Back to the original question-
I too have doubted my art, but I have come to realize some things. Why do people trash TKD? The reasons I most commonly hear are that it is too restrictive and it can only fight at long range. Then I remembered how I am taught TKD. With the exception of grappling, I do learn what "the critics" say TKD lacks. It is not the style, but how you train.
-I live in Michigan. The weather, dress attire, situation will not allow us to kick all or most of the time. So we do as many punching drills as we do kicking drills. So take those punches and elbow strikes you learn and put them into use. For every kicking drill you do, do a hand drill.
-As for close range, practice a lot of knee and elbow strikes. Take your TKD front kick and do not extend the bottom half of your leg. Voila! It is a knee strike!
I do not know about other style of TKD, but in our color belt forms we use what we call "reaction force". If you are going to punch, extend one and and pull with it as you punch with the other. I have a student who trained in another style of MA and he used to hate reaction force. He wanted to do techniques how he would on the street. I then told him that there are many reasons why we teach "reaction force" to students, but he doesn't really need it for those reasons. For advance students, reaction force is grappling. When I extend or chamber one hand to attack with the other I am not chambering, I am grabbing this person and pulling them in the desired direction as I hit them. This is TKD grappling. Grab, control, strike. Close range. Pressure points work well in grappling situations also.
-Ground fighting is not TKD's strong point, but every art has it's weakness. Basically what I have been trying to say is that TKD CAN and DOES fight at all ranges. We just need to train that way and see how it all comes together.
-As for TKD having too many restrictions, do what a TKD friend and I did-
1. See each other after class.
2. Put on full sparring gear.
3. Spar how ever we wanted.
We sure has heck learned to keep our hands up and guard our groin. AND we were learning TKD. It is not that TKD lacks, it is that the training lacks.
It is the same way with weapons. We each had 2 wooden sticks. My friend would swing at me however he wanted. I have to neutralize the attack and counter attack as quickly as possible. My friend had to neutralize the counter attack and counter attack as quickly as possible. I had to neutralize his counter attack and counter attack as quickly as possible.
You get the idea. We often bruised up our hands, arms, legs, and head. But we did learn how a stick works when someone is trying to hit you and you need to hit back. We also are no longer afraid of being hit with blunt objects. We swing those at each other all the time.
It is not what you train in. It is how you train. TKD is a great art, SD or otherwise. You just need to learn how to train for SD or otherwise
I too have doubted my art, but I have come to realize some things. Why do people trash TKD? The reasons I most commonly hear are that it is too restrictive and it can only fight at long range. Then I remembered how I am taught TKD. With the exception of grappling, I do learn what "the critics" say TKD lacks. It is not the style, but how you train.
-I live in Michigan. The weather, dress attire, situation will not allow us to kick all or most of the time. So we do as many punching drills as we do kicking drills. So take those punches and elbow strikes you learn and put them into use. For every kicking drill you do, do a hand drill.
-As for close range, practice a lot of knee and elbow strikes. Take your TKD front kick and do not extend the bottom half of your leg. Voila! It is a knee strike!
I do not know about other style of TKD, but in our color belt forms we use what we call "reaction force". If you are going to punch, extend one and and pull with it as you punch with the other. I have a student who trained in another style of MA and he used to hate reaction force. He wanted to do techniques how he would on the street. I then told him that there are many reasons why we teach "reaction force" to students, but he doesn't really need it for those reasons. For advance students, reaction force is grappling. When I extend or chamber one hand to attack with the other I am not chambering, I am grabbing this person and pulling them in the desired direction as I hit them. This is TKD grappling. Grab, control, strike. Close range. Pressure points work well in grappling situations also.
-Ground fighting is not TKD's strong point, but every art has it's weakness. Basically what I have been trying to say is that TKD CAN and DOES fight at all ranges. We just need to train that way and see how it all comes together.
-As for TKD having too many restrictions, do what a TKD friend and I did-
1. See each other after class.
2. Put on full sparring gear.
3. Spar how ever we wanted.
We sure has heck learned to keep our hands up and guard our groin. AND we were learning TKD. It is not that TKD lacks, it is that the training lacks.
It is the same way with weapons. We each had 2 wooden sticks. My friend would swing at me however he wanted. I have to neutralize the attack and counter attack as quickly as possible. My friend had to neutralize the counter attack and counter attack as quickly as possible. I had to neutralize his counter attack and counter attack as quickly as possible.
You get the idea. We often bruised up our hands, arms, legs, and head. But we did learn how a stick works when someone is trying to hit you and you need to hit back. We also are no longer afraid of being hit with blunt objects. We swing those at each other all the time.
It is not what you train in. It is how you train. TKD is a great art, SD or otherwise. You just need to learn how to train for SD or otherwise
