MichiganTKD

Our Instructor was the former Korean national free fighting champion. The few times I ever sparred him scared the crap out of me, because I knew what I was dealing with. It seemed like, no matter what technique or combination you used, or how good you were, he knew how to counter it. And he didn't fight WTF tournament style, he was old school, where they'd get their heads handed to them. He used to tell us stories of classmates who got their ribs or jaws broken.

I can't really say what the coolest kicks I've seen are, because I've done the coolest kicks I can think of. It's pretty hard to see myself executing them.

Why do I practice Tae Kwon Do? Why do I breathe? My instructor has told us that if we didn't practice Tae Kwon Do we would be in prison or troublemakers. Why? He explained that TKD gives you tremendous energy inside like a battery. TKD allows us to direct that energy into a useful activity like practice. Otherwise, like a circuit where the power can't go anywhere, it will explode. If we have this energy and didn't practice, we would explode.

Martial arts without philosophy is simply fighting and thuggery. I've noticed the same people post messages that indicate all they really want to do is fight and demonstrate technical superiority. What they don't realize is that this is no different than giving someone a gun without instilling in them a code of conduct. They know how to operate a gun but pose a risk to others because they don't know self control. The Samurai and the Hwa Rang understood that without a code of honor, all we are are thugs.

Joon Rhee studied originally under Won Kuk Lee, the founder of Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do and is listed in "A Modern History of Tae Kwon Do" as one of GGM Lee's original students. Where he learned ITF forms from, I don't know. But seeing as how he came up in that era, I'm not surprised he learned them. I have seen seveal listings of original Chung Do Kwan students who teach ITF forms. However, Woon Kyu Uhm, Chung Do Kwan President and my Instructor's teacher, affiliated with the Kukkiwon and we do Palgue. So many branches have formed.

I don't recommend learning two striking arts concurrently (that means at the same time kids) such as Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido. Reason: each art teaches a different way to execute kicking, blocking, and striking. If you do both, it is like schizophrenia, your body won't know which way to go. It is better to learn one and master that. Not that a TKD student couldn't learn a few things from HKD and vice versa. This way, you will have an automatic defense should the need arise.

In answer to the question asked: No, it is not necessary to be a good jumper to excel in Tae Kwon Do. It is necessary to train to be able to make your kicks effective. Being able to jump is like frosting on a cake. If you focus on the frosting, you miss the main part. If your basic kicks don't work, jumping will not help you. It's fun to do, but not a prerequisite, and anyone who thinks it is is missing the big picture. I know lots of Tae Kwon Do students who can't jump. Their kicking is still okay, because it has accuracy and power, and that is the main thing. My instructor never really demonstrated jumping, and I only saw one picture of him doing one. But he had a side kick that would rattle your teeth if he hit you with it. The picture was a double side kick, by the way.

Everyone who makes fun of WTF sparring (i.e. full contact with body armor) never did it. Those guys will hand your heads to you. I've seen them do it. And if you think you can get in close to punch, you're welcome to try. By the way, I practiced at a WTF-Kukkiwon school, and practiced with some of the toughest guys I've ever seen. In class, we practice high punching to the face in step, stopping one inch away. Who wants to leave class with broken noses and missing teeth?

In our (kukkiwon-affiliated) organization, it takes minimum 12 years to attain the rank of 4th Dan Master, and that's if you test right on schedule. In addition to possessing superior technique, you must also contribute to the organization in various ways (assisting your Instructor, helping at testings/tournaments, attending seminars and special events) to build up your credibility and name recognition. In order to be considered for Master Testing, your name must be supported by various higher ranked Masters as well as the president. Having said that, there is a big difference between passing the exam and actually being a Master. The world is full of pseudomasters who have done nothing to earn their rank, other than founding their own organizations so they can call themselves 10th Dan, Shihan, Hanshi or whatever. A true Master or Grandmaster has no need for inflated titles to boost his ego. A true Master is recognized as such by his peers and the community. Our Grandmaster told us one time that the reason why his belt has no numbers on it indicating rank is because his credibility is wide enough he has no need for it. That, to me, is a true master. Unlike the phonies I see who have to have more and more stripes on their belts.

