A odd thing said in Olympic commentary

[Traditionalist]

I don't do TKD either but just listening to his commentary and watching the matches I would say they keep their hands down because most of the kicks that are being thrown are round kicks to the body. I saw that a lot of those kicks were being blocks buy the arms, and you have to have a good kick to the chest protector to score a point. And why punch because they aren't going to be counted and I find a lot of people keep their hands up to block and to give them a good punching base. Remember Olympic Sparring is not real fighting. Its a sport and I'm sure, or at least I hope, those guys and gals wouldn't fight like that in a real fighting situation.

 

[Traditionalist]

I do have to say I was impressed with the mens AFG (afghanistan) and the ESP (spain) match. Where the AFG did a flying kick and knocked the ESP on his butt. I can't remember what weight class but its a good match.

 

[Bodhisattva]

I was up late watching the 1st night of TKD, & watching the commentary written on the screen. The guy writting the commentary said he was one of the Olympic assistant coaches. I didn't catch his name. He answered questions folks wrote in via email address. One answer I thought was odd.

An email asked about keeping their hands down. He responded, "for my lower rank students, I teach them to keep their hands up. For this level of competition, they should know how to protect their heads by now."

Given the fact that nearly every attempted head kick I've seen in several hours of watching has either scored or should have (meaning no block or head movement was attempted), I find this waaay off the mark in terms of what is happening &/or trained for.

Anyone agree with him? Can anyone shed light on his thought process on that?

Any fighter who trusts a teacher that trains him with his hands down is in for some horrible surprises later in his career

 

[zDom]

Its a sport and I'm sure, or at least I hope, those guys and gals wouldn't fight like that in a real fighting situation.

And THAT is the problem: they just might!

You FIGHT like you TRAIN, and if you are spending THAT much time playing that game, chances are under duress that is exactly how you will fight.

 

[zDom]

This is a little off topic, I have seen this many times and as a TKDist I don't understand this at al. Yeah, TKD is a lot of kicking. But I seen people who can punch hard enough to knock the wind out of you through the hogu. (chest protector) and still not get a valid point.

I once made a guy who was a head taller and outweighed me by 50 pounds refuse to come back for the second round because of my punches during an Olympic-style match.

Good thing because I probably would have lost based on points, based on how I've seen matches scored there

 

[Andrew Green]

And THAT is the problem: they just might!

You FIGHT like you TRAIN, and if you are spending THAT much time playing that game, chances are under duress that is exactly how you will fight.

How is it any different then the stop and go point fighting most schools do? Or the schools that pull every strike?

And for the record, I'd put my money on a Olympic TKD fighting in exactly that way over just about any average Joe, and a good number of active martial artists

 

[Tez3]

I do have to say I was impressed with the mens AFG (afghanistan) and the ESP (spain) match. Where the AFG did a flying kick and knocked the ESP on his butt. I can't remember what weight class but its a good match.

The Afghan got £25000 (approx $50000) for getting a medal.

 

[bowser666]

No hands up while fighting is the most retarded thing I have ever heard and is a horrible thing to make a habit. Whether sport fighting or not. It is sadly why I have a hard time Respecting WTF style TKD. Old school TKD students should be ashamed of this style of TKD IMO.

P.S. If they continue the hands down technique then they may want to reconfigure there WTF acronym.

 

[Tez3]

Anyone want to explain how the British lad lost against the Chinese? Only the Chinese were cheering when their lad won the bronze the international crowd were booing ( not good in itself I know) the decisions were so biased it was obvious. This isn't sour grapes btw, other neutral countries were also saying it in interviews.

 

[bluekey88]

Originally Posted by bluekey88
Sadly, the reason for no punching is that despite a punch to the body "that cuases trembling shock" being worht a point...judges simply don't score punches



This is a little off topic, I have seen this many times and as a TKDist I don't understand this at al. Yeah, TKD is a lot of kicking. But I seen people who can punch hard enough to knock the wind out of you through the hogu. (chest protector) and still not get a valid point.

here's how bad it is. At a qualifying event in NJ this year, we had a competitor (17 y.o. 2nd Dan), punch his opponenet so hard as to knock him off his feet. No point was awarded.

At nationals, I had to attend a seminar to maintain my coaches credentials. The head referree for the whole was doing a question/answer session. When asked by another coach if punches were going to get scored eh said "yes, in fact I saw several punches scored today (the openeing day of thre event)". I was there for a week...i saw TONS of fights...not a single punch scored. The other two coaches on our team reported similar impressions.

