Fighting

[Laborn]

Well, my instructer trains me for tournament fighting, i've been to 4 tournaments and the state championship, and im entering junior olympics in a few months, would tournament style fighting be effective if i got jumped on the street? thanks

 

[Bammx2]

No.

The techniques might be good....
but if you have never done any type of full contact training,you won't know how to actually deliver a "street effective" technique.
Heavy bag work is good start.
You get to "feel" the difference between hitting and "touching" for points.
AND....
no street fight EVER followed tournament rules.
Thats a whole different world!
Your training is not a waste.It has given you a good foundation to start with and just takes a little tweaking.
If you want to make the transition....ask your instructor.
If he can't help,there will always be some one who can

 

[Eldritch Knight]

Agreed. It might actually worsen your ability on the street, since you're so practiced in tapping with your kicks instead of pushing through. When I was younger, I trained in tournament-style sparring when and found that it was so ingrained into me that I couldn't even kick through a B.O.B. dummy even if I wanted to. It took some effort to actually break out of that mindset. If you're looking at street defense, you may want to learn some groundfighting and more hand attacks to complement the kicking.

 

[Laborn]

I agree, that is why I personally train my self to (push through* and the sparring in tournaments are pretty hard core, very hard hitting, I almost knocked a guy out in my tourny, and I almost got knocked out in my third my instructer always says *dont stop at the target, go through the target* I work out alot, actually more then I do at taekwondo, jog, jump rope, bag training, swimming excersizes, I train with a hacki sack ect. But what training could I do at home that would prepare me for the street, or should I go into another style?

 

[Andrew Green]

Spend a little time in a boxing gym.

TKD's biggest weakspot is its upperbody. That and dealing with people punching you in the face

It can work in reality just fine, providing you can keep things "where" you want them, and the biggest obstacle to that is not being familliar with the other places it can go. So it would become a issue of style vs style. If someone drives in hard and gets a hold of you, then starts punching, or tries to tackle you... then starts punching you. Are you prepared for that?

 

[searcher]

Spend a little time in a boxing gym.

TKD's biggest weakspot is its upperbody. That and dealing with people punching you in the face

It can work in reality just fine, providing you can keep things "where" you want them, and the biggest obstacle to that is not being familliar with the other places it can go. So it would become a issue of style vs style. If someone drives in hard and gets a hold of you, then starts punching, or tries to tackle you... then starts punching you. Are you prepared for that?

That is some very good advice!! It will also help with your conditioning as well.

 

[Laborn]

Actually I think I am prepared for that, I train alot, too much actually, if someone gets me on the ground i'll use my elbes on him, i've trained my self to use my leggs, but if they et close use my elboes knees, I am experienced in many styles, i use some karate punches, taekwondo kicks, and i use some muy tai kicks *I saw and studied somemuy tai on the web, and I thought it was useful to use your shins so I started getting my shins harder, and prepared to use for a fight, so im trying to prepare my whole body incase that circumstance arizes, I know that just taekwondo wont help me live through a fight, unless you're very fast with your lower body lol.

 

[Laborn]

Muy Thai lol

 

[Andrew Green]

if someone gets me on the ground i'll use my elbes on him

In that case maybe some time in a BJJ/ mma club. Elbowing off your back is not usually the first thing you should be thinking.

 

[Laborn]

True, I work alot on my heavy bag, using all kinds of teqs, elboes, knees, shins, kicks punches ect, would practicing on a bag help at all?

btw thanks for your help

 

[Andrew Green]

A bag will get your power up, but what gets a lot of people, even ones that do spar hard, is having someone come at you aggressively in a way that is outside the rules of your sparring. Example would be someone just bull rushing you, tackle, and start pounding from the top. Even a very skilled fighter can get surprised and end up in a place they didn't want to, and unless you are familliar with that place and how to recover from it while getting punched you're in really big trouble, as oppose to just big trouble you'd be in if you where familliar with it

 

[Laborn]

yeah lol very true, unless I could knock them out before they get to me *which most likely wont happen *that's why I want to learn ground work, but all taekwondo teaches is kickinjg lol

 

[Miles]

You are training in Olympic style Taekwondo so you are supposed to be hitting full-contact (though perhaps since you have not reached 1st dan you may not be using full WTF rules...different schools/States do things differently).

However, even if using Jr Safety Rules, you are still getting in excellent physical condition. I doubt there are many street fighters who can go 3 minutes all out as does the typical WTF fighter for just 1 round.

You are also learning distance control and footwork in your tournament training. This is very important so you maintain your opponent at your optimal distance, not his/hers. You are also learning how to hit moving targets, like people on the street.

