ATC
Senior Master
Good luck to you guys. Who is competing, Kym or Charlie? Keep us posted of their results. Wish I was there. I have to get my kids over into AAU for more international competitions. Lucky you guys.
Has olympic Taekwondo ruined the reputation of the art?
- Thread starter Mr. President
- Start date
Markku P
Blue Belt
Is it true that Aaron Cook won't be allowed compete in Germany?
andyjeffries
Senior Master
Mate, that cracked me up!
andyjeffries
Senior Master
No, he's not competing at the German Open, but will be back in action at the Dutch Open. The organisers said No to him, but the ETU Secretary General said he should be allowed - but I guess it was too late.
There's been some political manouvering about trying to block him from fighting under the IoM banner. From The Times (UK newspaper):
Gerrit Eissink, the secretary general of the European Taekwondo Union, said: “The British federation made more than one protest about Aaron Cook competing for Isle of Man. I informed the organisers in Hamburg that he can compete. I think it is a point of freedom.” For a final binding resolution, the WTF requested input from all sides. The response from British Taekwondo included two suggestions: that the IOMTA becomes a member of British Taekwondo, or that the WTF simply derecognises the IOMTA. The WTF rejected both of them and declared that Cook will be eligible for the Isle of Man.
andyjeffries
Senior Master
I live in the UK (and work in London) and have had many conversations with random people about Aaron Cook if they ever notice me wearing something with Taekwondo or if the topic of hobbies/sports comes up.
I would say Taekwondo has a bad reputation amongst grapplers over here, but aside from that it generally enjoys a pretty good reputation amongst the public.
lol!!!!
Yeah it seems to me that people enjoy sport Tkd in Europe...
The general Public seems to know allot more about it!!!!
Bad in what way?
They have advertisements on the train for the German Open. People have asked to take pictures with team members @ the restaurant. They seemed to be intrigued by the Team Jackets... Hamburg seems to be a very USA Freindly town...
More people in the general public seem to know about TKD.....Than the USA..
More people in the general public seem to know about TKD.....Than the USA..
chrispillertkd
Senior Master
Does USAT do any sort of promotional work for the U.S. team or Taekwondo in general? In all honesty, the last time I saw Taekwondo portrayed in the media in the U.S. in any way was in 1988 as part of a Visa commercial in the run up to the Seoul Olympics and that was literally only a shot that lasted half a second. If people want Olympic Taekwondo to be better known I'd think making it a matter of public knowledge would be a first step.
Having rules that promoted exciting matches where people didn't fall down every time they kicked would be a good thing, too, but I don't see that happening.
Pax,
Chris
Having rules that promoted exciting matches where people didn't fall down every time they kicked would be a good thing, too, but I don't see that happening.
Pax,
Chris
Metal
Green Belt
Interesting, I expected Taekwondo to be bigger in the US than it's over here. Due to the Lopez family and their Olympic story.
I mean, both countries are basically the countries where Taekwondo started outside of Korea. Both countries held the first Taekwondo World Championships outside of Korea. Both countries already won silver medals in the very first World Championship and were very successful in the early years with Germany even having world champions in the late 70s.
Since there's clubs nearly everywhere in Germany, Taekwondo's featured in local press all the time though. So people are aware of Taekwondo's existence, yet hardly anybody knows much about it.
Btw, it was cool to see USAT's new president as a referee at the German Open!
I remember when I was in Manchester and some Iranian guy saw my Hogu he immediately asked me if I did Taekwondo. When I asked him if he does it as well he said no, but it's huge in Iran and people like Yousef Karami are known by everybody in Iran. Well, in Germany hardly anybody who's not active in Taekwondo knows the names of the German athletes.
I have spoken to people in Germany who do who Daniel Manz is and Levent Tuncat...
There is a large Turkish population that is very familiar with Servet Tazegal...my perception might be skewed because we are being approached by people who know TKD....
it never happens in the USA...
People in USA TKD don't like the Lopez Clan in general!!!!
There is a large Turkish population that is very familiar with Servet Tazegal...my perception might be skewed because we are being approached by people who know TKD....
it never happens in the USA...
People in USA TKD don't like the Lopez Clan in general!!!!
andyjeffries
Senior Master
That Taekwondo fighters generally fight with their hands down, wear so many pads and don't have a clue how to defend a takedown (all in general).
The grapplers that I know....BJJ BB and owner of a school...likes to get TKD BB's because of the flexibility and body knowledge....says they pick up BJJ very fast....teens learn very quickly when they switch from TKD....
andyjeffries
Senior Master
I can understand they'd like TKD BB as students, but as non-BJJ-students they are generally looked down on over here.
I don't care though, I have a thick enough skin
That's odd. I distinctly remember being taught a number of locks, throws, takedowns and pressure point techniques when I studied Taekwon-Do. And "100% stand up art that is 90% kicks" doesn't apply to the Moo Duk Kwan and Kukkiwon affiliated school I'm with now either.
Perhaps you're confusing the word "sarcasm" with "fantasy"?
Gnarlie
Master of Arts
Dammit I lost my post, and in the meantime DD has said what I was going to say. Gorilla, I understand what you mean, and Twin Fist, your sarcasm is factually incorrect. The KKW syllabus includes takedowns, locks, pressure point manipulation, seated and kneeling SD, basic ground manipulations, and the number of hand techniques outnumbers kicks by around 3 to 1. The time dedicated to each aspect varies from school to school. Maybe the schools within your sphere of experience weren't that great, but that doesn't apply all over the world.
You seem to have a real negative view of KKW TKD, but I notice that you have studied TKD in the past. How is what you studied different? Has your view of KKW TKD always been like this or has it changed over time? What have you done to overcome the same perceived shortcomings in the style of TKD you studied? What advice would you offer to a KKW TKD practitioner to improve their SD and martial abilities? Let's have something constructive from you for a change.
You seem to have a real negative view of KKW TKD, but I notice that you have studied TKD in the past. How is what you studied different? Has your view of KKW TKD always been like this or has it changed over time? What have you done to overcome the same perceived shortcomings in the style of TKD you studied? What advice would you offer to a KKW TKD practitioner to improve their SD and martial abilities? Let's have something constructive from you for a change.
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