MT beginner thinking of switching to TKD-wants advice

[dogzilla]

khem, did you meant that tkd is only a sport or did you took it as a part of martial arts?

i aint saying nothing, just asking, becouse i didnt understood your post good.

[JStinson]

Olympic style sparring is what it is, a sport. It should not be viewed as anything else. You are comparing apples and oranges here. I have been in Hapkido and Taekwondo for 26 years and have been around enough people to know that everyone will say there are is superior. Bottom line, find the art you like with an instructor that will fit your learning style and go with it. All systems are good, it is up to the person, not the art to win a fight.

[DickHardman]

i vote for muay thai

i did tkd for a few years as a kid, i do mt now so i have experience in both. i personally like mt better.


muay thai sparring is usually less resitrictive than in most tkd dojos.

muay thai sparring/training is closer to real life fighting than tkd

mt kicks mix perfect with boxing(hence the art of kickboxing), while the tkd stance makes proper boxing techniques difficult.

mt training will condition your shins and make then VERY dense. tkd will toughen up your legs but nowhere near the same level as mt.

modern mt training tends to contain much more physical conditioning than most tkd dojos.

tkd can give you VERY bad habits when it comes down to real fighting. i specifically remember being told by an instructor to deflect a roundhouse kick to my midsection by switching the side of my stance and letting the kick hit my back! in real life, getting hit in the spine with anything during a fight can be all bad. in mt you block attacks with elbows and knees that can leave your opponent wounded. let me tell you, its no fun to throw a kick at someone only to have them bring down the point of their elbow on your foot or shin.

mt is awesome and powerful.

[WildWest.]

Olympic style TKD sparring is horseshit!! Good on you for telling it like it is! I totally agree with you.

[ledfut]

i am coming up on 8 years of training, 7 of being an instructor, and 3 as head instructor. we are wtf and our grandmaster comes from chung do kwan.

olympic style sparring (as we call it) is horseshit. i train in the style and i couldn't bear to watch 2 rounds of olympic level competition. the thing i like about sparring is that it simulates a real fight (i.e. 2 people with the same goal in mind). so watching 2 people with their hands down playing a game of rough tag with their feet doesn't really turn me on (i love K1).

if i were you, i'd try to find a more traditional school as it seems to be what you want.

[Shadoh]

I atudied in Choong Sil Kwan style, for about 3 years, and it was great for building up mental strenght as well as conditionoing you for over all martial arts. thewaterd down statement that you made is true, my school was once a great place, but under new ownership turned into watery gunk. look around and try out the different schools. A friend of mine (Going to states this weekand) Trains at a school that is a mixture of MT and TKD, wthgood results. Inmy opinion find a school that still teachs under the Traditional things, the instructors from my experiance's (limited as they may be) Is that theones that are sil traditional tend to be alot better in the long run.

MT will benifit u in the TKD field though, If yourinterest is in Olympic Sparring, then the MT training wil DEF help. I did a step up[ side kick to mybuddies shin who did MT he didnt even blink. So the pure pain, and stamina that MT will teach to its students will definatly help. Stamina that MT will instill will also become a great assit to you.

Well, i hope thishelps u out in your decision, if their were many typo's im sry im sittingon a schools old comp, and grading a paper at the same time, Goodluck Man



Chris Crill
To poor to Train TKD

[WildWest.]

What Tom said. Also Hapkido has locking techniques, ground fighting, chokes, pressure points, joint manipulation and throws.

[Tom Yum]

what gaps does Hapkido fill?

kicking from different stances/angles, open handed strikes, stand up grappling (non-clinch based), De-escalation techniques, breakfalls and weapons (either traditional or improvised depending on the system).

[el_guapo]

I do both Hapkido and MT. If you can find a good MT school stick with it. If you want practical self defence you can't really go wrong with MT but Hapkido will fill in all the gaps that MT doesn't. Not that other styles don't fill in the gaps, it's just that there is not a variety of MA's where I'm from so don't have the luxury of picking and choosing. I think I'm fortunate to have what we have.

I have a BB in TKD as well and it is great for developing balance and footwork but if you're after self defence I wouldn't recommend it as my personal choice. However if you want to get into the sport side of it then by all means go for it and go hard.

what gaps does Hapkido fill?

[WildWest.]

I do both Hapkido and MT. If you can find a good MT school stick with it. If you want practical self defence you can't really go wrong with MT but Hapkido will fill in all the gaps that MT doesn't. Not that other styles don't fill in the gaps, it's just that there is not a variety of MA's where I'm from so don't have the luxury of picking and choosing. I think I'm fortunate to have what we have.

I have a BB in TKD as well and it is great for developing balance and footwork but if you're after self defence I wouldn't recommend it as my personal choice. However if you want to get into the sport side of it then by all means go for it and go hard.

[el_guapo]

why don't you try your instructor's new system? maybe you will like it

[Bjjexpertise@be]

Why would you want something "in its pure form?" What's happening is what your instructor is evolving his fighting style and wanting to teach it to his students. Stick with it bro.

[Tom Yum]

So then you are saying that even though you are self taught, you sought out someone qualified to teach you the "correct" way to do things???? As an instructor, I prefer people to come into my school with no knowledge whatsoever of martial arts. That way I do not have to unteach bad habits they have picked up. Ends up taking twice as long to teach something basic, mainly because I have to teach them they are not doing it right and then teach them the right way.

So far, it hasn't been that bad. Some styles aren't geographically accesible.

This is where videos can help. At the same time, I wouldn't try to teach myself how to do something without atleast having a background in a similar style.

And the video would merely be an introduction to the style and in no way a substitute for classroom instruction or private lessons.

[new_guy]

well if you like Olympic sparring then WTF is where you will do most of that. ATA also offers olympic sparring but not every instructor offers it.

I prefer the ATA system to WTF and ITF. But it is a personal preference thing.

Also it completely depends on the instructor who will be teaching. Hard to find quality instruction in any of the systems now a days.

What do you like about ATA?

There is a new ATA school down the road.

[JStinson]

So then you are saying that even though you are self taught, you sought out someone qualified to teach you the "correct" way to do things???? As an instructor, I prefer people to come into my school with no knowledge whatsoever of martial arts. That way I do not have to unteach bad habits they have picked up. Ends up taking twice as long to teach something basic, mainly because I have to teach them they are not doing it right and then teach them the right way.