Strictly ITF?

[IcemanSK]

but what is WTFs bases though

I'm not sure what you mean. Could you clarify your question, please.

[mean fighter]

Like where does it draw its power from? like wave motion, or hips drawing back.

[ocdavis]

I study ITF from a master who studied directly from General Choi Hong Hi. We do all the patterns exactly as they are in the Encyclopedia of Taekwon Do.

Sparring, however has more of a WTF flavor. I assume that's so our students can do well in tournaments. From what I understand, WTF is very good at competition. For my 1st dan I got to spar with a Brazilian national champion who practices WTF. He kicked my butt, but I learned a lot!

[Aodhan]

Doesn't WTF use full-contact in sparring?

It would seem to me that the lower amount of contact in sparring would make ITF more approachable for most people. I know that some people probably like to fight harder, but not everyone! Not me for example.

There are slightly more men in my dojang. In a WTF dojang, are there lots more men? (I understand that some women want harder contact and olympic training, but I would guess they're a bit rare).

Technically they aren't full contact, as you might think of MMA or muay thai being full contact, but they are much more full contact than an organization like mine (ATA) that does point sparring.

They wear hogus (Chest protectors), helmets, hand/instep pads. To score a point you must show superior force, which usually means knocking them back physically. This can be very hard to do with a punch, which is one reason you see WTF fighters often fighting with their hands down.

Aodhan

[Sam]

ocdavis - which master do you study under?

And which Chang Hon Set do u practice [i.e. the encyclopedia has about 20 revisions, some with different patterns]

ITF is less rare in teh UK, there are quite a lot of medium - good ITF dojangs around... but i agree as a federation we are quite spaced out.

WTF - sparring requires "shocking impact" to score points - if you do a search onthis thread there are some posts on teh specific rules and how teh points are defined and legal / illegal techniques...

ITF officially spars [as in encyclopedia] semi contact, but there are a few dojangs ive trained in that emphasise that this isnt always enough and train full contactregularly, but these are quite rare.

As for competition, since the rule sets are different its difficult to say which is better, ITF has the advantage of using its hands more [not saying WTF doesnt use hands, just we train more in it] - but WTF concentrate more on sparring than ITF in-day-to-day training... ive sparred one of the junior olypiad american squad [wtf, age 19 i think - my age as well] and fared ok, but i train more in sparring than most ITFers... its more down to what you learn in your classes more frequently than the art.

[Zorba]

i started out at a WTF club (didnt spend too long there) then moved to an ITF club, not really knowing the difference. I studied there for a good 10 - 11 years, got my black belt etc etc. i left for some reasons that i wont get in to here, as its all explained in the articles forum.

i am now back at a WTF club and it is quite different. i think ITF stays really traditional and formal while the WTF is more focused towards the Competition side of things.

i have also noticed that WTF has a lot more 1 step sparring concepts while ITF on had defence against a high punch.

my WTF club isnt recognising my black belt, however they arent making me start back at the beginning either. im currently learning all the poomse, so far done kibon and the first 3 taegeuks. once i konw them and the one step, i will be assessed and probably put at 3rd or 2nd gup

[ocdavis]

ocdavis - which master do you study under?

And which Chang Hon Set do u practice [i.e. the encyclopedia has about 20 revisions, some with different patterns]

I practice the 24 patterns from Chon-Ji to Tong-Il, plus 4-direction punch and 4-direction block.

The reference I use is the Legacy edition of the Taekwon-do Multimedia Encyclopedia. The 4 disc cd-rom set includes all 15 volumes and the patterns are performed by black belt instructors under the direct supervision of General Choi. The copyright says 1997, so I don't know if it's original or after revisions. Possibly a final revision after all the years of perfecting tkd. Does anyone have ideas on that?

ocdavis