Was at a picnic with a guy who used to own a TKD school, I mentioned we had aobut 100 techniques in our system (Kempo), and he said that TKD has 3700! that's right, three thousand seven hundred. OK so we figured out that he was using a different definition. To him, a front punch is a "technique", an axe kick is a "technique"... but still... 3700?!?!? That averages out to something like 450 techniques for each hand, foot, knee and elbow. And that considers that a "left punch" is a different technique than a "right punch". So what's the deal with that? I don't wnt to insult any TKD people here, but the 3 TKD teachers I know ALL have a tendency to EXAGGERATE to an extreme degree... is he exagerating, or do you TKD peeps really count 3,700 different ways to strike? thanks -David
I don't know. I never counted them! I've heard all sorts of numbers but never bothered to give one myself or even try counting. Some people count every strike separately and if you add in self defense moves, some people count the same technqiues used against a different attack as another "technique". My advice - I'd just nod and tell the guy "Wow- that's impressive" and move on. Or, if you want to be mean about it you could say "Really? Can you show me them in order?" Or, to be meaner, you could say "It takes you guys 3700 moves to do what we do in 450? What a waste of time!"
I think also you see people rather than just list something like a front kick, will count it as 'rear leg front kick', 'lead leg front kick', 'jump front kick', 'lead jump front kick', 'scissor front kick', 'slip front kick', 'step front kick', 'jump slip front kick', 'spin front kick', 'jump spin front kick', '360 front kick', 'jump front kick', etc... and then all those are done with the ball of the foot. Now repeat them all with the top of the foot, and again with the heel. As for taking you up to 3,700? Who knows, personally I've got better things to do than count, but I can imagine some people that would...
why do all the morons have to do tkd??? :bang: honestly, i've never counted. a lot of tkd people will count each direction you use a technique as a SEPARATE technique (don't ask me why).. so a downward hammer fist is different from an outward-striking hammer fist... etc. that's probably where he's getting that count. but seriously.. i repeat my question.... WHY are all the morons in tkd??? :cry: :bang:
Well, I'm sure per capita it's not any worse than any other. There's just so many of you, it really adds up. I'm not sure they are mornos, but they are certainly NERDS!!! For example, I told him I had a weak spot in point sparring, closing the range - "What kind of things do you guys do to bridge the gap?" I asked. he got a huge grin, rubbed his palms together and said "we like to play spider and fly... Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly heh heh heh". OMG what a dork ROFL.
I have never done tkd so cant give an educated answer, but at a guess i think your freind might have been refering to the number of applications rather than individual strikes kicks and moves. ie side kick to knee, side kick to ribs etc etc. I say that because i doubt that there are that many types of individual stand up fighting moves in the world. Hands, knees, feet, elbows, shins and heads only have certain ranges of movement. up, down, straight, inner circle, outer circle etc. If you consider the number of applications of a ridge hand im sure between us we could come up with a multitude of uses.
Yeah, it all depends on how you break it down. German longsword only has about a dozen basic moves, but the applications are legion. Lingo alert: In German Lognsword the first Winding is a transition into left Ochs (sword held at the head, point at the opponent's face), but so is a Zwerch (cross strike), and so is a Schielhau (Squinting strike). Is that one move or three? At its most basic, it's one transition, done three different ways. Count it however you like, as long as you can do them properly. Best regards, -Mark
I also it's a complete waste of time to count the moves, you could make up millions really.. The 540 rear left leg front kick with the ball of the foot to the right nostril while holding my left hand in a momdol makki and my right hand in a ari makki is my personal favorite
Like others have said, the vast majority of those techniques are just variations on others. I usually use the example of a wedge block (moves 13 & 17 in Do San). This same block can be done with the inner-forearm (radial side), outer forearm (ulna side), a knifehand, or a ridgehand (sometimes called a reverse knife hand). So here we have one block that becomes four due to variations. This is done with all the techniques (once you get into basic kicks, the numbers grow quickly). Of course, this can raise the issue of at what point does a variation on a technique become a different technique, deserving of it's own label. But that's just an example of how that number is achieved.
What he probably means is combos or drills rather than techniques. More like 37 different ways to do each technique
