non-contact traditional Taekwondo

Samurai Mind

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Does anyone else here train in non-contact traditional Taekwondo? I recently joined such of a school and see some red flags. It's part of an independent organization with a lot of schools in my region of the US which seems like a non-contact version of ITF. We practice Chon Ji etc. so ITF patterns. Competitions are non- contact sparring divisions and board breaking along with forms. You aren't allowed to compete in competitions outside of our association. I like the instructors a lot and all of the other students but when it comes to a technical standpoint, I feel the instructors and other black belt students don't have great technique. I started Taekwondo because I like the history of the art and wanted to learn solid and aesthetically pleasing kicking technique. I like Taekwondo's lifestyle a lot and plan to train it my entire life. I'm currently in my 30's. When I look at Kukkiwon schools in my area the black belts and instructors have great kicking technique. I'm more interested in training Taekwondo with contact. We don't have any competitive ITF semi-contact schools in my area. Only two traditional non-contact Taekwondo schools and the rest of the schools in my area are Kukkiwon. My question is am I in a mcdojo? I'm not under any contracts or anything. The skill level seems kind of suspect is all. They train great with patterns but when it comes to physical skill level it doesn't seem like it's there. I trained in amatuer boxing in my early 20's so I have decent hands already. Do you think I should switch to a kukkiwon school?
 

skribs

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I know some schools that primarily teach students that must avoid injury (soldiers, doctors, etc.) will go fully noncontact. My school is noncontact for the first few belts.

I always say you should choose a school, not an art. If you don't like the ITF schools in the area, give the KKW schools a try.
 

MadMartigan

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I always say you should choose a school, not an art. If you don't like the ITF schools in the area, give the KKW schools a try.
Skribs said it right. Choose a good school that meets what you're looking for. Why not try the KKW school?

Conversely, when someone says "traditional tkd' my brain translates that to 'Korean Karate'. If you're looking for a good mix of solid kicking and moderate contact sparring, why not try a traditional karate club?
 

Earl Weiss

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When I started we were aligned with Pioneer Han Cha Kyo who was one of the original ITF pioneers. His philosophy was non contact. When he left the ITF we stayed. Contact was an eye opener and game changer. BTW this was Taekwon-Do, not Taekwondo.
 

Xue Sheng

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Does anyone else here train in non-contact traditional Taekwondo? I recently joined such of a school and see some red flags. It's part of an independent organization with a lot of schools in my region of the US which seems like a non-contact version of ITF. We practice Chon Ji etc. so ITF patterns. Competitions are non- contact sparring divisions and board breaking along with forms. You aren't allowed to compete in competitions outside of our association. I like the instructors a lot and all of the other students but when it comes to a technical standpoint, I feel the instructors and other black belt students don't have great technique. I started Taekwondo because I like the history of the art and wanted to learn solid and aesthetically pleasing kicking technique. I like Taekwondo's lifestyle a lot and plan to train it my entire life. I'm currently in my 30's. When I look at Kukkiwon schools in my area the black belts and instructors have great kicking technique. I'm more interested in training Taekwondo with contact. We don't have any competitive ITF semi-contact schools in my area. Only two traditional non-contact Taekwondo schools and the rest of the schools in my area are Kukkiwon. My question is am I in a mcdojo? I'm not under any contracts or anything. The skill level seems kind of suspect is all. They train great with patterns but when it comes to physical skill level it doesn't seem like it's there. I trained in amatuer boxing in my early 20's so I have decent hands already. Do you think I should switch to a kukkiwon school?

Traditional?
Do you train joint locks, close in fighting, and takedowns?

I trained what I would call traditional TKD, before it was an olympic sport, in the 70s with Jae Hun Kim and that is what we trained along with the high kicks. But we had contact sparing as well
 

Monkey Turned Wolf

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If they're fully non-contact, and preventing you from training other styles (my guess based on not allowed to enter other competitions), you're not going to learn everything you need. Contact of some sort is needed to refine your technique, especially at the beginning, and to learn proper distancing.

