One perception you'd change about your KMA is....?

[IcemanSK]

Korean martial arts often have a perception that they are this or that. Usually, the term Mcdojang gets thrown around often with KMA. OTHER than McDojang, (simply because Mcdojang is too easy & says nothing about the Art itself) what perception would like to change about your Art?

[DWx]

Good topic IcemanSK

• * that KMA is all (fancy) kicking and contains no hand techniques or things like joint locks, throws etc.

[Luther unleashed]

Dwx, I actually think it's a fair assessment about Korean martial arts and fancy kicking. Did you know that Taekwondo is the only Olympic sport and not karate, King fu and so on? I'm sure you know that, and I don't mean it to say that you don't know, I am just making a point. The WTF style in fixes all kicks, as I myself practice WTF techniques I can tell you it lacks many of the traditional karate techniques even with their kicks. The kicks are meant to be fast and thrown in combinations and are different then traditional karate kicks as traditional karate tends to commit to the idea of one strike one kill. I realize that karate does combinations well, and so do other taekwondo organizations other than WTF. The thing is though that the style that is seen the most is the one in the Olympics and that is what people think of. That is what propels taekwondo into a new level of popularity.

As a Korean martial artist (primarily) I do wish this was not something that was thought about the Arts that I do (primarily tang Soo do)! The fact remains that I absolutely understand why. Many taekwondo schools do not even count points for hand strikes, this makes them rely heavily on kicks just to win the match. These factors create the perception people have about Korean martial arts, it is not something that can be changed easily.

May I ask why your profile shows tae kwon do as "Tae Kwon Do"? Reason I ask is when I speak into my phone as I'm doing now it spells it without the spaces as taekwondo, this is the reason I often will write it this way when I'm on the forum, because it's automatic. I often see it this way however, and I also see it as "Taekwon-do". The way I first learned it back in around 95 or 94 was Tae Kwon Do. I rarely see it this way though, did you mention you were ITF style I can't remember.

The reason jist complete curiosity that's all. Take care.

[DWx]

Dwx, I actually think it's a fair assessment about Korean martial arts and fancy kicking. Did you know that Taekwondo is the only Olympic sport and not karate, King fu and so on? I'm sure you know that, and I don't mean it to say that you don't know, I am just making a point. The WTF style in fixes all kicks, as I myself practice WTF techniques I can tell you it lacks many of the traditional karate techniques even with their kicks. The kicks are meant to be fast and thrown in combinations and are different then traditional karate kicks as traditional karate tends to commit to the idea of one strike one kill. I realize that karate does combinations well, and so do other taekwondo organizations other than WTF. The thing is though that the style that is seen the most is the one in the Olympics and that is what people think of. That is what propels taekwondo into a new level of popularity.

I suppose this leads nicely into my second perception I'd like to change

• * Not all TKD is Olympic TKD.

If you put myself, bushido_man96 and IcemanSK, in a room together we'd all be doing something different. Taekwondo was the name given to a group of martial arts and depending on which lineage you come from there can be some big differences.

But anyway whilst I do agree that the Olympic rules have helped create something that is predominantly leg based, there is much more to TKD than just legs. In the Olympics you are looking at a small part of a subsection. How one tournament circuit is set up isn't really representative of Taekwondo as a whole. ITF TKD, Kukki-TKD (not WTF) or Traditional TKD tend to be much closer to Karate with the way they kick and the idea of "one hit, one kill" is fundamental to them.

Not to plug my own stuff or anything but I did write an article briefly looking at this:

http://www.karateforums.com/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-hand-techniques-of-taekwon-do-vt46106.html

May I ask why your profile shows tae kwon do as "Tae Kwon Do"? Reason I ask is when I speak into my phone as I'm doing now it spells it without the spaces as taekwondo, this is the reason I often will write it this way when I'm on the forum, because it's automatic. I often see it this way however, and I also see it as "Taekwon-do". The way I first learned it back in around 95 or 94 was Tae Kwon Do. I rarely see it this way though, did you mention you were ITF style I can't remember.

The reason jist complete curiosity that's all. Take care.

It's not a hard and fast rule but the WTF and the majority of independents tend to go with "Taekwondo" and ITF with either "Taekwon-Do" or "Tae Kwon Do". In my head I think I use Taekwondo to refer to the group of styles and then the ITF spelling to refer to the specific style that I do. I think the Western spelling is officially all one word though you can argue a case for the proper Romanization to actually be "Taegwondo". To quote Shakespeare, "what's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet." Just preference really

[IcemanSK]

Dwx, I actually think it's a fair assessment about Korean martial arts and fancy kicking. Did you know that Taekwondo is the only Olympic sport and not karate, King fu and so on? I'm sure you know that, and I don't mean it to say that you don't know, I am just making a point. The WTF style in fixes all kicks, as I myself practice WTF techniques I can tell you it lacks many of the traditional karate techniques even with their kicks. The kicks are meant to be fast and thrown in combinations and are different then traditional karate kicks as traditional karate tends to commit to the idea of one strike one kill. I realize that karate does combinations well, and so do other taekwondo organizations other than WTF. The thing is though that the style that is seen the most is the one in the Olympics and that is what people think of. That is what propels taekwondo into a new level of popularity.

I suppose this leads nicely into my second perception I'd like to change

• * Not all TKD is Olympic TKD.

