Utilizing Tae Kwon Do for combat

[aznkarateboi]

Note to admins: I understand that the title of this thread is similar to another on this forum. However, the question that I am asking is different.

 

Tae Kwon Do has been bashed and looked down upon on this forum for its "flashy" and "useless" moves. If this is so, is it possible to use Tae Kwon Do skills differently to make it useful for self defense? If so, how?

[SBN Doug]

Most of the bashing, but not all, comes from people that have never practiced traditional style TKD.

 

I'm moving this post to where those that practice it can answer the question.

[niel0092]

I think the key to this is similar to what you do in any art: KISS or Keep It Simple Stupid.

 

TKD teaches simple and effective techs along with the flashier stuff. Jabs, crosses, elbows, knees... they're all there along with great kicks. Target selection and set up for those kicks is the issue. The easy answer is to use those low line kicks to set up your hands for a strike... as many strikes as it takes, and hit vulnerable areas. Just like other arts do, no difference there. Easy answer maybe, but as anyone that has been in a fight can tell you it's easier said then done.

 

Grappling: The issue was bound to come up in here so I'll answer it now. Learn some. Then learn more. TKD has great strikes but I beleive that the remedial level of grappling instruction I've received in class will only (maybe) help against an untrained person not an experienced grappler. Also the assertaion that by taking TkD you lose any grappling skills you may have had before you started ie were untrained is garbage. Last I checked I could still play tackle football and wrestle just fine.

 

So yes, it is possible to use TKD for self defense. Add some more than basic grappling and you should be alright.

[karatekid1975]

Maybe I'm just lucky to have found traditional style TKD that teaches everything from joint locks, to throws, to grappling (ground fighting) on top of the normal TKD stuff. We even learn "come-along" techniques and counter grappling (stand up grappling). I think what my school teaches is very effective for self defense. I couldn't speak for other schools, but mine is second to none as far as TKD schools around here.

 

And I agree with Doug. Most people that do the bashing are the ones who never took TKD or know nothing about it.

[SBN Doug]

Is the "ground fighting" you learn of the calibur of JJ (wrestling, guard position, etc.)? Or is it more like what we learn, applying the standing locking and breaking techniques to kneeling and lying situations?

[niel0092]

That sounds like what we do. Come alongs, stand up grappling, grabs, etc. But I had to ask to be shown mount and guard positional tech's.

[monkeygirl]

Amen, niel0092. (your first message)

 

That sounds almost exactly like my school.

 

We teach effective self-defense stuff like elbows and knees. We get into a little bit of ground fighting, with only about two or three actual techniques. Any other ground fighting/grappling is just trial-and-error stuff...learn as you go.

 

We also do joint locks like Laurie mentioned...similar to CDT and Krav Maga. Basically, pressure points, joint locks and a little bit of redirection.

 

We also do katas (both open-hand and weapons katas) and flashy jump-kicks. I don't think that doing artistic things makes you weaker in realistic self-defense/sparring techniques. It just makes you well-rounded.

 

Think about it: say someone takes golf lessons for an hour a day for a year. Then they decide they would like to learn how to swim, too. So, they decide to take swimming lessons for an hour a day, as well as still taking golf lessons. Does this mean that the person's golf game will suffer? No. It just means their swimming will excel. One does not cancel out the other.

 

OK that's enough of my weird analogies

[TJS]

Add leg kicks, emphasize high kicks less, add clinch fighting and ground fighting, more hand combos, punching to the head while sparring, adding more realistic sparring.

 

Those would be the main ones imo.

 

oh also I see things like "well we learned this one wrist lock and they showed us an elbow once, so we learn elbows and grappling"

Edited May 12, 2003 by TJS

[karatekid1975]

Is the "ground fighting" you learn of the calibur of JJ (wrestling, guard position, etc.)? Or is it more like what we learn, applying the standing locking and breaking techniques to kneeling and lying situations?

 

It's like Judo type of grappling. We sometimes start standing or kneeling or start out in the "guard." We are allowed to apply chokes, joint locks, ect. We do whatever till one person taps out.

Edited August 5, 2003 by karatekid1975

[TJS]

No martial art is effective. It is completely up to the practitioner to USE the art effectively. It is not up to the art to be effective for the user.

 

So stlye makes no diffrence? if someone trained as hard in Tae bo and Tai chi then they would be just as good if they had train in Muay Thai and Jiu jitsu?

 

Ultimately it does come down to the person a stlye can only give you the tools but It's a bit naive to think all stlyes are created 100% equal. why would they all be the equal? is it impossible for something to be more effective than something else?