Different Techs for TKD

[terryl965]

How many times have you heard TKD has very few Techniques? or those techs are from Hapkido or Karate or something else? I mean back in the early years TKD that I took had alot of techniques and it seem it just keeps getting smaller and smaller with each year, why is this?

 

[Twin Fist]

because the people in charge of it are turning it into a SPORT that only needs/uses 3 techniques

 

[terryl965]

I agree TW but what is so mis up is the fact that alot of school have no clue the difference betwwen sport and SD principle.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I have heard this same complaint from many doing tkd. Fortunately for me my GM came to australia 40 years ago and has had no interest in the "evolution" of the art. He and his instructors still teach all the same techs in exactly the same way they did in the late 60's early 70's. We have not evolved at all , we havent added anything or removed anything from the curriculum. To be honest , I cringe when I hear about 'seminars' etc where techs are refined or changed or new forms are added or existing forms are changed for whatever reason. If something aint broke dont fix it and the way tkd was taught years ago certainly did not need fixing in my opinion.

 

[Twin Fist]

agreed

 

[Earl Weiss]

I have heard this same complaint from many doing tkd. Fortunately for me my GM came to australia 40 years ago and has had no interest in the "evolution" of the art. He and his instructors still teach all the same techs in exactly the same way they did in the late 60's early 70's. We have not evolved at all , we havent added anything or removed anything from the curriculum. To be honest , I cringe when I hear about 'seminars' etc where techs are refined or changed or new forms are added or existing forms are changed for whatever reason. If something aint broke dont fix it and the way tkd was taught years ago certainly did not need fixing in my opinion.

Aside from martial arts how many other athletic activities do things exactly the same way they did 40-50 years ago?

 

[dortiz]

The Amish

 

[Skippy]

How many times have you heard TKD has very few Techniques? or those techs are from Hapkido or Karate or something else? I mean back in the early years TKD that I took had alot of techniques and it seem it just keeps getting smaller and smaller with each year, why is this?

Like others here have already mentioned,


In recent years Taekwondo, at least here in the States has been more or less molded into a sport & marketed towards attracting children. Kind of like what I've already said on other Taekwondo related threads here,Like Little League, AYSO & Pee Wee Football. (Whoops! Lot's of folks here going to really hate my gut's for saying this but then the truth always hurts!)

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Aside from martial arts how many other athletic activities do things exactly the same way they did 40-50 years ago?

Good point , but I get the feeling with martial arts (particularly TKD) , that people make changes just for the fun of it and to try and make a name for themselves by putting their stamp on it. I dont want to start another sport v martial art debate but the bottom line is that tkd teaches self defence and I believe that if a "modern" tkdist had to defend themself against a tkdist trained like they did it in the 60's it is pretty obvious who would win and that is why I question all the changes as they just dont seem necessary in my opinion.

 

[FLTKD]

I have a question, but I don't want to start a thread on it and it kind of fits here. When I was studing under my Grandmaster It was forbidden to visit or partake in another dojangs class. At the time I really didn't see a need to. My question is what if anything was different, I mean we would start with stretching, paddle drills, shield drills, punches, blocks, poomsae, self defense and finish with non contact sparring. The classes were always the same. No change. You worked on the cirrculum for your gup level. I figured because he was an older Korean that that was the way it was done, so I didn't think twice. Repatition is the road to mastery! But was I on the tale end of his teaching? Was he just being lazy? I mean what else is there, am I missing it? How were your classes, the same?

 

[dancingalone]

But was I on the tale end of his teaching? Was he just being lazy? I mean what else is there, am I missing it? How were your classes, the same?

I'm inclined to think he was for the most part teaching the way he himself had been taught.

At its face, what you describe ' stretching, paddle drills, shield drills, punches, blocks, poomsae, self defense and finish with non contact sparring' is pretty much the same that any tradional striking art will teach with the exception of non-contact sparring. (All the dojos or dojangs I trained in the past all permitted contact, some even to a great extent.)

