Do you need to destroy your oponente inside the dojang?

Rumy73

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Manny, great question; the answer is no. Sparring should be done safely, respectfully and with control. Whenever I spar with someone new, I say those same things. If a person disagrees and is looking for something else, I shake his hand and go my separate way. If a person I know suddenly gets too aggressive and/or dangerous, I stop the match and sort it out immediately. I will never compromise my safety for someone's ego trip. Sparring is not fighting. While we can use it to simulate parts of it, sparring is an exercise. Hurt people cannot train and do other things in their lives. Anyone coming to dojang with the agenda to hurt someone is in the wrong place. Responsible, higher ranking students should always intervene if they see unsafe, aggressive behavior. They should report it to the school head or designee.
 

Gnarlie

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Then why bother with Olympic sparring. It is completely removed from the reality of fighting?

Because in your words 'sparring is an exercise'. Olympic style sparring is just one element of the KKW structure, the one that allows us to sharpen kicks, timing and footwork in a pressure contact environment where the rules do not hamper kicking. The benefits and skills gained through this exercise are transferable to fighting, when combined with skills developed through other forms of sparring and free format hoshinsool.

Gnarlie
 

Rumy73

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Because in your words 'sparring is an exercise'. Olympic style sparring is just one element of the KKW structure, the one that allows us to sharpen kicks, timing and footwork in a pressure contact environment where the rules do not hamper kicking. The benefits and skills gained through this exercise are transferable to fighting, when combined with skills developed through other forms of sparring and free format hoshinsool.

Gnarlie

I sure hope no one kicks Olympic style in a self defense situation.
 

Gnarlie

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I sure hope no one kicks Olympic style in a self defense situation.

People who understand how the martial art of Taekwondo works in terms of the big picture can take the kicking and general striking principles they have honed through sparring and apply them appropriately in other circumstances.

As for kicking Olympic style, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. You can either kick, or you can't. Where and who you kick is personal choice, nothing to do with a rule set.

Gnarlie
 

Thousand Kicks

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When I said "Train like you fight for you fight like you train" I was thinking of the mental and physical aspects of training.

Even in light/no contact sparring you should be concerned about balance, timing, hitting with the proper area of the foot or hand, hitting specific parts of the body, breath control, etc. These concepts translate to full speed full power sparring/fighting. If you routinely spar without honing these skills, what happens when you fight for real?

And yes, there should be an aspect of training to increase physical toughness. You don't want to be in a tournament, or worse self defense situation and realize "I'm not ready for this." I also said this more intense type of training cannot be done all the time or with every fellow student.

As far as the comments about Olympic style TKD. I could use that logic for any other combat based sport. Why do boxers only train only punches and prepare themselves to fight for 12 rounds...that's not a realistic scenario. Why do Judoka train only grappling...that's not realistic. Why train in Kendo or Kenjutsu (sp) when it is illegal, in the US, to carry around a sword? On and on and on
 

Rumy73

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When I said "Train like you fight for you fight like you train" I was thinking of the mental and physical aspects of training.

Even in light/no contact sparring you should be concerned about balance, timing, hitting with the proper area of the foot or hand, hitting specific parts of the body, breath control, etc. These concepts translate to full speed full power sparring/fighting. If you routinely spar without honing these skills, what happens when you fight for real?

And yes, there should be an aspect of training to increase physical toughness. You don't want to be in a tournament, or worse self defense situation and realize "I'm not ready for this." I also said this more intense type of training cannot be done all the time or with every fellow student.

As far as the comments about Olympic style TKD. I could use that logic for any other combat based sport. Why do boxers only train only punches and prepare themselves to fight for 12 rounds...that's not a realistic scenario. Why do Judoka train only grappling...that's not realistic. Why train in Kendo or Kenjutsu (sp) when it is illegal, in the US, to carry around a sword? On and on and on

Those activities and tkd are martial sports. They may or not have applicability in self defense. Going from sport to real fighting is a mountainous leap.
 