As for the electronic hogus, I saw they were letting the kids kick these things and light up a littel score board. I wanted to go in and throw a couple of elbows jusrt to see what would happen (would it score?) but I never got the chance.

Peace,
Erik

 

[bluekey88]

Any fighter who trusts a teacher that trains him with his hands down is in for some horrible surprises later in his career

I can't speak for other schools, but I imagine that outside of competition, a variety of defenses (guards are taught). I knwo in my school, we teach a low gaurd for ocmpetition, thats what works. However, it's hands up for all other drills. Personally, I'll adjust my guard to meet the attacks presented by my opponent. Hands up high for someone looking to box/throw hands. More of a square stance with hands at mid level fro someone looking to wrestle/shoot.

I think the true measure of a competent fighter is to adjust what they do to fit the challenges at hand.

Peace,
Erik

 

[crushing]

The Afghan got £25000 (approx $50000) for getting a medal.

I read about that and wondered if he feared going home now.

 

[mango.man]

I wonder if the ITA guy will get any $$$ for beating Steven Lopez??? Even though ITA should have lost by multiple kyongos in the final 30 seconds of regulation.

 

[Kwanjang]

I once made a guy who was a head taller and outweighed me by 50 pounds refuse to come back for the second round because of my punches during an Olympic-style match.

Good thing because I probably would have lost based on points, based on how I've seen matches scored there

HE,HE, (owch!) I been punched by you! The guy you punched that didn't want to continue says it all! They the WTF should re-tool the rules, or it will bring the other meaning to "WTF"

 

[zDom]

How is it any different then the stop and go point fighting most schools do? Or the schools that pull every strike?

Oh, I agree 100%!

I feel fortunate that when I was going up through the ranks, my instructor played ROUGH with me (and a couple other die-hards at the dojang, including Kwanjang — and don't let him fool ya: he may compliment MY punches, but he used to hit just as hard as me, and back when he was only 130 lbs!).

That's my favorite type of sparring (and, I think, the most useful) — continuous, very little gear: just mouthpiece, cup, hand pads and (sometimes) foot pads. It was scary stuff: we rode that line of danger in that if we slipped up, we could have seriously injured each other. There were times I remember thinking, "Are we just sparring, or is this a REAL FIGHT??"

Now, it can wear on a person to do that ALL the time — but I think anyone that is serious about training their martial arts for self defense should do this a few times.

 

[Mimir]

It will be interesting to see how they apply the use of the electronic system. If it will register punches better, perhaps that will cause a shift to a more dynamic and traditional style.

Also if the electronic systems are affordable enough, it could change the stop and call for points competitions. It would speed them up and make to where you have to be ready to defend as well as strike. I think it might also encourage more combinations instead of throwing one thing and then waiting to see if it scored.

 

[Steve]

In the TKD match I saw, there was as much acting as athletics involved. Every time they would throw a kick, they would yell and do a Tiger Woods fist pump like they had just landed a killing blow. I still can't understand why the opponent didn't take that opportunity to kick her. They both did it, so maybe it's an unwritten rule to not kick your opponent while they try to sell their technique to the judges.

 

[zDom]

It will be interesting to see how they apply the use of the electronic system. If it will register punches better, perhaps that will cause a shift to a more dynamic and traditional style.

Also if the electronic systems are affordable enough, it could change the stop and call for points competitions. It would speed them up and make to where you have to be ready to defend as well as strike. I think it might also encourage more combinations instead of throwing one thing and then waiting to see if it scored.

At this point, we can only hope ...

 

[zDom]

In the TKD match I saw, there was as much acting as athletics involved. Every time they would throw a kick, they would yell and do a Tiger Woods fist pump like they had just landed a killing blow.

Yea... buncha crap, IMO.

When I'm judging/ref'ing, that sort of showmanship will have an influence on how I score them, but probably not in the way they want.

I prefer class over self-congratulating behavior.

 

[mango.man]

Yea... buncha crap, IMO.

When I'm judging/ref'ing, that sort of showmanship will have an influence on how I score them, but probably not in the way they want.

I prefer class over self-congratulating behavior.

Thanks for admitting you are a horrible judge. I hope we do not run into you in any of our matches.

As a judge you should not be concerning yourself with what a fighter does before or after they kick. Your only job should be to push the red or blue buttons when you see a valid scoring techinque hitting a valid scoring area.

Try to keep your personal feelings out of it.