The devil is in the details of all those things. How comprehensive is the coverage of these topics? What is the intensity level of the class? How focused is the teacher to making and training effective fighters? It is these things that separates a true fighting system from a martial exercise curriculum.

 

[FLTKD]

I'm inclined to think he was for the most part teaching the way he himself had been taught.

At its face, what you describe ' stretching, paddle drills, shield drills, punches, blocks, poomsae, self defense and finish with non contact sparring' is pretty much the same that any tradional striking art will teach with the exception of non-contact sparring. (All the dojos or dojangs I trained in the past all permitted contact, some even to a great extent.)

The devil is in the details of all those things. How comprehensive is the coverage of these topics? What is the intensity level of the class? How focused is the teacher to making and training effective fighters? It is these things that separates a true fighting system from a martial exercise curriculum.

If to say that every techniques were broken down and explained in detail , then no. The intensity for me was always high,but not to say that that was a requirement for all. We didn't do Olympic sparring, we just sparred but full contact ( with gear) on Friday. The non contact was mainly for those who didn't attend that class. I know all teaching styles are different, but I was just wondering.
Thanks

 

[dortiz]

" It was forbidden to visit or partake in another dojangs class. "

Odd because many of the early pioneers did just that. At the same time..

1. It is important to learn the basics of an art without distraction.
2. Sucks to lose students to another school they train at.
3. Annoying to hear " but I saw them doing it this way".

Not right or wrong but understandable.

Dave O.

 

[dortiz]

There is a huge difference in drilling through techniques versus doing them and then every time running through applications. It makes you think much differently.

Dave O.

 

[dancingalone]

There is a huge difference in drilling through techniques versus doing them and then every time running through applications. It makes you think much differently.

Dave O.

Agreed. The phrase 'a block is really a strike' is often bandied around. And yet this seeming jewel of a statement is just one facet to the overall puzzle. The best schools I believe are the ones that teach all motions, whether striking or grabbing or paradoxically avoiding, are just a way of maintaining connection to one's stimulus. (I say stimulus instead of attacker because the distinction helps you work towards the level of being effective against multiple assailants.) The pedestrian instructors in my opinion think of things in terms of him and me. The better ones understand why the correct pronoun should be 'us'. And once one gets this, the concept of martial arts style becomes irrelevant.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I have a question, but I don't want to start a thread on it and it kind of fits here. When I was studing under my Grandmaster It was forbidden to visit or partake in another dojangs class. At the time I really didn't see a need to. My question is what if anything was different, I mean we would start with stretching, paddle drills, shield drills, punches, blocks, poomsae, self defense and finish with non contact sparring. The classes were always the same. No change. You worked on the cirrculum for your gup level. I figured because he was an older Korean that that was the way it was done, so I didn't think twice. Repatition is the road to mastery! But was I on the tale end of his teaching? Was he just being lazy? I mean what else is there, am I missing it? How were your classes, the same?

I can totally relate to the part where you said "It was forbidden to visit or partake in another dojangs class. At the time I really didn't see a need to". My club does not look kindly on those who train elsewhere and when I first started I thought that was a very narrow minded way of looking at things. Years on and I really dont see any point in training elsewhere as I dont feel our training is lacking anything (unless you want to do sport tkd , then my club would not suit). I dont know if it is the old way of thinking or if our GM is just stubborn and doesnt want people bringing in conflicting ideas that they picked up elsewhere. I think it comes down to the fact that our GM believes he teaches a very complete tkd system and that if a student feels they need to train elsewhere that he has somehow failed them. Either way , I may consider dabbling in another art at some point to continue my development but I cant see me ever wanting to train at another tkd club.

 

[punisher73]

Back to the original topic...

I have met two different people in LE through my career that were very good fighters. Both of them came from a traditional TKD background. They trained it for self-defense and they were trained in the early 70's or so when training was very brutal.

If I had not met those two (limited exposure to the art on my part) I would probably judge TKD by the McDojo's I see in our town. It is the way the art is taught that makes or breaks it, along with how someone trains the art to make it their own.