striker

I have seen a lot of tae kwon do vids online and always only see kicks. Is this art only about kicking or is there also striking with the fists? And what is the object of competition, aside from knocking your opponent out?

sitnspin

Yes, they have punching, and they score points when they make contact.

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XxGnPxX

Did a little google'N for ya, i knew you could punch tho. i wouldnt take a taekwondo class tho, really doesnt fit my MMA style that i use.

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Kaledonia

TKD is great for your dancing though

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striker

They do have punching? Interesting because I have yet to see a punch. Im looking at some vids now on youtube and all I see is kicks. Thanks guys.

sitnspin

It's also often a fast way to a black belt.

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Grrr

The sport and the martial art are two different things. In the sport, the competitions don't allow for punches to the face and let's face it, it's hard to land a punch to the body if you can't set up your opponent with some head shots, further the body shots are supposed to count for points but judges rarely do as they are hard to see and not as impressive as kick. Ironically, the sport has ruined TKD while making it the most popular "martial art" in the world.
In the martial art, everything from headbutts to elbows are taught. Unfortunately, TKD is somewhat of a lost art. There are too many sport schools. These days the only real TKD martial artists are in the ROK armed forces.

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J-C.

WTF- they only use kicks
ITF- both punches and kicks

jplaca

i used to take TKD, then realized it is pointless.

The kicks are weak due to the fact that you hit your opponent with your foot. Very rarely is there any punching, and the fighting stance is impractical.

I got into a scuffle with a TKD instructor (15 years in training) and my 6 months of muay thai surpassed his skills.


Chances are you will injure yourself before you hurt anyone else. Its a waste of money.

Sorry if anyone here takes tkd :\

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Crashsti

i would never go so far as to say an art like TKD is worthless. The traditional martial arts have more to offer then just technique. Learning an art is about dedication, commitment and discipline. Not that combat sports don't offer those traits but its normally not part of a MMA schools teaching. it was'nt all that long ago when TKD was easily the most popular martial art. its still very popular but with the coming of MMA many people like yourself are quick to label it as useless. There is something to be said for tradition, which at the moment is something the sport of MMA lacks.

mammoth91

This post is great Crash, well done..

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mxfuel

Any physical activity can help keep in in shape too. It is better than sitting on the couch.

ramcalgary

you can not deny the flexibility and kicking speed associated with tkd....


the hand techniques used are below average at best but many other arts could learn from the stretching that tkd participants do

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basslogic4003

Take some of the brutal kicks of TKD, add in some lateral movement and handwork from boxing, toss some knees and legkicks from MT, and I'd say you got a pretty legit standup game That's where I believe TMA's fit into the modern MMA game(technique wise that is, the mental aspect is a whole other story). While you can't simply walk out of a TKD dojo (or any single discipline, traditional or modern) and into the octagon, there certainly are some very effective techniques that you could only benefit from learning and mastering. I think Machida has a background in Karate, and I know GSP/Liddell do (and many others). Them guys got some good records

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jplaca

The one technique i like from TKD is the sidekick. Since the sidekick sort of resembles a roundhouse (MT), you can catch an opponent off guard.. Other than that, I would try looking for a different martial art if you actually want to get into a ring

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LABJJ

All martial arts have something to offer. Confidence, exercise, balance, and hand eye coordnation. It is what you make of it.

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MTKrav911

I have a 2nd Dan Black Belt in TKD under the Master Jhoon Rhee system, a school from Temple, Texas.

The poster who stated the sport aspect does not really allow for punches to the face is 100% correct. Olympic WTF TKD won't let you punch to the face which kinda sucks. Also, yes, they do let you punch to the body, but even if you land the Korean Judges are very very subjective if they'll score it as a point.

Alot of the scoring involves the technique aspect of TKD. The prettier, more fluid the technique? The more likely you'll load up points.

Under Master Rhee's system we were always taught these three things in priority when kicking (mind you this is TKD kicking). When you kick these are what we look for

1) Speed 2) Power 3) Accuracy

Notice accuracy is last in that system which to me looking back kinda is weird. I did well in TKD, fought in the Jr Olympic AAU circuit for 5 years in Texas and being just a little above average.

It wasnt until I moved to CA and began kickboxing with some very good kickboxers and kickboxing coaches who sorta took me under their wing to "tweak" what I already had with good TKD kicks to power kicking concepts and setups of Kickboxing.

I value my past TKD training. I even play around with it at home for workout purposes. HOwever I value the kickboxing more in the sense of practicality of self defense since my focus for myself is to better my self defense arsenal.

TKD isnt useless. It can is is very effective put in the proper contextual aspects of everyday fighting scenarios.

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