What do you mean by 'min/max for going for points?
"Min/max" is a term used a lot in video games regarding the strategy for building a team or character. It typically means focusing on ways to maximize a desired trait or ability, while minimizing everything else. Sometimes it means maximizing multiple traits by picking the best options for both.
(Still using the video game analogy here, I'll make it a real-world example in a minute). For example, let's say you have a martial arts game. You could get different stats for striking or grappling. If your character is a boxer, then you would focus on anything that improves your punching and forget everything else, and you would be min/maxed for punching. Or if you're a kickboxer, you might try to optimize kicking and punching. If there was something that gave you a 10% boost to punching and something that gave you 5%, then the boxer might want to go with both of those, where a kickboxer would take the 10% boost, and also a similar 10% boost to kicking.
In the real world, we don't just put stats into our character. However, there are several things about how we train that might affect this:
- Conditioning with a bigger priority on speed and cardio and less on power
- Strikes trained in a way that encourages efficiency of movement over total energy transfer
- Quicker footwork and defenses to react quicker to the faster strikes
Someone who trains for a year to be competitive in a knockout environment is going to look different than someone who trains for a year to be competitive in a point environment. Similar to how someone who is trained to competitive in powerlifting is going to look different than someone who trains to be competitive in sprinting.
Someone who trains for knockout competitions might even be at a slight disadvantage if put into a point setting against someone who trained for the point system. There might be scoring targets they are less likely to protect because they aren't high value in full contact. There might be some techniques that sneak in because they're medium-power techniques that can tag a point. And they might simply be a step slower.
Anything competitive is going to increase player skill, because the competition will force players to train physically and technically to be as good as they can, as well as to analyze fights and see if they can come up with new strategies or details to make techniques work better.
In a post-fight analysis, a knockout fighter might look at why he didn't land a knockout blow, or what he left open for his opponent to knock him out. A point fighter might look at why some techniques failed to score, or what he left open for his opponent to score. Both fighters will go back to practice with a problem to solve, which will ultimately make them better at the game. How do you tighten up to prevent your opponent landing a blow, and how do you set up your opponent so you are able to land your own?
It's kind of like how both boxing and BJJ are going to push fighters to their limits, even though there's basically 4 techniques in boxing (jab, cross, hook, uppercut) and about 4,000 techniques in BJJ. A boxer is going to be very, very good at those 4 punches, where a BJJ fighter is going to have to be comfortable in a ton of different situations. However, the relative lack of depth in each individual technique doesn't make BJJ any less competitive than boxing. Nor does boxing being relatively narrow in scope make it any less competitive than BJJ.
I wish World Taekwondo didn't allow knockout kicks
How do you control the power of a spin hook kick? The power comes from the body spinning. It's not like a straight punch that you can pull it back just 1 inch away from your opponent's face.
There are a few different ways you can accomplish this.
- On impact, recoil your foot by straightening your knee or rolling your hip, so that you do not follow through.
- Adjust your timing so you are not spinning (or spinning as fast) at the moment of impact
- Disconnect your foot from your body weight (think of it like swinging a nunchaku vs. swinging a stick) so that it is not going to strike with full force.
Basically, try to tap the head instead of driving all the way through.
Do you have a masters division? What are their rules like?
Are you talking about higher age divisions? In TKD, "Master" is an honorary based on rank (like Professor in BJJ). The rules don't change for different adult age groups, although local tournaments may differ.
