Is taekwon do anygood?

[elfordo]

I wanna know what every1 thinks about tae kwon do?

I currently do kyokushin but like taekwon do for it's jumping kicks and speed when executing kicks.

Is it worth learning, do they do takedowns and stuff or would it be more benifital to do hapkido.

Thankyou

[aefibird]

Is TKD any good? Depends what you mean by "good".

If you're looking for an art that does a lot of ground work or grappling then the answer would be "no" and that you'd be better off in Judo or Hapkido or another grappling based art.

If you mean "good" in the sense that it is great excercise, great for SD, great for striking and great for leg techniques then the answer is a resounding "yes!"

TKD is great for all of those, although be aware that as it is one of the most popular arts in the world (some would even say THE most popular) then there are a lot of con-artists out there who will sell you a thing packaged as TKD that has about as much resemblance to TKD taught at a good school as a penny farthing has to a modern day bicycle.

Shop around - there's plenty of TKD schools out there so try and look for the best.

Generally TKD doesn't include sweeps or anything like that, although some schools offer Hapkido or HKD based techniques and have started to incorporate these into their TKD curriculum.

It is definately worth learning and shouldn't take you long to pick it up as you already do a striking-based art (Kyokushin, although the arts listed under your name say Boxing and MT??).

[red dawn]

Is TKD any good? Depends what you mean by "good".

If you're looking for an art that does a lot of ground work or grappling then the answer would be "no" and that you'd be better off in Judo or Hapkido or another grappling based art.

If you mean "good" in the sense that it is great excercise, great for SD, great for striking and great for leg techniques then the answer is a resounding "yes!"

TKD is great for all of those, although be aware that as it is one of the most popular arts in the world (some would even say THE most popular) then there are a lot of con-artists out there who will sell you a thing packaged as TKD that has about as much resemblance to TKD taught at a good school as a penny farthing has to a modern day bicycle.

Shop around - there's plenty of TKD schools out there so try and look for the best.

Generally TKD doesn't include sweeps or anything like that, although some schools offer Hapkido or HKD based techniques and have started to incorporate these into their TKD curriculum.

It is definately worth learning and shouldn't take you long to pick it up as you already do a striking-based art (Kyokushin, although the arts listed under your name say Boxing and MT??).

I really couldn't put it any better myself. TKD is great for kicking if that's what you want. Also, and like aefibird said a lot of arts are mixing techniques now, so you just have to see what's in your area. I hope it works out for you.

[Balrog]

Is any martial art any good?

The question to be asked is not whether the m. a. is any good, it's whether the martial artist is any good. If you are growing and learning within your discipline, then it's all good. If you are stagnating, perhaps it's time to look at crosstraining.

[scad]

i absolutyl agree, if you live big flashy mega powerful kicks. Tae Kwon Do is your calling, tkd emphasyses on legs. thats what it all about... don't get me wrong though there is use of your hands in there to...but as far as grappling. no. so is what you want to do is try to find a korean that teaches Tae Kwon Do, someone who trained in korea, becuase the chances of them knowing hapkido is pretty good, and they won't make Tae Kwon Do and hapkido the same thing, once you have started excelling in Tae Kwon Do, then perhaps they will teach you some HKD. but it all comes down to how hard you train....happy hunting

-scad

[Fairfax_Uechi]

I wanna know what every1 thinks about tae kwon do?

I currently do kyokushin but like taekwon do for it's jumping kicks and speed when executing kicks.

Is it worth learning, do they do takedowns and stuff or would it be more benifital to do hapkido.

Thankyou

I agree with what the others have said. When I was doing research to find a dojo, I knew I didn't want to study TKD. One because of all of the McDojo's around here, and two, I wanted something more practical and not sport orientated. Uechi worked great for me.

Now, with that said, your needs sound much different, and I wouldn't look at Uechi if I was looking for jumping and lots of kicks, we just don't do much jumping, and our kicks are done to get the job done.

So, with all of that said, I'd do some research, and see what you can find. I do think you'd like their kicking, but you're going to have to supplment for the take downs and close in work. You might want to look at Chinese and Okaniwan arts and see what you can find.

[MartialArthur]

Most of the taekwondo schools I am familiar with (including mine) work with takedowns, basic ground work and self defense. I have not seen any "pure" taekwondo schools. Yes, taekwondo is the core curriculum, but most instructors and orgs adapt their programs to be more well rounded.

We do high kicks, jump and spinning kicks, but not to "get a job done". The flashy kicks are a form of artistic expression, it is what makes taekwondo a beautiful art (and pretty cool). When we need to get a job done, i.e. self defense, we use powerful, direct strikes and kicks at vulnerable areas of the body. We train for this as well, and my students know this. There is an "art" side of taekwondo, as well as a brutal efficiency when needed.

[aefibird]

and two, I wanted something more practical and not sport orientated.

I'd just like to point out that not all TKD is sport-orientated, but I'm sure you knew that.

[SubGrappler]

Most of the taekwondo schools I am familiar with (including mine) work with takedowns, basic ground work and self defense. I have not seen any "pure" taekwondo schools. Yes, taekwondo is the core curriculum, but most instructors and orgs adapt their programs to be more well rounded.

Where do you live? I only ask because I've never seen a pure TKD school that worked on basic ground work and takedowns effectively. The one I have seen that did it had absolutely no idea what they were doing.

Im excluding Tiger Schulman, if you're going to consider that TKD.

[MartialArthur]

Texas, but I know some instructors in Florida, Ohio, N.C., LA, and TN. None of them are "pure" taekwondo. Like I said in my post, I have not seen ANY "pure" taekwondo schools. Every school I have seen does incorporate some jointlocks, takedowns, and ground fighting.

Of course a groundfighting specialist would not be satisfied with a taekwondo schools ground fighting, any more than I would be satisfied with a grappling school's striking and kicking.

Our goal on the ground is to quickly get back to our feet, where we can do some real damage...or get away.