Tae Kwon Do any Good on the Street

Discussion in 'Tae Kwon Do Resources' started by Jackie Li, Feb 12, 2004.

  1. Jackie Li

    Jackie Li Valued Member

    Is Tae Kwon Do really effective. I have taken Tae Kwon Do for a long time now, and i really thing waht they have tought be wasn't effective. It is impposible to use high section block, inner block, outer block on the streets.

    yes i agree the punches and kicks do help, but really, thats it. Maybe it's just my school, but i really think Tae Kwon Do isn't that effective. Now I take Kung Fu and i find it is much better. What do you guys think of Tae Kwon Do?
     
  2. Intan86

    Intan86 Valued Member

    I too think so especially when it comes to hand combat. I mean you cannot rely everything just by using your legs. That's why I learn hand techniques in books and through friends. Eventhough Tkd don't have good hand techniques but Tkd surely have VERY GOOD leg techniques. I think it's up to us to balance it.
     
  3. kickcatcher

    kickcatcher Banned Banned

    It'll come as no surprise to many of you but I think that you are about right. If you take any particular aspect of typical TKD then it is easy to find other popular styles which outdo it in the 'reality' field. Even kicking, can an average TKDer hope to be as effective as the average Muay Thai fighter at kicking? I know who I'd rather have kicking at me!

    But it is not so simple as all that. If the Kung fu you do is better, it probably has more to do with the instructor than the styles.

    Personnally I think that a level of full/heavy contact striking experience is invaluable for SD. Very few TKD or Kung Fu clubs give you that.
     
  4. Jackie Li

    Jackie Li Valued Member

    Ya, I really thing a lot of it has to do with the the insructor and the student. The leg techniques are good, but thats really about it.
     
  5. kickcatcher

    kickcatcher Banned Banned

    To what extent are the leg techniques of TKD any good in a real fight? Or did I misread you?
     
  6. Jackie Li

    Jackie Li Valued Member

    What i meant was the basics are the most effective. Side Kick, Front snap kick, etc.
     
  7. Tosh

    Tosh Renegade of Funk

    How many times do we need to go through these same discussions?

    It's getting pretty boring.

    "x doesn't work on the street" threads have been done to death, Thank you please.

    Please do one of 2 things:

    1) Find a new angle on it and post something that has not been talked about before.
    2) Expect me to lock this thread if there is a hint of it descending into nonsense.

    Thank you please, now drive through. :D
     
  8. kickcatcher

    kickcatcher Banned Banned

    I think that locking the thread would be unfair. This sort of discussion is healthy for TKD. Nothing posted seems to be style bashing to me.

    Oddly enough, are you trying to prove the cognitive diswhatisit theory you talked about on the dellusionment thread? Hehe.

    The new angle that I think is best though is "why doesn't TKD stop claiming to be effective at SD when so much of the Sd training seems noncredible.



    PS. Sorry for the invented words. I Like making up words. You The grown-ups will know what I mean by them and the illiterated might think that I'm clever cos I use long words that aren't in the dictionary.
     
  9. Tosh

    Tosh Renegade of Funk

    I fully agree with what is being said, my point is it's been said before which bores the hell out of me. :D Keep it sensible and full of good arguments then you'll get no problems from me ;)

    My personal opinion? Marketing. You are not going to get far saying "Not effective SD" in your adverts lol! The same question could be asked of any of the other arts, all are guilty about this type of misrepresentation.

    However, I honestly believe that thanks to the rise of education within the masses about what effective really is (through advention of MMA, NHB, UFC) etc then people are not so easily led to this conclusion. Sure you get a few dummies but then there are people in the world following the cabbage soup diet for gawds sake.

    Personally, when I advertise at Uni I put emphasis on the fitness, flexibility and competition angle. SD does not come into it, in this day and age I find it far better to point students in the right directions to find these answers. The most valued of my students constantly questioning techniques and look to expand themselves not just in TKD but in other areas also. Case and point are some of my students attending SFUK 8 this year, big kudos to thier willingness to be exposed to other ideas.

    But then again isn't this the instructors first job in any MA? To expand the students horizons?

    P.s. There are people out there trying to re-dress the balance. MAP Member Mark Davies is one of them
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2004
  10. LeeGreg89

    LeeGreg89 Valued Member

    I totally agree with all you guys as A Tkd ist myself some people who tkd often leave their hands down this has been a habit beacuse in tkd we focus more on kicks

    Jeet kune Do for example is a very effective for a street fight dont u agree anybody
     
  11. stratiotes

    stratiotes Valued Member

    What does it matter how deadly your martial art is? I mean now days we have guns and everything else, if someone approaches you with a gun, best skill you can have is your running. Actually a fast runner could probably get out of more fights then the best *insert your favorite style here* practitioner. So maybe everyone interested in self defense should just learn how to evade, perry, how to get out of some locks and holds, then go take up sprinting and learn to haul ass.

    As far as TKD not using good guard and hand techniques... the way we learn is to keep chin down near the collar bone, hide behind the lead shoulder, elbows down protecting the ribs, hands protecting the face (unless kicking range, then lead hand protecting the ribs and groin). I think some of you generalize too much, and look at too many WTF schools as well (no offense wtf, i'm sure there are good wtf schools also).

