Tae kwon do vs. Kung Fu

[exile]

If I had to choose which to train in, I would choose Kung fu in say choy li fat or crane or one other of the many good combat effective systems. I would not choose Tae Kwan do because so many of the schools for that styel are not teaching it as a combat efficient and effective system aimed at self defense and survival. Most seem to be teaching it for Olimpic competition. and in my opinion good judo schools teach better for the street then most of the sport tkd types seem to. ( at dan level the good judo schools teach basically all the stuff that was taken out so you learn the old school Japanese jujitsu techniques and strikes and things that were removed for safety.)

This is unfortunately true so far as many (or even maybe most) TKD dojangs go, but I think it's going to be changing. TKD has been, I think, under increasing pressure to show its bona fides as an effective defensive combat system (something no one would have questioned about 'old-school' TKD). And there are a lot of people doing TKD who don't want to be competitive athletes in that particular sport (even if it were realistic on their part to pursue that path, which for many is not the case); what they want are practical SD skills, and the training to make those skills operational under street conditions (which is a very specific and 'hard' kind of training that is still pretty scarce, I'd bet, not just in dojangs but in MA schools across the whole range of different styles).

Wait a few years and I'm guessing you're going to see a lot more SD in the curricula of most TKD dojangs. The question is, how well do TKD instructors actually control the necessary combat skills themselves? Before the dojangs start teaching revitalized SD-oriented TKD, instructors themselves are going to have to come up to speed on these techs... because so many of them learned their TKD in sport-oriented schools. My feeling is, that cycle has to be broken, and soon.

But the same problem could well affect any given KF school too—there's no guarantee that your instructor there is competent in CQ combat applications either. KF also has a 'performance' aspect, after all, and it's probably the case that some schools emphasize that to the detriment of gritty applications...

 

[Xue Sheng]

But the same problem could well affect any given KF school too—there's no guarantee that your instructor there is competent in CQ combat applications either. KF also has a 'performance' aspect, after all, and it's probably the case that some schools emphasize that to the detriment of gritty applications...

HEY!!! :cuss: Don't be disin Kung fu :uhyeah:

Actually you are correct sir.

There are an awful lot of Kung Fu (CMA) schools out there that do not know the SD of the style they teach only form and others know form but not the proper SD for those forms (a Shaolin Long Fist school that also teaches Sanshou kind of thing)

There are also schools out there that have "KUNG FU" in big letters in the front window when in fact it is maybe one Shaolin Wushu form and the rest Karate or some other non-CMA style and of course the Taiji schools that claim to teach SD that are in fact teaching Taiji forms with SD from other styles. I could go on but I shall stop and spare all the off topic rant this would inevitably turn into

 

[newGuy12]

Different people enjoy different things. I will tell you this. There is nothing like being in the class, and everyone is warmed up now, because it is freesparring time. If at some point in the free sparring you give a GOOD counter attack, some say, jump spinning side kick answer to the round house kick (perhaps anticipating this motion, -- to make it even faster) -- there is nothing like that in the world. You are glad to be a human, and learning this TKD then.

I don't know if some CMA has this feeling to offer. I honestly don't know.
But like 14 Kempo says, many prefer to be in kicking range. I do. I would prefer to give a shove to the partner, making them move back.

Also, the kicks get faster, faster. It is very enjoyable. Then again, I have never practiced any CMA. Who knows what joy they offer? Only those who practice. Everyone must pick a horse and then ride. Life is too short to jerk around.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Different people enjoy different things. I will tell you this. There is nothing like being in the class, and everyone is warmed up now, because it is freesparring time. If at some point in the free sparring you give a GOOD counter attack, some say, jump spinning side kick answer to the round house kick (perhaps anticipating this motion, -- to make it even faster) -- there is nothing like that in the world. You are glad to be a human, and learning this TKD then.

I don't know if some CMA has this feeling to offer. I honestly don't know.
But like 14 Kempo says, many prefer to be in kicking range. I do. I would prefer to give a shove to the partner, making them move back.

Also, the kicks get faster, faster. It is very enjoyable. Then again, I have never practiced any CMA. Who knows what joy they offer? Only those who practice. Everyone must pick a horse and then ride. Life is too short to jerk around.

Depending on which style of CMA yes.

Depending on which style of CMA no.

I have a bit of a problem with the title of this post actually "Tae kwon do vs. Kung Fu"

Tae kwon do is a korean style of martial arts. Kung Fu is a generic label to lump together hundreds of CMA styles. That is why the very first post I made here pointed to this list

In that list alone there are over 80 styles listed and that is not all of them. There are also, in some cases, multiple styles within styles, various styles of Baguazhang, Xingyiquan, Taijiquan, Wing Chun, White crane, etc.

So to compare TKD to Kung Fu you are comparing one style to hundreds and it is likely that any thing you come up with to compare (Other than the Korean language and I am not sure about that - there is a Korean minority in China) exists in one of the many CMA styles know generically as Kung Fu

 

[SageGhost83]

Different people enjoy different things. I will tell you this. There is nothing like being in the class, and everyone is warmed up now, because it is freesparring time. If at some point in the free sparring you give a GOOD counter attack, some say, jump spinning side kick answer to the round house kick (perhaps anticipating this motion, -- to make it even faster) -- there is nothing like that in the world. You are glad to be a human, and learning this TKD then.

I don't know if some CMA has this feeling to offer. I honestly don't know.
But like 14 Kempo says, many prefer to be in kicking range. I do. I would prefer to give a shove to the partner, making them move back.

Also, the kicks get faster, faster. It is very enjoyable. Then again, I have never practiced any CMA. Who knows what joy they offer? Only those who practice. Everyone must pick a horse and then ride. Life is too short to jerk around.

I have practiced both, and yes, that feeling does exist in CMA. I would say to an even greater extent because the sparring, at least as it was done in my Wing Chun class, was much faster, plus it was full contact to the head with no pads. Talk about a rush! Everything took place at close range where you had to engage...or be engaged :lol:! I personally like going at close range because there is nowhere to hide and it is far more intense. I enjoyed TKD sparring, but what I did in Kung Fu was far more realistic and far more intense than what I did in TKD, it had the feel of actually fighting moreso than sparring. I guess because I wasn't trying to score points, I was trying to *really* knockout out my sparring partner and he was trying to do the same. It all comes down to what you seek in a martial art. Not all arts are for all people. TKD gives me a long range option to complement my close range preference, so it definitely adds another dimension to my game. If I had to choose one over the other though, and this is very hard for me, I would have to pick Kung Fu despite my love of TKD. I trust it more for self defense than I trust TKD.