It may seem an odd question, you use them for blocking yes? well I'm not so sure, I have been thinking and wondered why would I ever have a block, surely the block hurts their body part in use...so couldn't I just use a block as a different type of attack. an attack the hurts the opponents offending weapon(arms, leg etc) rather than a more vital area? is this just me or do you see blocks as more of an offensive or defensive tool.
Both! Destructive blocking is a very useful technique. A personal favourite of mine is blocking a turning kick with my elbow. Of course, sometimes direct blocking can harm yourself, bruising on the forarms etc. So I tend to parry more than block. After redirecting my opponents attack, I counter from the side or from behind.
personally I prefer body shifting and simply being out of the way of the attack but a counter attack to the offending weapon via a block is something I often try and do. also after a self defence situation(which I train to be successful in, the art is secondary) if all you have done is hit an arm or a leg it seems far less like you were attacking back, a punch on the nose looks like an attack while a dead leg or a bruise on an arm look like defence.
In training, perhaps not. However, in a self defence scenario, I would still rather not get any kind of injury, even bruising
I like to use my blocks to set up my next attack. For example, a middle section outer forearm block can be used in a resisting motion, circling outwards. While the block is occurring, circle around and into your opponent towards their attacking arm. When the block is completed your arm should be bent in a V shape, following this, grab your opponents upper arm (the attacking one) and push their arm down. Then raise your elbow horizontal to their temple. Voila, instant elbow, simply do an inward crescent elbow from that position to the temple. (It's not easy to describe over the net) There are plenty more where that came from. Blocks do not need to be either purely offensive or defensive techniques, I find that they are best used to setup your next attack. This is particularly true of joint locking and grappling techniques, although it applies to striking as well.
Anomandaris - Just think of it as if you were really being attacked by someone, wouldn't u want to try and block their attack? (if it's not a knife or sword). Getting a bruise is better than getting hurt really badly or even killed. I say - always block as many attacks as you can, some day it may save your life
Bingo,a bruise on your forearm is better than a broken nose.If you don't like to block,you can work your footwork and learn to side or diamond step.But basic blocking is a cornerstone of your tkd training.Please don't overlook it,take it from a guy who has a slightly crooked nose.
mmmm in my opinion, best defeand for attacking is a counter attack especially backsidekicks, those are powerfull but if the opponent is faster than you, yep, a bruise on the forearm is better than a broken nose, cause when you get hit in your face, you get really confused and you may not complete the match well and you will lose, so a little bruise in the forearm is A LOT better peace
It is really funny to see these responses because I agree with them. However, less than a month ago I was having dinner with a 5th dan and 2nd dan WTF black belts and they said you should never block because you could get your arm broken. LOL Serious, they are Olympic fighters and perhaps that is the mentality there, but I would be hard pressed to get a broken arm from someone's kick. As someone here said too - I would rather a broken arm than a broken face.
Directly "blocking" a kick with your arms is not usually a good idea. Legs are obviously larger and stronger than arms, so your arms will always be at a disadvantage in a direct conflict. Covering up and taking a kick on your arms is usually a better idea than taking the kick to the body or head, but it's still not a great option most of the time. We always want to use our strength to attack their weakness. In direct blocking (as opposed to deflecting, bridging or parrying) the bones in the arm can rarely compete with the bones in the leg for strength or structural integrity.
I think some of you got the wrong idea here. I said that i would much prefer to completely evade an attack if at all possible, I didnt say that I never block! I do, but when I do I dont use them as a solid wave break thing, I use them more as an aggressive attack to the offending weapon to hurt it in the process.
@ Andy - A strong kick can break an arm. On an early episode of this season's Ultimate Fighter, one of the losers had his arm fractured by a round house kick early in his match. He was able to finish out the fight, but that injury prevented him from winning. @ everyone else - I think the issue isn't evasion OR blocking...but how do you do both. Think about it, you would never just stand still and try to strike...you use the proper footwork to set up and deliver effective strikes. The same goes for blocking...either evasive footowrk to get one off the line of the attack and to lessen any impact while delivering a block (either a soft block to redirect the attack or a hard block meant to strike at the attack) or perhaps using entering footwork to get inside teh attackers range of power and set up for a counter attack. Anyway, I'm thinking we should be talking about how we use both evasion adn bloacking together to create strong defense and how strong defense can lead to strong offense. Peace, Erik
i think that goes without saying. it's only natural that you won't simply stand there like a punching bag taking all the beating.
Andy - In some ways you are right, you can get a broken arm from blocking, but only if you block the wrong way, and hit the wrong part of an attacker's arm or leg, so you have to be careful Bluekey - what I said before ^, plus, you cannot always evade a kick or a strike, sometimes the kick or strike is way too fast, so in that case you would have to block and strike back
