I don't think that TKDs kicks are going anywhere, but I don't see anything wrong with getting tied up with your opponent and being able to throw a knee to his midsection.
The big reason that I do not like WTF competition is because it is very restricted...I'm not advocating going out into the ring and gouging your opponents eyes or shattering their knee. But, we spend all this time practicing all the various techniques of tae kwon do and then when we spar so much is disallowed. No open hand strikes, no back fists, no hand contact or even faking to the head with the hands, punches are pretty much discouraged cause they never score. I think the purpose of sparring should be to refine your technique safely in a more realistic situation than just forms and things like one step sparring can provide. There does need to be a tradeoff between safety and realism, but I think the tradeoffs have gone far beyond safety. Full blown kicks to the head are much more dangerous than allowing a backfist or palm strike to the chest protector.
Often when people rag on taekwondoists for only being able to kick and saying if someone ever got in close they'd be done for, people respond with the fact that tae kwon do does use things like elbow and knee strikes and many various other close range techniques. And we certainly do. But when was the last time anybody ever practiced them in a so called "live" situation...not many, I'd guess. Because they aren't practiced as much, the average person is going to have problems using them in a real life situation, if they remember them at all.
