taekwon do reality factor

[blood talon]

k, when i read the threads on this website about taekwon do, i only see people talking about how its not good in a street fight and how fancy it is. now i wanna hear about itf taekwon-do from ppl that actually take it.

[taezee]

well most people who comment on why its not good are those who are really not involved in it..those who may have seen some tournaments and made thier opinion on my art based on that..theres alot of confusion on seperating sport taekwon do from the traditional side..i teach a combination of traditional taekwon do with hapkido ..and although we have several national champions that have come out of my dojang in sport taekwon do (currently jennifer mohammed is on the us team in colorado springs olympic training center) we do teach pratical combat taekwondo..which translates to taekwondo which is effective in actual fighting!!so again as many times as i have writen here on this subject sport taekwondo does not define "taekwondo" but is just a small aspect of the art..its just that its more exposed then the real deal..

 

_________________

 

Javier l Rosario

 

bayshore new york

 

instructor taekwondo/hapkido

 

"whenever youre lazy enough not to train .someone, somewhere is training very hard to kick your ass"

 

[ This Message was edited by: taezee on 2002-07-12 01:51 ]

[karatekid1975]

I don't do ITF, but my dojang teaches the way the ITF does. We do learn self defense, and less sport TKD (eventhough it's offered to those who want it).

 

I agree with Taezee. Most the people that "bash" TKD never tried it. I'm am sick of people bashing TKD for something they saw, or because of a McDojang. Not all TKD schools are like that.

 

I used to bash TKD, but I never tried it either (I was in TSD, a traditional dojang). I ate my words when I got into it. So I would say try it before you bash something.

 

Ok, I'll get off my soap box now.

 

 

[KickChick]

First of all ... welcome back taezee (my TKD knight in shining armor)

 

Why do so many people bash Tae Kwon Do?

 

Ah, perhaps it's just that TKD is more popular and that there are more TKD schools on the average then any other style. But it seems that there is a large number of TKD McDojos, as Laurie brought up, and they are turning out black belts who can't fight their way out of a wet paper bag giving the rest of us a bad rep.

 

Now let's focus on the general perceptions of those non-TKD practitioners .... (which really are the ones doing the bashing here)

 

They seem to think that TKD focuses far too much on kicks with very little emphasis on punching, (this is generally found in sport/competition TKD), and seldom if any joint locks or grappling.

 

So according to 'them' , TKD is vastly myopic in its techniques. ... again they are wrong.

 

Most TKD bashers believe that TKD's strategy is fixated on a false assumption that TKD's range of kicks will be enough for self defense or combat situations as opposed to a more suitable line of defense that is completely left out of the TKD techniques. Further, it is the perception that TKD focuses on "high" kicks and no "low" kicking techniques. That is, TKD teaches a strategy that launches kicks at the opponent above the waist. I have seen the scenario played time and time again here ... this leaves the TKD guy in a position of weak balance so that he/she can easily be taken advantage of by even an unskilled opponent ... again this is a scenario from the non-TKD practitioner's viewpoint.

 

I have also seen TKD'ists here try and defend their style of TKD. "that's not the way we train at our school!" or "We 'crosstrain' at my school with hapkido, kungfu, or bjj", ... which I can understand these different TKD schools opening up and offering more crosstraining to their students but this dilutes the traditional training of TKD. (as you can see I'm a traditionalist) You must first learn TKD and then if you choose to, crosstrain. Certainly does bring up another false perception of TKD.... why would one "need" to cross train? (I'm playing devil's advocate here!) Shouldn't all the necessary technique be learned already if you train in TKD? Soon more schools will be offering crosstraining opportunities to their students .... maybe TKD should be one of them!

 

_________________

 

KarateForums Sensei

 

1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF)

 

Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr.

 

[ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-07-12 10:01 ]

[taezee]

well said deby and thanks for the welcome back

 

 

[Ti-Kwon-Leap]

I believe that most "styles" by themselves are incomplete. It is up to the enlightened individual to seek out solutions for the myriad situations they are likely to encounter.

 

That is not to say, however that one should disregard learning their respective art properly, I'm just stating the need or at least the benefits of seeking one's own path.

 

I was under the impression that TKD was in an ongoing evolution, constantly being improved upon. Surely supplimental techniques that address coping with unusual circumstances should be part of any art that is to be used for self defense....right???

[hobbitbob]

I don't know that the discussions shouldn't be "Traditional Martial Arts vs. Sport MA" instead of "Does TKD Work?"

 

TKD taught as a Martial Art, is valid. The watered down version taught as an after school activity producing 6y.o. 5th Dans is not a valid Martial Art. Does that iteration have possible self-defence benefits? Doubtful. Does TKD taught as a way of life and as a complete system have self-defence benefits? Of course.

 

(Stepping down off of soapbox. )

[chonji]

It's not the martial art, it's the martial artist that makes the difference....

[El Guerrero Loco]

Hey u guys. I dun take tkd but i know alot about it. Alotta ppl do bash tkd for the sporty types they see prouncing around thinking they're all though. But hey dats not all of u. Its almost like racism isn't it. Generalizing a group of ppl. Well i say those ppl who look down on every art that isn't used in "nhb" type fights should get off their high horse and say that to the face of a real tkd blackbelt.

 

It must be hard to hafta keep defending ur art over and over against those types. Next time some says tkd doesn't werk to u, y'all should kick 'em in the teeth. Then let them try to say tkd dun werk.

 

 

[Ti-Kwon-Leap]

El Guerrero Loco said: "Next time some says tkd doesn't werk to u, y'all should kick 'em in the teeth. Then let them try to say tkd dun werk."

 

 

 

Uh... they probably wouldn't be able to say much of anything at least until they got some dental work done but they would still be typing the same crap... that is unless we snap all their fingers!!!!

 

signed: -Ti-Kwon-Loco