Has olympic Taekwondo ruined the reputation of the art?

[Gnarlie]

I take it you weren't around then? I could give you a huge amount of reasons why the 80s weren't that good.

Well the music pretty much sucked. Apart from Bowie maybe.

 

[Gnarlie]

Off topic, but...

In my opinion, a lot of sports were more entertaining in the past, when athletes weren't as fast and strong. I remember when tennis involved more volleys, and not so much scoring-on-the-serve. Much more fun to watch. Basketball of the past, same thing: more positioning and shooting, less dunking. In terms of entertainment value, I think some sports suffer when the athletes become too good. That's one reason I like to watch college sports more than pro sports...it's not that the college players aren't good, but they aren't so good that the sport becomes boring to watch.

This is just it though. It's not off topic. It is bang on. The decline in entertainment value is what I would call Sampras Syndrome. It is boring to watch people win through conservative play.

 

[Jaeimseu]

I think there was every bit as much conservative play in the past, except in cases of talent gaps between players. One of the driving forces behind the rule changes was the lack of action in many matches. When "trembling shock" was needed to score, there was a lot of posturing and feinting and not always a lot of kicking. Final scores were lower and every point mattered. The slightest mistake could cost you a match or a KO. It wasn't always fun to watch unless you understood the intricacies of the game.

I'll give you that the highlight vids from the 80s/90s are more entertaining.

 

[Gnarlie]

I think there was every bit as much conservative play in the past, except in cases of talent gaps between players. One of the driving forces behind the rule changes was the lack of action in many matches. When "trembling shock" was needed to score, there was a lot of posturing and feinting and not always a lot of kicking. Final scores were lower and every point mattered. The slightest mistake could cost you a match or a KO. It wasn't always fun to watch unless you understood the intricacies of the game.

I'll give you that the highlight vids from the 80s/90s are more entertaining.

I agree, but the nature of what that conservative play is has changed.

 

[RTKDCMB]

I've lived through 60 decades and I know for certain that things are better

I only hope I'm still around after 600 years.

 

[Tez3]

I only hope I'm still around after 600 years.

Yep, I am a brilliant martial artist, MMA judge, ref, corner fighter etc I can write books, I do Guiding and stacks of other things but damned if I can add up!

 

[RTKDCMB]

Yep, I am a brilliant martial artist, MMA judge, ref, corner fighter etc I can write books, I do Guiding and stacks of other things but damned if I can add up!

I can do vector calculus, matrix algebra and partial differential equations but I still have to count with my fingers.

 

[Tez3]

I have the number equivalent of dyslexia, can't remember telephone numbers or times tables, thank goodness for calculators. It's something that's understood now like dyslexia but way back for example in the 80s you had a very hard time at school because of this.

 

[Gnarlie]

Yep, I am a brilliant martial artist, MMA judge, ref, corner fighter etc I can write books, I do Guiding and stacks of other things but damned if I can add up!

You'd think after 600 years a persons mathematical ability would be tip-top.

This gives me an idea for a Pratchett-esque horror story about a 600 year old vampire Guide leader with suspiciously superhuman martial skills. And terrible mental arithmetic.

 

[Tez3]

don't forget cats, I love cats

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

Judo and Boxing are also Olympic sports, but I haven't heard anyone bash on them. I'm really not clear on how the fact Taekwondo is an Olympic sport makes it any less formidable. I have seen a ton of Taekwondo one kick knockouts in both the Olympics and regular Taekwondo competitions. The people who got knocked out with one kick were wearing protective head gear. If someone can do a one kick knockout against someone who is wearing protective headgear, imagine what he could do to someone who isn't wearing any protective padding. He could damn near kill somebody! My dojang teaches both traditional Taekwondo as well as a little bit of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Krav Maga. But yeah, I don't understand why the fact that it is an Olympic sport is such a bad thing.

 

[Steve]

P

Judo and Boxing are also Olympic sports, but I haven't heard anyone bash on them. I'm really not clear on how the fact Taekwondo is an Olympic sport makes it any less formidable. I have seen a ton of Taekwondo one kick knockouts in both the Olympics and regular Taekwondo competitions. The people who got knocked out with one kick were wearing protective head gear. If someone can do a one kick knockout against someone who is wearing protective headgear, imagine what he could do to someone who isn't wearing any protective padding. He could damn near kill somebody! My dojang teaches both traditional Taekwondo as well as a little bit of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Krav Maga. But yeah, I don't understand why the fact that it is an Olympic sport is such a bad thing.

lenty of people lamenting the death of judo because of the Olympics.

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

P

lenty of people lamenting the death of judo because of the Olympics.[/QUOTEss

P

lenty of people lamenting the death of judo because of the Olympics.

oh ok i didn't know that. I guess i've researched Taekwondo a lot more than Judo. I will say that Judo is a highly popular martial art in MMA, and Taekwondo is not

 

[Dirty Dog]

oh ok i didn't know that. I guess i've researched Taekwondo a lot more than Judo. I will say that Judo is a highly popular martial art in MMA, and Taekwondo is not

I don't think that's really true. Lists of UFC competitors with TKD backgrounds have been posted in the past, and they're quite extensive.

