Ottman

I love blocking and moving out of the way of attacks. This is the most effective form of street defense I have used, and I've used this method a couple of times. In highschool, when people heard that I was a Black Belt in TKD there were those who head hunted me. I don't think they were really malicious in their intent, but more curious as to whether they could take me or not. (Highschool kids. *shrugs* Go figure.) I'm not very big (and certainly wasn't in highschool) and I think that people wanted to know exactly what a black belt of my relatively smaller stature was capable of. When they would lash out at me, I would simply block and move out of the way of their punches. Sometimes I would push them off balance, but I never used any strikes or takedowns, as I knew these guys weren't really trying to hurt me, but just trying to get the better of me. The reason it was so effective was because my attackers ended up looking like foolish brutes, facilitating the laughter of spectators. I'd refuse to engage them and strike them, which would make them frusterated, and then they would lunge harder and make themselves look more foolish. Eventually they would tire of humiliating themselves and give up. We'd both walk away. I think that being able to control a situation in this manner is a lot better than being able to crush any foe with brute force. I never had the same person confront me twice, and ended up with the friendship, (or at least respect) of my former attackers, and most of the people watching as well. This isn't really an example of a mugging out on the street, but I would apply the same principals in such a situation, and reserve striking as a last resort. Since I've taken up Ju Jitsu, I'm even more confident in being able to control a fight, as I obviously have much better ground fighting skills now as well. I guess you could say I train so I don't have to fight, but at least I know I can if I get into some trouble.

I know a few women who can totally destroy this notion. If you're underestimating a person's blocking skill (or any skill) simply because of their gender, beware.

I haven't heard of the uniform system like that, but I know that there are uniforms distinguishing masters (4th dan and up where I come from) from other black belts. The masters are allowed to wear uniforms with either 1 or 3 black stripes going down the pant leg. I don't know why it's either 1 or 3, (I've never seen one with two stripes) but they both signify a master rank. I also don't know if there is another style for grandmasters, but I suppose there probably is. Anyone have any details on this?

1. Coed 2. I prefer sparring anyone I can learn something from, or teach something to. 3. The advantage lies in fighting as many different types of opponents as possible so that you'll be ready for as many situations as possible. I don't think this is a gender question at all. Women fighting men, or men fighting women, even bigger fighting smaller and vice versa is irrelevant. There are so many different types of fighters within each gender, and/or size that you can't break it down to a male or female way of sparring. There is only what your opponent does, regardless of what he/she looks like on the outside, and how you react to it. Psychologically, fighting outside of your gender might make a difference, but to me, if someone attacks me out on the street with malicious intent, I don't care who they are, what gender they are, or how big they are, I'm going to defend myself accordingly. In training, well, see my answer to #2, which about sums it all up. 4. Officially: WTF, but we spar using both olympic and point sparring rules. We usually start out with olympic and move to point later on in the class. We try to mix up the matches so that everyone in the class gets to spar as many different opponents as possible, and my instructor supervises the whole thing. Black belts and red belts are responsible for ensuring controlled contact, but the level of contact is generally decided amongst the two people who are sparring. I used to teach a tournament sparring class, where we'd go full contact all the time, but we still sparred co-ed, and the atmosphere was still to better our skills while fighting any opponent, regardless of who the opponent is and what they look like.

Well, I'm pretty certain that you're right and it's NOT a Japanese thing. Whether it is Korean and/or wesern I'm not too sure about. I spar with an Isshin Ryu Karate school that DOES use stripe rankings on their belts, and also a TKD school that DOESN'T, so who's to say for sure?

Just make sure they flow. I like Spear hand through 1 board, into jumping back side through 2 or 3 to the right of the first break, then about face and assissted back spin through 2 or 3 to finish it up. Flows nicely, challenging breaks, looks great if you smoke all of 'em on the first try.

