Why Is Taekwondo Considered More Of A Sport Than A MA?

[Judo Warrior]

hey, i'm just wondering why is tkd more of a sport than a self defense martial art? I think it has a lot of effective kicks that are very good for the streets, but a lot of people say tkd is bad for self-defence and it is more

 

of a sport.

 

Thank You!

[John G]

Depends on your TKD instructor, TKD ranges from a full blown martial art through to an Olympic sport.

 

Respectfully,

[monkeygirl]

John pretty much summed it up. The TKD school you go to may be excellent for self-defense, and while many schools are similar to yours, there are many that are not. A lot of people in TKD (usually in a federation like WTF) do a LOT of competing. Tournaments and competition can be healthy and beneficial to your training when used correctly and in regulated portions, but if your training focuses entirely on tournaments and their often unrealistic rules, people tend to look at you as more of an athlete in a sport than a pracitioner of a martial art. The TKD "sport athletes" get a lot of attention from people who are very against that sort of thing, like no-holds barred martial artists, among others. Also, they are a little more public because their competitions may get televised, or they may become a movie star, or whatever. The whole "McDojo" thing makes TKD a pretty popular art, so it's on the tip of everyone's tongues. Large generalizations eventually lead people to believe that TKD as a whole is nothing but a sport, simply because those martial artists who choose to do nothing but compete get more attention than the more traditional practitioners who study the art for its practical purposes.

 

I have nothing against TKD competitors, but that's just my theory.

[Judo Warrior]

thank u for the fast replies and by the way, i'm not a tkd practioner, i was just asking this question because tkd seems to be more of a sport that a self-defence art.

[TJS]

Because most school's practice all or most of the things you would never want to do in a street fight and then rarely practice the things that would actually be useful in a fight such as owww...kicking below the waist..punching in the face...

 

most school also spend little time preparing student for clinch fighting or in fighing. on top of that they usually dont teach takedown defenses or groundfighting.

[karatekid1975]

I agree, TJS. Some TKD schools don't teach that stuff (my reason for leaving one school).

 

I feel fortunate enough that my TKD school DOES teach takedowns, throws, grappling (standing and ground), ect. It's very rare for this area to have a TKD school that isn't sport. Then again, the TKD I do is a "hybrid style" LOL.

 

We attend one tourny a year (GM's tourny). That's it. I like it this way, because I don't like the sparring rules in WTF tournies (too many and unrealistic). We still use them (rules) in class, but sometimes they are more "relaxed" so to speak. When we grapple, there are no rules, except for no strikes to the face for saftey reasons.

[TJS]

yep, there are certainly good TKD schools out there but like you said most of them dont look like the the majority of the other schools.

 

I was making a generalization about the majority of schools I have seen and heard about.

[Rich67]

Because most school's practice all or most of the things you would never want to do in a street fight and then rarely practice the things that would actually be useful in a fight such as owww...kicking below the waist..punching in the face...

 

most school also spend little time preparing student for clinch fighting or in fighing. on top of that they usually dont teach takedown defenses or groundfighting.

I agree. I don't know if I'd refer to TKD as a "sport" though. Technically speaking, it is a martial art. The "sport" moniker is just a matter of interpretation. I took Tang Soo Do for 10 years, which is very similar to TKD. I've also been in a few street fights, and I can tell you kicking above the waist is risky and not a good idea in those situations (something that is practiced regularly in TSD). Unfortunately, TKD and TSD have become Americanized/commercialized so much it is like taking up soccer or other sports. Groundfighting is a big component in street fight knowledge. I discovered that in the scraps I have been in, because eventually all fights go to the ground or a clinch. I'm looking at getting into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, since I want to gain a good knowledge of groundfighting in conjunction with my kicking and punching skills. Personally, I feel if you are starting out, TSD or TKD are great platforms that lead well into the other arts. You always have to have a solid foundation to build on, and everyone needs to know how to punch and kick.

[Guy_Mendiola]

that is true, scraps or streetfights eventually goes down to the ground but in these kinds of situation you might be fighting a person that doesn't do any of a martial art so they always like to tackle and throw punches all while and what not.

[delta1]

...why is tkd more of a sport than a self defense martial art?...

 

It's not. Like anything else, it is what you make it. But a lot of people do think of it as a sport because they are ignorant. They havn't been exposed to it as a martial art.

 

TKD does make an excellent art for sports where you are judged because it has good clean strikes and kicks, thrown mostly from ranges where they are easily seen by the judges. A lot of TKD schools teach it as a sport. It is also the national sport of Korea.

 

TKD is also very popular. With popularity, unfortunately, comes a lot of mediocrity. There are too many schools out there teaching an inneffective form of the art, so it gets a reputation as only good for sports.

 

But there are schools, like the one I joined, that teach it as a combative art. There are some good in close techniques in TKD. There are takedowns, and there is a trend to introduce grappling and manipulation skills into the classes. We do, and also Modern Arnis for weapons and to give a sense of flow to a sytyle that is known for being extremely hard and static.