Dirty Dog

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As far as the comments about Olympic style TKD. I could use that logic for any other combat based sport. Why do boxers only train only punches and prepare themselves to fight for 12 rounds...that's not a realistic scenario. Why do Judoka train only grappling...that's not realistic. Why train in Kendo or Kenjutsu (sp) when it is illegal, in the US, to carry around a sword? On and on and on

No, it is not. It may be illegal in some small portion of the US (although I'd have to see actual legal statutes to support such a claim before I believe it) but there is certainly no federal law against carrying a sword.
 

Dirty Dog

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Those activities and tkd are martial sports. They may or not have applicability in self defense. Going from sport to real fighting is a mountainous leap.

This is not true. Taekwondo is a martial art that also includes a subset of techniques used for the sport of taekwondo. The sport is not taekwondo, merely a subset of it.
 

Rumy73

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This is not true. Taekwondo is a martial art that also includes a subset of techniques used for the sport of taekwondo. The sport is not taekwondo, merely a subset of it.

Well in todays world it has devolved to being mostly about sport
 

Dirty Dog

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Well in todays world it has devolved to being mostly about sport

Nonsense. If that is your perception, then the problem is your with perception, not the art of taekwondo.

Show of hands from the people here who teach TKD: anybody teaching a martial sport rather than an art?

Didn't think so...

Even in Colorado Springs, home of the Olympic Training Center, the schools don't teach a martial sport. There may be more stress placed on tournament play in some (though I'd still say it's a minority) but even the most sport oriented schools still teach the art.
The only place I've ever seen pure sport tkd is at the OTC, because (surprise surprise...) they're not teaching tkd; they're training people for a specific competitive event.
 

Dirty Dog

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All due respect, you are wrong.

Really? Then you'll have no problem providing me with the contact information for, say, 5 schools in Colorado that teach a martial sport?
I'll be surprised if you can find even one...

The people here on MT, as well as those I've encountered all over the country pretty much universally disagree with you. Does that tell you anything?
 

Thousand Kicks

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No, it is not. It may be illegal in some small portion of the US (although I'd have to see actual legal statutes to support such a claim before I believe it) but there is certainly no federal law against carrying a sword.

Okay, I should not have posted a general statement like carrying a sword is illegal. Although, in Columbus, OH, the laws around carrying blades is kinda vague. You definitely can't carry switchblades and butterfly knives. You can conceal carry a folder as long as you can make an argument that it is a tool and not a weapon. You can open carry fixed blades if you can make the argument that it is also a tool. I just assumed a sword would be too much of a stretch...and you know what they say about assuming.
 

Rumy73

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Really? Then you'll have no problem providing me with the contact information for, say, 5 schools in Colorado that teach a martial sport?
I'll be surprised if you can find even one...

The people here on MT, as well as those I've encountered all over the country pretty much universally disagree with you. Does that tell you anything?

Tkd is:

1. Business
2. Sport
3. Martial art - sort of
4. Self defense - barely
 

Gorilla

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Some people have a TKD business... some make $ some don't....Depending on the goal!

TKD is a Martial art that has many aspects such as sport, self defense etc.....

Different areas may get a greater emphasis depending on the school and the instructor!
 

Gwai Lo Dan

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Tkd is:

1. Business
2. Sport
3. Martial art - sort of
4. Self defense - barely
The kicking drills done at my previous school were sport based - all above the waist, hands down, no regards for a possible punch to the head. For instance, we would practice front leg roundhouse, finishing say 2 feet from the opponent, where the opponent could punch to the head. I hope kids realized that it was a sports-applicable move.
 

Gorilla

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The kicking drills done at my previous school were sport based - all above the waist, hands down, no regards for a possible punch to the head. For instance, we would practice front leg roundhouse, finishing say 2 feet from the opponent, where the opponent could punch to the head. I hope kids realized that it was a sports-applicable move.

I am sure they understand!!!!
 

granfire

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after they get punched in the mouth the first time, they will.
 

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