TKD kicks for kicking people off horses

[dear john]

as we all know, TKD did not exist before WW2.

 

so why do i hear from so many people that TKD's high kicks came from people who wanted to kick other people off horses?

 

i have heard this from nearly all my TKD instructors.

 

are they simply misinformed or was there a former MA that used these hi kicks?

 

if so which MA was it?

[scottnshelly]

from what i understand, Tae Kwon Do wasn't given a title until the '50's. but the moves were derived from japanese and okinawan moves a long long time ago by farmers and fishermen.

 

i'm sure someone can come and correct me on this

 

i have always found it hard to believe that someone could kick somone one off of a running horse. the only way that i would think that would be possible would be if the horse had no legs and the rider had no arms.

 

i know it's possible to kick above your head, but you really can't get much power that high.

[manuelito]

taek kyon is the korean ancient ma of kicking. gen choi took this style and karate and blended the two together.

 

regarding history...i belive that the hwa rangdo group from the silla dynasty used these techniques in battle.

[Logan]

I got kicked off a horse once. They don't like it when adults ride them at wal-mart. Hey, I paid my quarter!

[foreveryoung001]

The Subak Worriors also called the HWa Rang Dan around 700AD used used Soo Bak Do, also called Tae Kyun. The name Tae Kwon Do was chosen as the "official" name for a Korean art because of the similarity of the name to the ancient name of Tae Kyun. You can still find schools that teach Tae Kyun, and there are some similarities to modern TKD, but in reality, TKD was more influenced by Japan. Tae Kyun is definetly more of a kicking art, and that may ultimately be the biggest influence it has on TKD. I don't have an exact date as to when the name TKD was first chosen, there are several people who claim to have made up the name, but I know it wasn't until the 1960's that it was widely accepted. There were 17 different "kwans" or schools in the 1950's, and I think it was 1965 when the Korean Government formed the Korean TKD Assoc.

 

So, I guess to answer your question, TKD has had many influences in it's creation, and some of those influences were from styles developed where kicking someone off a horse may have been their only chance of dismounting a rider.

[tommarker]

I think this is one of those "romantic images" that we have of the martial arts.

 

Perhaps if you were vaulting off a staff at someone with a flying kick, but it seems much more logical to just use that staff or spear to knock them off the horse. From there, you can kick them while they lay on the ground

[miguksaram]

Yes, most likely the instructors were informed of this from their Korean masters to make TKD sound more cool.

 

Taekkyon is a Korean folk game where two contestants try to unbalance the other through a series of kicks and throws. If find it hard to believe that Gen Choi and many of the other Kwan leaders studied this art when it was thought dead for many many years, until they found one man named Song Duk-Ki(1893∼1987) who knew of the art. So you mean to tell me that all they had to do was just ask the kwan leaders and they could have pointed out many of the different teachers of this art? Hmmmmm.....

 

The naming of the art is a history lesson in itself, but it was not named after Taekkyon.

[TangSooGuy]

While I do believe that this is a "tall tale"...one I've eeven told my students from time to time, although I make sure they take it with a grain of salt...it is possible, although not likely....

 

For one thing, the horses we're talking about most likely weren't the size of the horse that the average person today thinks of....

 

..for another thing, it is possible to jump that high, and I've seen people who can do it...

 

Now, to do it reliably, in the heat of battle, wearing whatever armor, carrying weapons...not very likely, I'll admit.

 

However, it has been shown that many legends and tales do have some basis in relaity, so it is not impossible for me to believe that at some point it did happen...just not as often as many people would have us believe...

 

Besides...it would probably be more realistic to believe that they would just cut the legs off the horses...

 

This is about as high as I've ever jumped using the kick in question, but I know people who can jump higher:

 

http://www.homestead.com/nebucron2/files/flyingside.jpg

[tommarker]

that would definetely be a last-resort option, i hope!

 

I can just imagine a bunch of guys squatting in horse stance as the cavalry comes towards them... waiting for them to get in range... then hundreds of guys in the air like a swarm of grasshoppers!

 

We had a competition for the kids at our last tournament to see who could throw the highest jump front kick. There was a 17 year old hitting it at 8 feet. Not bad.

[RF_Brown]

Taekkyon was a street/folk game played by homeless street gangs that was locally popular in Seoul. Highly unlikely Gen. Choi would have learned this growing up in what is now in North Korea.

 

As far as the myth of the "Hwa Rang Dan" goes, please do not even get me started!

 

TKD is a late 20th century Korean version of Japanese Karate. However those Koreans have been great at inventing propaganda to market it.

 

See my post on this thread.