American Tae Kwon Do DVDs

[dancingalone]

I recently stumbled across a copy of Troy Dorsey's American Tae Kwon Do series on DVD in my local Half Price Books. At the ridiculous price of $5 a DVD, I snatched them up just for fun.

I'm glad I did. It's evident from the material on these disks that Dorsey learned pretty much the same curriculum I did as a student of Jhoon Rhee style tae kwon do. Dorsey is a former kickboxing/boxing champion. I recall dimly that he fought for one of the major boxing federation's title at one point (IBF?) - not sure if he won or not though.

Mr. Dorsey has added some of Mr. Rhee's new forms instead of doing all the Chang Hon forms, but he still keeps Hwa Rang and Chul Gi (Naihanchi or Tekki are other names)! At this stage of my career, I find the fashion in which Mr. Dorsey executes techniques to be aesthetically ugly, but I know they're effective, having felt the system first hand.

This was an enjoyable walk down memory lane. Lots of western boxing influence in the guard position as I remembered. This is not "profound" martial arts, but it's still a great documentation of what the "Tex Kwon Do" looks like in the 2000s.

I googled the series to see if there were any reviews on the web. I didn't find any, but Century is selling these right now with a holiday sale for $10 a disk a la carte - it's a set of three.

 

[IcemanSK]

I forget what weigh class it was (perhaps light weight 130-ish?) but he held the Kickboxing & boxing world titles at the same time. He lost 2 heartbreaking decisions to Jorge Paez. Both fights were on NBC tv. Boxing folks talk about those fights as being among the best of that decade. When he'd box, he'd still kihap with his hardest shots!

I've debated about getting these tapes. Your thoughts may have tipped the scales.

 

[Manny]

I forget what weigh class it was (perhaps light weight 130-ish?) but he held the Kickboxing & boxing world titles at the same time. He lost 2 heartbreaking decisions to Jorge Paez. Both fights were on NBC tv. Boxing folks talk about those fights as being among the best of that decade. When he'd box, he'd still kihap with his hardest shots!

I've debated about getting these tapes. Your thoughts may have tipped the scales.

I remember one of these fights of Dorsey against Jorge "Maromero" Paez and yes Mr. Dorsey yeleed kiai in his hardest blows.

Manny

 

[IcemanSK]

I remember one of these fights of Dorsey against Jorge "Maromero" Paez and yes Mr. Dorsey yeleed kiai in his hardest blows.

Manny

Those were 2 great fights with 2 very tough fighters!

 

[ATC]

Use to watch Mr. Dorsey fight back in the day. ISKA kick boxing use to have him and all the old greats. Fun stuff. Good find.

 

[Twin Fist]

Troy Dorsey was IMO pound for pound the best fighter since Ali

 

[terryl965]

He had alot of talent and he is still training today at his school on a daily basis