Tae Kwon Do As I See It
I love taekwondo, I have loved it since I was 7 years old watching my older brother do his “karate”. I am no expert or master or even very accomplished at this art. However, I am analytical and critical and this applies to all I do. The following is my opinions, and only my opinions on how I see taekwondo today. In no way are these problems unique to taekwondo, however I don’t study every other art, so my knowledge of the them is limited to what I can glean from discussions, reading, and resources like Martial Talk. However, I will be drawing comparisons to the other arts I study, Kodokan & Zen Judo and Kaisho Goshin Budo Jujutsu, when I feel it is pertinent.
Does the art of taekwondo still exist today? I believe it does. Is it the same as it was ten, twenty, or thirty years ago? Absolutely not, all arts evolve over time. I think we would be hard pressed to find an art that has maintained complete integrity. Every art is changed by those who touch it and teach it and to believe otherwise is, I think, a little silly.
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So taekwondo is different, no big deal, right? With evolution being a buzz word these days IÂ’d like to use it here. Tae Kwon Do has evolved, as have other arts, for better or worse. Evolution can bring change that benefits the art and moves it to a higher level of understanding and technique, nothing is perfect in this world and improvement can only be achieved through change. However, change does not always imply improvement. I think a lot of the taekwondo has evolved to fit a habitat and fill a niche that doesnÂ’t really exist anymore, if it ever did in the first place. With the main focus of so many schools being competition it has reduced its attractiveness to many people that are otherwise interested in a martial art. Tae Kwon Do players have a reputation for being extremely flexible and athletic. Of course, a lot of us are, some definitely more than others, but anybody that has put forth serious effort into their training will see great gains areas such as flexibility, speed, endurance, etc. The problem is most people right away assume that we are all just born with it and they could never do it. The thing they donÂ’t realize is that these traits are benefits, not prerequisites of training. ItÂ’s sad, but the overweight guy sitting in his recliner typing this right now....oops slip up there....anyways, he thinks that he canÂ’t do it so he doesnÂ’t try so he stays out of shape and inactive. Of course this applies to many other activities, including when people see things like competitive judo and people taking these huge breakfalls and landing on their head or getting choked or contorted in disturbing ways. There are the people that see it and are inspired to join a dojang and get in shape, but just like at a health club or gym, the majority of these people disappear when the results arenÂ’t instant and the work isnÂ’t easy.
Unrealistic techniques
Do they exist in taekwondo, absolutely. I think there is a lot of chaff that could be removed. Do we really need to do a 540° spinning hook kick. No. Is it fun? Yes. Sometimes you need to push yourself to a physical limit and have a little fun. The problem arises when schools start teaching these techniques as “practical” self defense methods. That is assuming that they teach self defense at all. I’m still undecided as to which is more dangerous, teaching stupid techniques or completely ignoring the area.
The thing I really find interesting about this situation is that all the problems that people have with taekwondo and its focus on competition are just as prevalent, in my experience, in the world of judo. In judo we call it “Judo Dumb”. It’s the use of competition techniques assuming they apply directly or even indirectly to self defense. Examples include such intelligent moves as turtling against an upright opponent or doing things like cartwheels or round-offs to escape throws. What’s interesting to me is the only derogatory comments I hear about this are from my judo instructors. Why the world has chosen to focus on taekwondo’s problems is beyond me. I would say that these types of things don’t always look as impractical on the surface as do the flashy techniques of taekwondo. Even an untrained eye can spot the biggest flaws with some of the things taekwondo is presenting to the world as a martial art.
Along the same lines is unrealistic training. I believe this different than unrealistic techniques because even good techniques can be practiced badly. Often in taekwondo schools, and I am in no way excluding my own school from this, you see students of all ranks, and some instructors, just going through the motions with no intent, no focus, and no real purpose. None of this is present among the higher belts I train with in judo and jujutsu. We will have class for two hours and stay after for another hour and a half doing randori, walking through techniques, practicing uchi komi, or just discussing the arts in general. We have done this every night, without exception for as long as I have been training.
It seems as if a lot of the taekwondo students donÂ’t even care. I donÂ’t know why they are there. IÂ’ve tried doing the same things we do in judo and jujutsu with some of them and no one is ever interested. As soon as we bow out everyone disappears. Although this could be put off to the fact that most of us are busy college students and we have lots of homework, studying, etc to take care of. This makes sense and is logical except for the fact the my judo and jujutsu clubs are both filled with college students as well.
But I am digressing from the point, back to the issue of unrealistic training. How many times have trained what to do if someone catches your kicks? IÂ’ve seen most taekwondo artists defense against someone catching their kicks....itÂ’s falling down, on their face if IÂ’m in bad mood. Sure we talk about it. Making sure we retract our weapons fast to reduce, and thatÂ’s the key word, the possibility of our kicks being snagged. Reducing is no the same as removing. I donÂ’t know of any school that spends any serious time discussing what happens if it is grabbed and how to prevent getting introduced to the pavement.
