Hello chrismay!
I hope what I share with you here will be taken in a positive light. These are my personal, and professional opinions about Taekwondo specifically, and the Martial Art in general.
Do I think it is an effective martial art maybe no! I think it is a very short sighted martial art that is very dynamic in that watching it in action is very impressive.
but dealing with an attacker who come in close I would be worried.
Is Taekwondo an effective Martial Art? What is your goal? If it is to improve yourself, become healthy, come to understand and appreciate the universe better, learn to protect yourself and defend the lives of others, then yes, Taekwondo is effective. Although, not every instructor who claims to teach Taekwondo teaches it properly, completely, and effectively.
If your Taekwondo training does not cover close in self defense, and groundwork along with long range striking, then it is lacking what should be there. Mind you, it is not
Taekwondo that is "lacking." It is what is being
presented as Taekwondo that is lacking. If you are a beginner, and your teacher has not yet shown you all of the facets of Taekwondo, then you have nothing to worry. However, if your teacher does not include this in intermediate to advance levels, then your teacher's knowledge of complete Taekwondo might be lacking.
when told by a lower ranking student that Aikdo wasn't effective and didn't work. The sensei smiled and said "YOUR Aikido doesn't work...mine works just fine."
This is excellent, and so true!
If I may paraphrase:
"Your Taekwondo doesn't work in close range,......mine works at all ranges just fine!"
On the subject of it "Being the person and not the art," this statement is absolutely accurate whether others fully understand it or not. It has nothing to do with "Pious mouthings."
The truth is, the "Art" itself IS the correct response in any given situation. What is the best thing to do in this particular environment, under these conditions, against this number of attackers, using the specific method of attack that they are using? There will always be an ideal response, and there will be many less ideal responses that will still prove effective. The ART offers this through nature. It is what it is.
The confusion comes in when so-called "instructors" believe they are teaching students effective and thorough Martial Art skills under any name. Then, that name gains the reputation of the teacher who misrepresented the true nature of the real ART. If someone believes that their particular school is presenting the Art properly, but it is, in fact, not, then the failure would be in the presentation of the material. The lie would be to say, "It is not my instructor, it is me." Now, that might be true in many cases, but it might very well be the instructor.
Understand this!!! It is not necessary to learn
everything, and practice
every possible move, to be effective without limitations in your self defense skills. Anyone who believes that you must learn all of these to be effective, does not fully understand mastery of the Martial Art.
For example: Have you ever watched a professional magician do a trick, and be totally amazed, mystified, stumped? Ever wonder how they did it. You might guess, but would you be right. I have studied the art of prestidigitation (magic). I have yet to see a magic trick or stage illusion that I do not know how it is done. The reason being, lacking any true powers of magic, there are only so many ways you can perform these tricks. Some magicians are better at the presentation than others, but it is all done the same, and I can duplicate any one of them.
When you are confronted by an attacker (not speaking of firearms or projectiles at the moment), they can not harm you so long as they just stand there. They must move. Nature dictates there are only three methods of movement: 1. Stationary (non-movement or spinning in place) 2. linear (straight-line movement) and 3. circular (curved movement). You can have combinations of these there, but anything beyond this does not exist in nature, thus it can not occur.
When an opponent attacks you, they will be doing one of three things: 1:
Striking you (hand, elbow, foot, knee, shin, head, etc.), 2.
Throwing you (pushing, projecting, sweeping, reaping, flipping, etc.), or 3.
Holding you (grappling is a means to an end. You are either holding to control, to damage, to achieve submission, or you are grappling to escape. Grappling is the process that gets you there. The "hold" is the technique that achieves the goal).
Some people will train intensely, and solely on grappling and the use of holds. Because all of their time is spent on this, you will not likely be better than them at this skill set. If someone trains solely on throwing, but no striking or holding, then they will likely be superior to you at throwing. A student who is diverse enough to be able to strike, throw, and hold will be able to function in any given situation, but will not be superior in ALL of those areas.
However, this absolutely does not mean that a striker who is brought to the ground will likely lose the fight. All that is necessary to avoid being "weak" in that area, or having "limitations" against a grappler, is to train in a handful of techniques that are highly effective on the ground to 1. prevent devastating attacks, 2. damage your opponent, and 3. Release from holds, and escape. There are only so many ways that a person can place a hold on your body, so it does not take a life-time to learn the few methods of escape that work in
every single grappling situtation.
"All the Chung Do Kwan in the world will not help you the tiniest bit if you're fighting ankle deep in slippery mud.
These are undeniable limitations on the styles."
My response is, Chung Do Kwan does help if you train while ankle deep in slippery mud (which I do). Not only are these not "undeniable limitations" to Taekwondo, they are not limitations at all. I live in Michigan where we have bad winters, with slippery, icy, snow covered ground. I teach my students how to use all of their Taekwondo training at the right times, in the right circumstances. When the environment is not safe for kicking, then we use other skills (hand strikes, joint locks, pressure points), and even go to the ground and begin breaking knees and kicking the groin.
If I choose, I will take my opponent down in the mud, dirt, snow, water, etc., with me, and apply my "Taekwondo Chung Do Kwan - hoshinsul, or hapkido until I am the only one able to stand up and walk away. Absolutely no limitations there - and I am not at all engaging in "delusion" nor "madness." What I have been taught in Taekwondo, and what I teach is reality, and it works in any given situation.
People lose fights because of ill-timing, bad reflexes, poor judgment, not being alert, and not being properly trained and prepared to handle the situation. This is not the limitation of the Martial Art. This is a deficiency in the student either due to their own fault, or the lack of training offered to them. You don't need to know everything - - you just need to know a few "
right" things and apply them
correctly, at the
right time.
Oh.... One more thing....
Quote by kidswarrior:
"Do you guys use 'Billy Jack' as inspiration?"
:lfao:
CM D.J. Eisenhart
.
?).
