Korean styles

[Goju_boi]

how come korean styles tend to be very flashy and kick based?And is there a korean style that isn't so flasy kick based?

[JaseP]

I don't associate a strong kicking ratio of technique in the style to be "flashy". I associate "flashy" with techniques with dubious martial content...

A high kick in and of itself is not necessarily "flashy". Obviously you don't do it in a real confronation situation unless you have an opponent that isn't going to be able to effectively counter it (trap, takedown, counterstrike to groin, etc.). But provided they are otherwise occupied (recovering from an initial strike, unable to recover from a position change, unable to recover from a block or grapple), then it is completely a viable technique provided you are able to execute one well.

Ssirum, or Korean wrestling has no kicks or strikes... But it is a very rare art.

All the Korean styles that I know of that have kicks, have both low and high kicks. I know of no striking art in Korea that has no kicks (other than western boxing, that is). And that's after 23+ years of training in Tang Soo Do.

[MJB55]

Of course some practioners can do "sick techniques" 540 spinning back kicks, tornado kicks and such, but I would not try anything such as that in a self defense situation. Of course at my age if I tried it they would have to cart me away on a strecther.....lol

MB

[Chris from CT]

how come korean styles tend to be very flashy and kick based?And is there a korean style that isn't so flasy kick based?

Traditional styles of Hapkido, such as Jung Ki Hapkido, are not very flashy and are actually quite different than what people tend to see today. Hapkido (Yawara, Yusul, Hapkiyusul, etc - whatever you want to call it) as taught by the founder, Choi, Yong-Sul had 10 basic kicks and the majority of them were to the waist and below. Even the takedowns weren't as flashy. They were more immediate takedowns that could be done on resistant people who did not know how to fall or roll.

Of course throws are hard not to look flashy when you have the opponent's entire body in the air.

I hope this helped. Take care.

[aefibird]

Goju boi, there's flashiness in all areas of martial arts - not just Korean arts.

Flashiness and showiness seems to be invading martial arts training at a great rate of knots.

TKD et al always seem to get a bad press because of their prevalence of kicking techniques - but karate also has kicking techniques and can be (in the wrong hands) flashier and showier than TKD or TSD.

It just depends on the school and the instructor as to how much flashiness in imparted into the instruction of that school. Some people seem to rely more on flash and to like it because it covers up the fact that their basic techniques actually aren't very good...

[Goju_boi]

Goju boi, there's flashiness in all areas of martial arts - not just Korean arts.

Flashiness and showiness seems to be invading martial arts training at a great rate of knots.

TKD et al always seem to get a bad press because of their prevalence of kicking techniques - but karate also has kicking techniques and can be (in the wrong hands) flashier and showier than TKD or TSD.

It just depends on the school and the instructor as to how much flashiness in imparted into the instruction of that school. Some people seem to rely more on flash and to like it because it covers up the fact that their basic techniques actually aren't very good...

very true especially with the new trend of XMA.But besides flashyness how come they mostly use kicks as opposed to having a balanced combination.

[JaseP]

Kicks are easier to deliver with more power. Years of walking on them make them stronger. Upper body techniques are more difficult to learn to generate that kind of power.

That's one reason. There are cultural ones as well.

[ysc87]

taekwondo is the decendant of hwarangdo, a very old MA which appears very flashy, but is actually a very effective combantant art. closely tied to CMA.

to me, it's like TKD is hwarangdo with all the complexity watered down, the hand movments simplified, the weapons training cut, the internal aspect taken out, and much more linear.

As bad as that sounds, TKD is probably among the most straight-foward MAs available, and i find the kicking i learned from it valuable.

if you like upper-body power, kungfu is pretty good, as "flashy" as you may think it is. but if you think any complex move is flashy, stick to boxing styles.

[JaseP]

I'm involved in a very colorful debate on another Forum about the history of Tang Soo Do. People there (even Tang Soo Do stylists, which is most of the Forum) are claiming that Tang Soo Do is derived from Shotokan,... which is actually less true for Tang Soo Do than it is for TaeKwonDo (with many of the major Kwan leaders, excepting Hwang Kee and several of the other Kwan leaders, having been Japanese/Okinawan karateka during and after WWII).

At any rate, the directness of the evolution of TaeKwonDo from the arts of the Hwarang Dan are fairly overstated. Korean arts survived more in pieces, influenced by Japanese and Chinese styles rather than intact... But it has always been the case. Fist and foot fighting arts in Korea have always been influenced by their neighbors, as has have their weaponed siblings. The trend in Korea has been to over-emphasize the native portion of the Korean arts. In short, there never have been any pure-bred Korean arts.

The legacy of Korean kicking comes from the native Korean sources, but like everything else, is influenced by other styles.

[Goju_boi]

I think this is the reson for the mostly kicking basis in this country.I heard somewhere that when Korean MA where flourishing so was arts and crafts so thay wanted to preserve their hands and used mainly kicks.is this y?