The question was not really answered. He asked about different styles of Tae Kwon Do, and mentioned ITF etc. The ITF, WTF, ATA etc. are organizations not styles. A style is a particular way of doing something. Tae Kwon Do styles are Chung Do Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, Ji Do Kwan etc., all of which favor different techniques and approaches to doing them. Different TKD organizations include: ITF-the organization founded by Gen. Choi that practices the Chang Hun or Chon Ji forms WTF-the Korea-based organization headquartered in the Kukkiwon that practices the Palgue/Taegeuk forms and advocates full contact Olympic-style sparring. ATA-the American TKD Association founded by HU Lee as a subsytem based on ITF. Originally they did ITF forms, but switched to the Songahm forms that Lee developed. Additionally, there are numerous smaller organizations that may or may not be directly affiliated with the above but teach their technique. Hopefully this answers the question.

When I tested for 4th Dan years ago, I did a scissors kick/roundhouse combination-3 aerial kicks. To my knowledge, only one other person in the Organization has been able to replicate it. I'm quite proud of that by the way.

I take the following routes with students in my class who return after long absences: 1. For students who are Organization members, I keep them at the rank they were at when they left. Our philosophy is whatever rank you attained you will always be, even if you never practice again. Anyway, I let them stay at that rank, but they must practice and come to class regularly. After enough practice, when they can again do what is fully expected of their rank, they may test. Testing times officially are every two months, but really it is when you are ready. Only then will I recommend you. And no, students are never allowed to ask if they may test. Testing is at my luxury only. 2. For non-Organizational students, and I've had a few, it depends. If their technique is nowhere near what I would expect from that rank, they start over as white belts. If their technique is okay but needs work, I might drop them down a few belts to let them catch up. I've never had an outside student stay at their current rank, because usually they need a lot of practice. I also want to see how patient they are. A good student will accept being a white belt and go from there. A student with an ugly mind will probably quit because their ego can't handle it. Additionally, non-Organizational students would have to learn the Palgue forms that we do anyway. So dropping them down in rank wouldn't be bad for them as it is.

I call that technique the twisting kick, and I've never been a big fan of it. It just doesn't look or feel natural. I would never use it as a high kick, although I could see it as a low or middle kick in close for self defense. My nstructor has demonstrated it on me sitting down, so it has uses. I just think it doesn't make very good power.

For basics and forms, we use the traditional stances to practice balance, stability, and develop our legs. In free fighting, we want to be able to move around, and that's awfully hard to do in a traditional stance. Most of the time, we use an upright 50-50 stance, almost like walking. However, we do shift our stances and angles depending on what we are setting up for or to draw our opponent in. For example, if I want to make offense, I will use a forward-based 50-50 stance because it is easier to make forward motion that way. If I want to set up for a back kick, I will (sometimes) use a side stance to get them to throw a roundhouse for a back side/roundhouse counter. Or I will use a side stance to set up a tornado kick. If you're really good, you can throw a back kick from a front or 45 degree stance, because it doesn't telegraph a back kick as much. Our older black belts, the more original students, have been known to use some traditional stances to throw you off and see how you react to them.

We hold testings every two months. This does not mean everyone tests every two months, testing is by Instructor recommendation. So some students miss tests because they are not ready. On average, it takes our students about 2 years to make black belt. We do not have provisional or "Poom" belts. When a student is ready, as long as they can do everything required of them to the judges' satisfaction, they can test for black belt. The only restrictions we put on black belt testing are age and length of time requirements between testings. This is per Kukkiwon requirements. Our belt system is: white, yellow, yellow-green, low green/high green, low blue/high blue, low red/high red, black. Our Instructor used to tell us that earning a black belt in less than two years was no good, but taking too long was no good either.

