- Thread Starter
- #161
That is like saying firearm training is not adequate as a sole means of Self defense so we should add empty hand self defense as part of firearm training. It would really be a misnomer. You can teach TKD as a striking curriculm for self defense and BJJ as the grappling curriculum. That won't make the grappling TKD, nor will it make the striking BJJ, and there is no reason it should.
Honestly, I'm thinking in terms of convenience. Maybe I want to be primarily a striker, but I don't want to be completely lost if I'm in a bar and some guy gets through my punches to initiate a clinch. If that's the case, just a basic grappling game (some standing throws, a bit of ground work, a basic knowledge of body mechanics, like I said before essentially a white belt's level of judo knowledge) would go a long way to filling that hole that exists.
But it kind of sucks to have to take a whole other couple of days out of my week to go to a completely different place and pay an extra monthly fee to study a full system like judo or BJJ when all I want are some basics. In fact, I'd say that the hassle of having to do all of the above is probably enough that a lot of people will just not do it. So why not add a little bit of this material into TKD?
Or if you don't want to officially add it into TKD, then I think it would be good for instructors to develop a basic grappling program to teach alongside TKD. Again, it doesn't have to an in-depth system. The goal doesn't have to be to become a black belt level grappler. It could actually be kind of like the ATA grappling certification programs but, you know, better.