Kirves Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Why people focus on the high kick issue is beyond me. Hmmm... Maybe you're just too close to it. Take some distance, go see some TKD school demonstrations incognito. All the TKD demos I've seen where advertising high kicks for everything. They showed basic techniques=high kicks, they showed sparring=high kicks, they showed self defence=high kicks, then they said they have show kicking competitions and gave a demo (=high kicks), then they end the demo with a brick breaking show (=high kicks). Hmm... You tell me why people think TKD is all about high kicks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 People unfamiliar with Tae Kwon do think its all about high kicks because that's what they see. Let's think about it: when are you going to be watching Taek won do if you don't practice it? Exhibitions and tournaments. And who would want to hold a tournament where everyone is dancing around kicking at each other's knees? Just because this is what people see doesn't mean that's all there is. People seem to like to rip on Taek won do because of the flashiness of its tournaments. I don't think anyone here would argue with me when I say that the style of fighting seen in TKD competition would not be the best way to go about winning a street fight. As a TKD student myself, I would be among the first to admit that. What people seem to unfailingly overlook is the fact that a proficient TKD artist would not go about trying to win a street fight in this manner. Not everyone even teaches that way either. My school for example, is highly traditional, and does not at all emphasize high kicks over other techniques, it emphasizes what is fast, powerful, and what works. Also, anyone who squares off against an attacker on the street and then immediatly launches into a high spinning hook kick was probably done before they started, but that would be a reflection on the individual, not the art itself. Anyone who is truly proficient in TKD would know that "flashy" kicks are only effective when properly set up--if even then--and would only use them at that time, if at all. Just because you have a certain weapon does not mean you have to use it. Might as well take my advice--I don't use it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirves Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Let's think about it: when are you going to be watching Taek won do if you don't practice it? Exhibitions and tournaments. And who would want to hold a tournament where everyone is dancing around kicking at each other's knees? Just because this is what people see doesn't mean that's all there is. Hmmm... Weird. People all around the world go see exhibitions and tournaments without high kicks. Things like judo, thai boxing, bjj, wing chun and what have you, are very popular. Nowadays I rarely even see demos where high kicks are performed, because the general public are quite aware of their limitations. That's why Krav Maga and such styles are so popular! Let me say this: if the only thing tkd people show on demos is high kicks, and if the only thing people see in tkd tournaments are high kicks, then you shouldn't say "if you want to see real tkd, then come train with us". That's exactly what people are doing when watching your demos! If the town has ten demos the same weekend and the average joe goes to see which one he wants to join, he goes to the club where the demo showed what he wants. He doesn't go to another club instead, where the demo showd stuff he's totally not interested in, but the instructor said "hey, this isn't real tkd what we are showing you, if you want the real deal come see us some other time". That's ridiculous. When you hold a demonstration, show what your art is about. Or people who would like to study at your club, go elsewhere because they didn't see what you are really doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Actually, I can say come train with us. You overlook the fact that there are many different ways of teaching tae kwon do. You seem to be insinuating that there is a hipocrisy in my response on this point, that we would go to a high kicking demo to draw in new students, then teach people something else entirely, but you see, my school does NOT attend high-kicking tournies or hold high-kicking demos, so it would be completely legit for us to believe that if you want to learn effective tae kwon, you should come try ours. Please do not think that I am saying TKD schools do not teach what they exhibit. I'm sure that all the sport schools teach just like they compete. What I'm saying is that just because the schools holding tournies teach high kicking, it doesn't mean that all schools do. The initial thread here was TKD vs. Streetfighting: my point is merely that TKD, when effectivly taught (i.e, non-sport, the schools that DON'T emphasize high kicking, but rather self-defense, as the art was originally intended to be), can be more effective than people who cannot get past the high-kicking issue think. (And I realize that there are all sorts of demonstrations that do not involve high-kicking. I was not refering to demos in general, but to tae kwon do ones, where people have unfortunatly come to expect the high kicking, and, at least for some people I know, that's the only reason they would go. Believe me, I myself would rather watch another art's demo without high-kicking, as everytime I see someone doing flashy kicks all I see in my head is them getting kicked in the grion in midair! Might as well take my advice--I don't use it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John G Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Taekwon-do is a business like any other, if you’re competitive edge to bring in new students is promoting athleticism, flashy kicks and power breaking, well so be it. It’s not Taekwon-do’s fault that through action (movies, T.V, game consoles etc.), the general publics’ perception for what makes a great martials artist / street fighter is some what distorted. In a hand to hand action sequence most of the time the bad guy gets taken out with a flashy kick. If you had a high level ITF Taekwon-do sparing match and a high level Wing Chun sparing match being demonstrated side by side out in the open for the public to watch, I dare say the vast majority of people would be watching the Taekwon-do match. Those who do more than watch action movies would be watching the Wing Chun match. Neither match would be a true representation of the underling art, as only a handful of movements are used, limited by match rules. Those who join Taekwon-do for the flashy kicks generally get dropped on their rear end trying them out on others. They soon realise what happens in real life and what you see at movies or demonstrations are two different things. The club I’m affiliated with does two or three public demonstration a year, plenty of flashy kicks, power breaking, patterns, self defence, competition and traditional sparing. It’s what the public wants to see. Just a thought. John G Jarrett III Dan, ITF Taekwon-Do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirves Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 It’s what the public wants to see. It's what some of the public wants to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 John G, I could not agree with you more, and Kirves, I think we could agree that unfortunatly as it may be, it's what the vast majority of the public wants to see? Deep, respectful bow to you both. Might as well take my advice--I don't use it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirves Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Kirves, I think we could agree that unfortunatly as it may be, it's what the vast majority of the public wants to see? Yes, I agree with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeRo Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 normal people wanna see things that they cant do, it impresses them. so seeing some guy kick two metres high is gunna impress them. heck kicking 2 metres high would impress me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirves Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 normal people wanna see things that they cant do, it impresses them. so seeing some guy kick two metres high is gunna impress them. heck kicking 2 metres high would impress me! Certainly. But if that's what you keep showing people, I can't understand why you wonder how come people focus on your high kicking methods. Hapkid0ist said "Why people focus on the high kick issue is beyond me.", I say it is because that's what you show them all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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