Korean arts effectiveness

[tomjfd]

I too am a student of Tang Soo Do. if I have learned on thing in my time in martial arts, it is that there is no "best" art in the real world. Korean arts can be effective or useless. The same goes for BJJ, TKD, Kung Fu, or any other form of self defense. Fighting is all about mind set, timing, thinkning ahead and acting in the present. The person who does that the best will always win a fight, whether they have been training MA for decades or fighting beer brawls at the local bar. The main benefit of any fighting art is that it teaches you to prepare and think, while reacting with force. We should NEVER assume that because we go to class, spar and maybe have a few scuffles after school, that we are good. Someone is ALWAYS better. So practice hard, prepare well, fight with everything that you have when the time comes, and never assume your art is the best. If you do, you only set yourself up for defeat! Tang Soo!

[tomjfd]

I too am a student of Tang Soo Do. if I have learned one thing in my time in martial arts, it is that there is no "best" art in the real world. Korean arts can be effective or useless. The same goes for BJJ, TKD, Kung Fu, or any other form of self defense. Fighting is all about mind set, timing, thinkning ahead and acting in the present. The person who does that the best will always win a fight, whether they have been training MA for decades or fighting beer brawls at the local bar. The main benefit of any fighting art is that it teaches you to prepare and think, while reacting with force. We should NEVER assume that because we go to class, spar and maybe have a few scuffles after school, that we are good. Someone is ALWAYS better. So practice hard, prepare well, fight with everything that you have when the time comes, and never assume your art is the best. If you do, you only set yourself up for defeat! Tang Soo!

[tomjfd]

sorry about the double post...computer problems.

[kuk sool won]

Well put, I agree that its the person and not the art that makes the practioner but you have to look at some aspects other than which is the best. You need to look more deeply than that. Then i beleive you can make a judgement about which is better but NOT as a whole rather than in particular circumstances.

E.g Kuk Sool Won has the advantage over BJJ standing up but BJJ has the advantage over KSW when it goes to the ground.

[tomjfd]

Good points KSW. I agree that those observations are correct. But, my opinion is that when it comes to an actual, no joke street fight, I will not fight "fair". If I am ever FORCED to fight in this type of situation, I will assume that you mean to seriously harm or kill either me or my family, and proving that i am a better fighter will be the last thing on my mind. You open yourself up to any and all attacks that I can muster. Your nuts, knees, throat, eyes, ears, and joints will all be my targets, and I won't be tapping them to show you that I can. I will do my best to injure you quickly so that you cannot do the same to me or my family. I am sure that a BJJ practictioner will grab that same person and force them to a ground fight for the same purposes. I would fully expect that person to not expect a tap out, but to go full force in breaking bones and dislocating joints until they can walk away. That is what I mean by a fight. Artist against artist is a very rare thing outside of a ring. Bar fights, street brawls, muggers, and rapists are what I worry about more than two idiots challenging each other to prove who is a better fighter. Sparring, ring fighting, kickboxing, and boxing are all awesome sports, and I love watching and participating in them. It is the people who take MA, realise that they have a gift to be pretty good at it, then go out and try to find fights to prove how good they are, that really piss me off. They totally miss the point of self-DEFENSE. Arrogance will be their downfall, and everyone around them will laugh when they are beaten. They are the people who give MA a bad name, and they should be kicked out of any school that they attend. I am 31 years old and my children will begin taking MA as soon as they are old enough. i hope not only to teach them self defense, but to also teach them how to be men. Men of integrity, honesty, and protectors of the weak. If they EVER become bullies or cocky idiots, then I have failed as a teacher and a father. Just something for everyone to think about. There is a difference between confidence and arrogance.

[kuk sool won]

Your points are justified, i too intensely dislike though who attempt to use what they know aggressively outside of the ring or controlled conditions. however if i am confronted and forced to defend myself in a street fight, i WILL use Kuk Sool Won to defend myself, i beleive what i have learn't from Kuk Sool Won in the past will aid me greatly in defending myself, a well trained 'fighter' will almost always beat an untrained 'fighter' in my opinion. If i need to use dirty tactics to defend myself or others i will but i think i will not need to use them in order to defend myself properly, i beleive my punches, knees and kicks will be sufficient enough for me to bring control to the hostile eviorment and that is just one of the reasons i am so serious about Kuk Sool Won. If a supposed Street fighter forces a BJJ fighter in a 1-on-1 situation where fighting is the ONLY answer the BJJ fighter needs to do nothing more than keep carm take the street fighter to his element control the fight and eventually neutralise the situation in whatever means possible.

[tomjfd]

Points well taken also. I guess I just look at my 2 year old and my 3 month old and refuse to let them be possibly orphaned. Daddy is a firefighter by trade and has to work, so if you try to hurt me, then you take my ability to do my job. I will always walk away if possible, but I will never try to "control" a situation. The situation will be controlled when my family and I are out of trouble. My first lesson in Tang Soo Do, was that it is stupid to fight when you can just leave, but if you must fight, stike quickly, powerfully, effectively, and then get away. It doesn't mean that I will keep pounding away on a defenseless person. I will simply do what I have to do, then get away. I am 6'2, 250 lbs so this is not a weakness, it is just the mindset that I have when confronted with possibly being injured. My family is to important for me to let some punk who wants my money or my wife, touch them without doing whatever I can to end the altercation quickly. Just my personal view, and I learned it from TSD. Tang Soo!

[kuk sool won]

Thats what i mean't by controlling the situation, sorry for any misunderstanding, i suppose still being relatively young and having few commitments i would probably act in a different way to what you would, i suppose it depends on your current situation, duties etc.

[tomjfd]

No offense taken my friend. Your points are very valid, and it is great to see a person with integrity posting here. Tang Soo!

[LoganSF1]

TKD is very effective...

I served three tours in Korea with the US Army Military Police. I was a 1st Dan in TKD before going there and only got better training with the ROK Soldiers. Most of the MP's took TKD, Hapkido, etc. Those who were blackbelts had zero problems defending themselves, especially working the villes where they were outnumbered by US Soldiers 10-1. I also worked as a cop (LAPD) in Watts and tangled with hardcore, streetwise thugs all the time. Never once was I not able to stop the threat within 2-3 punches or kicks. The bottom line, it's the fight in the man, not the belt he wears around his waist.

[tomjfd]

Well said!!!