why everyone hates Taekwondo

[Kaminari]

TKD gets a bad rap because 90% of all TKD fighters are frome mcdojos and have no real skill.

second TKD has way way to many head kicks and has no punchs the face. not to mention most of the time it is practiced light contact

Not true. TKD does have head kicks, but they aren't the only thing focused on. There are strikes to the face, and only some schools practice with light contact. It might be like this at a few schools, but I've never seen them.

[ovine king]

TKD is picked on because it is an easy target due to the way they train and the competition format which they adopt. In a time when more and more styles are putting themselves through heavy testing, TKD's reluctance to make this move and stick with their point sparring means that when crunch time comes, they aren't as prepared for real fighting as others. Another factor is that TKD is very popular and very widespread. What this means is that there are many more TKD kids around and you all know what kids are like. I'm pretty sure we all know some TKD kids stories.

[Kolchakfan]

I studied TKD for several years and it is a great art. It doesn't deserve the bad rep some people are giving it. It is a very effective art and it has come in very handy a couple of times. Maybe its because too many schools emphasize too much on competition and getting trophys. Which is fine for them if thats what they want. But the art was a life saver to me twice. So to me just ignore the people that say its ineffective and just just enjoy it.

[Adonis]

white belt,

It gets a bad rap do to public perception of it. A lot of big comercial schools feel to stay open and get alot of business they do whats called "the belt factory" were they promote alot of people in a short amount of time 1 to 2 years. But those same people skills are low quality compared to others who have spent more time and focus on there training to reach there black belt. SO alot of other black belts consider them sub par.

Also training methods used for rules in regular tkd alot of instructors focus on tournament style taekwondo were rules such as no kicks below the belt and no punches to head and also judges that allow any strike weather the person is leaning back and just taps the others head no way it would generate much power to do any real stopping or effective damage to an opponent but the judges let them get away with that in teh tournaments which also leads to bad habits.

but it sounds like your instructor from the way you describe is doing a good job on his training methods and how he is training you. Keep it up and I hope your having fun. Enjoy the wonderful world of martial arts.

[TKDguy]

A martial art is a Martial art is a martial art. Taekwondo is not much different from much karate styles or even muai tai for that reason. lets think about it, karate has puches and so does TKD, karate has kicks, so does TKD, we even do elbows and knees. Anybody can make just about any martial art a sport, didnt everbody know that there is competitionin Judo right?? and judo is a grappling art and is pretty effective in real life yet it also competes..and also the same for Muai Tai and karate, you can practitcally make any martial art a sport. you hit the guy you get a point, plain and simple. NObody can say "well its sport oriented so its a bad martial art". everybody has to remember that know martial art is completely perfect. A muai Tai boxer can try there famous thigh kicks to a TKD guy or a Karateka and all he has to do is move and elbow to the nose... done, fight over.

[Sam]

AS i have always said - its more down to the way you train - there are only a limited number of ways of using the attacking tools your body has, ... its more about teaching the methods, and strategies and training hard....

[KarateChick06]

I don't know, I keep hearing all these people diss TKD, but then I read in all these different MA books the TKD is the most popular MA.......????????

[Adonis]

It is the most popular martial art as in most practioners primarily among kids. Since that has been supporting base for alot of commercial schools. So with rapid belt promotions and chains of schools around they have become very popular. Do I say its the most effective. That depends on alot of factors, time spent training. as well as focus of trianing, for speed, power, set up, and timing and other factors that makes a move work.

Example taekwondo fights a boxer they both have simular body type but primarily in "general" most taekwondo schools focus more on kicking techniques then they do hand techniques. Now if a taekwondo can put a kick on the boxser and keep his distance and make his moves work then he can beat the boxer. but boxers are just hand techniques very limited hand techniques so more of there training is spent on pad work and heavy bag work as well as principles to set there moves up to work.

So boxer closes that gap towhere the kicks don't be come effective then the boxers punching ablity will take care of the taekwondo guy. Making moves work depends on the trainign methods employed. How much the indvidual picks up the moves from instructor who is good teacher and teaches solid concepts of moveablity, balance, timing, distance control, speed power, and combinat set ups to make the moves work.

As well as the practioner able to know his/her own body and pick up on these ideas and make them work for hm/her self.

Any way I am dragging this post to long. Is there better arts yeah but depends on the instructor level and the student as well. There are more arts that can qet you to fighting level compared to other arts if the both practioners started same time and have same body type. Mainly because some arts h ave higher percetage moves that work compared to other arts.

[Anbu Alex]

TKD does get a bad rap and ill admit it I mayself added to it from my previous experiences. Like ant other martial art TkD can work or cannot it dependes on if its the right art for this person or not and it can be used in a real fight you dont HAVE TO kick high you can apply that with lower faster kicks to the mid section or legs its dependes really if the erson who takes the art can translate it in a real life situation.

[ShotokanKid]

Many people dislike all martial arts. Just yesterday, some kids came up yelling at us and making fun of us. SO don't worry, you're not alone.