Is Tae Kwon Do useful

[white belt]

Noonesfool,

I don't expect the name and phone number! I know the potential problems inherit. I like to get a general idea of these places in case a student of mine transfers. It sounds, from your descriptions, that the shelf life is near it's expiration anyway. Gets my DoBok in a bunch hearing about someone who really wants to learn good TKD (like you) getting ripped off. PA., huh?!

Again, Good Luck!
white belt

 

[noonesfool]

They enter tournaments and supposedly have a few students that competed in the olympics.
At testing the whitebelts from other schools were kind of worse than me.
The only reason I was better was because of kung fu.
A few of the other schools pumped out better people.
Lots of inconsistent training it seemed to me.
If you enter tournaments then you will probably run into them.
I'm thinking about finding another school and do TKD a few days a week just to enter to beat the spit out of them.
I'm not staying in that school or another location because they are not to be trusted.
I'm really thin and flexible so I pick this stuff up fast and execute with little error.
I was promoted after one month in kung fu because he said I was very good just need proper instruction and that I learn fast.

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

Originally posted by TKDman

TKDman, that's funny. You hit the mark..
:lol:

 

[arnisador]

I read in a "Illustrated Dict. of Special Forces" book this evening that all South Korean SF personnel must be TKD black belts--can anyone comment on that? Is it still so?

 

[LBB]

"It´s not what you train, it´s HOW you train!!"
In the club in which I am instructor we train WTF.We are not exceptionel tournament/olympic style figthers, but we love to train and fight!!We train low kicks,take-downs,sub-mission figthing,street orientated figthing and so on.And off course classic and modern TKD.As said we are not getting a lot of metal, nor in fight or poomse tournaments.In "no-rules" situations though, I think we kick more *** than most danish TKD clubs, and at the same time we are loyal to the art we all love:Taekwondo!!!

 

[Langdow]

I read in a "Illustrated Dict. of Special Forces" book this evening that all South Korean SF personnel must be TKD black belts--can anyone comment on that? Is it still so?

Actually it isn't just the SF personel. TKD is actually a class while kids go to school, and they will get their black belt in that class if they choose to take it. Once they've graduated if the don't go to university they must join the army where they WILL get their TKD black belt regardless.
In south Korea just about everyone has TKD black belt it's no big thing over there

 

[arnisador]

I knew it was widespread but I didn't realize quite how much!

 

[Infight]

well lets go for it:

BJJ - one-o-one, almost unbeatable, many joints locks and chokes. No use against many
Sanbo - good leg locks, not good pratice of arm locks or chokes, rather pratice BJJ. NO use against many
Wrestling - good one to pin ( do you wanna pin your enemy?), has some chokes and locks, but rather BJJ. No use against many
Muay Thai - Best striking martial art to self defense, good kicks and punchs, as effective usage of Knees and elbows. Hard time against grapplers
Karate - Could be a good one, but pratice styles like Kyokushin, more combative. almost as good as thai. Hard time against grapplers
Judo - modern judo is very effective in a one-o-one fight, has good ground work and of course the best on take down. Can be used against many and grapplers, but not as effective as individuals like BJJ and Thai.
Krav Maga - good strikes, strong and objetive, has some locks too, but its difficult to find a place to pratice. But i still rather to pratice some of striking and ground above.
Aikido - raise your spirit, thats all. sucks as self defense
Capoeira - do you like ballet? so do it - sucks as self defense
Any kind, form, way, type and etc of Kung Fu - just works on movies, this is a Bruce Lee **** ( why americans like so much this skinny chinese guy?). If you want to copy an animal go to zoo and keep there until you screem like some wierd bird.


Now the best self defense of all:Shooting pratice - has a longe range techniques, as a shot range one, good agains many guys or a lone fight, good against grapplers and strikers, if you hard train, you can kill in one strike. Best technique: .380 and .045 in my humble opinion, they are both light, fast and deadly.

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by arnisador
I knew it was widespread but I didn't realize quite how much!

But there's a difference

Just like someone coming from MIT is viewed higher up than someone from ITT who is still viewed higher than a GED, where you got it plays a big role.

I don't remember TKD being a class in Korea, and yes, I've attended school there. School is as long as the typical American school day, but then you stay an extra 3-5 hours for extra studying which really shouldn't be called "extra" because everyone has to do it (for HS students). I attended primary school for 3rd and 4th grade over there, but I don't remember HS students having a TKD class at school. You would do some KMA (KMA general/yudo/hapkido) but it never was a class.

