Korean Job Discussion Forums

xingyiman · Joined: 12 Jan 2006

??Any thoughts? I've often wondered how we got from Chuck Norris TKD to what the popular perception is today. Is it the west's fault?

Gopher · Joined: 04 Jun 2005

Tae Kwon Do is an Olympic sport and "a gentleman's martial art," like fencing or something similar, as my South Korean master explained it. Why burden it with UFC-related expectations that are bound to lead to disappointment?

xingyiman · Joined: 12 Jan 2006

Allen · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Gunpo

When "masters" started saying:

riverboy · Joined: 03 Jun 2003 Location: Incheon

I told my master that they should allow combination punching to the body for points. He thought it was a good idea.

There is only one way you can score points on punches in TKD. I think that is what takes away from it.

seoulsucker · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject:

I think it got a crap rep about the time they started giving black belts to 2nd graders and soccer moms. The commercialization is what has really hurt the reputation.

Gopher · Joined: 04 Jun 2005

Young FRANKenstein · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:18 pm Post subject:

Bryan · Joined: 29 Oct 2007

Hey. I'll answer from the perspective of an athlete who practices combat sports.

TKD is not practiced fully "alive"--meaning within a ruleset that is closest to genuine combat as possible. A fully able, resisting opponent, who hits you hard anywhere on the body, with any of his limbs, without padding. Because TKD is lacking "aliveness" in that respect, it becomes fairly ineffective when put up against other martial arts that do practice aliveness.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=H3r-G33oKHc

The reason why sports like judo, brazilian jiu jitsu, boxing, sambo, freestyle wrestling, greco roman, and muay thai are so prized for people seeking MMA training is because they have a large degree of aliveness. If you've ever practiced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you know you will be doing real, full-on sparing every night with an aggressive resisting opponent. That is instant feedback as to whether your technique works or not--so you are constantly refining and improving yourself in a real, empirically tested manner.

TKD could be improved (and has been) by the creation of the sport called San Da in China. It took a lot of TKD techniques (as well as muay thai) but allowed full contact sparring, the catching of kicks, punches, etc. That caused them to raise their guards compared to TKD guys, or they would get knocked out. It caused them to throw more low roundhouses to the leg, otherwise a kick will be caught and you will get thrown, etc.

Ukon · Joined: 29 Jan 2008

Probably when karate & TKD classes exploded into popularity, followed by guys actually putting it into practice and having their asses handed to them by every run of the mill dude swinging haymakers.

God knows how many kids saw "Karate Kid" and tried that grasshopper thing in a real fight, then got his ass beat by a bully.

hellofaniceguy · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: On your computer screen!

Tell the grandmaster to put his money where his mouth is and enter the olympics.
TKD is good against someone who does not know how to street fight or has no fighting skills.
In MMA....TKD will not be good.
I think if TKD has a bad rep...it's because of the koreans who are self rightous and sanctimonious about it being the best.