Critiques of Taegwondo Fighting Technique

**Matt W.** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 11:42am

LOL @ this thread.

so please help me to uphold the very fighting arts we love and enjoy.

Kid, the best way for you to "uphold" tkd is to get in the ring, kick ass, post video and than say, "Yeah, I do TKD, bitch!" The second best way is for you to post video of others doing the same. There is plenty of video out there of "TKD guys" who can fight well. Proof that it is the training methodology and not the style that matters.

Lefty, you make me laugh, dude. 108 had it right when he said 1/2 your stuff is old news that has already been addressed about a 100 times, and the other half is BS. But, hey, I just got back from a week of firearms training and I'm feeling feisty so I'll enlighten you.

Are there any top guys in Pride and UFC who use TKD as their striking base? No.

You don't really follow the UFC do you? I mean, I'd call David Loisseau a "top guy", being a title contender and all. And that Stephan Bonner, he's pretty decent too, as I recall, though he may not yet be a "top guy". Serkan Yilmaz in K1 (some video of him was posted). Park Soo in K1. (There's more, of course, but those are the two that I'm most familiar with.) And that's not to mention the 100s of guys doing FCR kickboxing (shiny pants) that have backgrounds in TKD, or the guys (and gals) doing world combat league.

But I guess TKD doesn't work in the ring. Right? I mean, that was the point you were trying to make, right?

I have a vid of a tournament where a TKD guy just gets consistently kicked off his feet by a MTer.

Lolzers. That old thing? And I like how you later refer to the red belt as a "high ranked" TKDer! Otherwise that video remains a good example of what is wrong with your average TKDer. Of course, people have already posted a bunch of much more recent videos of TKDers doing quite well.

My point is TKD kicks lack power, prove me wrong with a video

Done. And multiple times in multiple venues. But, here's one more anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtw1VfdtTes

Now, it's your turn to post how you were proven wrong with video evidence.

Their only counter to my arguments is to challenge me to "teh internet fight", they dont want to discuss the issues.

Every point you have brought up has been answered or refuted. Every one.

**Matt W.** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 1:26pm

Look, Lefty, TKD is McDojo-ized and has poor quality control. Also, the most prevalent and publicized form of TKD combat/competition, which is Olympic TKD, has highly restrictive rules and piss poor judging that rewards fast but weak technique (along with a host of other bad habits). So, yes, you get a majority of TKD practicioners that end up looking like the guy in the old video you posted when faced with a real fight/fighter. HOWEVER (and here's what you missed) TKD was at one time a legit fighting art, and still is in some places. Also, thanks to a modern and growing emphasis on the importance of fighting full contact and with less restricitive rulesets, we are seeing more and more people who have TKD backgrounds entering the ring and doing well. Reference some of the videos posted in this thread and other places on this site.

Saying "X style sucks" is passe'. With a few exceptions of styles that were never legit to begin with, the problem is training methodology not style. Fortunately many of us have learned lessons from UFC 1 and videos like the one you posted. So you coming in here and posting "TKD sucks, HURR HURR!!" contributes nothing and only shows your ignorance of how the art is evolving and improving (some would say it's actually returning to it's roots, but you get the point). Take that stuff to YMAS, because that's not what this forum is for.

**oldman34** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 5:35pm

I love you Matt.....

:)

**Matt W.** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 5:38pm

Yikes!

**oldman34** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 5:40pm

In a non anal sex way I assure you.

**Goju - Joe** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 8:31pm

For some reason we get a lot of former TKD practitioners in goju-jitsu. I think it because it's a combined system using karate / kick boxing and grappling so there's a comfort / familiarity level.

I notice that when sparring them sport jiu jitsu style. They jump around a lot and do things that get them hit and taken down quite a bit. They also pick up stuff and adapt really quickly.

TKD might have a lot of flash and dazzle in it and subsequently does things that don't work outside of the TKD fight paradigm

BUT

Good TKD practitioners have speed, aggression, stamina, agility, flexibility to name a few attributes.

And when they ( and by they I mean those particular brands of TKD that bounce and keep their hands down not the awesome brand of TKD practiced my Maverick in which no bouncing occurs and hands are held up proudly and defiantly and which is practiced in a danger room full of sharks with lasers on their heads and bees in their mouths ) cross train in more realistic styles and keep their hands up and bounce less they're pretty damn good.

**MaverickZ** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 8:56pm

Originally Posted by Soju - Joe

And when they cross train in more realistic styles and keep their hands up and bounce less they're pretty damn good.

That statement really irks me. A lot. How hard is it to understand that some TKD fighters keep their hands up, don't bounce like jumping beans, and actually use combat effective techniques. I mean seriously.

**Goju - Joe** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 9:05pm

Originally Posted by MaverickZ

That statement really irks me. A lot. How hard is it to understand that some TKD fighters keep their hands up, don't bounce like jumping beans, and actually use combat effective techniques. I mean seriously.

Why does it irk you?

What percentage fight like that?

50% 70% 20% ?

If the majority fights and trains a certain way it's TKD's own fault for people assuming that's what all TKD practitioners do.

And the TKD people I have sparred jump around a lot and don't keep their hands up weather it irks you or not thats my experience.

I don't get irritated if people assume most Goju karate practitioners suck. Because they do.

Not claiming to be super hard core karate fighter but the majority of goju sparring I see on the net doesn't look like my sparring and is stinky point fighting.

Therefore I don't irked if someone assumes thats how I fight or am a form fairy.

They're wrong but would be right in most occasions.

**MaverickZ** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 9:30pm

It irks me because it's the same ignorant **** I hear from every other member of bullshido.

**Goju - Joe** · Posted On: 5/07/2007 9:40pm

Originally Posted by MaverickZ

It irks me because it's the same ignorant **** I hear from every other member of bullshido.

That the majority of TKD people bounce too much and keep their hands down? How is that ignorant?

It would be ignorant if I insisted that everyone with TKD fights like that, but not to state that the vast majority do.

The OP of this thread is asking if TKD is inferior. To me the majority of TKD practitioners have those two habits and that they are the main stumbling blocks in comparing it to other striking arts.

There might be more but it's those two that hurt it the most.

If you say there's TKD that doesn't fight like that I believe you 100%

But there's also plenty of tKD'ers who do so it is a fair evaluation and generalization