What you like about TKD

[karatekid1975]

Ok, I saw this on another forum that I'm on. I thought it would be a good thread here. No TKD bashing, just TKD'ers stating what they like.

For me, I like being flexible I do like the fancy kicks. Breaking is loads of fun (had breaking week this past week). And I'm a forms geek. I like to do a well-done form. I like to make my techniques "snap" and be sharp My fav TKD form is Tae geuk sa jang (4).

Anyone else?

 

[jfarnsworth]

Learning how to kick, multiple kicks, and many various kicking combinations is what I like about TKD. :asian:

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

Where do I start? There are so many aspects and features of TKD that I really enjoy.

Well anyway, let's see, it allows me to keep physically fit, I like learning self-defense techniques, practicing poomse, and especially competing in tournaments and the kicks, OH THOSE KICKS!

I also like that non-practitioners look at us martial artists in a different light. I've met non-martial artists who respect that we've commited ourselves to our Art and that we spend so much time trying to hone our MA skills. Not that I go around advertizing to the public that I'm in the MAs, but, I heard things like "you take Taekwondo, WOW!" when they find out I'm into the MAs... :asian:

 

[Zepp]

Originally posted by cali_tkdbruin
Not that I go around advertizing to the public that I'm in the MAs, but, I heard things like "you take Taekwondo, WOW!" when they find out I'm into the MAs... :asian:

Yeah, that is kinda a nice thing about being a martial artist in general.

I love being able to deliver strong strikes, not just kicks, but yeah, I love the kicks the most.

I also love that the training keeps me fast, flexible, and makes me sweat like a hog in a sauna. Definitely the most satisfying workouts I've ever done.

 

[Marginal]

I mainly like the movements. I always get a charge out of seeing TKD in action. Even better if they're being aimed at me so I can work on avoiding 'em etc. The more energy output demanded of me, the better I find I like the activity in general...

Just to avoid having to make a seperate (and somewhat negative) thread, what I don't like so much is when classes get over into testing mode. Where patterns, breaking and the non interactive stuff starts getting stressed. Cleaning up technique is nice and all, but patterns etc get old when their only real purpose is to pass the test. I'd rather do something higher energy, or at least better balance it out so that the classes don't bog down the closer things get to testing. Yarg.

 

[Damian Mavis]

What I love especialy about TKD is the fact that I feel it is the hardest martial art to become expertly proficient in. I don't mean "ya I've got a pretty good sidekick" I mean really truly fast and powerful wth the legs. We use our hands to do all kinds of things since birth but our feet are pretty uncoordinated on most people. After getting good at TKD I find learning any other martial art doesn't seem very difficult.

Anyway, I just feel that it is a hard martial art to become really good at compared to other arts I have studied.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

 

[Samurai]

No bashing ...but I do not like TKD much anymore.

It is hard on the knees, the kicks are not too practical, and it is hard on an other body.

I DO like the training and streaching.

--Jeremy Bays

 

[Zepp]

Originally posted by Damian Mavis
After getting good at TKD I find learning any other martial art doesn't seem very difficult.

Anyway, I just feel that it is a hard martial art to become really good at compared to other arts I have studied.

I feel the same way. I think the point of much of the training is to make the kicks practical. Not an easy path to having good self-defense, but from the bit of cross-training I've done, it seems like it gets you there in the end.

 

[Cruentus]

I'm not a big TKD practitioner, and I am in fact not really active in TKD currently. I trained TKD from age 7-18 (WTF style) and every now and then I get the gear on and spar.

Here is what I got out of it....

1. Discipline; Being that I was young when I started especially, I can attest that if your TKD instructor is good and hard on you, you will develop the discipline to do just about anything.

2. Physical "tenacity." The TKD school I came from helped me to become physically "tough." This was mostly because of my instructor. He was a World Champion Kickboxer as well as a TKD master, and he put an extreme amount of emphasis on body conditioning. Technically speaking, we weren't nearly as advanced as the Filipino stuff that I focus on now. But physically speaking, we were very tough. We used to spend hours and hours on basics. Serious calistetics and body conditioning was included in every class. I used to have to do all kinds of crazy breaks also; 2 board spinning heel speed breaks with one guy on another persons shoulder; flying side kicks on a wobbley deck over water at a Marina, jumping split kicks, 10 brick breaks w/ palm when I was only 16 years old, etc. The list goes on; and although I'd most likely never use something like a jumping split kick (or half of the breaking techniques) in a fight, the fact is this caused me to have to push the potential of my mind and body beyond my limits. This aspect definatily applies to life or death situations. Plus, we used to fight all the time. Kickboxing, boxing, and open tournament style, not olympic style. With our tournament style fighting we would go medium to full contact; sometimes bare knuckle (which was rare and against the permission of the head instructor; because we allowed head shots, and it usually resulted in a blood-bath. I would not recommend this today!). Although we were not very technically advanced, and we were primarily a blocking and striking art (no joint locks, or ground work), the sheer tenacity, willpower, diversity, and overall "toughness" of some of the students that came out of my TKD school would allow them to beat people who had better, more advanced technical abilities if there ever was a fight.

It was because of my TKD school that I was able to easily do my share of NHB fighting (when I learned some ground fighting concepts), and other things; I had the physical tenacity to do so.

