Are there any open tournaments?

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Leo89

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No, TKD is not. WTF-style TKD tournies are.
Which is why I'm interested in the idea of either an open TKD or kickboxing tournies.

Mainly because when I sparred in karazenpo-go-shinjutsu, it was one round of kickboxing (no elbows or blows to the throat or kneecaps) and one round of submission grappling.

So I'm just curious, I'd babble on but I'm not trying to tell a life story.
 

WaterGal

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Well, if we consider sparring to be training for fighting (which is not universally true by any means) then point sparring has what I personally consider a fatal flaw.
The assumption that you will only need to hit your opponent once, especially with the little backfist pops that are so popular in these events, is patently ridiculous.
Frankly, I will gladly let you hit me once, if in doing so I can set up a counter that will allow me to inflict more damage than you.

Isn't that based on the "one hit one kill" concept that's so important in karate? I guess if you spend all day hitting a makiwara maybe you can TKO someone reliably with one backfist....

I'm also skeptical of this as a realistic approach for most people, but I've read that "one hit one kill" actually originated with kendo, where it makes complete sense. Then, when karate came to Japan in the 20s they incorporated that concept, in order to make the style "more Japanese".

From what I've read, the reason why WTF sparring looks the way it does is for basically the same reason - the karate-based schools that came together to become Kukkiwon-style TKD wanted something that was "more Korean", and looked to kicking-based Taekkyon (or at least people's childhood memories and written accounts of Taekkyon) for inspiration.
 

mrjasperc

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@Leo89 there are open tournaments for Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Karate and other striking martial arts. One example is the CIMAC superleague tournaments (Cimac Super League). Everyone must adhere to a standard set of rules and it's fairly fluid. I've competed at these before and they're good fun.

In my opinion the Olympic Taekwondo has taken a turn for the worst (as seen in Rio 2016) due to the rules in place for point scoring. I think it's more like tag now, rather than effective Taekwondo.
 

CB Jones

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From what little I know, my school goes up against other schools that are also kukkiwon style, but I'm curious to know if there are any tournaments where they don't care what taekwondo style or organization your styles under?

Also, is pro-taekwondo still a thing?

Google United States Karate Alliance (USKA)

Their tourneys are all open to all styles.

It is a karate association but king fu practitioners can compete as well.

Sparring rules allow full contact to the body. Groin is legal target. Controlled Light contact to head is legal. 5 point matches.

Face contact allowed for adult black belts.

Required equipment: head gear, feet protectors, groin protection (cup), gloves
 

Buka

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Google United States Karate Alliance (USKA)

Their tourneys are all open to all styles.

It is a karate association but king fu practitioners can compete as well.

Sparring rules allow full contact to the body. Groin is legal target. Controlled Light contact to head is legal. 5 point matches.

Face contact allowed for adult black belts.

Required equipment: head gear, feet protectors, groin protection (cup), gloves

It's nice to hear that groin is still a legal target somewhere.
 

CB Jones

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It's nice to hear that groin is still a legal target somewhere.

Oh yeah. The rising front round house to the groin is my son's main weapon against opponents that throw a lot of big kicks.
 

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