Basic Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 In traditional Tae Kwon Do, they don't put their hands up. You can just go type Tae Kwon Do in youtube and you'll find TKD practitioners sparring with each other and they have their hands rested at their sides. They don't block, and most of the knockouts come from a pop wheel kick. In the martial art I take, the base is Tae Kwon Do, but we keep our hands up, etc. We train a lot of Muay Thai, Boxing, and basic Kickboxing. Our main kicks come from traditional TKD, and we train traditional TKD forms. You don't put your hands up in traditional TKD forms, which kind of confuses me, because my instructors constantly tell us to keep our hands up or we'll get knocked out, which I believe fully. Anyways, back to the purpose of this post. Why don't traditional Tae Kwon Do practitioners keep their hands up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushido_man96 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 The TKD practitioners that you see when you go to YouTube are most likely Olympic stylists. They don't block much, and trade a lot of kicks and counter, trying to get points. They don't score punches, from what I can tell, so no one bothers to throw them or defend them. They also use their hands down at the sides, and swing them to get momentum for their kicks.If you can find the right Traditional TKD school, you will find one that stresses hands up, and using the hands in sparring. At my school, I keep my hands up, and I do punch a lot. I enjoy punching, as a matter of fact.If you look at some old clips of Karate fighters, you will see that a lot of them tend to hold their hands fairly low as well. It seems to be a theme, and I don't know why. https://www.haysgym.comhttp://www.sunyis.com/https://www.aikidoofnorthwestkansas.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pittbullJudoka Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Bushido man you hit the nail on the head about the TKD guys. And to answer your question about karate guys keeping their hands lows. Most dojos nowdays spar using sport tornament rules where there is no face contact allowed. So no need for them to keep their hands up when they don't get hit in the face. At the dojo were I train we stress hands up even with the kids or you're going to get hit in the face in a real fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammer Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Some may frown on non to light contact point sparring but when a close punch to the face is a point you learn to keep your hands up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushido_man96 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Some may frown on non to light contact point sparring but when a close punch to the face is a point you learn to keep your hands up...I agree. You have to develop that awareness somehow. Even though we don't have punches coming to the face, I keep my hands up because I take it personal when I get kicked in the head. https://www.haysgym.comhttp://www.sunyis.com/https://www.aikidoofnorthwestkansas.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingedMonkey Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Also agreeing with everyone here, bushido_man is correct because it is the Olympic style that does not allow for hands to be used and thus the result of not using them. If you go waaaaaay back in like text books, and really traditional schools in Korea, you should always have your hands ready. "If I tell you I'm good, you would probably think I'm boasting, but if I tell you I'm no good, you know I'm lying." - Bruce Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarateEd Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 I agree with the previous comments. I have trained in TKD for some years now and have always been taught and continue to teach students to keep their hands up. Ed Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjanurse Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Ditto! "A Black Belt is only the beginning."Heidi-A student of the artsTae Kwon Do,Shotokan,Ju Jitsu,Modern Arnishttp://the100info.tumblr.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushido_man96 Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Also agreeing with everyone here, bushido_man is correct because it is the Olympic style that does not allow for hands to be used and thus the result of not using them.It isn't that they aren't allowed to punch, its just that punches don't ever score, so they don't waste the energy to do them. https://www.haysgym.comhttp://www.sunyis.com/https://www.aikidoofnorthwestkansas.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcemanSK Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Traditional Taekwondo does keep their hands up. As many have pointed out here: Olympic style TKD really has no need to do that because they don't punch often anymore. The reason is, one has to score a "trembling blow" to displace the opponent. That is hard to do with a punch when you're up on your feet so high because you're bouncing & focused on throwing kicks.They are trying to change that a bit, however. Fighters are wearing a glove (a bit like MMA gloves, with less padding). There is talk about making punches more of a priority again. It's because evident to the "powers that be" in Korea that it needs to change. While TKD has always been a kicking art, it was not ever intended that we would not use our hands. Not a single Kwan would say that the direction it has gone is positive for the art. Being a good fighter is One thing. Being a good person is Everything. Kevin "Superkick" McClinton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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