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poeticjustice
Joined: 28 Feb 2009
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 Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 5:34 pm Post subject: Why aren't Koreans proud of their martial arts? |
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Not to be inflammatory as the title would suggest but I think this is a valid point of curiousity.
Everyone who has been here for more than ten minutes knows Kimchi this, spicy that, King Sejong this, Dokdo that.
I have a few friends in both Hapkido and Taekwondo here. They range from white belts to second degree black belts.
Everybody back home knows what Taekwondo is and respects it as a martial art (although they might assume its Chinese). I took Taekwondo for a few months but gave up on it due to my poor spatial maneuvering skills (I have amazing hand-eye by terrible hand+feet+legs+arms combined-eye if that makes any sense).
Anyway, I find that in Korea, aside from seeing the Taekwondo and Hapkido studios here and there, everyone is practically oblivious to it. They know what it is although they couldn't give two flying sh*ts about it.
I think its one of the things Korea has a legitimate right to be proud of yet they aren't. Any reasoning behind this, do you think? |
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redaxe
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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They are pretty proud of Taekwondo and Yudo--just watch the Olympic coverage in Korea next year!
But outside of the Olympics, those sports/martial arts are basically for kids. It's like little league.
Also, are you REALLY complaining that Koreans are not proud ENOUGH of something in their culture?? 
Last edited by redaxe on Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP
Joined: 28 May 2009
Location: Electron cloud
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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Actually plenty of my students do their English presentations and speaches about Taekwando. Lots of Koreans especially kids are into it and very proud of it.
Ask around man, honestly.
Though I watched that cool show on Discovery where the two American guys go around the world practising various martial arts and they both agreed that Taekwandoo is really naff and that it can only be effective against either someone that can't fight or another person who knows taekwando.
I want to Learn Muay Thai it seems really badarse with the whole 8 limbs thing and the cool moves. Maybe that's why no-one has ever invaded Thailand - because they know they'd get their arse kicked!
Last edited by DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP on Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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red_devil
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Are you kidding?! No one knows what Taekwondo is "back home". They only know Kung Fu and Karate. Koreans are proud of Taekwondo being Korean, but if they don't care about the sport i don't see how that matters. I could say i'm proud that America invented Basketball...but since i don't follow the sport, don't watch the sport, than yeah...i really could give a rats behind about it. |
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anjinsan
Joined: 26 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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Good point!
Lotta reasons, but my top picks are:
1. MA's are a "kid" thing here--something to keep the kids busy.
Kids usually stop by high school.
2. Korea has no traditional fighting arts. TKD is to karate as kimbap is to makizushi: a traditional Japanese product with a few minor alterations
then given the "Made in Korea" label.
HKD is pretty much the same: daitoryuaikijujutsu with Taekyon kicks added along the way.
Komdo is kendo
Yudo is judo
Taekyon is Korean, but was more of a game for festivals than a true fighting art.
Ssirum is Korean,but too often labelled "Korean Sumo"
Koreans traditionally excelled at archery, but this true traditional Korean MA has been forgotten and/or replaced with Olympic-style archery.
3. MA and true MA folks aren't respected in this culture. Being an MA Master or dojang owner is looked upon as somewhat of a mix between a small chicken shack owner and a hagwon teacher. You don't work at Samsung, you ain't nobody.
And, this being more of a "service industry" the pay ain't too good and fluctuates with the K. economy. When it dips down and cash is tight, TKD for little Jin Ho loses out to Math hagwon (you can't get into a Samsung job with good TKD scores).
Westerners are sort of silly too for buying into this idea of there actually being a true MA tradition in Korea. Japan taught us about such MA traditions; and, though J and K are neighbors here in Asia, they are world's apart. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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| DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP wrote: |
| As. Maybe that's why no-one has ever invaded Thailand - because they know they'd get their arse kicked! |
Japan, Burma and Vietnam would all be surprised to hear that. Particularly the first two as they not only invaded Thailand, they conquered it. |
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Wayland
Joined: 11 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Taekwondo and Hapkido are seen as visually appealing yet ineffective in the face of arts like Muay Thai and Brazilian jujitsu. Just visit a korean kickboxing gym the perception of taekwondo is pretty poor |
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proustme
Joined: 13 Jun 2009
Location: Nowon-gu
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Taekwondo is well known in the U.S. |
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poeticjustice
Joined: 28 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| anjinsan wrote: |
Good point!
Lotta reasons, but my top picks are:
1. MA's are a "kid" thing here--something to keep the kids busy.
Kids usually stop by high school.
2. Korea has no traditional fighting arts. TKD is to karate as kimbap is to makizushi: a traditional Japanese product with a few minor alterations
then given the "Made in Korea" label.
HKD is pretty much the same: daitoryuaikijujutsu with Taekyon kicks added along the way.
Komdo is kendo
Yudo is judo
Taekyon is Korean, but was more of a game for festivals than a true fighting art.
Ssirum is Korean,but too often labelled "Korean Sumo"
Koreans traditionally excelled at archery, but this true traditional Korean MA has been forgotten and/or replaced with Olympic-style archery.