The fact that they don't allow you to participate in competitions outside of their org suggests to me they're aware that as a whole they're not teaching you the skills you would need to actually fight with, and this is their way of keeping that a secret.
 

super saiyan 4

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Does anyone else here train in non-contact traditional Taekwondo? I recently joined such of a school and see some red flags. It's part of an independent organization with a lot of schools in my region of the US which seems like a non-contact version of ITF. We practice Chon Ji etc. so ITF patterns. Competitions are non- contact sparring divisions and board breaking along with forms. You aren't allowed to compete in competitions outside of our association. I like the instructors a lot and all of the other students but when it comes to a technical standpoint, I feel the instructors and other black belt students don't have great technique. I started Taekwondo because I like the history of the art and wanted to learn solid and aesthetically pleasing kicking technique. I like Taekwondo's lifestyle a lot and plan to train it my entire life. I'm currently in my 30's. When I look at Kukkiwon schools in my area the black belts and instructors have great kicking technique. I'm more interested in training Taekwondo with contact. We don't have any competitive ITF semi-contact schools in my area. Only two traditional non-contact Taekwondo schools and the rest of the schools in my area are Kukkiwon. My question is am I in a mcdojo? I'm not under any contracts or anything. The skill level seems kind of suspect is all. They train great with patterns but when it comes to physical skill level it doesn't seem like it's there. I trained in amatuer boxing in my early 20's so I have decent hands already. Do you think I should switch to a kukkiwon school?
A little light contact is all you need
 

isshinryuronin

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I trained what I would call traditional TKD, before it was an olympic sport, in the 70s with Jae Hun Kim and that is what we trained along with the high kicks. But we had contact sparing as well
I worked with TDK guys in Burbank (1969) and Denver (1974) and those schools were hard core and rugged. Since this was before J. Rhee popularized the use of foam hand/head/foot pads, the contact was usually moderate but still bruising. Sparring looked much different than today's more refined "sterile" approach.
 
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Samurai Mind

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I'm gonna give a kikkiwon school a try that's actually closer to my house than the current school I'm at. They are a more modern TKD dojang under USAT/ WT. They have competitors who compete in the state championships and nationals so it's a competition school so to speak. I would assume it will be more of what I'm looking for. Thanks guys I appreciate all of the advice.
 

Xue Sheng

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I worked with TDK guys in Burbank (1969) and Denver (1974) and those schools were hard core and rugged. Since this was before J. Rhee popularized the use of foam hand/head/foot pads, the contact was usually moderate but still bruising. Sparring looked much different than today's more refined "sterile" approach.

Due to the impending Olympic thing for TKD, some of his students started asking for padding like the Olympics would use. His initial response was to laugh at them and say "There is no padding in a fight"
 

isshinryuronin

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Due to the impending Olympic thing for TKD, some of his students staInterestinrted asking for padding like the Olympics would use. His initial response was to laugh at them and say "There is no padding in a fight"
Most of us at that time hated those pads, turning us into something like the "Michelin man." It really changed the fighting style in tournaments. (From my observations, it reduced minor injuries, but the medium ones increased as more recklessness was encouraged; serious ones seemed unchanged.) While we went along with it there, no pads were ever seen inside our dojo.
 

Xue Sheng

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Most of us at that time hated those pads, turning us into something like the "Michelin man." It really changed the fighting style in tournaments. (From my observations, it reduced minor injuries, but the medium ones increased as more recklessness was encouraged; serious ones seemed unchanged.) While we went along with it there, no pads were ever seen inside our dojo.

Mr Kim gave in and got pads...from Korea...he also separated the class into those who wanted the traditional stuff and those that wanted the olympic stuff. For a time you could go back and forth between them and I went to the olympic side one class for sparring. I put on the chest protector from Korea and when I got hit...it hurt more than not wearing the pad. That pad was made of bamboo staves covered by a little padding and all it did was spread the pain to your entire torso, instead of just where you were hit. I stayed traditional after that, He eventually got different pads, but I never used them
 

lc224

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Traditional?
Do you train joint locks, close in fighting, and takedowns?

I trained what I would call traditional TKD, before it was an olympic sport, in the 70s with Jae Hun Kim and that is what we trained along with the high kicks. But we had contact sparing as well
That's my school J.H.Kim. I like the mix they still teach there with light contact, full contact and traditional forms.
 

Xue Sheng

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That's my school J.H.Kim. I like the mix they still teach there with light contact, full contact and traditional forms.

Awesome. I was there in the mid 70s and early 80s. He has a lot more schools today than he did when I was there. Or at least he did last time I check his webpage.
 

Brandon Miller

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Skribs said it right. Choose a good school that meets what you're looking for. Why not try the KKW school?

Conversely, when someone says "traditional tkd' my brain translates that to 'Korean Karate'. If you're looking for a good mix of solid kicking and moderate contact sparring, why not try a traditional karate club?
What would be a good Karate style that you suggest? I like Kyokushin but the only dojo we have in the entire state doesn’t have the best quality anymore since the Shihan moved to Arizona a year ago so the quality went down. It’s the only karate school I’m familiar with here. I’d be open to checking out some karate dojo’s. We have a few Shotokan schools I believe. Next week I’m checking out a top Kukkiwon competition oriented school that has some good competitors.
 

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