What to do?

[The Almighty Ram]

Hi all,

I've been lurking around these great forums for awhile, and finally decided to join. Although I'm new to the forums, I've been taking Tae kwon Do for eight years now and have a 1st degree black belt. I plan on obtaining my second degree next year. However, next year I will finish my final year in high school and move to some college. I will continue to practice TKD on my own, but I want to learn a new art, one that is very effective at the street level and one that will be more practical in the street(although of course all confrontations should be avioded if possible). I was thinking of Jujitsu, but what do you all recommend?

Thanks.

[Mr. Mike]

jujitsu wouldn't be a bad way to go...Kenpo is fairly kick-butt as well. I think most people you talk to will tell you that their system is built around street defense.

Try some out and see for yourself.

[JusticeZero]

Er.. most any of them will do that. If not it's pretty worthless. Do you have any other criteria? I mean, training long and hard for something that might happen to you once or twice is pretty silly to me.

[Jay]

aikido isnt bad for self defence

[The Almighty Ram]

Thanks for the replies,

TKD is a self defence form of Karate, but from what I'm reading on these forums, people say that TKD is useless in a practical application. I was just looking for something that may be more effectively implemented in the stree.t Also, it would be reallice nice to learn a very different form so that I will have a better understanding of the martial arts as a whole. Was Jujitsu formed as a sport art, or as an actual fighting art?

Thanks.

[JusticeZero]

TKD isn't Karate, by most definitions - it's Korean in origin, rather than Okinawan or Japanese.

I can't speak for all TKD stylists, but the ones I have trained with have had a tendency to be very vulnerable to the techniques that most martial artists use to deal with kickers. I believe the reason is because virtually all of one's practice time is spent in learning to fight someone of the same style, as that is what is readily available. If the structure of one's style does not lend itself to certain attacks, then one has to create special drills to train defenses against it; in my experience, it is easy for a teacher to just not get around to doing those drills; I hardly ever find time to get students to swing their hands at each other, for example, there is always something that seems more important.

In many arts, including mine, typical reactions to a kicker include moving in close to use close in attacks, or using timing to sweep the kicker while they are on one leg. According to the TKD stylists I have worked with, they do not typically do these things. The dynamics just don't seem to work well with their specialized stancework from what i've seen.

Many of them also studied in schools which strongly emphasize sport rules which allows for unrealistic applications such as defending against an attack by turning one's back on their opponent - this exists in any sport MA with rules about 'hitting someone from behind'; many MAist associate such 'dysfunctional' rules with TKD, but the same problems exist in some schools of Karate, Gong Fu, and some european martial arts.

The cure for such "weaknesses" is to make a point of first learning practical application, discarding 'game-pragmatic' tricks like turning one's back on an attacker or, for an example from Fencing, flicking one's sword in an impossible curve in order to click the button at the tip against the opponent's back; and second, training against people who will do the common counters to your preferred techniques even when you don't yourself do them. Most martial art students do not do this.

As for your second question..

Jujutsu is basically medieval Japanese police training in some form. Lots of locking, throwing, takedowns, joint locking, and the sort; excellent for "Drunken Uncle" situations.

Judo is a filter of Jujutsu which removed the more damaging techniques such as joint locks in order to facilitate a much more intense form of sparring training, and has strong sport connotations.

Aikido is a filter of a certain form of Jujutsu which focuses on pure defense and flow, though their 'defense' can knock the snot out of someone. (Their idea of "defending" themself from a punch is to catch your arm, twist your elbow backward, and sling you over their head into the concrete all done with some little limp-wristed looking move that looks so feeble as to be unreal to an untrained observer) It's famously slow to develop practical application, but is nonetheless quite functional.

[Kaminari]

Not all TKD practicioners fight impractically. I've sparred with many who were very skilled (much more than I am), however, the majority of TKD schools out there are for sport alone, which isn't useful for street application. Jujitsu would be good for street practicality, like others have said, and I think it would be good to complement your TKD with something like Jujitsu.

[Aodhan]

Thanks for the replies,

TKD is a self defence form of Karate, but from what I'm reading on these forums, people say that TKD is useless in a practical application. I was just looking for something that may be more effectively implemented in the stree.t Also, it would be reallice nice to learn a very different form so that I will have a better understanding of the martial arts as a whole. Was Jujitsu formed as a sport art, or as an actual fighting art?

Thanks.

Almost every art was initially formed as a fighting art. It's when you start adding the competition aspects that the sport side grows. WTF tournament sparring is much different than actual TKD striking/kicking techniques.

As far as a complimentary art, I would choose any of the grappling/joint lock type arts, such as jiujitsu, BJJ, judo, aikido. Kenpo, Shotokan, almost any karate/TKD variant will just be variations on a theme. Some will throw in joint locks and grappling, but it will be much more basic than a full art would be.

Do like you did when you chose TKD, go to a bunch of different schools, try them out, and see what you like.

Aodhan

[TangSooGuy]

Do like you did when you chose TKD, go to a bunch of different schools, try them out, and see what you like.

That's always teh best advice in my opinion, whether you are brand new to the martial arts, or have been training all your life.

Any time you are looking for a new art, visit as many places as you can, and find the one that calls out to you. There will almost always be one school that rises above the rest for you, personally.

i'd say focus les on the art you want to choose, and find the one that chooses you, so to speak.

[ravenzoom]

Well, to complement your TKD I'd definately go with a grappling art.