If you put myself, bushido_man96 and IcemanSK, in a room together we'd all be doing something different. Taekwondo was the name given to a group of martial arts and depending on which lineage you come from there can be some big differences.

 

But anyway whilst I do agree that the Olympic rules have helped create something that is predominantly leg based, there is much more to TKD than just legs. In the Olympics you are looking at a small part of a subsection. How one tournament circuit is set up isn't really representative of Taekwondo as a whole. ITF TKD, Kukki-TKD (not WTF) or Traditional TKD tend to be much closer to Karate with the way they kick and the idea of "one hit, one kill" is fundamental to them.

Not to plug my own stuff or anything but I did write an article briefly looking at this:

http://www.karateforums.com/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-hand-techniques-of-taekwon-do-vt46106.html

May I ask why your profile shows tae kwon do as "Tae Kwon Do"? Reason I ask is when I speak into my phone as I'm doing now it spells it without the spaces as taekwondo, this is the reason I often will write it this way when I'm on the forum, because it's automatic. I often see it this way however, and I also see it as "Taekwon-do". The way I first learned it back in around 95 or 94 was Tae Kwon Do. I rarely see it this way though, did you mention you were ITF style I can't remember.

The reason jist complete curiosity that's all. Take care.

It's not a hard and fast rule but the WTF and the majority of independents tend to go with "Taekwondo" and ITF with either "Taekwon-Do" or "Tae Kwon Do". In my head I think I use Taekwondo to refer to the group of styles and then the ITF spelling to refer to the specific style that I do. I think the Western spelling is officially all one word though you can argue a case for the proper Romanization to actually be "Taegwondo". To quote Shakespeare, "what's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet." Just preference really

The point that you made that I bolded is absolutely correct. I'm a Kukki-TKD student, but I don't do Olympic style sparring. I have trained in ITF-style, as well. I love the current KKW poomsae standards, but I focus more on SD than the sport in fighting. In the US, there are folks who's lineage is 100% TKD but they call it Korean Karate (My late GM did that for a Loong time). Some folks in Texas want to be so unique they call what they do "Texas TKD." About the only difference I've seen is that they count to 10 in Korean w/ a Texas accent.

I wish TKD folks would stop ignoring the Karate roots of our Art. It certainly is it's own entity now, but it's roots are not 2000 years old in ancient Korea. I wish got respect within the great MA community. Here in Los Angeles, there is a MA history museum. The Korean Arts are barely acknowledged in the place, while smaller Arts like Kajukenbo (an Art developed in Hawaii in the 1940's) has it's due among the usual suspects there.

[bushido_man96]

Not all TKD is Olympic TKD.

I'd agree with this being an issue that I'd like to change.

I wish TKD folks would stop ignoring the Karate roots of our Art. It certainly is it's own entity now, but it's roots are not 2000 years old in ancient Korea.

I agree with this, too. Its a huge issue, and something that can only be dealt with from within the art.

If you put myself, bushido_man96 and IcemanSK, in a room together we'd all be doing something different. Taekwondo was the name given to a group of martial arts and depending on which lineage you come from there can be some big differences.

Just a side note, but I'd love to see this happen!

I guess what I'd like to change is what I've heard said that TKD is a good "foundation" style; a style to start an MA career with, and then use as a springboard into other styles. TKD has plenty to offer as an enriched Martial Art on its own.

Edited January 14, 2016 by bushido_man96

[IcemanSK]

I guess what I'd like to change is what I've heard said that TKD is a good "foundation" style; a style to start an MA career with, and then use as a springboard into other styles. TKD has plenty to offer as an enriched Martial Art on its own.

Yeah, that' gets to me as well.

Among Kukki-TKD folks in Korea, there has been a change over the last 20+ years that has been unhelpful. Instead of asking one's (or one's instructor's) Kwan affiliation, they now focus on where a person (or their master) went through which college TKD program went to. While that might seem like not much of a distinction, it is. These Korean TKD college programs become fraternities that exclude others who went elsewhere. So any master not a graduate of a Korean college TKD program is at a huge disadvantage, to put it mildly. Also, Korean politicians, not TKD people are now in charge of Kukkiwon. Their ideas are contrary to the betterment of TKD. There has been a revolving door of presidents of the last several years. Very sad.

[bushido_man96]

I've kept up some on what goes on in the Kukkiwon, and it doesn't sound good at all, as far as regards the whole political mess. The idea of Martial Arts being "regulated" in some ways by government in order to get rid of the bad instructors or clean up other messes wouldn't ever be a good idea, in my opinion, because you eventually end up with what you have in the Kukkiwon.

[sensei8]

I've kept up some on what goes on in the Kukkiwon, and it doesn't sound good at all, as far as regards the whole political mess. The idea of Martial Arts being "regulated" in some ways by government in order to get rid of the bad instructors or clean up other messes wouldn't ever be a good idea, in my opinion, because you eventually end up with what you have in the Kukkiwon.

I agree, Brian, 1000%!!

[IcemanSK]

I've kept up some on what goes on in the Kukkiwon, and it doesn't sound good at all, as far as regards the whole political mess. The idea of Martial Arts being "regulated" in some ways by government in order to get rid of the bad instructors or clean up other messes wouldn't ever be a good idea, in my opinion, because you eventually end up with what you have in the Kukkiwon.

I absolutely agree. GM Kyu Hyung LEE, a legend in Kukki-TKD, became president a few years back. I think he saw how awful things were & stepped down. He was only president for about 2 1/2 months.