Is TKD a worthless art to train?

[Fighter]

You should read this post it confirms exactly what you just said.

Any tips on how to beat tae kwon do with JKD? - Jee T

[tekkenmaster]

No i think that TKD is not useless.
did anyone watch the ultimate fighting championships a few weeks back.
Mark Weir(tkd) got the fastest K.O. in ufc history.
10 second K.O.

[Maxximus]

LOL!

Yeah, and he did it by missing a kick and then landing a punch to the head. Pretty ambiguous technique...not exactly signature TKD. Mark Weir is a tough fighter. But we haven't ever seen anyone do jack using TKD except get their a$$es kicked. One single fighter who scored a flash KO with a punch to the head (yeah, TKD is known for its KO punches, ain't it?) doesn't validate the entire art. We see boxing KO people all the time. We see Muay Thai thai kicking thighs and heads to death and then scoring powerful knees in the clinch with guys like Mo Smith, Silva and Yvel. If TKD champions start pouring into MMA beating the competition down with axe kicks and spinning back kicks, THEN we will have to give TKD its due. But anyone who knows an ounce about fighting knows this will never happen. TKD is a sport of katas and people tapping each other back and forth with fancy kicks for points. It deserves respect for its athleticism but as a functional MA its buttkiss. That does not mean that a talented well rounded fighter with the physical attributes provided thru TKD training can't come along every now and then and do good, but then so can a basketball or rugby player. That does not qualify basketball or rugby as functional MAs, and neither does it do that for TKD.

BTW, a good rugby player would murder a black belt in TKD

[tekkenmaster]

ok firstly Maximus. you're wrong!!
Mark Weir dummied his hook kick to lure in his oppenent to use his trademark move which Mark avoided and then punched him hard to K.O. him. This proves that a tkd person can punch hard.
tkd is the art of the foot and hand. Any good tkd student would not use high kicks in a real fight unless they wanted to finish them off spectacularly. TKD is a functional martial art. The Korean army used it in war and killed alot of people with TKD. TKD is not a worthless martial art also because you can get into the movies with it. I mean where would Sarah micheal geller be without it or Van Damn. All the best martial arts films have amazing kicks in them. As you can't do any good looking kicks you can just impress the audience with your front punches.

[thirtytwohits]

tkd is effective against no martial arts. but tkd against martial arts like Muay Thai is ineffective. true that there are many techniques, but most if not all of them are ineffective. ive fouhgt some tkd guys, there kick is pretty much nothing compared to mine. their shins are soft and kicks are weak. I REALLY DONT WANT TO BAG BUT I JUST WANT TO SPEAK FROM ME EXPERIENCES.

BJJ is very effecitve in GROUND FIGHTING, not standup, so you cant compare the two. an art that would have prevented 911 was arnis. duh

[Mr. Miyagi]

I think TKD is absolutely worthless; a total scam. People are paying money and giving their time to train in something that will not help them at all against any streetwise brawler.

BJJ will not teach you how to strike; but speaking from people I know who have trained in BJJ extensively vs. people I know who have trained in TKD extensively, I'd rather get stuck in a standup fight against TKD guys because they know nothing about struggling in a clinch. Also BJJ guys are generally in much better shape and aware of muy thai and jkd standup techniques even if they can't practice them.

I wouldn't trade my BJJ blue for a 10th degree black in TKD no matter what.

BTW, you do occasionally run into a tough TKD guy you wouldn't want to tangle with. Invariably these guys are well over 6 feet and well over 200 lbs. I can say for sure that their toughness has little to do with TKD and a lot to do with other things. I have to laugh when I see a huge hulking burly TKD "instructor" teaching weaklings how to "fight back and defend".
On the other hand there are lots of weakling BJJ blue and purple belts that would be really tough to fight with.

[thirtytwohits]

ya. tkd does suck. NHB fighters are hybrids of Muay Thai, BJJ, Wrestling, Judo, etc. becuase they are HIGHLY EFFECTIVE. find me someone who is a nhb fighter and knows tkd, good luck!!!

[Ice Phoenix]

thirtytwohits, you probably could find an NHB fighter who knows TKD, just as there are MMA fighters who know TKD, but do any of them actually use it to win fights? Absolutely not! When they fight they just revert to punk-style fighting or use whatever other system they may know! BTW, TKD SUX!

[Ice Phoenix]

Yes I agree Muay Thai, Judo, Wrestling, BJJ are the most effective systems - Period. It would be cool to see some San Shou/Soo guy in MMA or NHB though, just to see if they are also as effective as many people claim!

[thirtytwohits]

ive read in an article, ive lost the site but it claism that san shou is better that muay thai. and its a better grappling art than bjj. im not sure though, ive heard arguements that are covincing but havent actully met a san shou guy

[Matman]

I tried a san shou fight a few mos back, it has a lot of good points, check out the downloads section at www.cungle.com and you'll see throws, suplexs and sweeps all tied in to a kickboxing style. There is no 'grappling' once you hit the ground though. I found it to be pretty fun, but look at it as something to add to my muay thai training, I think San Shou fighters hit for points while a Thai fighter is going to go for something that hurts you, regardless of if it is 1 or 2 points. One downside to the amat. side of San Shou is they made us wear not just headgear, and shins but friggin chest protectors! The kind that a catcher in baseball wears! And there is no choice involved. As far as being street effective, I quess if you get fluid enough to duck under a punch slip to the side and suplex the guy on concrete it could be, but I think the focus of this sport is entertainment, there are 3 rounds that are only like 2 mins and if you win the first 2 you don't fight the 3rd, so most people really go at each other, you don't see much stalling b/c if you stall the round will be over before you know it.

[Fighter]

Swweeet. Im going there now.

[Lightning&Earth]

If i could interject something

TKD is an americanized version of a korean art called "Hwarang"
Jhoon Rhee capitolized on this american dream and created tae kwon do. the reason why it gets so much flack is because it has turned into this exhibition of flash and dash kicks and point oriented sparring. the sparring exchanges have NO groundwork and i think that is sad. i mean do the TKD guys really think that the opponent is just going to stand there real still like and allow those high kicks to come in?
i mean i wouldnt and i dont even do grappling,,,i am a hsing i guy and when some choad throws a high kick at me i show em the futility of throwing a high kick by clonging thier nad sack.

TKD is a sport,,plain and simple,,like judo is these days,,it has taken individuals such as the gracies to bring Judo back to what it originally was before we americans turned it into a sport.
all i can say about judo is that its all real fun until you get KICKED.

now i know with grappling styles that there are braggards that will say that it is superior to any form of fighting out there.
well here is a bit of reality for the grapplers that brag.

i will bet good money that out on the street that my GUN would end the situation real quick. even though i am a martial artist and i HATE fighting for sport or for frivolous endevours,,i take my training seriouslt and i KNOW the difference between what is REAL and what is fantasy. and you can bet your A$$ that i will draw my fully licensed concealed sig saur 40mm and end YOU to protect my life.

now in the ring thats a different story,,,whenwe talk about the ring we are talking about sport and a semi-controlled situation.
in the ring BJJ and the MMA styles seem to be superior,,,why is that? cause these guys train better than most other schools that have this taebo cardio workout sparring ethic. its all cat and mouse. i would like to see a blending of hsingi chuan with the BJJ for i think both could be very effective together. and lord knows i need to get more with ground fighting.
so there is my rant.

Many Respects,,lightning and Earth

[thirtytwohits]

why does everything american suck?