Regarding Hwa Rang Do: Tae Kwon Do did NOT come from Hwa Rang Do. HRD did not exist until recently. Joo Bang Lee claimed that what he taught was descended directly from the Hwa Rang warriors of 1500 years. But this is not true. He was caught lying to his students, and finally admitted that HRD is a recent creation. Our students visited the Hwa Rang Academy in Korea. They were told by Academy historians that (a) the Hwa Rang did exist (b) they practiced various fighting styles, including tae kyon, in the course of their training © there was never a single martial art called Hwa Rang Do. If anything, HRD-Hapkido-Kuksoolwon are all related and similar. Except for the kicking, none of them are related to TKD.

Excellent point. One reason why we are getting away from head kicking at the tournament we host every year-head kicking, even with headgear on, can be dangerous. However, I should have clarified what I said abou the roundhouse kick. The roudhouse, while still capable of inflicting major damage, is still a kick that can be more easily blocked by keeping the hands up around the head. So if the kick comes to the side of the head, it will preferably deflect against the hands and take away some of the major force. The high side kick and punch aimed to the face are much harder to block this way. As a result, we practice both of these as self defense techniques, not free fighting techniques. And for free fighting, I have to be very cautious about letting students kick to the head. Students who seem to be very aggressive are not allowed to use high kicks until they learn control. This is applicable to free fighting and one step.

I was at a seminar years ago with GM Hae Man Park, and someone asked him that same question: Why don't we punch to the face in free sparring? His answer: Because Tae Kwon Do is not street fighting. What I think he meant by that was that to him, face punching was used by street thugs, and we as TKD students strive to be higher than that. In our class we don't use face punching or side kicks to the face because of the damage they can do. Now you may ask: What about high roundhouse kicks or similar techniques? High roundhouse kicks contact the side of the head where it is less likely to do major damage. I've seen people get knocked out, but the skull itself is still okay. If you hit someone with a high side kick or face puch, you will destroy the frontal face plate, possibly killing them or inflicting serious damage. This is not the purpose of free fighting. However, we practice those techniques in one step, within one inch of the face, with students able to exercise control.

The term "Martial" means meant or designed to be used in war or battle. And "Art" means a way of expressing yourself or a higher way of doing something, a way that seems to imply more than just haphazard set of techniques. Based on this, boxing could be classified as a martial sport, a sport directly designed to hurt someone in the interests of scoring a point. This is not the same as hockey or football. In those, hurting someone is a side product of trying to score points, not the mission itself. By this definition, tournament Tae Kwon Do would be classified the same (martial sport), because the mission is to physically hit someone to score points. The difference is, boxing is much more limited in allowed techniques. Therefore, tournament TKD fighters should be considered martial athletes-sportsmen who hit their opponents to make points. Martial art, however, implies something much deeper-battlefield techniques practiced as a way to achieve personal enlightenment. We practice character building, philosophy, and self control. Things like this boxing does not concern itself with. For this reason, I'm not sure I would consider Brazilian Jujitsu a martial art as much as a fighting style. To me, the oriental styles that end in "Do" may be considered martial arts. Otherwise, they are fighting styles.

We do the Palgue forms, the WTF forms that came out before the Taegeuk forms were introduced. I don't know...I've seen the Chang Hun forms and I always thought they looked like karate forms with Tae Kwon Do kicking added. Not that I'm downplaying ITF forms. I'm not. However, Tommarker has a good point-anyone who thinks TKD is for wimps never trained under my Instructor. I've never seen so much power in one individual. It just depends on who you train under. Not all WTF Tae Kwon Do instructors focus on sport.

Why did Gen. Choi leave the S. Korea Was the WTF formed as the nemisis of the ITF (and if so why) 1. From what I have learned, General Choi began to alienate the other Kwan Jangs when he assumed the position as KTA head and ran it like his own personal organization. However, the event that led to his leaving Korea was the Tae Kwon Do demo team he led to North Korea, the communist archenemy of South Korea. Having received no governmental permission to do this, this was considered an act of treason against South Korea, and he was told to leave. Even today, some people in South Korea consider Gen. Choi a traitor. For years after his dismissal, Choi was famous for organizing TKD in communist countries. 2. The WTF was organized as a natural response to Choi's leaving. Anytime there is a power or organizational vacuum, something will be created to fill it.