on TKD

[Gilbert]

TKD... it seems TKD loose their balance real quick.

 

usually some like to show off and do so much butterfly kicks or always jumping around , i saw so many openings where just pushing them and redirecting at the right moment could easily disrupt them and send them to the ground or flying. Dont get me wrong. it is a good and respective art.

[Sam]

2 things

 

Firstly most of the "Butterfly kicks" (by that i assume u mean acrobatic flying kicks) are done for aesthetic demonstration purposes and all TKD practitioners know that they are not real effective techniques.

 

Secondly balance is actually key to TKD, although i do agree to a point because to kick properly you do have to commit a portion of your body weight to the motion, which can cause you to become unstable. However in a self defense situation most TKDers are taught to keep their kicks low - disabling short range knee swipes and knee kicks

 

[karatekid1975]

I agree, Sam. I do WTF, and we are even taught that. I do the fancy stuff for fun, BUT I know it won't work in a self defense or sparring situation. Maybe the pure sport dojangs teach it, but not ours (I learn the fancy stuff on my own).

[SloMo]

Any TKD person in a real fight who tries to use a butterfly kick isn't fighting very smart. In a street fight you fight to disable your opponent with as little risk to yourself as possible. Of course it's impossible to fight without risk but doing anything that takes your balance off center or turns your back to your opponent is a bad idea.

 

The fancy kicks take skill and hard work, and are fun and look really cool! And you can only practice a side kick to the knee so many times before it gets a little boring.

 

I think some people forget that there are two parts to the phrase Martial Art. Part of something being an art is that some of what you do is a demonstration of skill, not always practical.

 

It reminds me when I saw a great jazz trumpet player in a club in NYC. He could hit this amazing note that wowed the club. It sounded terrible because he was pushing his instrument past what it was designed to do but it still amazed everybody that the note could be attained at all.

[Myst]

I was taught how to do butterfly kicks because I was on the demostration team, and I was taught never to use them in an actual class or sparring match. Like everyone else said, they're just for show... and it looks really cool if you can break a board with it!

[Kicks]

When I first started taking my kids to USTU national tournaments in 1999 I noticed that falling down was a very popular strategy for kids ages 8 - 16. They would score 1 point and the rest of the match (2 rounds) they would do a really bad attempt at a kick and fall down every time the opponent attacked them. This would stall the match and time would run out.

 

The USTU finally put a stop to that several years ago and made falling down a warning penalty (half point deduction).

[danieldc]

I used to think that, but now i practice TKD I realice that it isnt so. The position in unstable at the oponet`s eye, so u could move w/out being noticed.

 

When u got kicked or punched your "jumping movement" helps to avoid any damage.

 

Make a test. Take a shield and make someone kick it 2 times. Fist u r firm stand, 2nd u r litely jumping.

[Sam]

The aerial kicks are great for increasing your control in the air and rotationaly movement / non intertial balance; so in all reality practicing these kicks (and their landing) improve mny aspcts which are applicable to real world situations. Although yu would NEVER attempt a 720 reverse turning kick in self defence the extra power you gain in your jump may aid you in other respects [escaping namely], but also the balance and strength you develop in the muscles crossing your arches in your feet significantly improve your ability to control the momentum of your body with minimum contact with the ground.

[Gilbert]

I see....

 

sometimes I've seen TKD instructors showing self defense techniques and they are good and very, very useful, but some start to kick and i know TKD is based more on kicking but I usually see alot of openings to umbalance an attack. Nevertheless TKD is effective. Don't get me wrong.