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.

 

[HighKick]

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

WT does not allow leg kicks in sparring. There are 'exceptions' where a leg check can Not draw a penalty. But the rules clearly state no leg kicks.

 

[Dirty Dog]

WT does not allow leg kicks in sparring. There are 'exceptions' where a leg check can Not draw a penalty. But the rules clearly state no leg kicks.

Completely irrelevant. Nobody said there weren't stupid rulesets around. There are, obviously.

 

[Earl Weiss]

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.

I thought the MDK founder rejected the TKD moniker?

 

[Dirty Dog]

I thought the MDK founder rejected the TKD moniker?

When he split from the unification effort, he changed the name back to Tang Soo Do. Then eventually to Soo Bahk Do. But not all of the MDK went along with him. Our branch did not.

 

[Earl Weiss]

When he split from the unification effort, he changed the name back to Tang Soo Do. Then eventually to Soo Bahk Do. But not all of the MDK went along with him. Our branch did not.

Seems to be an example of the bigger issue I mentioned above.

What is, or is not TKD? When I started most Competitions in the area ere "Open" so we trained allowing groin kicks and takedowns and you had 2 seconds to score on a downed opponent. That does not mean considered what we trained a TKD rule set.

 

[Fungus]

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.

I symphatize with this.

One of our higher instructors always says our karate is not a sport or a game, always say that there are no rules when we spar in the dojo. "Rules" are artificial and for those that choose to engage in competition, others who just train kyokushin does not need to follow rules.

He is also known to surprise with takedowns even if that isn't what we are doing. I think his "point" in that in a real situation, you should ideally be prepared also for things that break the expectations. I like that mindset. I even kicked him on the nuts once (by mistake! and he had no susp), I apologized but he said "no don't, I should have blocked that".

He also likes to say that any technique that damages your opponent is good techhnique to learn, BUT in the dojo we are friends and we don't inflict serious injury to each other, thats really the only "rule". And we do not "compete" in the dojor either, we just train.