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

I don't think that's really true. Lists of UFC competitors with TKD backgrounds have been posted in the past, and they're quite extensive.

I knew that there were some UFC fighters who knew Taekwondo, such as Anderson Silva who actually wants to compete in the Olympics for Taekwondo, its just that most of the UFC fights I've seen have way more punches than kicks, (not saying there aren't kicks in UFC i have seen matches with quite a few kicks but overall i think the emphasis is way more on punching) I think one reason being that they are afraid that their leg is gonna get grabbed and then they'll get taken to the ground for a submission hold. that's where I think Taekwondo could really be helpful in UFC, because the kicks are so fast that they can't grapple the leg

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

I knew that there were some UFC fighters who knew Taekwondo, such as Anderson Silva who actually wants to compete in the Olympics for Taekwondo, its just that most of the UFC fights I've seen have way more punches than kicks, (not saying there aren't kicks in UFC i have seen matches with quite a few kicks but overall i think the emphasis is way more on punching) I think one reason being that they are afraid that their leg is gonna get grabbed and then they'll get taken to the ground for a submission hold. that's where I think Taekwondo could really be helpful in UFC, because the kicks are so fast that they can't grapple the leg

if people don't agree with me about people in UFC being scared to kick because they don't want to be taken down for a submission grab at the end of one fight Rampage Jackson explicitly stated that he hardly threw any kicks because he was scared of getting taken down.

 

[Dirty Dog]

if people don't agree with me about people in UFC being scared to kick because they don't want to be taken down for a submission grab at the end of one fight Rampage Jackson explicitly stated that he hardly threw any kicks because he was scared of getting taken down.

That's his personal view, not the view of the UFC in general. Good kickers kick. Good punchers punch. Good grapplers...
Everybody plays to their own strengths and to their opponents weaknesses. That's pretty basic.

There are certainly plenty of examples of good kickers winning by... kicking. Here are a few.

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

That's his personal view, not the view of the UFC in general. Good kickers kick. Good punchers punch. Good grapplers...
Everybody plays to their own strengths and to their opponents weaknesses. That's pretty basic.

There are certainly plenty of examples of good kickers winning by... kicking. Here are a few.

That's his personal view, not the view of the UFC in general. Good kickers kick. Good punchers punch. Good grapplers...
Everybody plays to their own strengths and to their opponents weaknesses. That's pretty basic.

There are certainly plenty of examples of good kickers winning by... kicking. Here are a few.

I've actually seen that video, its an awesome video thanks. I don't know i must be watching the wrong UFC fights... I see fights with a significant amount of kicking but like 80 percent of the fights I've seen rely heavily on boxing and of course takedowns. maybe i'm wrong? like i said maybe i've just seen the wrong fights. i remember that epic match between Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar where they bashed each others skulls in maybe they used kicks i can't remember i haven't seen that fight in over a decade but Stephen Bonnar has a black belt in Taekwondo i don't see why he didn't take a step back and deliver a kick to the side of Forrest's face maybe if he did that he would have won the fight. maybe i'm just rambling idk

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

I've actually seen that video, its an awesome video thanks. I don't know i must be watching the wrong UFC fights... I see fights with a significant amount of kicking but like 80 percent of the fights I've seen rely heavily on boxing and of course takedowns. maybe i'm wrong? like i said maybe i've just seen the wrong fights. i remember that epic match between Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar where they bashed each others skulls in maybe they used kicks i can't remember i haven't seen that fight in over a decade but Stephen Bonnar has a black belt in Taekwondo i don't see why he didn't take a step back and deliver a kick to the side of Forrest's face maybe if he did that he would have won the fight. maybe i'm just rambling idk

and also in terms of UFC people kicking, even if they do throw kicks, are they Taekwondo kicks? I don't think so. The majority of the kicks I have seen on UFC are either Muay Thai or Kickboxing. So even if people on UFC have black belts in Taekwondo, I haven't really seen it used in the sport. I think this might be due to prejudice against TKD, people think it isn't that fierce of a martial art, an assertion that I strongly disagree with. I have seen more one kick knockouts on Taekwondo matches than any other martial art including UFC. idk maybe once in a while someone throws a TKD kick in UFC but I can't really remember seeing any... but i think there may be a few, but way way less than Muay Thai or Kickboxing

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

and also in terms of UFC people kicking, even if they do throw kicks, are they Taekwondo kicks? I don't think so. The majority of the kicks I have seen on UFC are either Muay Thai or Kickboxing. So even if people on UFC have black belts in Taekwondo, I haven't really seen it used in the sport. I think this might be due to prejudice against TKD, people think it isn't that fierce of a martial art, an assertion that I strongly disagree with. I have seen more one kick knockouts on Taekwondo matches than any other martial art including UFC. idk maybe once in a while someone throws a TKD kick in UFC but I can't really remember seeing any... but i think there may be a few, but way way less than Muay Thai or Kickboxing

ok i correct myself i watched that video again and yes some of those kicks looked like TKD. but that's 8 knockouts in UFC history, and UFC has had about 324 fights, so I'm still not convinced that TKD is a martial art that a lot of UFC fighters use much