one trains full contact with knees/elbows/kicks/punches -one dosent allowe kicks below the waist or empasize punching to the face and dosent allow knees or elbows whitch one seems like more of a sport? honestly?

yes, but TKD has ALOT more rules than MT..MT fighters spar full contact with kicks,punches, elbows, knees etc TKD dosent even allow face punches(if so very light contact) or leg kicks or knees..elbows etc...whitch one seems more of a sport to you?

exactly like i said they dont train to compete against trained fighters and they cant. no it was invented for military use, it has evolved into a sport..MT wasant made for ring fighitng it just so happend it works in them because it is an efficent stlye. MT wasant made for K-1 anymore than TKD so that argument holds no weight. like not punching to the face or kicking to the legs or groin or throat? dont act like you train with those things and spar with them. tkd dosent practice any techniques that are illegal in K-1. thats because TKD tournament fighting isint real fighting and it limits contact and techniques..k-1 or MT rules wouldent limit TKD people form doing anything. TKD does not pactice/spar with any of these either. I can tell you this would you rather fight a World class MT fighter who could do these things or a TKD guy who could od these things...they help but they are not the ultimate equalizer. is there in tkd? i think alot of thinkgs about tkd are unrealistic for real world self defense. what I odnt understand is people think that if a Fighter steps out of the ring he has somehow lost all his abilitysand all these people he would KILL in a ring are now equals because now they can bite and eye gouge..i guess he cant. honestlys guys im not upset or trying ot bash tkd im just discussing this.

how is that? statments like that are the ones that bother me, Muay thai or Kyokoshin will beat TKD 9 times out of 10 (or more) yet TKD is more effective? how on earth can you justify that statment actually a WTF Olympic chmpion as well as a few others have competed beofore..."brutal knockout" is the word that comes to mind. TKD stlyist have fought plenty of times they just never win against top fighters of other stlyes. no, the best way to truley better youself is to seek out the and train/compete against other stlyles. competing against each other can only go so far. no, but the Topic at hand is wether TKD is a sport or not, why is it that TKD does great in point sparring, Olympic, etc but it can not begin to compete in a COMBAT against other fighters...because its a sport and the more rules you remove the more it hurts tkd.

akido will take years before you could begin to use it in a real altercation..i mean fear..adrennaline etc. out of the ones you listed i would lean twords kenpo. is there a Krav Maga school near you?

somethign that you learn quickly and works under stress.