Also having broken boards with spear hand strikes, as well as having been unsuccessful at breaking with the same technique, I would not ever use it in combat for two reasons that have been mentioned previously. 1: If I am accurate enough I will seriously hurt someone, or kill them. 2: If I am not accurate, I will break (at least sprain) my fingers. Combine these two and I don't ever have a reason to use this technique.

My instructor participated in forming a Professional Tae Kwon Do Federation (PTF) here in the U.S. about 6 or 7 years ago. She was to be the director of the north eastern region (or something like that) and we had a couple of demonstrations at our school by some korean master who seemed to be almost force feeding us the new style of sparring that was to be used in PTF events. The whole thing was going to be run (supposedly) like the World Boxing Federation and other professional boxing and kickboxing leagues. There was some amount of hype about it at my school for a couple months, but then no competitions ever ended up happening and the whole thing just fizzled out. Later, about a year ago, I asked my instructor what ever happened to it, and apparently it never got off the ground due to extreme conflicts between the korean and non-korean masters over how the league should be run. I personally didn't even realize that there was a conflict between korean and non-korean masters here in the states, but according to my instructor it runs deep in a number of schools and between a particular group of masters that I really know nothing about. The whole thing sounds a bit mcdojoish (for lack of a better term) to me, which surprised me because my instructor is usually way beyond that sort of pettiness. (or perhaps that's why she stopped endorsing the league.) Anyway, I'm getting off topic now, but that's what I remember of the PTF and as far as I know, it has been the only attempt to bring about a professional TKD league. (in the states anyway.) If anyone has any fillers for the holes in my story, or any updated info I'd be interested in hearing it. I'd love to actually see a professional tkd league startup some time.

Tornado kick (spinning jumping inside crescent) or jumping back side

Hey everybody, haven't been on for a while, but I've been reading this post intently for the last half hour or so and I can't help but notice that the themes coming up here, mainly about TKD and its various adaptations, seem to come up in every post in which TKD is compared to any other art. In fact, I've noticed that this whole 'comparative styles' category elicits a lot of bickering (mostly respectful and constructive, but sometimes bitter and shameful) about which style has what qualities and why they are different, even if the degree of this difference is barely noticeable. Now I must admit that I am guilty of participating in these arguments in the past (always respectfully ) and I'm very guilty of defending Tae Kwon Do as a traditional, well rounded art, but the common conclusion (the one that nearly every thread of this sort ends with) is that it is up to the individual to express himself using his martial arts, and therefore every martial artist will have his or her own unique style (ideally). In regards to the subject of the post: Kenpo vs. TKD or Karate (or comparisons of style in general) If you want know how different styles of martial arts differ, the fact is they don't differ at all. Kenpo is the same as TKD is the same as Karate is the same as Kung Fu is the same as BJJ etc, etc. The only thing different is the person practicing and his or her own level of understanding of the self. His or her martial arts is just the way he or she expresses that understanding. That's all. I'm done.

would you please explain it? I'd like to hear about it. Thanks.

It really is a great atmosphere to train under. I had to move to Boston from southern NH (where my dojang is) for college, and I tried to find a school in boston to train at and they were all mcdojangs. Literally, every TKD dojang (didn't check schools of other styles) in the entire city of Boston is strictly a commercial, sports oriented facility. I was shocked. Now I make the trip from boston to NH to train at my old dojang because I like my instructor's style of teaching so much better. We're actually required to study some part of a different martial art for our third dan test and make a presentation of what we learned at the test. My instructor has also changed the name of the school from "Tae Kwon Do Academy" to "Martial Arts Academy" and we've got Ju Jitsu, XMA, Nunchuckudo, and we had an Aikido master teaching for a while but he had to move so we're trying to get another. I personally am training in Capoeira with intentions of teaching it in my dojang, and I have the full support of my instructor behind me. Like I said, it's an excellent environment to train within, and I hope more dojang owners start incorporating cirriculums like this in their schools. It would certainly be a breath of fresh air in the martial arts community.

