Yet, that isn't what the article said at all. I'm thinking people are skimming the article.

The article discusses why people perceive TKD sucks. It doesn't say that TKD does always suck.

Guilty of skimming, I'm surfing/multi-tasking/making train arrangements for my friend, drinking on my day off to prepare myself for cleaning the apt, and it was a good mini-story! I never suggested, however, it said TKD is always bad, just, anytime the quality of TKD comes up, I start having flashbacks of that hit. I'm traumatized!

I'm more referring to the soap box butt-hurt idiots not you. It is actually a well argued point. He addresses everything we hear or read about the problems non-practioners see in TKD.

It's not that TKD sucks; McDojos and unscrupulous money-grubbing instructors suck. There is nothing to bash when it comes to a school with a bunch of competitors who are focused on Nationals. So they can't wrestle and a boxer can't kick, BJJ doesn't do chun chain punches and a ninja could death-touch all of them, but it doesn't mean that they aren't skilled, focused, and training hard and let's not forget that if tkd has made it to the Olympics then it's not going anywhere and it will be here after we move on to something else. There are just a lot of instructors who want to make a living as the patriarch of their own school. The WTF TKD guys have realized that if they only cater to training competitors, the they won't be able to make any better a living than a guy who owns a boxing gym (unless they are in a big metropolitan area with wealthy parents) because the training will scare the $ away. So they water down the TKD, throw in extra belts with other forms, half a hapkido cirriculum (but no certification and a cirriculum not recognized outside that instructors fiefdom), and they find a way to be all things to all people. We all know that these people generally aren't interested in conditioning or hard effort, just a social club, and learn enough to get themselves hurt. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Makes my point. (and) Irrelevant.

My point in writing the original "article" low those many years ago (for a different forum) was to explain why the general banner of "TKD" gets so much hate'n on. It's because of the PERCEPTION of it. It doesn't matter how wonderful TKD may be in Korea (for instance) because the people bashing TKD don't live in Korea and don't see/interact with Korean trained TKD practitioners.

If TKD proponents want to stop the bashing then they have to either change the perceptions or convince the bashers that what they see as "shortcomings" are acceptable (good luck with that).

I originally wrote this "article" (in that other forum) as a reply. A new poster had popped up and questioned why TKD gets bashed so much on that forum. He went on to list all the reasons that he thought TKD was great. These included, improved self confidence, exercise, etc. The forumites were unconvinced and opined that self confidence and exercise could easily be achieved with any other martial art which did comply with their view of "effective martial arts" or even any non-martial exercise activity, which, in turn, led the the opinion that TKD is a martially-inspired "dance." You can well guess that original poster then and the TKD detractors never did see eye-to-eye. :)

Nevertheless, what I have listed above are what many (most?) TKD detractors consider the shortcomings of TKD (in their experience). If you choose to, think of as a Marketing problem. Marketing is all about creating new perceptions or changing existing ones (so is Propaganda, come to think of it). You can either change the product (New Coke?) or make a better marketing campaign (New Coke?) ;)

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

When you have 4year old blackbelts running around tournaments being mentored by Orange belts that kind of lowers your credability .when your blackbelt adults spar like other schools green belts .when red necks at the bar start laughing because you just said you got a black belt tkd. Tkd is a very good martial art but what I being taught in the states is usualy a joke .
Oh and the face shields are a little silly

I dont know. My stand up coach is 3dan black belt and also an amateur world TKD champion and multiple state champion, plus Vice Kickboxing world champion, plus a very good boxer, and always praises that TKD made him the fighter that he is today. He said that he didnt need that much time to switch from TKD to boxing and kickboxing beacuse of his expreince. And when i sparr with his students I always have a hard time, so I have to say TKD is really legit. I am not from USA though so I cant talk how it is in your country. On a side note my country has a lot of crappy TKD dojos too. But I am too, kind of surprised that TKD gets so much criticisim on this site. I had a harder time sparring some TKD guys than some Kickboxers

Tae Kwon Do doesn’t suck, really. Since this thread already fell victim to necro, the door is open, and here I go with an opinion.

I have to say TKD is really legit. I am not from USA though so I cant talk how it is in your country. On a side note my country has a lot of crappy TKD dojos too. But I am too, kind of surprised that TKD gets so much criticisim on this site. I had a harder time sparring some TKD guys than some KickboxersFrom my point of view, TKD is really legit too, and yes, there are a lot of crappy TKD dojang.

It's because of all those unqualified teachers who are in it for money. No martial art spirits.
The following quote by Vorpal seems to explain why those teachers are unqualified and how they became motivated by money. I wholeheartedly believe this to be true.

In the US TKD instructors found that people didn't like getting hit, would pay $$ for undeserved promotions and could be fooled into thinking they were Bruce Lee while doing light touch sparring. Those students now teach TKD. That's why it sucks.

I've sparred and met good TKDers. Large number were not American.My (Korean) Tae Kwon Do instructor told me that most Americans do not have the self-discipline required to train traditional TKD. He came to the US in 1970 or 1971 and almost immediately began teaching traditional TKD. By the time I began training with him in 1983, he had turned it down a notch or two.

I had a couple of years of American Kenpo under my belt at that time, and thought I knew something. Early on, he showed me that I didn’t know ****. In the six plus years I trained there, I noticed that he was turning down the intensity even more. In the private classes, he still trained old-school, but in group, the emphasis was on safety first & technique last. I can understand his not wanting any injuries and the lawsuits that followed, but that had never been a problem in the past.

Curruption in WTF and bastardation of the techniques for "sports" also played a role there.This is where I usually stand on my soap-box and bitch about the WTF. The potential for internal politics and corruption in an organization that size were always there. It just manifested itself and continues to adulterate the system.

I've sparred and met good TKDers. Large number were not American.This has been my experience as well; pretty easy to see why it happens like this. It used to bother me to see TKD in the middle of its decline, but I always knew why it happened. Old-school TKD does not suck, there are still a few practitioners out there, but they are few and far between.



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A long time ago, there was a girl I knew who was one of the highest ranking belts at her school. She got her ass beat my a big black girl. Never even got one hit in.

A long time ago, there was a girl I knew who was one of the highest ranking belts at her school. She got her ass beat my a big black girl. Never even got one hit in.Was she lulled into a false sense of security? Did she have the heart for it? Did she not realize that in the real world, she won't have any padding and her opponent wouldn't be pulling techniques? Was she just caught off guard and taken by surprise?

I saw a female third dan Kenpo black belt get the **** beat out of her by a smaller, unskilled but determined gal with a roll of nickels in her hand. This is life.

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A long time ago, there was a girl I knew who was one of the highest ranking belts at her school. She got her ass beat my a big black girl. Never even got one hit in.

Yes, but have you ever seen a grown man naked?

Oh ****, she must of beat her ass cause she was black amirite? Big Black trumps TKD.
GTFO.

Oh ****, she must of beat her ass cause she was black amirite? Big Black trumps TKD.
GTFO.

Wutang aint nuthin ta **** wit?

Now that they have Iron Fists no way.

Oh ****, she must of beat her ass cause she was black amirite? Big Black trumps TKD.Wesley Snipes said it best in Passenger 57: "Always bet on black".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaIEZligRj8

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Yeah, but he crapped out. So, all bets were lost.

Watta dick..

Watta dick..Yeah, I get that a lot, especially in the locker room. Thanks for noticing.


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