In Korea, in HS, you don't move from class to class every period like in the US. You stay put in that classroom and the teachers move.

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by Infight
well lets go for it:

BJJ - one-o-one, almost unbeatable, many joints locks and chokes. No use against many
Sanbo - good leg locks, not good pratice of arm locks or chokes, rather pratice BJJ. NO use against many
Wrestling - good one to pin ( do you wanna pin your enemy?), has some chokes and locks, but rather BJJ. No use against many
Muay Thai - Best striking martial art to self defense, good kicks and punchs, as effective usage of Knees and elbows. Hard time against grapplers
Karate - Could be a good one, but pratice styles like Kyokushin, more combative. almost as good as thai. Hard time against grapplers
Judo - modern judo is very effective in a one-o-one fight, has good ground work and of course the best on take down. Can be used against many and grapplers, but not as effective as individuals like BJJ and Thai.
Krav Maga - good strikes, strong and objetive, has some locks too, but its difficult to find a place to pratice. But i still rather to pratice some of striking and ground above.
Aikido - raise your spirit, thats all. sucks as self defense
Capoeira - do you like ballet? so do it - sucks as self defense
Any kind, form, way, type and etc of Kung Fu - just works on movies, this is a Bruce Lee **** ( why americans like so much this skinny chinese guy?). If you want to copy an animal go to zoo and keep there until you screem like some wierd bird.


Now the best self defense of all:Shooting pratice - has a longe range techniques, as a shot range one, good agains many guys or a lone fight, good against grapplers and strikers, if you hard train, you can kill in one strike. Best technique: .380 and .045 in my humble opinion, they are both light, fast and deadly.

Your statement shows much of your character:

Not only do you know little about MA and fighting in general, but you know little of firearms also. Any person with experience knows that arts don't match up, that is one concept you still have to learn.

.380? You've got to be kidding me. .045? You meant .45. Way to go!

 

[Nightingale]

1. get out of the contract... your instructor has already breached it since he didn't deliver the self defense you asked for.

2. find a new school.

3. talk to the head instructor. Ask him for a two week evaluation period, and pay for two weeks only. Don't sign anything other than a liability release form. You're not looking for private lessons here, just for two weeks of the usual group classes you'd be getting if you were a regular contracted student. If they want to know why you will only join for two weeks, explain that you got screwed by your last instructor and want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen. Most reputable instructors will agree to this. The ones that know they have a shoddy program usually won't agree. Its a good way to gauge. A reputable instructor won't be worried taht you're a spy from another school, because good teachers know it takes more than two weeks to learn an art.

best of luck. Personally, I'd recommend kenpo for self defense, but only cause it works very well for me (I've used it on the street and it saved my ***). I don't have a whole lot of experience with other arts, but I did a lot of research before I took kenpo, and I do have a few years of TKD in there as well.

I've seen Kenpo guys kick TKD butt... and I've seen TKD guys kick some Kenpo tail around the ring as well. It has to do with the skill of the individual, the skill of the teacher, and finally, the quality of the art... TKD is for some people, kenpo is for others. Its a matter of personal preference more than anything else.

 

[Infight]

Originally posted by MartialArtist
Your statement shows much of your character:

Not only do you know little about MA and fighting in general, but you know little of firearms also. Any person with experience knows that arts don't match up, that is one concept you still have to learn.

.380? You've got to be kidding me. .045? You meant .45. Way to go!

LOL, Really? they dont match up? And you say that i just know a little about MA. and youre right its .45. Thats a common talking of a TKD guys, i bet you pratice that. I dont know why that happens, even here in Brazil, they are too jealous of BJJ gyms, with no reasons, cause we just dont care about them.

 

[phlaw]

I am very sorry you were not happy with tae kwon Do, I had a bad experience when I first started Tae Kwon DO in college back in 1992. The instructor cared about tournaments and trophies and I wanted self defense, I was about to quit when another student recommend another TKD instructor in town.

I am sure glad he did, my current instructor still does tournaments but it is not his main focus, plus he teaches TRADITIONAL Tae Kwon Do and was a student of Grand Master Moo Yong Yun, we also mix in Hapkido, Grappling, Hwa Wrang Do and KumDo Sword fighting.

Good Luck to you!

 

[celtic bhoy]

I have had two itf tkd instructors from different associations. Both of them preached about how the vietcong were terrified of the koreans because of their tkd skills,during the vietnam war. Yet all I have been taught by both of them was patterns and competition sparring.

