Tae-Kwon-Do rules?

[scottie]

I have never seen a TKD Fight until watching youtube today. I must say it is really awesome. I just don't understand a few rules. I am a twenty year karate guy so bare with me. I want to start TKD that is why i Have spent the whole day researching it.
I just have a few questions.
I saw no one using their hands to do anything except grab is punching and blocking legal?

Why the big chest thing?

Has anyone ever heard of Billy Hong He taught in the Anderson-Greenville South Carolina area. everyone around that teaches TKD came from his lineage. If so how are they?

 

[mango.man]

I have never seen a TKD Fight until watching youtube today. I must say it is really awesome. I just don't understand a few rules. I am a twenty year karate guy so bare with me. I want to start TKD that is why i Have spent the whole day researching it.
I just have a few questions.
I saw no one using their hands to do anything except grab is punching and blocking legal?

Why the big chest thing?

Has anyone ever heard of Billy Hong He taught in the Anderson-Greenville South Carolina area. everyone around that teaches TKD came from his lineage. If so how are they?

Much depends on which style of TKD you were watching and are interested in.

I can answer for WTF (Olympic Style):

Use of hands - Punches to the body are permitted, but rarely scored. This is starting to change though and I believe punches will be scored more and more over time. Punches to the face are not legal. Grabbing is not legal. Blocking is legal and generally encouraged to prevent kicks from scoring if you are not able to evade or counter with one or more kicks.

The big chest thing (Hogu) - It provides some protection to the competitor and it delineates the legal scoring area. These days many competitions offer scoring via electronic hogus with sensors in them. Some are crap and some are crappier. In other words they all have a long way to go.

I have never heard of Billy Hong.

 

[Kyosanim]

I have never seen a TKD Fight until watching youtube today. I must say it is really awesome. I just don't understand a few rules. I am a twenty year karate guy so bare with me. I want to start TKD that is why i Have spent the whole day researching it.
I just have a few questions.
I saw no one using their hands to do anything except grab is punching and blocking legal?

Why the big chest thing?

Has anyone ever heard of Billy Hong He taught in the Anderson-Greenville South Carolina area. everyone around that teaches TKD came from his lineage. If so how are they?

Olympic TKD considers any foot tech to be superior to any hand tech. Blocking is allowed, but it's not worth your time in the sport. It works like a super fast chess game. Basically if you do not attack first then you must counter. The best way to do so when kicking is to move out of the way. There is no grabbing what so ever. For this reason they bump chests to pop back out to kicking range. I think that should cover it. Personally my friends and I always use a more karate style sparring because we don't care for OTKD but thats us. The main thing about choosing a TKD teacher is not so much if the lineage is good, but if the teacher is good. Now a good lineage does make a good record of sorts, but my instructor was good in some areas, and fell short in others. The line of grand masters I come from is known to be one of the best. So it really matters more about the individual teacher than his teachers teacher.

 

[ATC]

Olympic TKD considers any foot tech to be superior to any hand tech. Blocking is allowed, but it's not worth your time in the sport. It works like a super fast chess game. Basically if you do not attack first then you must counter. The best way to do so when kicking is to move out of the way. There is no grabbing what so ever. For this reason they bump chests to pop back out to kicking range. I think that should cover it...

I don't think you have competeted at a high level if at all. Your discription covers nothing really.

 

[BoA36]

Go to the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) website to download the rules manual.

Bo

 

[SahBumNimRush]

It truly depends on the "style" of TKD. I grew up taking Moo Duk Kwan TKD (Tang Soo Do). My Kwan Jang Nim was VP of the USTU back in the day, so we supported the Olympics and Jr Olympics back then. I competed on the national circuit for a while, but because the rules are so different, I did not care for it. It sounds like what you watched on youtube was more olympic style TKD. You have to keep in mind that "competition" sparring and "traditional" sparring are two different focuses.

Many schools address both, some only one or the other. In Olympic style, punches rarely score points, and the chest gear is mainly just for safety. We only address "traditional" sparring in our dojang these days. By traditional I mean punches (to the body only), blocks, kicks (body and head) all allowed, no pads or chest gear (we do encourage all students to wear head gear though). In BB sparring, backfists/other hand techniques, punches to the face, and take downs are permitted.

It all depends on the focus of the school, and any GOOD school has one of three focuses: 1. Traditional/ Self-Defense based (the category my dojang falls under) 2. Sport: high level athletic competition 3. Some combination of the two.. .

Like any MA, TKD is plagued by two despicable types of schools: 1. Black Belt Mills 2. Daycare .. . Both of which are pretty easy to spot, so I suggest just visiting some of your local schools and speaking with the instructor.

I am not familiar with Billy Hong, but good luck in your pursuit!

 

[Miles]

I have never seen a TKD Fight until watching youtube today. I must say it is really awesome. I just don't understand a few rules. I am a twenty year karate guy so bare with me. I want to start TKD that is why i Have spent the whole day researching it.
I just have a few questions.
I saw no one using their hands to do anything except grab is punching and blocking legal?

Why the big chest thing?

Has anyone ever heard of Billy Hong He taught in the Anderson-Greenville South Carolina area. everyone around that teaches TKD came from his lineage. If so how are they?

First of all, it is great that someone with your experience is still interested in learning new things. That is a testament to your intellectual and martial curiosity.

The Olympic style of TKD sparring is heavily kick-oriented to differentiate it from Karate and/or point style sparring. It is continuous and full=contact but limits punching to the body.

The hogu serves several purposes, the primary one is for identification of who scored but also as a protector. The Olympic style of sparring differentiates itself by protecting the targets rather than covering the weapons.


Billy Hong was a Chung Do Kwan stylist who tragically was killed on that KAL jetliner shot down by the Soviets. I don't know the current state of that group but they trained hard (that's CDK!)

 

[Balrog]

The American Taekwondo Association sparring rules are somewhat different. We wear the same gear: hands, feet, head, chest, etc. Our scoring is as follows:

Punch or standing kick to the chest area: 1 point
Standing kick to the head or jump kick to the chest area: 2 points
Jump kick to the head: 3 points

No punches to the head, no techniques to the back (except the back of the head is legal) and no techniques below the waist. Technically, we are non-contact, but contact does happen and is allowed if it is controlled.

 

[terryl965]

Well first of you title is wrong because Tae Kwon Do has no rule sets just like any other Art out there. NOw if you mean sport TKD then yes it has rules and that will vary from org. to org., The hogu is a part of sport TKD to help protect certain area's and let the players know what is a legal scoring area. The punching to the head is not allow in WTF sparring they are mainly about kicking and showing off how to kick. But in point sparring it would be just like Karate and most likely light to medium power being allowed.

 

[StudentCarl]

... is punching and blocking legal?

From what you write, I think you saw sport taekwondo. Like in any sport, the rule set shapes the techniques and strategies. Sport taekwondo rewards forceful kicks to the body and head, with the most points for kicks to the head. Punches can score, but they must be forceful. Because it's full contact, non-stop, and a game of points, footwork and speed are essential to score without being scored on in return. Every attack leaves some opening in return, so it's a sort of chess game where reading and responding to your opponent gives an advantage, and that brings feints into play.

Blocking is legal and certainly necessary, particularly to protect your head, but movement and counterattacking usually take less time and have less risk of injury. I broke my arm last year blocking a kick.

I enjoy sport taekwondo for what it is- a fun combat sport. It adds another focus to my training, giving me a reason to really push on speed and agility. It also helps me learn to deal with adrenaline, something I think is often neglected in classes.

 

[scottie]

Billy Hong was a Chung Do Kwan stylist who tragically was killed on that KAL jetliner shot down by the Soviets. I don't know the current state of that group but they trained hard (that's CDK!)

I want to thank you for your time. You are right about Master Hong. He is a legend in the area. Everyone says that he taught THE Military Style. However, the only good teachers in his lineage are either retired and no longer workout or they teach a long way from me. I had one of his "grand-students" come to my school a year ago because her teacher quit teaching. Her foot work was amazing, but her hands needed a little work. Her work ethic is what just blew me away. Think I could really love the CDK art. But i just can't get into sport M ARTS.

 

[ATC]

A statement left as a negative rep for me.

I think you think you know it all. Your response to Kyo was rude and adding nothing to the conversation. Was just a cheap shot without purpose other than for you to puff out your chest.

For some reason they left no name. That is just cowardice.:shrug:

 

[jks9199]

As a friendly reminder, the policy here at MT is that you don't talk about rep received, whether good or bad, in public. If you feel that you have received reputation points inappropriately or unfairly, you may report them to the Moderation Team, and we will review the matter. A PM or email to any staff member or to MT Admin Team is all it takes...

 

[ATC]

As a friendly reminder, the policy here at MT is that you don't talk about rep received, whether good or bad, in public. If you feel that you have received reputation points inappropriately or unfairly, you may report them to the Moderation Team, and we will review the matter. A PM or email to any staff member or to MT Admin Team is all it takes...

Understood. The rep itself does not bother me one way or another. Just be man (or woman

) enough to sign your reps, good or bad.

I understand the rules and will oblige.