I have to agree with traditional TKD teaching quick snapping kicks, and also a lack of emphasis on hand techniques: I've been studying Tae Kwon Do for just over ten years now, but I didn't realize that I wasn't using my hips properly to generate power in my kicks until about four years ago when I started looking into Jeet Kune Do. My TKD instructor, who is very interested in integrating techniques and concepts from other martial arts and other styles of TKD into her classes, had been teaching kicks with an emphasis on snapping the kicks quickly onto and off of the target. When I returned to her school (about 2 years ago) and started kicking through focus pads (ususally knocking them out of the hands of the holders who were unused to holding for kicks with such power) rather than snapping my kicks, I had many students asking me to help them with their technique in order to generate more power. My instructor is now starting to teach kicks the same way, and we are trying to come up with a principle for kicking powerfully as well as quickly, without losing the form of traditional TKD kicking (high, fast, sometimes flashy kicks) Just to fill in the interested: my instructor started training in England under an ITF instructor and then switched to WTF when she moved to the states, and hated it (or rather hated her new instructor's methods of teaching) When she decided to open her own school, although officially a WTF school, she decided that she would never limit herself to teaching according one sole method or philosophy, and as a result we study both WTF and ITF forms and we point spar as well as olympic spar. We also study a lot of self defense and takedowns and joint locks, but in sparring, kicking still rules, which is a habit I am trying to break. Interestingly, I've found that TKDers can't really defend against powerful punches (which aren't allowed in any point sparring (light contact is) and are only allowed to the body in olympic sparring.) TKDers tend to come way off balance when kicking, especially when kicking high, and a quick, powerful jab can easily knock them over (or at least more off balance) if timed properly. I'd love to see how this startegy would work in the Olympics, as I don't recall seeing one punch thrown this past summer at the games. I think that the competitor who realizes the usefulness of punching in TKD competition would easily take the tournament. Any feedback on this from others? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

We learn the tenets as well at my school, and also the '5 D's': Desire Drive Discipline Determination Dedication

Amen thugtkd. P.S. I think your quote in your digital signature says it all.

Absolutely. WTF guys are just as guilty as having their hands down in sparring. Point in case: The Olympics.

Great video. I'm technically a WTF guy (if you really want to divide the art up like that) but we do every type of sparring, including freestyle at my school, and despite unrealistic rules, ITF (or point) sparring and WTF (or Olympic) sparring are still tons of fun. I've said it before, and I'll say it again though: what's with them not keeping their hands up? That's why the first guy got knocked out. Wasn't protecting his head.

You're right mattyj, this type of sparring is now usually called 'point sparring' and is found primarily in ITF dojangs, whereas the other style is known as 'olympic style,' but the problem I have with point sparring (where punches to the face are allowed) is that it is entirely light contact and any strike that is percieved by the referee as being too hard means a point deduction. The definition of a 'hard' strike is anything that moves the person off their balance. When dealing with head shots, any attack that makes the head move back at all is illegal. Also, the match pauses after every hit so that the judges may judge each point individually. Obviously this isn't the most exciting form of sparring to watch so it unfortunately doesn't get the publicity like full contact, non-stop olympic style sparring does. General Choi obviously created TKD as a combat art, but like gosuku mentioned, most only get to see the sport aspects of TKD. I was trying to explain to him why he wouldn't see many hand techniques if he watched tournaments or the miniscule amount of TKD that is shown on TV. Anyone who actually practices the art, obviously knows better.

