TKD and Shotokan

[mattyj]

It is indeed unfortunate that the popularity of Taekwon-Do and martial arts in general has lead to an increase of Mc Dojos throughout the world. Many of you may know of, or yourselves unwittingly been a member of one of those clubs.

 

The other common mistake people make is that there is a distinct difference between WTF and ITF Taekwon-Do. WTF for the most part (as there are many WTF clubs that teach self defence) could be considered a sport, an Olympic sport in fact.

 

ITF on the other hand is a modern martial art that has only been around for about 47 years. General Choi (the founder of ITF Taekwon-do) gathered together several Korean Grand Masters / Masters and developed Taekwon-Do.

 

The purpose of this, was to develop a martial art that could be taught to the newly formed Korean Army to counter Japanese Karate in hand to hand combat.

 

Remembering that Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910 and had been under Japanese rule up until the end of the Second World War. All of the people who were gathered together (persuaded) to develop this new martial art were experts in their own fields albeit Korean/Japanese Karate and or Chinese martial arts.

 

Taekwon-Do is based around Shotokan Karate with some Chinese methodologies and movements included. We are taught the application and purpose of each punch, strike, kick, grab, throw or joint lock we apply (as I'm sure many of you true martial artist regardless of code are also taught).

 

Our stances, (and I know only 15 to my level of 1st degree [4 preparation and 11 application]) are generally higher than that of traditional Karate, this is for greater mobility at the expense of stability, or so it seems.

 

As many of you know, when delivering a strike or punch it is imperative that it is done from a stable platform to maximise power, try punching an heavy bag on your tip toes, then try punching the same bag on a low wide stance with your feet firmly planted on the ground you will notice the difference in how far the bag moves.

 

The only problem with a low wide stance is mobility (BTW this is one of our stances). Now try this, get a set of bathroom scales (the analogue type, you cant see this on a digital set), now quickly lower you center of gravity (drop your mass). What you see is your weight increase for an instant.

 

This is ONE of the principles behind the sine-wave motion (bouncing up and down between techniques). We increase our stability not by having lower center of gravity (although this happens to a certain extent) but by increasing our mass (weight) at the point of contact. There is a downside to this, as we move up our mass decreases making us venerable to attack for an instant.

 

Of course you have to include action reaction, breath control, concentration of force and focus of mind in one single co-ordinated action to a given vital point using the appropriate attacking or blocking tool. But everyone does that.

 

Now I know I have over simplified both Taekwon-Do and Karate stance techniques and apologise if I have offended anyone.

 

All I'm trying to point out is that ITF Taekwon-Do isn't just a few flashy kicks, nor is it Karate with bobbing up and down thrown in. Its is a martial art that has its roots in karate (something I'm proud of admitting) and one that its dynamically changing to keep pace with more efficient ways of hand to hand combat.

 

General Choi stated in the 1980s that he had completed the development of Taekwon-Do, and that it was up to future Grand Masters and Masters to continue the legacy and improve Taekwon-Do.

 

Now, no one dared to change anything (out of respect) while he was alive, however now that he has regrettably passed on, our art will continue to develop and evolve, hopefully under the guidance of his Son Master Choi Jung Hwa and other Grand Masters and Masters alike.

 

Hopefully this has given you a small insight to our martial art. I would appreciate it if you could direct questions to us ITF Taekwon-do practitioners if you have any questions about our art, rather than saying it's a load of rubbish, or my art is better than your art because I saw some bloke beat up one of your blokes in a sparring match.

 

I may not know the answers to your questions (after all I'm only a lowly 1st degree) however I will endeavour to find an answer for you from my Master or from other ITF Taekwon-Do practitioners on the Internet.

 

BTW. We didn't exactly invent sine-wave motion, have a closer look at (of all arts) Tai Chi.

 

Respectfully,

 

best. post. ever.

[pineapple]

I trained in Taekwondo in the seventies and Shotokan in the eighties and there were a lot of differences but also a lot of similarities. I encountered no difficulties in transition from one to the next. Basics were almost the same.

 

The biggest difference was the emphasis:

 

Taekwondo emphasized kicking and spent a lot more time stretching.

 

Shotokan emphasized hand techniques.

 

The other difference was Shotokan's katas were more complex while I was taught much simpler katas in Taekwondo.

 

These were just my experiences in the schools that I attended...yours might be different.

[Chaz]

I took shotokan, it seemed very unrealistic to me, I didn't like it, so I moved on. Never taken TKD though...

[y2_sub]

I was attracted by the title ( TKD vs Shotokan ) cause i've heard a lot from people of both styles each claims to be better than the other .. you know what i really hope to c someday ?? shotokan fighter vs TKD fighter , street rules

[kzshin]

all i know is, Generally speaking, Shotokan 50% hand, 50 % leg. TKD 30% hand 70% leg.

which is better?? depend on practitioner.

Maybe you can play Tekken 4 or 5 on PS2, and use Jin (Karate) and Hwrang (TKD) against each other, and you decide which style is better.

[smr]

This article claims "Historians have established that Tae Kwon Do is the oldest form of martial art in the world, and that it began in Korea."

http://www.blackbeltworld.com/features/history/historypage1.htm