Dear Gnarlie, grace is an excellent choice of word, thank you. The slo-mo totally adds to that sense of physical poetry. I like that very much. Can I ask please, do you think that being graceful in this way precludes being functional? I mean functional as in damage-causing? If your practice is beautiful is it inclined not to be regarded as functional? Thank you again
Welcome
I would say grace does not necessarily preclude functionality. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. TKD is a mix of linear and circular motions - naturally the shortest and therefore quickest way to a target is in a straight line. But some of the circular techniques sacrifice a little time for the sake of building power, and are certainly capable of causing devastating amounts of damage when applied to a stationary target. It comes down to whether you can get them to a human target before it moves or is covered.
I think the graceful techniques of TKD are part of the reason why it is viewed by some as less than functional. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that when the techniques are used against a target successfully, they stop looking so pretty. A huge graceful looping kick stops rather abruptly when it meets a target.
I think that these graceful looping techniques combined with a superior sense of distance, a little deception, and the right targets, can be extremely functional. Like anything worth having, it's a LOT of practice.