3. MA and true MA folks aren't respected in this culture. Being an MA Master or dojang owner is looked upon as somewhat of a mix between a small chicken shack owner and a hagwon teacher. You don't work at Samsung, you ain't nobody.
And, this being more of a "service industry" the pay ain't too good and fluctuates with the K. economy. When it dips down and cash is tight, TKD for little Jin Ho loses out to Math hagwon (you can't get into a Samsung job with good TKD scores).
Westerners are sort of silly too for buying into this idea of there actually being a true MA tradition in Korea. Japan taught us about such MA traditions; and, though J and K are neighbors here in Asia, they are world's apart. |
Wow! That was majorly informative. Thanks.
I did notice (how couldn't you?) from my short time in Taekwondo that it is primarily for the kiddies. Back home MA extends into every age category as it probably does in Japan, I guess here it just doesn't make the cut as it is imported. I had no idea that Hapkido and Taekwondo were "Koreanized" Japanese MAs though.
But yes, that was the one thing that drove me nuts about taking Taekwondo. I'd much rather be in a class with all adults but the only classes around seemed to be full of kids whose ages ended at around middle school.
I remember seeing little fat kids, maybe 8-9 years old with black belts. Back home, getting a black belt in any kind of MA is an accomplishment because they don't just throw them out for good attendance like they do here. Never thought I'd be saying that before I came to Korea!
Anyway, whoever said Taekwondo isn't big back home obviously comes from a strange place. There were Taekwondo dojangs all over the place back home! |
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Street Magic
Joined: 23 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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| DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP wrote: |
| Though I watched that cool show on Discovery where the two American guys go around the world practising various martial arts and they both agreed that Taekwandoo is really naff and that it can only be effective against either someone that can't fight or another person who knows taekwando. |
I didn't catch that show, but I've heard similar things about mixed martial artists going around beating up masters of various traditional martial arts and apparently Tae Kwon Do is somewhere near the bottom in terms of how useful it is in a real, mostly unregulated fight. There's also a running joke among martial artists about Tae Kwon Do "McDojos" in America. Anecdotally, I had a friend growing up who took lessons at a "Tiger Shulman's Karate," which I assume was run by some scawny Woody Allen type dude with a bad kung fu movies inspired active imagination.
In contrast, I've heard good things about collegiate wrestling/Grecco-Roman wrestling/Judo type techniques as well as kickboxing/Muay Thai as far as how practical they are. |
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shinramyun
Joined: 31 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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The ONLY useful martial arts I know are Judo/Yudo, Tangsudo, kenpo, and Muay thai.
Especially, martial arts that specializes in grappling tends to be much more useful than TKD or Karate. |
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Bloopity Bloop
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Location: Seoul yo
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:08 pm Post subject: |
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| proustme wrote: |
| Taekwondo is well known in the U.S. |
And not respected. |
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Bryan
Joined: 29 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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1. Most Koreans seem to know that TKD is a joke. I trained with professional MMA fighters in Korea and none of them did TKD. Many came from grappling and boxing backgrounds though. At Choi Mu Bae's gym, many of the guys were high level wrestlers, whether greco or freestyle.
2. Judo is respected in Korea but it did not originate in Korea therefore there is no nationalist pride about it.
3. There's a lot of respect from adults who compete for Muay Thai and boxing, as far as striking goes. Korean fans watch K-1 and know that those are what you have to learn. |
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xingyiman
Joined: 12 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP wrote: |
I want to Learn Muay Thai it seems really badarse with the whole 8 limbs thing and the cool moves. Maybe that's why no-one has ever invaded Thailand - because they know they'd get their arse kicked! |
Actually, very few Thais know anything about Muay Thai other than what they watch on TV. Although it is the national sport, it is also considered a "poor man's sport" and most aspiring Thai men don't really want to be associated with it in anything other than a spectator's perspective. I trained in Muay Thai when I lived in Bangkok and there were only two Thai's training - two high school girls, the rest were foreigners.
To the poster who said that Takgeyon is not really a martial art but a festival dance, well....I studied Takgeyon for two years and honestly including all the martial arts I've studied (Karate, TKD, Shaolin Kung Fu, Judo, GJJ, Hapkido, Muay Thai) in my 40 years, I would rate Takgeyon as one of the most effectivet and brutal. Like any other martial art it's not entirely complete but it is more akin to the Chinese martial arts in style and form than it's Japanese influenced counterparts (TKD, Hapkido, etc..) Your opinion sort of reflects the common Korean's opinion if you ask them so I'll assume thats probably where you got it from. Most of them will tell you that Tagkeyon is just a dance but most Koreans don't have a clue about it because they've studied TKD all their lives. |
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DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP
Joined: 28 May 2009
Location: Electron cloud
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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Anyone know if i'll be able to find Muay Thai, Kickboxing or just regualr boxing classes in Geumsan, Chungcheonamdo?
I'm anticiapting not, but I really want to start. Mainly for the fitness aspect and a new hobby and also so I can defend myself better if I ever need to.
I think there might be classes I could take in nearby Daejon...?
Also, how often do you think a complete and utter beginner such as myself should study / practice / go to classes or whatever per week? I am pretty fit and healthy and do yoga. |
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