drawbacks of TKD

[MasterH]

Hi all,

I understand all martial arts do have some drawbacks, and im trying to make a decision whether i should continue with my kung fu which focuses a lot on stances, hooks, elbows and so forth, vs. my tkd which is mostly kicks and has less stability in terms of stances.

I would like you to tell me about drawbacks you found in TKD so i can make a clearer decision

thanks in advance,

I'll chime in on this one. I have never taken a kung fu class, but I have 20 years experiance with TKD. I have an ITF style background. The difference between the WTF style and ITF styles are the WTF is more "sport" not a bad thing at all. Much more foot teqs, tournements are very immportant, the WTF is the largest TKD org out there. The ITF is more of the traditional TKD, headed by General Choi until his death, they practice a full body "sine wave" (sp) the entire body learns to move into a teq. I relate more with the ITF style myself. Both styles have high kicks, but it matters on the instructor you find. I teach teq over high kicks, but that's just me.

[mantis]

i found a TKD school that has a Hapkido class in the curriculum.. i think im going to try it...

Although i challenged my Jr. kung fu master to show me how he could defend hi kicks. The way kung fu peeps do it is they stay away from you but once you kick (they either deflect, or dodge) they jump really close to you where you cannot kick anymore, and you have to use your hands which they have a greater advantage over you.

They have an amazing manipulation of your center of weight..

[MasterH]

In my opinion, there is no best MA. Every MA has its drawbacks, every MA has its advantages. My brother is studying kung fu. As soon as he gets his next sash we get to spar. He's also a TKD Chodan, so it should be interesting.

[mantis]

i'd be interested to know what happens, especially if you guys provide a small video or a pic or something.. that'd be cool

[MasterH]

i'd be interested to know what happens, especially if you guys provide a small video or a pic or something.. that'd be cool

It's all in the family my friend. Growing up we had a few scraps, but we're fairly even. should be fun, but I'm the big brother.

[karatekid1975]

In my opinion, there is no best MA. Every MA has its drawbacks, every MA has its advantages.

I agree. I study TKD. I have done TSD and Judo. Now I'm about to start Jujitsu. So yea. I totally agree. But there is nothing wrong with cross training to fill in the "gaps." But even then, there will still be "holes" somewhere in training. As long as one knows where and what these "holes" are, there shouldn't be a problem.

[MasterH]

In my opinion, there is no best MA. Every MA has its drawbacks, every MA has its advantages.

I agree. I study TKD. I have done TSD and Judo. Now I'm about to start Jujitsu. So yea. I totally agree. But there is nothing wrong with cross training to fill in the "gaps." But even then, there will still be "holes" somewhere in training. As long as one knows where and what these "holes" are, there shouldn't be a problem.

Yup, and I'm even looking to start to "fill the gaps" with some crosstraining of my own. I'll be looking for a good weapons program as soon as I meet another goal.

[Muaythaiboxer]

well if you had to chose between your kung fu and your TKD i would pick the one that does more contact and has better sparing.

[frightmaster]

Muaythaboxer, That is not a valid reason to select a school. If he is looking to get into fighting and sparring then yes and if he were looking for Olympic type of fighting I would select TKD. But the student needs to understand what it is they wish to get out of the art. One art favors the other for different reasons.

[merkury]

The main drawback is that even after achieving first 1 dan in traditional TKD, I felt relatively useless with my arms/hands. As a result, I'm almost certainly going to take Judo soon.