Has anyone the answer why taekwondo sparring does not include low kicking sweeping in its sparing????? To me it doe not make sense? Also why in its (itf) forms does it have "pole" defences when it isnt taught as a weapon as standard??????? My finale Question is: A typical technique taught in taekwondo is the defence against front snap kick, where the defender steps back in a walking stance performing a low block and counters with a reverse punch to the solur plexus...... The only thing is the reverse punch is out of range. I have been taught this, I have seen this ,it does not make sense to me? Any ideas why this is the case or its origin?????????? :bang:
Taekwon-Do free sparring includes all ranges of striking technique, or at least that's how I wish it was. A lot of dojangs only spar according to competition rules, which of course, prohibit shots below the belt, and prevents the use of other techniques within the Taekwon-Do syllabus, such as knees, elbows, palm strikes, sweeps and basic takedowns. It's sad, but true, and it prevents students from getting used to all ranges of combat. Luckily, it doesn't happen at my school. As for your one-step sparring example. If the reverse punch is out of range, then you and your partner are too far apart to begin with. You should both be less than a walking stance apart, so that when you extend your arm, the fist goes past the face/body. It could also be that your opponent places their foot back instead of stepping forward, which increases the distance and leaves the punch out of range. In which case, deliver the punch in a sliding motion. Step sparring is not simply attacking and defending, it's about finding the correct body movement and technique for the situation. Unfortunately, a lot of dojangs simply attack and defend, without realising that their techniques are out of range, and often inappropriate. There are thousands of techniques and an infinite number of combinations in the Taekwon-Do syllabus, it's upto the student themselves to filter through it and find the ones they can make good use of.
same reason why punches are so restricted- to keep the sport of tkd "different" so that it isnt just kickboxing.
Our school and i would guess alot of other schools dont allow kicks to the waist down in free sparring due to the fact that it can be very dangerous. All schools should be taught groin and thigh kicks, and sweeps etc. in self defence but in free sparring its to easy for someone to be kicked in the groin by accident while they are moving in. And for the sweeps and low kicks, we train on hard wood floors so if we kicked the legs out on our partner he could land badly ( head, kneck injury etc.) But that does not mean we do not teach these attacks in controlled situations ( self defence tech.) For the one step example, i was never taugh 'step back block reverse punch?' theres many ways to counter this attack but the easiest and most efficient way would be to side step? Get out of the way of the kick and counter. ive never really thought of our punches being restricted? Could you explain? thanks.
we aren't allowed to use uppercuts, hooks, crosses. just straight punches. straight. no knees, bows. shoulder chucks even to the point area. just straight punches and of course kicks. nothing positive comes from this type of sparring.
we practice on a wooden floor. most muay thai gyms do, except those that teach outside. there is no reason not to train low kicks, because almost every other art that involves kicking- muay thai, kyokushin, san shou, savate, MMA, kickboxing- use them. the ONLY reason is, as I said, to differentiate it from becoming kickboxing. you arent allowed to punch to the head, basically. I dont know what kind of punches are allowed but if tekkengod is right its even more restricted than i thought.
well i don't know if this applies to everybody, but thats the way it is with olympic and Traditional TKD, and at all the clubs i've been to.
I'll basically just add to what oni_sensei said: Another reason for this is to make a distinction to its Japanese counterpart (karate). The Koreans after WWII decided to make a deliberate departure over karate in terms of competition. More emphasis was made with kicks over punches. Also, because low kicks and sweeps aren't scored in sparring nor are techniques that are delivered after a takedown (like a punch when the opponent is down like in karate), it is logical that higher kicks will be practced more. Maybe because the pole is like a rifle and the guy who coined the name "Taekwondo" had a military background?! I'm just guessing. The problem can also be traced back to you. Do you resume your original position when you do the reverse punch or do you stay in stance you moved in when defending against the kick? Perhaps the problem lies in how you gauge your distance with your partner.
