When doing bunkai-using or coming up with idea's for a movement is.
Actually, Bunkai means to take a movement and explain it.. not coming up with ideas just for the sake of giving them meaning! Researching moves is different from pure bunkai!
One needs to think in all directions, not take what is for granted.
Okay thanks, Ill try and remember that!
Example since this thread is about...
My response to your response was that there are no sprawl techniques in TKD, to which you replied there is, stating to "
think in all directions" and offering "
horse stance" as a viable option.
Although in your head this may seem like a good technique to use (a bit like the initial downblock example), in practice it is inherently flawed, as a double leg take down (which the initial post refered to) goes for the thighs and has lots of forward momentum and what ever technique is used as a sprawl or similar needs to move the defenders legs back (which a horse stance doesnt do) to allow the upper bodys weight to drop onto the attackers back aka "the sprawl". Furthermore, simply dropping into horse stance would make no difference to the attack working as anotomically the thighs cannot be spread wide enough to stop both of them still being grabbed, that, the forward momentum of the attack and the lack of stability in the directions needed make it a bad technique to use against such an attack.
You could in theory jump back with both feet at once to create a horse stance whilst falling forward, but then its not a horse stance anymore... but a sprawl or a bad version of it, though unless this is practiced a lot its doubtful it would work anyway.
Like I said, such a technique does not appear in TKD or any TKD patterns that I know of, though thats not to say a "
sprawl" cannot be used in a TKD class. Perhaps Kempo has such a technqiue within its forms, but AFAIK TKD doesnt.
The technique I offered as a viable alternative however does appear in TKD, performed exactly as it is shown in the pattern (hence it is continually practiced as it is used and is ready for the next step of applying resisting oppoenents). It has both the body weight and the legs moving back, and instead of using your upper body to push the opponents down, it uses the palms.
There are other applcations for a down block:
1. Using it as a throwing technique.
2. Joint lock
3. Downward strike
4. a Choke
This list can go on and on.
Thanks, Ill have to get hold of a book and look them up :boing1:
Some sytems of martial arts have taken so much out of their arts, it's become just a kids version of karate. While others have remained true too the orginal arts. I have studied TKD, my instructor in Kempo was a student of General Choi's. What he was taught back in the 60's is like night and day compared to today's TKD.
This all sounds like a very interesting subject for another thread (honestly), but I doubt the sprawl was in 60s TKD, just like its not in there now!
Stuart