OP
OP
Opinions on Taekwondo?
- Thread starter FlamingJulian
- Start date
Long before 'Olympic TKD' I had friends who were doing TKD while I was doing karate, the training was similar, different ways of doing techniques of course but the same type of hard sparring with hand, elbow, fist strikes and kicks. Same emphasis on self defence etc.
Red Sun
Green Belt
"I hear people say it has weak hand techniques which to this day I disagree with."
TKD has weak hands compared to everyone else... that doesn't mean its hands are *weak*, though.
It's like if i say Krav Maga has weak headbutts because they don't smash tiles and boards with 'em
It's not terribly important 
TKD has weak hands compared to everyone else... that doesn't mean its hands are *weak*, though.
It's like if i say Krav Maga has weak headbutts because they don't smash tiles and boards with 'em
Headhunter
Senior Master
Less than 2 years to get a black belt wow that's very quick
Was this when you were a child? In my experience, young kids have a really hard time learning to throw a decent punch that has any power behind it. Kicking is way easier to teach kids and for them to have success at.
That doesn't excuse them not even covering it - kids should at least be exposed to punching, even if you know they're not going to be very good at it, because you have to start somewhere - but maybe they felt like "why bother" teach punching to child white belts. Now, if you were, like, 15 or 20 and this was your experience, I got nothing.
Headhunter
Senior Master
Nah I was about 22 the girl I was dating (now my wife) wanted to try it and I got forced into coming along (word of advice young guys just because you're a young upcoming boxer that toughness don't mean squat when a woman wants something you can take 100 punches to the face but when a woman gets mad you're better off in the ring lol, joking of course)
Yep, typically it takes somewhere around three years. I was able to demonstrate the necessary ability to get mine in twenty months.Although I have seen my instructor award three adult 1 st Dans, all have been under two years. I have never seen anyone reach 2nd Dan. I honestly don't think another 1st Dan under two years will happen again anytime soon, because all three awarded were somewhat circumstantial.
That's odd first day we teach students, three strikes. Jab, Reverse Punch, and Front Kick, depending on how well they perform these strike we go into Turning Kick and Crescent. By the end of the week they know Knife-hand Strike and Palm-heel Strike as well. In one week you should know four hand techniques and at least two kicks.
The majority of the TKD schools in my area, are heavily kicked base. I think there is philosophy with some instructors that TKD sparring is the equivalent of boxing with one's feet. It would kind of be like going to a boxing gym and wondering why there isn't a heavy influence on kicking. Most TKD sparring rules don't allow much punching, just like boxing doesn't allow kicking. Most school's train for the sport they spar in. We train under our specific set of sparring rules.
Headhunter
Senior Master
Difference is in boxing kicks aren't allowed full stop. But punches are allowed in taekwondo yet are rarely used
Depends on the type of TKD. In Olympic they are incredibly limited. Some schools don't allow punches to the head. Those schools taht allow more punching in their rules, should spend more time on them, some just don't. It's all about the kicks.
Headhunter
Senior Master
That's because of the practitioners not the rules punches are allowed in Olympic taekwondo that's why they wear gloves it just seems most refuse to throw them
It also could be lack of points that punches produce. I really don't know why a lot of punching isn't common in TKD.
Headhunter
Senior Master
A punch scores one point and Is quicker to throw. One point can be the difference between winning and losing especially clinched up how many times have a I seen TKD guys clinched and throw a roundhouse to the head. That's a pointless move as your at complete wrong range for it to land but could throw a punch from that position and get a point.
Kickboxer said that to me too. The part about 1 point being the difference between winning or losing, This is true. I've been in one tournament and both my matches were tied at 5-5. the winner was first to 6. The the thing is that kicks are worth so much more. Head kick 3 points, body kick 2 points, some times spin kick to head is 4 points. There is a lot of tagging in sport karate, so while you trying to get that 1 point you may get countered with a kick that can be worth up to 3 times more than that, just by the foot touching you.
Flatfish
Black Belt
Well as far as I understand it from a historic perspective, at least as far as WTF/Olympic sparring is concerned, there was an effort to make the sport different from other combat sports. Once you allow punches to the head it would mostly likely look a lot like kickboxing to most people. By not allowing punches to the head the athletes have to focus on kicks to score, thusly making things unique.
And therefore as someone pointed out above a lot of (most?) schools train for the sport. Sport vs Martial Art?
I soooooooo wish they would bring back punches to the head.
I did a seminar with someone from the national team one time, and was told that judges won't score a punch unless you make the opponent stagger or fall. Plus, of course, you need 3/4 of corner judges to see the punch and agree that it scores. I think those things are the reason you don't see a lot of punches in WTF sparring.
