Korean styles

[JaseP]

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?

I've heard that too, but I take that with a grain of salt since Japan and China both had significantly developed artistry.

I think it more fitting to say that the Koreans figured the legs were more fitting for most of the work of defense, since it was "dirty" work... rather than the other way around. The "fist" fighting arts in Korea were largely the domain of the people. The only "official" martial art in Korea was archery. Everything else was simply war skills or commoners' self-defense skills.

As for kicking being emphasized in the USA,... I see no reason for it to be so... Asian fighting arts might have gained some mistique in the late 60s,... but prior to that they were regarded as being "cheap or sneaky", until servicemen started returning to the USA with their black belts. There was a decided stigma to kicking in fighting in the US. Kicks and their effectiveness was demostrated by the Korean arts in the US, and that's how they took hold... So the trend in kicks came from Korea.

[ninjanurse]

There's nothing wrong with duplicating something that works! Why re-invent the wheel?

[tsdshep]

fisrt off tsd tridishonly is not flashy at all you can thank wourld tsd asoc for the flashyness add 2 it . secondly as a student of grandmaster clingan ther is a lot about the art i have ben abel 2 learn such as ther are i beliave 15 styles of tsd that i know of alone and none seem 2 be flashy 2 me and jasep is right all korean martal arts have influnece froum other art but if you go back 2 the histroy of martal art there are only 2 arts turly there oun and its savat and arnes all other are have strong influneces froum a budest monk who brought martal arts froum inda 2 china. and grandmaster hwang kee never studed in china its mith and he did not invint tsd he invinted the muduckkwan styel of tsd also i about kickng not beang usefull thats a joke it very usefull in the right situason i find i kick as much as i punch. also tsd and korean arts except tkd use many self defince tecneqes. in our studin we lear punching kiickng selfdefince meditation one steps and many many other tecniqes and i have been 2 many tkd studios and have never see one that i would go 2 thay all seem 2 be a waterd down verson of tangsoodo but i gureant thats becasue of the teacher teaching taekwondo in my area i am not insulting the art. well i hope helped sry about the bad grammer

[Patrick]

We mistakenly removed two posts from this thread. Sorry for the inconvenience. They were as follows:

First off tsd traditionally is not flashy at all. You can thank world tsd assoc for the flashiness added to it . (I edited a bit for grammar/spelling.)

I'd actually be intereted in your basis for making that statement, as I am a member of the WTSDA, and I can assure you, I am not at all concerned with "flashiness". I think any large organization will have some members who are less traditional than others, but on the whole, I have to say we are a VERY traditional organization, headed up by Jae C Shin, who was a direct student of Hwang Kee.

I'll be attending the Master's Clinic in a few weeks, and the training is extremely traditional. In fact, Grandmaster Shin's goal this year is to have strictly traditional training be the main focus more than ever before. We'll train as if we were all white belts again, and will train hard.

I remember a couple years ago when a TKD master attended as a guest, and after witnessing our hyung training period, told us we were all "crazy", in that we performed the same hyung for about two hours without pause. I took it as a compliment.

I won't deny that there are elements of "flash" when tournaments are brought into the equation, but I do not train my students to compete in tournaments, and it will never be my focus. Most instructors I know share this belief.

I am NOT trying to create arguents or flames. I am merely interested in knowing what your experience with the WTSDA is regarding this statement. I am genuinely interested in others' interpretations of my organization, in that as a new master in teh association, it will be one of my goals to help uphold the standards of traditional martial arts, and to help promote these values within the association itself.

I believe every large association, to a certain degree, contains those who wish to remain traditional, and those who are more modern, those who have more focus on making money, bringing "flash" into things, and training for the basis of competition.

I do, however, believe that these "modernists" are the very vocal and very exposed minority, and that the majority of instructors simply go about their day to day business and training, without the flash, and without trying to get entangled in political issues.

I dont mean too insult your associaton i would never disrecpect gm schin.You are absolutly right it does depend on the teacher and what he puts into his students.I would never accuse gm schin of not teaching tradishonal tsd.But there are many schools in world that do show a lot of flashy tecniqeson thear sites which gives people the impreshion that tsd is flashy.When in fact its not at all.Its one of the most non flashy arts there are.So if i ofended you or you orginzation i apoligez.But as i said i trane under gm clingan and i do see a lot more flashy tecniqes at a majortiy of schools i have see online thean in my studio.But thean agen i can not base your quality on what i have seen online.so I appoligze for my stament i made rearding you guys adding flashyness too our art

[TangSooGuy]

Thanks Patrick...

and tsdshep, I'm not offended in the least. Sorry if it came out that way. I was just curious about your exposure to the association.

Politics always interest me to a degree, in that I'm always curious what "outsiders" think of other associations.

I happen to think the benefits of belonging to a good association outweigh the pitfalls, but there are a lot of bad points as well.

I just have a theory that the bad gets exposed more than the good, in pretty much every association, and I'm trying to figure out how to get the "good" out there a little more...

[TSDforChrist]

I'd just like to disagree about a couple of things:

I'm pretty sure Hwang Kee did study in China - I don't think it is a myth.

15 styles of Tang Soo Do? I'm not sure I understand your assertion - are you saying 15 different kwans, 15 different arts called Tang Soo Do, or something else entirely? Oh, and could you list them, as well? Just wondering.

In Christ,

Phil Stewart

4th Dan Tang Soo Do

[UpTheIrons]

I think there are several reasons why TSD/TKD seem to showcase "showy" kicks more:

1. Culturally, as has been mentioned, Koreans have been big on kicking. This is due to a couple of reasons. Koreans walked a lot, which builds up the muscles. Also, I have read that the Koreans reserved the hands for creating arts and crafts. Feet were reserved for combat and defense. True? I don't know.

2. Historically, Koreans have valued difficult activities and skills. As more kicking entered the Korean arts, which really reflects their historical basis, it stands to reason they would be developed and expanded. This is a natural outgrowth of the Korean mindset.

[Goju_boi]

I think there are several reasons why TSD/TKD seem to showcase "showy" kicks more:

1. Culturally, as has been mentioned, Koreans have been big on kicking. This is due to a couple of reasons. Koreans walked a lot, which builds up the muscles. Also, I have read that the Koreans reserved the hands for creating arts and crafts. Feet were reserved for combat and defense. True? I don't know.

2. Historically, Koreans have valued difficult activities and skills. As more kicking entered the Korean arts, which really reflects their historical basis, it stands to reason they would be developed and expanded. This is a natural outgrowth of the Korean mindset.

these are the things I heard before too