??**^^..."Taekwondopia"-sigh...

[Kill Jill]

I know that Taekwondo is constantly reforming to reflect the increasing audience, but there has to be some limits into how far it 'dumbs down'...

I just received the first edition of the new WTF e-newsletter (you can subscribe via the WTF website) and in it, it refers to something called 'Taekwondopia'. I just had to laugh. It sounds so silly. The context in which it was being mentioned is that the WTF have a vision that their new Korean Taekwondo headquarters which they plan to construct in Muju - absolutely miles from anywhere - will invoke the spirit of olympia, and thus will be named 'Taekwondopia.'

What do you think?

Soon, they'll be renaming everything. What are they going to call the body protectors? - 'Honey nut squeezy bits'??? Oh lord...

By the way, they also announce the 1st ever World Poomsae Championship - to be held in Seoul in September. Does anyone get thrills about watching poomsae competitions? Is there anyone considering going?

I just don't know how judging poomsae competitions can be consistent.

[Kill Jill]

It seems I am getting a bit pessimistic about Taekwondo.

Perhaps it owes to today having seen a Taekwondance demonstration which had more hip gyration than Tango. Someone has to stand up and raise a hand in query as to where Taekwondo is exactly headed in the whirlwind climate of reform...

Am I alone?

[tufrthanu]

Taekwondopia sounds like it owes more to the word Utopia than it does olympia. In this case not a nowhere place thats like heaven but a taekwondo place thats like heaven. Poomsae championships could be interesting I guess but sparring will always be where the fighters are at. It could turn out to be like the forms competitions on the NASKA circuit...more gymnastics than martial arts and 15 minute long kihaps.

[Ottman]

tufrthanu, I have to agree with you about the ISKA, and XMA and NASKA 'gymnastics expositions' as I like to call them. What is happening to my beloved MA's?!? Everytime I see a triple backflip kick, or someone doing six cartwheels and a double layout flip with a half twist, and then throwing in a kick or two somewhere in the midst I want to scream. Take the black belts away from these people and give them leotards with sequence sewn on. Much more appropriate garb for what they are doing. I was at my last USTU tournament ever a couple years ago, and in the middle of competition, all rings were closed so we could see a demonstration by some TKD team of 'experts'. The show included more spins than kicks, and more cartwheels than any martial arts technique. When it got to the breaking portion of the show, I had to stifle my laughter to stop myself from being impolite. These so called experts and black belts were breaking 1/4 inch thick peices of balsa wood after a couple of flips and flashy things that had nothing to do with the actual kick or punch that finally broke the board (if you could call them boards). I'm sorry, but this type of thing is a joke, and doesn't impress me at all. I teach three year olds that can break inch thick pine boards with a variety of basic techniques, and if they saw someone cartwheeling at them, they would take a sidestep out of the way and nail them with a solid side kick on the way by. If these guys are really experts, and really martial artists, why not try to at least break real boards, even if you're going to keep all the flashy stuff. I mean come on, is there no dignity left in the art anymore? Or has TKD and many forms of karate and kung fu simply devolved into acrobatics and showmanship? It reminds me of medieval fools and court jesters vieing for the attention of their lords. It's rediculous. Thank the maker for UFC and Pride fighting, and still the ultimate in pugilism: pro boxing. Much more fun to watch. Poomse is great for training, but in competition it can be compared with figure skating and gymnastics. I don't have any problem with these two sports, but please keep them out of my MA's!

[aefibird]

By the way, they also announce the 1st ever World Poomsae Championship - to be held in Seoul in September. Does anyone get thrills about watching poomsae competitions? Is there anyone considering going?

I just don't know how judging poomsae competitions can be consistent.

Taekwondopia....oh dear.... I dunno who came up with that name but IMO they need shooting (or a serious talking to )!

As for the Poomsae Championships, I'd LOVE to go - I entered a Poomsae championships yesterday and there were teams there from UK, Ireland, USA, France, Germany and Korea. It was an excellent event and really promoted the unification spirit of TKD. Plus, there was not a back-flip in sight. I know the WTF gets a lot of bad press but I think that even they frown on the spinning flips.

As for the judging - I was speaking to the assistant instructor of my club on the way back from the competition who was telling me about a recent Poomsae course that she'd been on and about how the rule changes were supposed to make judging fairer, but really just served to make everyone more confused about the whole darn issue.

I'd like to think that there was some consistency in judging and that Poomsae competitions (for whichever organisation) were always 100% and 100% accurate with results, but I think that pigs will fly first before that every happens, sadly enough. I've been involved with karate competitions long enough to know that there's never a thing as 100% perfect judging, so I can't expect the same from TKD competitions either. :-/

[Red J]

Taekwondopia....oh dear.... I dunno who came up with that name but IMO they need shooting (or a serious talking to )

I can only comment on the name...

Nothing serious should ever have "dope" in the middle of it. I could just see the Disney character Dopey at the grand opening. Not the kind of image you want to have. I mean what are these guys smoking? Don't answer that....

[taekwondomom]

I saw one of these "competitions" on ESPN--they were doing poomse to music! Pop music! I was horrified!

It seems that many people think of martial arts as a performing art. I guess there is some performance to what we do in TKD, but if the focus is completely on "how this looks to someone" then it can't really be a serious art.

If you want TKD to be part of popular culture, though, then I suppose you have to make it fit in with music videos, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, etc. But I joined martial arts partially because it is not popular culture, because it has a long history and a spiritual side and is out of the mainstream.

Do they do Poomse at the olympics or just sparring?

[tufrthanu]

Well I once heard John Paul DeJoria , who sponsors, Team Paul Mitchell, who tend to win alot of NASKA tournaments say, "I want people to realize the beauty of the arts and that its not all about fighting."

...And I was like..it's not? Kinda thought it was.

[tkdman102088]

i think that martial arts competitions are becoming a joke. i mean who cares about seeing a form to music or hearing an excessively long kiyap. kiyaps are meant to be short and powerful thats kinda the point. competitions should be about forms, technique and sparring nothing super flashy. and as far as taekwondopia goes, its a very bad marketing ploy.

[Ottman]

I saw one of these "competitions" on ESPN--they were doing poomse to music! Pop music! I was horrified!

It seems that many people think of martial arts as a performing art. I guess there is some performance to what we do in TKD, but if the focus is completely on "how this looks to someone" then it can't really be a serious art.

If you want TKD to be part of popular culture, though, then I suppose you have to make it fit in with music videos, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, etc. But I joined martial arts partially because it is not popular culture, because it has a long history and a spiritual side and is out of the mainstream.

Do they do Poomse at the olympics or just sparring?

Amen TKDmom. Especially on this:

It seems that many people think of martial arts as a performing art. I guess there is some performance to what we do in TKD, but if the focus is completely on "how this looks to someone" then it can't really be a serious art.

As far as I know they don't do poomse in the olympics, but if you haven't seen the sparring, IMHO, it leaves something to be desired.