3. Distance and timing. TKD allowed me to develop an extreme sense of distance and timing that I don't think I would have gotten from my Filipino Martial Arts alone. With this sensativity of distance and timing, however, I am able to translate this into my current FMA training fairly well.

Through my personal TKD experience, this is where TKD has benafited me.

 

[karatekid1975]

Good post

What I like about my new dojang is it's not your "typical TKD dojang." What the WTF took out, they put back in (we are WTF affiliated). We spar WTF style, but we do breakfalls, joint locks, takedowns, even the step sparring is more like self defense than the "typical step sparring." But yet, we still do all that fun stuff, like the "fancy kicks." I think it's a good mixer. It's fun, but yet it's affective I mean, every art has it's weekness, including ours (no ground fighting), but what we do learn is not just "sport TKD." It totally blows the "reputation" of the WTF outta the water. I think it's kinda funny, actually. People think we are "sport" because we are affiliated with WTF. But when they see us train, they are blown away hehehehehe It might be because we are also affiliated with the Tae Kwon Do Won ..... donno. But I like where I'm at.

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

Originally posted by PAUL
I'm not a big TKD practitioner, and I am in fact not really active in TKD currently. I trained TKD from age 7-18 (WTF style) and every now and then I get the gear on and spar....

If I might ask, how far did you advance up the TKD ladder? :asian:

 

[Cruentus]

Originally posted by cali_tkdbruin
If I might ask, how far did you advance up the TKD ladder? :asian:

Not very far; only a 1st degree. Remember, although I trained for 11 years, I stopped actively training TKD when I was 18. I didn't like the whole "junior blackbelt" thing, and my instructor (for good reason) would only promote an adult recomended black belt to 16 year old and over. So I stayed a red belt for a very long time, and then I tested for my recomended black belt when I was 16. Under the rules of our school you had to test 1 year after your recommended for 1st degree, and had to be actively training until then. For this year you were scrutinized very thoroughly; and if you sluffed off or stopped training actively, you had to re-test for your recommended, and the process restarted. When I was 17 I recieved my full 1st degree.

Now if my 11 years of TKD training was in adult years, I would probably be much further up the ladder.

 

[Infight]

The best thing in TKD is its chokes, really amazing!lol

 

[Angus]

Originally posted by Infight
The best thing in TKD is its chokes, really amazing!lol

Kind of like how the best thing in BJJ is the punches and kicks. If you can't contribute anything useful to a good conversation, just don't bother wasting our time and yours.

What I like about TKD is that if trained really hard and correctly, the practitioner can have extreme leg control, speed, and balance. It's simply amazing to me to watch someone who's kicks, jumps, footwork, combinations etc, are blended together so smoothly that it appears effortless, because it's like fine art to me. Your body isn't normally inclined to move and use your legs in such a manner, and to watch someone who moves so gracefully is inspiring.

The flexbility factor is also nice. I've always been someone who was naturally flexible (to an extent), so to find an art that capitalizes on one of my own inate strength is helpful. Of course, doing Muay Thai helped me build strength and condition the joints through some exercises and lifting, but had I not done TKD and a TKD-based art, I wouldn't have reached the same level of flexibility that I have now.

Not to mention the amount of distancing and focus on targetting that it teaches you. It's priceless, and something that you don't get with arts that don't teach spinning and jumping kicks.

I love training in MT/BJJ, but I also love TKD because of the reasons above. I love kicking period, but TKD has many benefits that the others can't touch, like mentioned above.

 

[Marginal]

Originally posted by Infight
The best thing in TKD is its chokes, really amazing!lol

Ho sun sul is pretty fun when you start getting into that stuff allright. (Which is about... White belt level at the school I'm at currently)

 

[RCastillo]

It really helped lay the foundation for me as far as Kenpo was concerned. I still practice my forms, as it's hard to give it all up after two decades of work.:asian:

 

[Cruentus]

Originally posted by Infight
The best thing in TKD is its chokes, really amazing!lol

Lucky for me, the TKD school I was at had a very diverse background, and we had some Judo, Jujitsu, and Aikido practitioners who used to also train at the TKD school, along with there other arts. Some had started at my school, then went elseware to supplement there training, yet kept an affiliation with us. Others came from other schools, and kept an affiliation with those.

Unfortunatily, this behavior along with business disagreements caused many rifts among certian Korean Nationalists, and my school ended up eventually breaking off it's affiliation with the ITF Organization.

But besides the bad politics, overall we it was a very diverse learning experience for me.

PAUL

P.S. I don't know why I said WTF before.......my school was an ITF school. Duh! I was just thinking about the WTF for some reason, and I slipped up on my typing.

 

[Infight]

My background is BJJ! and MT! just it! Cool pratice some of grappling, everybody must train some grappling or they are lost in a fight! Mainly Judo and BJJ!

 

[Zepp]

Infight, you did notice that MartialTalk has separate forums for grappling and muay thai, didn't you?

 

[MartialArtist]

TKD - I like the locks and submissions, although that's not really what mainstream TKD stands for. TKD for both combat and sport emphasizes striking, but does not remove grappling, wrestling, and etc.