Gosuku, We actually have a lot of hand techniques, and grabs, and sweeps, and throws, but none of them are allowed in TKD tournament sparring. In TKD competition, punches are only allowed to the body, and all other hand techniques are outlawed. Also, we cannot sweep (strike below the belt), grab, or throw in competition. I know this has been mentioned before (by me) but I'm not sure why the rules of TKD tournaments incite many TKD competitors to lower their arms in competition. I rarely have my arms lowered, unless I'm blocking low, and I'm not sure who is teaching these guys to keep their arms down. As for just grabbing my leg and punching me in the face, that's easier said than done. Since we focus a lot of our training on kicks, most tkd practitioners can kick faster and harder, and at a much broader range of heights than other stylists. We also practice a lot of feints and deception in our techniques. A direct kicking attack from a tkder is a sign of low belt, low skill sparring. Against a seasoned, experienced opponent, I would never kick directly and allow my leg to be grabbed. Also, we are taught to use the longer range a kick gives us to our advantage and thus tkders tend to stay out of an opponent's arm range until the moment of attack making it very difficult to simply grab the leg. The traditional practice of tae kwon do is all about combat and defense and while sparring is fun, it is definately not the extent of what's taught at a traditional TKD school, rather it barely scratches surface.

Most obscure break: Stand on one foot, do a side kick through 2 boards and a punch through 2 boards at the same time, starting one inch away from the boards.

Perhaps, but she keeps testing fees relatively small (most of the money goes to pay for the belts.) Average testing fee is $25.00, depending on the level you're testing for, which compared to other dojangs in my area is very cheap. Most other masters charge around $50 per test. Also, the charge for stripe tests are only what it costs to purchase the belt, so it's pretty well managed from a financial perspective. Strangely enough, not many people from my dojang compete in tournaments and the ones who do, do it very occasionally. I agree that 21 belt levels is a bit excessive, but my previous arguments still hold. There has been much less of quit rate amongst the middle belt levels after the new belts were introduced than before.

depends on the school. When I went through the ranks there were 12 belt levels including pre-black belt at my dojang, now there are 21 belt levels, but we just test more frequently. It still takes the same amount of time to reach black. I think my instructor did this to keep her students more motivated and focused. I know it was tough for me when I'd go six months or longer without testing. I think I was a blue belt for almost an entire year without moving up. I saw a lot of people quit during the green and blue belt stages due to lack of interest and motivation, and I think this was due, in part, to not having enough opportunities to move forward and earn new belts. Everyone seems to love testing, and we take our performances at tests very seriously in my dojang. Now we have a test every 8 weeks and my instructor has added orange (between yellow and green) and purple (between green and blue) belts, as well as stripes between every colored belt, to give students more opportunities to test and recieve new belts. You'd probably test at every test until low green belt (8th belt) and then at every other test or so, as recommended by our instructor for the rest of the belt levels. She keeps a very close watch on all of her students though, and would not even allow someone to test if she didn't think that that student was ready for the next level. I think she uses this as a way to motivate those who are dedicated and to filter out those who just want the image of being a black belt martial artist. If you are denied the opportunity to test, while everyone else at your level is testing for the next belt, it will (IMHO) either motivate you to train harder if you're really dedicated to your martial arts, or it will tell you that martial arts aren't for you, if you're one of those who just wants to pay, put in your time, and get your black belt. This latter scenario isn't how things are done at my dojang. You either earn your belt, or you can spend a lot of time at the same belt level, and if you're really not dedicated to it, then it's time to find something else to do.

1 year is rediculously fast. I wonder if he was kukkiwon certified or not. Not that the kukkiwon is the greatest organization, but I do think that they hold reasonable standards. Of course everything is up to the instructor's discretion, but the current kukkiwon standards for dan testing state that if you are a certified 1st dan, you will have to wait 1 year before you can certify as a 2nd dan, and then 2 years as a certified 2nd dan before being able to be certified as a 3rd dan and so on in this fashion. An instructor can test his/her students at any pace he/she wants, but they will not be kukkiwon certified until these requirements are met. Not exactly sure what the kukkiwon requirements for obtaining a 1st dan are, but it took me 3.5 years and I was going for 1-2 hours a day every week day, and some saturdays as well, and that's pretty average for my school. No one from my dojang has done it in under three years (without previous TKD experience), and 4-5 is the norm.

Absolutely. The holders are invaluable to success.

I guess you have a point there sam, I've just never seen anyone even attempt a vaulting axe kick in TKD before. Guess I'm just lucky.