Read before bad mouthing TKD

[Tant01]

Very true, my personal preference would be ITF incidentally.

Who was it who said "A sword is only as dangerous as the arm that swings it"? (Or something to that effect)

In all this world, you cannot trust gods nor men,
nor women or beasts.
In your sword alone can you trust.
But ever remember that a sword is not strength,
Strength is the hand that holds it.
Ever remember that a sword is not power,
Power is the mind that commands it....


Riddle of the steel? Conan the barbarian?

[Piston]

Most kicking styles do that.

But then TKD isn't most kicking styles. A good TKD practitioner can pull off "fancy" kicks very quickly and to his/her advantage. The trick is with them is to make them less obvious so that you're opponenent aticipates the utterly wrong move.

[Piston]

In all this world, you cannot trust gods nor men,
nor women or beasts.
In your sword alone can you trust.
But ever remember that a sword is not strength,
Strength is the hand that holds it.
Ever remember that a sword is not power,
Power is the mind that commands it....


Riddle of the steel? Conan the barbarian?

Can't say I've ever read Conan the Barbarian.

[Damian Mavis]

I won a Muay Thai match in Thailand with a spinning kick, but anyway, if you want to read a story about TKD used in street defence check my encounter story titled ADVENTURES IN THAILAND 9 in the muay thai section, happened just last night.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[Maxx]

Spinning and Flashy Kicks

Over the years I've had the opportunity to train with may different TKD stylists and I've seen a lot of things that have really made me stop and thing. ONe thing I realized about the WTF and their contant training of the flashy kicks is that they train those kicks for a reason and it generally isn't for direct combat application.

It's attribute development. Essentially it is a method of teaching TKD students the very basis of movement required to perform the art. Most of the WTF guys that I've talked to have generally said that there are only about 3-4 kicks which are generally used in competition: Front, Side, Axe and Back Kicks. Essentially a TKD fighter's equivalent of a boxer's jab, cross, hook and uppercut. But due to the way in which these kicks and their variations (Spinning, Jumping, Flying, Hopping, Skipping) are practiced, a well trained TKD fighter can pull them off from just about any angle and at any time. I saw a fellow who was a high ranking WTF tkd practitioner get punched hard in the side of the head once. He rolled with the shot and just instinctively continued to spin and threw a spinning hook kick. Knocked the guy cold. It wasn't a conscious effort though. The TKD fighter had to go to the hospital and was held for observation due to a concussion. Later when I talked about it with him, he said he didn't remember anything after getting hit.