Tae Kwon do sucks!

[Brad]

I used to know of a good traditional TKD place, but last time I saw them the quality seemed to have taken a major hit(sold out I guess). My dad's school used to spar full contact, no pads, regularly and *gasp* were taught to keep their hands up! They also were strongly discouraged from participating in sport, though my dad did win fairly easily the one time he tried it.
TKD itself is ok, but it seems quality TKD schools are increasingly hard to find. Part of the problem is probably the limitations of their sparring format. It's like if the rules for competitive jujitsu fights were limited to only two or three holds...

[dezhen2001]

ive seen good and bad tkd... i used to compete knockdown/full contact and point stuff with other styles and regularly got smacked by some tkd guys. My gf is a 2nd dan tkd and can kick real hard and has fast footwork... she drops her hands though But more often than not her footwork is fast enough to stop me getting close. She is also real accurate with her kicks.

I train too much hard qigong though i think? - my parries/blocks hurt her and shes not used to my wing chun as well so its kinda fun to spar...

dawood

[Serpent]

Blocks should hurt. What's the point in just blocking when you can strike at the same time?

[sweaty_dog]

It depends where you learn. There are some TKD places that teach throws and all kindsof good stuff. Maybe not very many though. I recall a woman in my TKD class asking once "What happens if I get in this position? (under the mount)" The instructor ummed and ahhed and just told her not to get there in the first place! He was only a stand in for the real teacher, but still, that's pretty bad. Bear in mind this guy probably knew ten variations of the back jumping hook kick!

[Yung Apprentice]

I took Tkd for two and a half years. it's a good MA for little kids, or someone not familiar with MA. It taught me good felxibilty, and some cool kicks that will never be usefull for actual real life comabt. I do, however, remember a couple hand techs that I will always remember, because I know for sure they can inflict some major damage, and bring someoen down in a desperate situation. But the place I studied at, was 80% Olympic, 20% traditional.

Traditional probably has as much use as a non commercialized Karate style. But to find one, is rare. I know of a lot of Tkd places that blend in hapkido,don't know how good they are. And don't know how well they blend, since TKD is rigid, and hapkido is very flowy.

[rogue]

OK all for all intents and purposes the vast majority of current TKD is a sport that falls somewhere between boxing and figure skating. It's a sport in the same way as boxing, archery, fencing, BJJ, muay thai, wrestling, judo and savate to name a few are. All follow a set of rules for how they fight and all willingly trade weakness in certain areas to specialize in others.

What makes TKD effective IMO is not completness as fighting art but that at certain levels the practitioners become well trained atheletes with an ingrained toolset that can be used to defend themselves. Even the more traditional TKD kwon work this way.
Outside of wanting to be the most practiced art in the world TKD has a problem with deciding what it wants to be. What does good TKD look like? Depends on you definition of TKD.

No, even there kicks suck. Not as bad as there hands, footwork or blocks though. When I was in my Kung Fu class, I through a roundhouse TKD style at a classmate as fast as I could. He easily deflected it and with a simple move could have messed up my ankle.

Hey Philbert, ever think maybe it was you who sucked?

[Vapour]

I'm suprised no one yet mentioned it. They blatantly lies about its origin.

Many senior masters of TKD as well as its official body (WTF and ITF) claim that taekwon do trace it's origin to 2000 years of Korean history and Takeyon while, on the other hand, they *know* that they were practicing Shotokan kata.

Read this link and you learn all you need to know why TKD has bad rep.

http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/show...&threadid=6540

[rogue]

Gen. Choi readily admitted to TKDs shotokan heritage as did many others. But there has been a rewritting of history over the last 40 years.

[Stacey]

simplicity, distribution.

Mcdonalds or TKD.

[Vapour]

A question to any TKD practioner.

TKD shifted it's emphasis from hand technique of karate to kick. Is there any martial justification to such shift? Or is this shift purely due to sportification of the art. In TKD tournament, all I see is contenstant standing with one leg and trying to keep other away with foot.

[PHILBERT]

I know I suck, I haven't done TKD in over 2 years so my roundhouse kicks suck. The guy who did the move too practices Savate (traditional, not sport) and showed me some good kicks afterwards.

[Yung Apprentice]

I went to a Kung Fu school (Jkd/Lama Pai Crane) for a month. (lost my job, and don't have the money for it right now) But in one months time, I new about as much about combat, if not more, then two and a half years of TKD.

[TigerJaw]

I've already admitted to doing TKD in another thread so I guess I'm out of the dojang kit locker now.

I do ITF TKD and my instructor was and is a student of Rhee Ki Ha. He being a pioneering Grandmaster. I think he's the only one left but I may be wrong about that, he may just be the only one in the ITF. Or school is, not surprisingly very traditional and my intsructor really can fight. We use our hands and when sparing are allowed to punch to the head so you keep your guard up.

The problem as I see it is the sport aspect dominates, certainly the WTF. Originally, breaking was a big part of the art but I know WTF red belts who can only break with a side kick, which is pretty pathetic for saying they're supposed to be able to do it with side kick, turning kick, reverse turing, knife hand, fist etc. They also can't guard, I've seen them spar with their hands by their side. One trick I've seen, takes advantage of the fact that you can't punch to the back. I sparred with a red belt who turned his back on me. After I'd come in close, punched him in the ribs and kidneys and good six or eight times and done a knife hand to his adams apple, he hid a jumping back kick, told me that all my moves were against the rules and warned me not to let him draw me in. I wouldn't have minded if we weren't supposed to be free sparing.

[Liokault]

I have posted this before but I will post it again.

Here in the UK and in Oxford particulaly I feel that we have very good TKd. The only guy who gives me a run for my money in my class when we sparr is a TKD guy, he is the fastest guy I have ever seen and has been taught full contact TKD in a tough club for 12 years.

This same guy has knocked out several kung fu/san shou guys in full contact fights.

On the down side TKD has left him with tons of lasting injurys.

[Suntzu]

On the down side TKD has left him with tons of lasting injurys.

thankfully... i didn't have that problem... most of my injuries are from san shou...