Tae Kwon Do???

[IKyokushinO-4]

TKD has gotten a bad rap here in the United States due to the over saturation of dojos.

Every time I've heard something being compared to TKD it has been in a negative connotation.

[TigerDude]

Maybe he has specific examples from his past, but to think that TKD kicks are somehow "worse" would I think be a mistake.

[Ottman]

danbong had a good point in his post. It shouldn't really matter if your sensei was insulting you or not, and I don't think his intention was to put you down, but rather to improve your technique (or at least get you to follow his standards, which in his mind will help you to be a better martial artist.)

While you're learning at his dojo, he will certainly tell you what he thinks about your technique and his technique, and their technique, and what he thinks is best. That is his job afterall.

Just remember than any one instructor does not have complete knowledge of all marital arts, nor do they know what works best for you, so if you're doing something different than what he's taught you, that's your prerogative, but just know that you will certainly get comments and corrections from an instructor while training at their dojo, if you're doing things differently than 'their way'. If you don't like, or aren't going to take his advice, then just be respectful and don't say anything. If it's going to cause problems in the dojo practicing the technique your way, then don't practice it your way while in his dojo. I had this problem all the time with my last instructor, and it evolved into me doing things her way while in her dojang, so as not to disrupt her lessons (I'm not there to change her teaching style) and practicing my way outside of that dojang, and taking classes in other styles.

It is certainly very vague just to say that you kick like a TKDer with no other explanation, so who knows what he really meant, but consider this example, which I heard Chuck Norris give in an interview:

Bruce Lee had always kicked waist height or below until he started training with Norris. Norris (a Tang Soo Do student primarily) kicked high all the time, and Bruce (apparently) started out advising him against high kicking. Norris eventually convinced Lee that he should at least be able to perform high kicks in case he ever needed to, and Lee started incorporating them into his arsenal.

Now go watch some Bruce Lee movies and see how many high kicks he does.

Now your instructor may not have even been talking about the height of your kicks, as there are many other aspects of kicking that are different between TKD and Karate, but the point is that limiting your technique is never good. If your instructor has some ways to help you balance better, or generate more power, etc. that would be good feedback to hear. While TKD has gotten a lot of negative press amongst fellow martial artists as of late, there are plenty of TKDers that can deliver great kicks (regardless of height) and maybe your instructor just has a perceived notion of TKD kicks that is in fact bad kicking technique even for TKD. Ask him what he thinks you should be doing differently (if anything) with these (proposed) TKD-like kicks. It may be that what he thinks is taught in TKD is really just what he sees or hears of a lot of TKD students doing and it might be incorrect technique for TKD as well, and necessary to correct so that you are executing your kicks properly.

Edited August 24, 2007 by Ottman

[Akaratechick]

I just started training in shotokan, and have done TKD for about seven years now, I teach TKD, but wanted to train as a student again. I kick higher than most in my class, but they really empasize kicking hard, something I didn't really learn in TKD until about blue belt, and also when I trained for black belt I kicked thai pads instead of shields. An instructor should not talk negative about other arts, period. You should ask him exactly what he meant, for your benefit, he may have meant nothing by it, as intstructors, we sometimes blurt out things, that we don't mean much by, and aren't aware of how a student is taking it.

[nijushi]

When I first began my karate training, my sensei told me that I kick like they do in tae kwon do.

All I know is that I've hardly seen a Tae Kwon Do fighter chamber their leg after a kick. That might be what he was referring to.

[AngelaG]

How long ago did this happen? To be honest if it was a while ago then I would just let it drop. You will have moved on in your technique by now and he will have probably forgotten what he said anyway.

If I said that someone kicked like they do in TKD I would probably just be wondering if that person had done some TKD previously. It's usually fairly obvious to an instructot if someone has done a MA before.

[bushido_man96]

When I first began my karate training, my sensei told me that I kick like they do in tae kwon do.

All I know is that I've hardly seen a Tae Kwon Do fighter chamber their leg after a kick. That might be what he was referring to.

Our school emphasizes the the rechambering motion of the leg on kicking. I know that some Olympic style sparrers probably do it differently, but that is a different game, too. The schools I have always been in have always insisted on the rechamber, though.