PLEASE, people, stop thinking Olympic TKD and Self Defense type TKD are the same...we do Jab, Cross, Hook, Upset punches, knees, punches to the face (except in sparring, more on that later), low kicks, sweeps and all sorts of moves that are not used in Olympic TKD. All adult and teenage men are highly encouraged to wear a protective cup during sparring, not only as a precaution, but also because when you get to be a higher rank, people will intentionally do groin strikes (they'll ask if you're wearing a cup first, of course) in sparring. Takedowns are the same way, we even have onsteps with takedowns in them for blue and red belts. The reason for the restriction on punches to the face in sparring should be quite obvious, but at a high enough rank, controlled punches with little to no contact are allowed. In Self Defense, we are encouraged to use any means necessary to get out of whatever the instructor puts us in (knee and elbow hyper extension, and takedowns, if you can pull them off), because that's how it should be in Real Life. I am in no way putting down Olympic TKD (I might in another thread), as many of the attacks I would do in an Olympic tournament (which I don't belong in) would even count (if I could even get in). Staff blocks? Because even without a staff, you can still get hit by one.
then it isn't TKD by any means. it sounds like someone with experiance in more than TKD and throwing it all together and calling it TKD. the extra cirriculum is definately a GOOD thing. trust me. but it isn't TKD then, it sounds like who ever is teaching the class has alot of experiance with other arts and is doing a little cross training with your guys. and there is even a sense of realism. truly not TKD. sounds like cross training, but i could be wrong, it could be his own hybrid art. my friends dad, Kim Zornes threw Jujitsu and Karate together and got Jukato, which is a nice blend, maybe this guy is teaching you something of that nature.
Sorry to burst your bubble tekkengod, but your conception of TKD is entirely wrong. Grab yourself a copy of the WTF handbook and General Choi's Legacy CD set ($20 more expensive than the Condensed Encyclopedia, but has all 15 volumes plus videos), and fully read them through. TKD is more than competition sparring. The techniques are there, but sometimes its necessary to train somewhere else to work them, such is the emphasis on sport over everything else.
The place I used to train at (and still do whenever I'm in the area) does have low kicks and sweeps used in Sparring. Basically its where you train that determines rules by which you spar. Dunno... but the place I used to train at threw out all patterns and traditional garbage two and a half years ago - so it was quite heretical. Looks more like kickboxing now I think the theory here is that the person who has thrown the front kick will be moving forward still after you block. So the opponent brings the punch int range. Hope that helps, Alexander
would you care to explain that???????? why doesn't taekwondo use low kicks? who says it doesn't???? first of all, if your school doesn't use low kicks, that doesn't mean that it's like that in the rest of the world. second of all, tkd competitions are not the only thing in taekwondo. i'm wondering that there are still people who don't seem to grasp that. maybe we could ask why there aren't any kicks in boxing? because boxing is all about hands and not legs. it's as simple as that. there are many martial arts nowadays and everyone can find something for themselves. if you want low kicks, change your tkd school, or change martial arts. you could also talk to your instructor and ask him/her if low kicks can be included sometime in the training. if your instructor teaches you a technique that doesn't make sense to you, then the logical thing would be to ask for an explanation.
. It depends i guess on where you train but we allow punches to the head? We arent restricted in our hand techniques at all. I guess some schools train only a few types of punches but not all schools. If this is what is not allowed in your sparring than you are right in saying nothing positive will come from training like this. we use elbows, knees, hooks etc. and we are traditional tkd( no comps). to be honest i dont know what is allowed in olympic style tkd ( i only really worry about our org.) but do you guy at least get taught these types of punches, just not allowed to use them in sparring?
because in olympic sparring rules, the "sport" generally frowns upon techniques which have the potential to cause massive injuries. sweeping your opponent to the ground would open up the possiblity of your head hitting the ground (head injury). yes, getting kicked on the head causes injury to your head too, but at least you don't add more ways to get your head injured.
I was fortunate enough to train under and Instructor who let us make use of just about any technique TKD had to offer during sparring..this included leg sweeps, takedowns and of course hand techniques to the facial area. He also stopped teaching one-step and two-step sparring in favor of more realistic type self-defense techniqes. Our classes were on hardwood floors.. so a lot of time was spent learning how to correctly fall on hard surfaces. If a person does not know how to fall correcly then allowing them to be swept or thrown (especially on hardwood floors) could cause serious injury. I think people perceptions of TKD have been greatly influenced by the Olympic TKD coverage. This type of TKD does not represent most of TKD... all styles of TKD (ITF, WTF, ATA, MDK, etc..) have a wide variety of techniques and self-defense techniques, forms, breaking, fundamental movements that cannont be demonstrated during Olympic sparring events... (due to the rules to differentiate it from boxing.)
nope, he dosen't teach any punches other than the straight punch, and even that is neglected. i think the reason he won't let us use bows, knees and takedowns is because it would negate the use and effectiveness of the kicks he teaches.