You are learning environmental awareness-you know where you are in the ring at all times, where the judges are positioned, how much time is left, etc. This is also training you to be aware outside the ring-in the street.

If you do full WTF rules, you are learning how to give a full contact shot (and dealing with the resultant reaction force) as well as take a hard shot. Some have said do more work on your hand techniques-if you do cover punch drills, you know how to punch hard wihtout hurting your wrist. It is not a difficult transition technique-wise to punch someone in the head when you have practiced punching to the body.

You are also likely learning how to deal with adrenaline dump-I don't know anyone who does tournaments who does not have a case of the jitters before a match. This will help you deal with it when or if it happens on the street.

In doing full-contact WTF TKD, you are essentially trying to knock out someone as they are trying to knock out you. I think that is about what happens on the street as well.

So, yes, your tournament training is going to help you in the street.

Miles

 

[evenflow1121]

If you are training Olympic Style TKD then you are mostly limited to the body in competition, your chest protector, though your face protector may take a kick or two. The guy on the street is going to hit you whereever he feels like it. Tournament fighting and self defense are like night and day, I say this because a lot of the guys that teach tourney fighting or sport karate also state that it is self defense, it can be, Ive seen some guys teach both, but it mostly is not taught that way, that is you are only taught how to win a trophy. Boxing suggestion is very wise, boxers are some of the best streetfighters because they are so close quartered.

 

[TX_BB]

Concentrate on one thing at a time. It's been my experience in TKD that the sport is taught first and the art is learned at a much slower pace throughout the black belt process.

In a full TKD curicula you should have both one-step sparring and ho shin sul, this would incorporate sweeps and joint locks into you basic sparring. This plus your current training should be adequate in defending yourself from most unarmed assailants.

Like in sparring I cann't tell who's going to win but you can always stack the odd's in your favor.

Good luck in your MA career.

 

[Adept]

A street fighter usually doesn't need to go for three minutes. Their idea of a fight is usually to belt you in the head with a bar stool when you aren't looking.

My advice for improving your self defense skills would be to get to look around for any school, of any style, that does 'realistic' training. You should do scenario training, and your opponents should be resisting, inovating, and really trying to upset you.

 

[searcher]

Adept has made a very good point about the scenario training. If there are no schools in your immediate area that do Adrenal-stress training you should look up Peyton Quinn at the Rocky Mountain Combat Application Training center, the RMCAT. They have weekend and week long training and they do a wonderful job.

As for your original question. Your training is better than having nothing at all, but you should consider looking into cross-training at other schools in your area. You might also go around and start asking other martial artists if they would like to do weekend training at a local park or gym. Most of the time you will have plenty of willing training partners to work with. You can also look into taking some seminars to supplement your TKD. You can never tell what you might gain. Good luck in your search.

 

[TX_BB]

Finish your black belt and join the navy see if you can cut it as a SEAL. Fours years with them will prepare you for most street situations. There are alot of wanna bee's out there, alot of unproven crooks why not learn where they'll pay you, to train and prove yourself.

 

[Miles]

A street fighter usually doesn't need to go for three minutes. Their idea of a fight is usually to belt you in the head with a bar stool when you aren't looking.

Laborn is 15yrs old. He's avoiding the "bar stool bushwack" by virtue of his age. If he is a serious competitor, he won't frequent bars when he is old enough to do so.

But given his age, isn't it more likely that he'd be accosted by a group in a schoolyard? Wouldn't the stamina derived from his current training be beneficial in that scenario? Don't you think it is better to be in good shape even if he is only training for self defense?

Miles

 

[Adept]

Laborn is 15yrs old. He's avoiding the "bar stool bushwack" by virtue of his age. If he is a serious competitor, he won't frequent bars when he is old enough to do so.

Indeed. My point though, was that most street predators will use some kind of ambush technique, and that mental preparation to identify and avoid potentially dangerous situations is more important than physical conditioning.

But given his age, isn't it more likely that he'd be accosted by a group in a schoolyard?

Probably. That, or some kind of street 'gang' encounter.

Wouldn't the stamina derived from his current training be beneficial in that scenario?

Absolutely. When all other things are equal, the bigger guy wins. This applies across the board to skill, speed, stamina, smarts, etc. If you are otherwise equally matched, then the person with an advantage will win. So one should make every effort to ensure that they are the one with the advantage. Stamina and conditioning is always important.

Don't you think it is better to be in good shape even if he is only training for self defense?

Miles

Certainly. All I was trying to say is that SD training has a large mental component. You have to be assertive, not aggresive. You have to learn how to identify and avoid danger. You have to be alert and aware of your surroundings. You need to have a good repertoire of verbal de-escalation techniques, and you need to have your boundaries and triggers firmly set. And you need the conviction to follow through with action if it is required.