Hey, i just wanted to say that if anyone has a guestion on TKD i'de love to help in any way. If i cant help, i hope that another member can. Take Care & Keep Posting!
Could you help a poor bewildered cross-trainer understand the difference in style between ITF and WTF
Freeform, I'm not very familiar with the ITF, but I have trained in WTF TKD. WTF is more of a sport now than anything else, although alot of WTF style instructors do push self defense and do very well with it. The WTF also only has 8 color belt forms where the ITF has more (16 I think?? Chazz can answer that better lol). Sparring is stressed more than anything else in the majority of WTF schools I have been to, not quite sure how that is in ITF. Rob
ITF - Debated to be the First form of TKD started after the anchient Taekeon (2333 bc) (i believe this) From what i have seen ITF is more traditional TKD. We are more focused on our forms and one steps than anything. (9 color forms, 24 forms total) Sparring is done differently in every school. Most do not use the chesk guard. All of our forms (the Chang Hun Series) came from General Choi. (Founder of TKD) WTF - The Olympic TKD, From what I know work a little more on sparring and a little less on forms. WTF was started due to people not agreeing with General Chio on the ITF so head members started the WTF. The Changed the forms and so on to fit their needs/wants. Soon after in the 70's WTF was introduced into the Olympics and seemed to become more of a sport Tae Kwon Do. Since then and due to that, it seems like politics have started to enter the WTF. MOST and i do say MOST and NOT ALL, ITF and WTF school cant stand each other. Some ITF dont ever consider WTF to be a Tae Kwon Do at all and some WTF dont ever let their eyes or ears fall upon the mention on ITF. To me, thats a load of CRAP. I might not agree with everything WTF does but i do like the people that come from it. We can learn from everone. Hope this helped, if it didnt let us know -Chazz
Chazz I have seen that also. My former TKD instructor would absolutely freak if an ITF practitioner walked in. Thankfully the instructor I have now would simply be interested in talking with them about the differences.... Once again the power of Politics lol. Rob
Being a cross-trainer I've experienced the whole 'Ah, you have finally seen that my style is superior' speech, I haven't got much time for ppl like that. Coming from a predominately Tai Jitsu/Karate background I find it interesting to note a lot of similarities between the katas/Tuls of TKD and Shotokan.
Rob: I have seen that too. There are a lot of ITF Instructors who are the same was with WTF people. So it would make them mad to know that one of my best and closest friends study WTF TKD and when she comes into to town, we work out together and i welcome her as well as any other style into my class with open arms. Freeform: There is A LOT of similarities between TKD and Shotokan due to the face that TKD gets its hardness from Japan's Karate. (and we know the Shotokan is Karate) BUT. Shotokan uses more hand techniques than we do. If you watch a TKD match, its all kicks. Herdly any hands. It is often said that Every TKD black belt should begin shotokan and reaching black belt because of their similarities.
Actually TKD's roots lie in the art that later became Shotokan. Gen Choi attained his 2nd dan while living in Japan and added the kicks from Tae Kyon to create TKD. Having studied Shotokan for most of my life I noticed that all the hand techniques and stances are virtually identical between the two arts (Shotokan stances are lower). I got the "My style is superior" treatment when I first began TKD after training Shotokan.... The instructor insulted the fact that I had trained elsewhere and tried to forbid me from doing so again..... Needless to say I moved on. Rob
Rob, I wouldnt blame you for moving on. Thats what i was saying about how TKD got its hardness, it was from Japan Karate/Shotokan. So we are thinking on the same line of thought. I dont believe that there is no better STYLE, but there are better martial artist . Some day i hope to be one. -Chazz
TKD The various arts all have varying degrees of focus on different areas, and therefor some arts are better at different things. Tae Kwon Do has always been recognised by spectacular kicks. What would you say is the reason? Do TKD classes spend most of he time on Stretching, or on Strength exercises?
I know the first TKD school I was at gave awards for how well you could do splits and hold kicks in the air. But most of the time was still spent on sparring. I stretch more now in class training Hapkido than I did at the former school (mostly b/c I worked with other students alot and was short on time). Some TKD schools I have seen have an entire class dedicated to stretching, but that is just a few that have decided to do that. But there is alot of time spent in classes on kicks, basic and advanced. I do usually 100 roundhouse kicks a night and almost as many side and front kicks, then work on the advanced kicks such as tornado, tornado axe, 180 degree tornado kicks etc. Rob
I have a really bad knee and I haven't had problems with it. I had some hip pain with some of the kicks until I got the dynamics of them right though
*L* Growing up in a TKD class, i have always heard "Use you feet, TKD is 85% foot work. *LOL* We have had whole class doing nothing but kicks. The only pain found was either the kick was used on them *LOL* or if they didnt do it right. (Soon corrected) -Chazz
So would you say hand techniques are neglected in TKD? I found sparring with a couple of TKD guys, that they stayed on one leg an awfully long time, and I was able to close to hand distance coming inside the kicking leg, and also to sweep the suppporting leg. Not showing any disrespect to the art here, just interested to get your responses!
It depends on the school you go to. We do work more with the feet. (BOTH FEET) We do a lot of hand techniques as well. I just depends on the school you go to.
I think it also depends on if you train WTF or ITF TKD.... WTF barely touches on the hands from what I have seen since a punch is nearly impossible to score with in a WTF match. Punches to the head are forbidden completely. Rob
Yeah that is too true. In IFT though, (well in our school) we do practice hits to the head. (back fist, ridge hands, knife hands, etc) as well as to get inside so we can use them. Like we all have said in here. "every style/ school is different" -Chazz
That is why I personally consider ITF the more combative of the two. WTF teaches alot of head kicks but to me those are mostly impractical on the street. But as far as punching it's something they say not to do.... which in my mind is bad medicine if someone attacks you.