This glossing over of important areas of training is also where taekwondo has received its bad reputation for its hand techniques, joint locks, ground fighting, etc. There is too much variability between schools for me to really discuss this issue. But the reputation, is in most cases, probably not undeserved. But taekwondo does have joint locks, and there are throws, and when trained properly its hand techniques can be devastating, and there is groundfighting. By the way, groundfighting does not equal grappling. Place this quote:
“If I’m on the ground grappling with someone, I’ve done something seriously wrong and I need to get my *** back up.”
Anybody? My judo and jujutsu instructor. Hand techniques and kicking work just fine on the ground as long as we train to adapt them to that environment. Most schools teach a lot of this to some degree but usually not enough to be useful to the practitioner. Laying on your back is a whole different world than standing on your feet and unless youÂ’re completely comfortable with it youÂ’re in trouble.
Little Jimmy the 5 year old black belt
I really think this is kind of a gray area and I think taekwondo actually has a good solution. First off, no school that I know of gives a black belt to childrent under the age of 15. However, most do give the rank of Poom, or junior black belt. They are two very different ranks and are in no way equal to each other. In our school, an even an something like an adult green belt technically outranks a poom. However, just because they are young does not mean that they didnÂ’t work their butts off to achieve it and most of them work harder and are more invested in their training than a lot of the adult students. I feel that they need to be recognized for their hard work and this is a good compromise. In my opinion they shouldnÂ’t teach, they shouldnÂ’t be addressed as instructor, but they should be a role model to the other kids in the class and seeing someone around your age achieve something like certainly can help inspire kids to work harder.
However, I will address every junior black belt I meet as sir or maÂ’am. Why shouldnÂ’t I? ItÂ’s exactly how I will address everyone I meet in a martial arts situation whether itÂ’s a six year old white belt or an eighty year old 10th dan. Respect is a two way street and if you donÂ’t show it you donÂ’t deserve it. I will show you the same respect I expect you to show me, regardless of age or rank.
Competition Creep
This is what I like call the effect of competition rules causing changes in the way the art, as well as the sport, is practiced. First of all, I really donÂ’t think there is much wrong with taekwondo competition, except for a few issues IÂ’ll discuss later. It is also hard to separate taekwondo from sparring. Just as itÂ’s almost impossible to separate judo from randori. ItÂ’s in integral part of training. However, when your in class you donÂ’t always have to play by the rules. In judo weÂ’ll allow leg locks, pressure points, and various throws that are illegal in competition because we know in class we are trying to learn, not kill each other. Tae Kwon Do schools should do the same thing. Step outside the rule set in your class and bring in techniques that arenÂ’t allowed in competition.
Another feature of competition creep is slow transition to competition-type techniques in normal class situations. For instance, triple alternating roundhouses can work in a tournament but I donÂ’t think they should be practiced much in class. Practice the basic techniques that are simple and proven effective. Even better, work on using your basic techniques, and foot work from things like one steps and forms in sparring to see how to apply them. DonÂ’t just throw out all the stuff youÂ’ve learned just because you strapped a hogu on.
Finally, speed. Modern taekwondo seems to focus on speed, sometimes to the exclusion of all else. Speed is important, but itÂ’s only one part of the equation. Proper mechanics, footwork, distance, timing all play an important role in the successfulness in an attack.
Speaking of Rules
There are a few things IÂ’d like to see changed to really make sparring more useful for self-defense training. They include, low kicks, open hand techniques, and foot sweeps. Sometimes I think takedowns would be nice, but IÂ’m still undecided on that. This would allow for people to more freely practice using a wider variety of taekwondoÂ’s techniques in a free form basis.
What Do We Get Right?
Kicking. Just figured IÂ’d start out obvious. Not so much high kicks, some of them, not all, are impractical. But the general mechanics and motions we have done so much smoother than a lot of arts. We donÂ’t have a monopoly on kicks, and IÂ’ve picked up some cool ones outside of taekwondo, but since we specialize so much in foot fighting, we better get it right, otherwise we are just wasting our time. Like the time my friend, a black belt in jujutsu, was giving me a slight ribbing about taekwondo. I wasnÂ’t in the best of moods, so before he knew what happened my foot was about an inch from his face. He learned that if you open your mouth about taekwondo you might just end up with our foot in it. It was all good natured, but I still got my point across.
Attitude. As mentioned earlier I’ve found people in taekwondo usually more respectful of other arts. One of my taekwondo instructors said, “No art has it right, not even us. If somebody had it right, we wouldn’t be doing this, we’d be doing that art”.
Promotion. Whether you like it or not, taekwondo has spread extremely well and fast. When taught well it really does offer something for anyone and effective means of self-defense.
You mean thatÂ’s all we got right? Not even close, but IÂ’m tired and have been typing for a very long time. IÂ’ll leave it to the others to tell you about that..
ThatÂ’s my opinion, take it for what itÂ’s worth or donÂ’t.