    I just bought the book "Tao Of JKD by bruce lee" and it seems like we have been taught much of that already in our TKD class. Maybe i'm just lucky with a good school?
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2004
  12. TigerAnsTKDLove

    TigerAnsTKDLove Ex-TKD'er 2005.

    offended by this post here.. lol ok i'll lighten up. it does make me upset though. i think tkd is effective... why should one m/a be more effective then any other thats wrong. too me the blocks are effective i used a few and ya they are effective tkd though may not be hap ki do or jeet kune do but i do believe that tkd CAN and one day WILL save someones life. the kicks are awesome i love the roundhouse very effective kick in fact all the kicks are effective... i was in karate before and if i remember some of the blocks were the same as tkd. i love tkd and i think its great for anyone....... but this is my opinion all you guys have your own opinions aint here to change your minds just here cuz i love tkd its my only life.
     
  13. surgingshark

    surgingshark Valued Member

    I see you're enjoying that lightning bolt that KickChick gave ya :) Good job, mate.
     
  14. nekogami13

    nekogami13 Master of all I Survey

    Any of the traditional blocks are pretty useless in real world(from karate,tkd,etc), if used as blocks.
    I disagree with using any spinning technique in general,whether it is tkd,karate etc.
    Other than that, It is the artist- not the art that makes something effective.
     
  15. Kwan Jang

    Kwan Jang Valued Member

    -You mean to tell me there really are people who actually try to use down defense (hahdan makki), upper defense (sundan makki),ect (spellings will vary with who is translating it into english) as blocks? These are responses or counter attacks combining striking with either joint locks or preesure point attacks. Of course they are impracitical as "blocks". They can be ab decent coordination exercises and one method of teaching students to load their hips and to move with balance too.
    -Once again, do not judge the martial art of tae kwon do with the martial sport by the same name. If the art was not effective, it's doubtful that the Korean special forces (ROK soldiers) would make it mandatory training for their people. I have instructor's credentials in the Korean, Japanese, Chinese, American, Thai, and FMA's. My observation over decades of cross training truly is that the core roots of virtually all systems are the same and can be very effective if used with practical application. OTOH, many will emphasize what scores in competiton and ignore reality. You could make this argument not only against TKD, but against any school where the instructor is not teaching self defense in a realistic manner and chooses to focus on what he/she likes. (due to the sport push by the WTF, there is an overabundance of this in TKD or judo as examples).
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2004
  16. Poop-Loops

    Poop-Loops Banned Banned

    The proffesional, right? A TKDist SPECIALIZES at kicking. An MT guy might be better at all around fighting, but kicking is TKD turf.

    Side note: If by average you mean guy who goes to a Mcdojo, then it's the guy and the school to blame, not the style. I'll see if I can upload my friend's fight when he went to a tournament in Kansas a while ago, everybody was extremely fast there. My friend almost broke his shin when he kicked a guy in the hip. It's all swollen now. :(

    PL
     
  17. spacepimp

    spacepimp Valued Member

    TKD self defense

    Tae kwon do can quite easily be used as self defense if it is taught right. One of Tae Kwon Do's strengths is its extremely offensive nature (best defense is a good offense..blah, blah, blah). A good TKD artist has been trained for the one hit knockdowns, and unless the guy you fighting against has experience in taking hits or is some type of genetic abnormality then that person is likely to go down. We do have a decent array of hand strikes, reverse punch, ridge hand, knife hand, palm strike, and the finger strike (or as I like to call it the "Hey Moe") to mention a few. I have seen muay thai and they are way heavier on the feet (and knees) then TKD, but once you are in close there are very few punching or even elbowing things the do (just more kneeing which at the range you are then in, is not as effective.

    We are all talking as if every street fight is a fight against a Mike Tyson like street fighter. The real case is most are going after you for a mugging, and they generally want in and out and back to their crack fix. Not to make the situation sound harmless, but the majority of street fight are people who know about fighting from watching rocky or a few small street fights they have been in themselves.

    I think most martial artist train for a hit and run scenario, which is generally best in a self defense situation. You are generally going to get that brief surprise moment and then take off for more populated areas.
     
  18. kickcatcher

    kickcatcher Banned Banned

    I'm quite unimpressed with the misquote trick.

    But if you'd rather have a kicking match with an average Muay Thai practitioner than an average TKDer then that's your call. If TKD kicks were more practical than Muay Thai kicks then why don't Muay Thai fighters/K1 etc use them? Afterall, I cannot think of a widely sparred TKD kick which isn't legal in Muay Thai. I think that you might be demonstrating some self-dellusionment -(hehe. my new counter for everyone who dissagrees with me ;) )
     
  19. kickcatcher

    kickcatcher Banned Banned

    Spacepimp

    What's all that about one-hit knockdowns? Doesn't sound either credible or like TKD to me.
     
  20. marco

    marco Valued Member

    Here we go again on this thread eh ? Effective TKD is down to the individual, as long as you modify the kicks to work in that environment then it's a good start.

    Forget the blocks and the punches, they're just not natural enough and you'll revert to boxing style punches etc

    In my work we have to use realistic forms of attack and defense all the time so we get to see what's useful and what isn't. JKD style has proved useful as it uses more natural and instinctive attacks.

    Stratiotes, don't feel bad about singling WTF out for some criticism in this area, I've trained with a whole load of them and they're all the same....sport fighters who would get murdered in a real situation.

    Bottom line, some TKD can be effective but you have to modify it to suit. Have to agree with Tosh on this one.
     

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