I am a 5th kup now and so far the self defense training has been absent from the training syllabus. Surely the koreans didn't spar against the vietcong!

 

[Zepp]

Originally posted by celtic bhoy
I have had two itf tkd instructors from different associations. Both of them preached about how the vietcong were terrified of the koreans because of their tkd skills,during the vietnam war. Yet all I have been taught by both of them was patterns and competition sparring.

I am a 5th kup now and so far the self defense training has been absent from the training syllabus. Surely the koreans didn't spar against the vietcong!

I was unaware that Korean soldiers were ever in Vietnam.

Have you spoken to your instructors about this? As far as I know the ITF does have some self-defense drills. You should ask to learn some.

Then again, there are lots of TKD McDojo's out there. If you don't think you're getting your money's worth, you shouldn't hesitate to watch some other martial arts classes in your area.

Take a look at the TKD and Hapkido thread in this forum where we've been discussing this kind of thing.

 

[Disco]

Originally posted by noonesfool
I tried getting kicked out by spitting at the grand master when he signed my certificate.

Nobody else picked up on this? Noonesfool, I/we know your frustrated with this TKD school, but there were other options you could have availed yourself of without lowering yourself to their level. It apparently served no purpose because you were not asked to leave. I assume you were trying to get them to break the contract by throwing you out. You were lucky that you did'nt get yourself in trouble or even hurt with that stunt. I hope that your new instructor and school afford you what you want and I hope they will renew the martial arts tenents, one of which is respect for other's.


:asian:

 

[ThuNder_FoOt]

Originally posted by Infight
LOL, Really? they dont match up? And you say that i just know a little about MA. and youre right its .45. Thats a common talking of a TKD guys, i bet you pratice that. I dont know why that happens, even here in Brazil, they are too jealous of BJJ gyms, with no reasons, cause we just dont care about them.

And are your views not biased towards BJJ gyms?

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by arnisador
I knew it was widespread but I didn't realize quite how much!

The belts are viewed differently however.

Most kids don't care for TKD nowadays, and a black belt from their school isn't as viewed as highly as if it came from a respected dojang. Yeah, they might be affiliated with the same organizations, but the instruction is minimal and stripped down at the local school.

I haven't heard of a black belt required by all military personnel, but I do know that Special Forces do have to be black belts. And they're version of TKD is combat oriented, none of the tag-w/-foot stuff. Well, combat TKD is basically a more logical and scientific version of TKD, with hapkido, yudo, boxing, and freestyle wrestling. Emphasis is on striking as in combat, hand-to-hand combat is rare and even so, try grappling when you're carrying a rifle, secondary weapon, knife, etc. when you're in a danger zone. One thing that is taught in the military is to use all the tools you have. So if you have a rifle w/ a bayonnet, why not use it as a weapon? Getting hit by the butt of even a relatively light plastic/polymer/alloy weapons of today can hurt. But again, it's all hypothetical. Hand-to-hand fighting is rare.

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by Infight
LOL, Really? they dont match up? And you say that i just know a little about MA. and youre right its .45. Thats a common talking of a TKD guys, i bet you pratice that. I dont know why that happens, even here in Brazil, they are too jealous of BJJ gyms, with no reasons, cause we just dont care about them.

Hmmm... Could it be Brazil has one of the top BJJ schools in the world that nobody can match up to them in Brazil? Yeah, many schools all around the world should be jealous of some BJJ schools in Brazil, no arguing on that, but open your eyes.

Yeah, I practice TKD, and yeah, I get beat up by BJJ guys so I have to rant here

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by celtic bhoy
I have had two itf tkd instructors from different associations. Both of them preached about how the vietcong were terrified of the koreans because of their tkd skills,during the vietnam war. Yet all I have been taught by both of them was patterns and competition sparring.

I am a 5th kup now and so far the self defense training has been absent from the training syllabus. Surely the koreans didn't spar against the vietcong!

Not really. North Korea, an "ally" if you can call them that with the Communists at the time kinda avoided the situation. South Korea didn't have that much time to spend on the situation. The Koreans that saw action were the Korean-Americans in the US military.

And spar? No. When you have bullets whizzing around your head, my first thought wouldn't be helling "kiyap" and getting into a fighting stance. But then again, I never had bullets whizzing around my head where the gun was aimed at me, so who knows what I might do. :rofl: