Taller People Doing Tae Kwon Do

[Dirty Dog]

I don't know the full TKD rules, but I know leg kicks aren't allowed,

You're right, you don't know the full TKD rules. Because we most certainly DO allow leg kicks.

and it seems that in a game which is essentially a kicking game, and where sweeps and KO via body punches aren't possible the advantages seem limited.

See above. There is more to TKD than the teeny tiny portion of it shown in the Olympics.

 

[Earl Weiss]

You're right, you don't know the full TKD rules. Because we most certainly DO allow leg kicks.

See above. There is more to TKD than the teeny tiny portion of it shown in the Olympics.

I did not know WT and ITF sparring allowed leg kicks so I guess I also did not know the rules.

 

[Simfers]

When I did WTF TKD, back between 1997-2002, we absolutely did not allow leg kicks. I don't know if that was purely an Olympic rule or a Federation-wide rule, but the only acceptable points of contact were the body and the head (starting at a certain belt level which escapes me at the moment).

 

[Dirty Dog]

I did not know WT and ITF sparring allowed leg kicks so I guess I also did not know the rules.

And as I am sure you know, those two orgs are not TKD. Each is a part of TKD. Not all of it.

 

[Earl Weiss]

And as I am sure you know, those two orgs are not TKD. Each is a part of TKD. Not all of it.

Therein lies much bigger issue - Define what is or what is not TKD, TK-D, T K D etc. While the 2 orgs are not all inclusive to whomever chooses to use the moniker I submit that far and away those using the moniker follow the sparring ruleset of one or the other or something very similar, so while I expect exceptions exist for the most part those using the moniker do not allow kicks below the waist. When I started we allowed them for groin shots and sweeps because most area tournaments were open and that is what they allowed - but that did not mean the system allowed kicks below the belt.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Therein lies much bigger issue - Define what is or what is not TKD, TK-D, T K D etc. While the 2 orgs are not all inclusive to whomever chooses to use the moniker I submit that far and away those using the moniker follow the sparring ruleset of one or the other or something very similar, so while I expect exceptions exist for the most part those using the moniker do not allow kicks below the waist. When I started we allowed them for groin shots and sweeps because most area tournaments were open and that is what they allowed - but that did not mean the system allowed kicks below the belt.

Granted, they're the biggest and most Borg-ish orgs. It's just a pet peeve of mine when people act as if the Olympic ruleset is the ONLY ruleset.
Our MDK branch allows leg kicks, sweeps, takedowns, etc. We see sparring as a training method for the entire art, not just a game.