This is probably gonna provoke some flaming. But i'll ask anyway. I keep talking to people who think that either parts of or most of TKD is useless and uneffective for one reason or another. But I sometimes can't quite understand what they're on about cos i've seen bits of TKD that look quite brutal and look like they'd be very effective in real situations. Are these people who poo-hoo TKD on the right track or just making fun of something they don't really understand?
:bang: Seriously watto, just why would you post a question asking whether TKD was effective or not in the section where 90% of people who read it do TKD!??! You also didn't specify what TKD is arguably effective or ineffective at. Washing elephants? Turning lights on? As for the general TKD bashing that seems to happen everywhere, this is due to TKD's rep being tarnished by the McDojo phenomenon, so people see little Johnny the 5 year old 1st dan who can't apply 99% of the stuff he supposedly "learned", and for some mystical reason everyone thinks that TKD is universally like that. :woo: Other apparent TKD aspects for abuse are the WTF Tae Kwon Do sparring rules and techniques employed, how TKD is useless on "t3h str33t", etc etc. The list goes on, and will continue to go on as long as TKD is practiced, and by now I'm sure most people are used to, and bored of, hearing it. [/RANT]
The reason i'd post a question like this in the TKD forum is... Hmmm. I don't know. Maybe the fact that i'm asking a question about TKD? Washing elephants? Turning lights on? Do you need everything spelled out for you or something? What do you think i'd mean? Oh wait. I'm serious. I want to know if I can effectively wash an elephant using TKD... Dolt. How about self defence? Thats the type of answer I was hoping i'd receive.
So, are you expecting people who practice TKD to say that it is ineffective? Right, so it's a question about self-defence, at least there is something that I can now properly answer. My point was an exagerration emphasising that TKD covers alot of things, not just self defence, so how was I to know what aspect of TKD you were asking whether was effective or not? People practice TKD for fitness, because they enjoy sparring, because they like performing forms, etc, to name a few other reasons than self-defence. For example I'd say that WTF TKD was extremely effective for a situation whereby you spar with a hogu on, allow kicks to the head, but no punches, but that wasn't what you were asking about was it. As to your original question which has now been clarified, I echo New Guy's opinion that it is effective in a self-defence situation if taught correctly. But then again, I'd say this was true for all martial arts.
Your missing what Another TKD guy is saying your asking people who do TKD if its any good. No one is going to say its rubbish if they do it or they wouldn't be doing it :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: . So it would be better if it was in the general section.
I have all the respect for TKD. I know Shotokan too has the McDojo disease, but there are still very good instructors and schools and people I wouldn't like to mess with. Same goes with TKD. Just because of some McDojangs and bad instructors it doesn't make the style useless. I bow to this style and aknowledge all its qualities
I study TKD. I think the majority of what is taught is rubbish for my purposes and the way I use them. I study TKD for the self defence part of it, flashy kicks and spinning is nice and all and is good for balance and the like but there is no way the way I fight I would ever consider doing a double reverse jumping piercing kick as I have seen people learn. But that is not to say that TKD is ineffective as a street style as I know it is not(at least for me) as I have had to use it in 4 different situations of varying danger and I have come out on top in all of them. Just learning what techniques work for you is the most important thing, while I am good at the flying kicks and spinny death I would never consider them effective in a street situation, nor any kick above my solar plexus as its just simply not the way I fight or the way I react to a situation. I am sure that some people do use these kinds of things in street defence and if it works for them why argue. remember though I ONLY study TKD for self defence and the FITNESS aspects of it. If I wanted to learn something that I think looks cool I would be doing Hsing-I, Ba-Gua or Tai-Chi(and yes I know they are effective in SD but TKD seems faster towards that goal)
Every MA discipline has its strengths & weaknesses.... it is your responsibility to recognize both and to build on or supplement where it meets your personal needs.
Define Tae kwon do. There are several different flavors and different kinds. I can't answer this question with an easy yes or no. I've met martial artists that could deploy tkd techniques effectively in a self-defense situation, but I've also met quite a few instructors that couldn't kick their own shoes off. Being effective in self defense has to do with training methods, experience, your instructor's teaching ability, the expertise and number of training partners, your mentality, the situation, the environment, etc. I could go on and on. I would say a majority of the TKD Dojangs that I've come into contact with, do not teach effective self defense. Does that make TKD ineffective because at those schools it is taught poorly? Another TKD Guy posted a very good question for you. You're going to run into a lot of bias when you post a question like this in the TKD forum. Most people that train in TKD are going to praise it. In conclusion I cannot answer the polls question, because I don't know the context.
well people who say that TKD isn't effective don't know what TKD is,even if they had practised it for a while, if they can't use it, then they are not confident in their art, for me, TKD helped me out a lot, and saved my butt lots of times and, it doesn't really matter what art do you do,it does matter if you believe in it or not good luck
In the end, can you really be sure that you can effectively defend yourself? You never know what your condition will be and what kind of stuff you will be dealing with, e.g. you could be injuried while facing the top ten fighters in the world armed with guns and swords...
Right now? In the majority of schools? No, TKD is not effective and most of the students (not including those who post here) couldn't care less. They learn what they need to know for their gradings etc and only the exceptional ones will take the time to read the magazines, get the DVDs etc and browse sites like this one to learn stuff. Take 2, 3 step in ITF-based TKD for example. Aside from teaching them distancing, what good does it do a student to have someone march forward 3 times with 3 martial arts punches and then for the defender to do reverse roundhouse followed by a ridgehand with the attacker standing still even after they've received that reverse roundhouse to the head. 2 step is even worse. Someone attacks with a reverse roundhouse and it's blocked using a twin forearm? What on earth for? Patterns are then taught completely seperately from self-defence (pet hate as most people will know) and on the whole the self-defence is pretty p!ss poor and involves high roundhouses, sidekicks and stupid blocks again. TKD as taught by some people on this and other forums and which is based on the less sport orientated side of things (the Olympics have not helped TKD at all) is most certainly as effective as any other art that concentrates on basic techniques, simple defences and pressure-testing. It's the latter that won't gain them a huge number of students however as pressure-testing is unpleasant and hurts. Right, I'm off to catch breath. Rant over.
Absolutely, and I totally agree, I know TKD doesn't cover any grappling, so it would be sensible to cross-train, which is sometyhing I plan on doing as soon as I get the opportunity. I wasn't saying TKD was the be-all and end-all, but it's definitely not ineffective if taught correctly. However, like I said before, this applies to everything really.
"Effective at what?" would have been my question as well. I recommend TKD for many people because: (1) As a martial art, it teaches a great system of striking that can be modified for tournaments or for self defence. It's up to the students and instructors to make the art fit their needs. The system is pretty basic and lends itself to cross training and "bolted-on" elements (like grappling) (2) It is widespread and for people who move around (like college students and young professionals), it's easy to find a school. Granted there are bad ones out there as well. The standards and ranks are similar so you don't necessarily have to "start over" if you move. (3) It is a great and easy to learn "entry art", getting students into the basic elements of a martial art, from etiquette to ranking to sparring. Students get in quick and soon hit things (and people). Later on, this foundation can persuade them to look at other systems and be able to learn and apply them as well. I've met soooooooo many people who stated TKD and moved onto other arts (and they all appreciated what they learned in TKD). (4) For younger students, the character building that a good exercise program led by good role models is priceless. I don't mean the tenets and such, I mean the things students learn about being honest, working together, helping each other and so on that they get at the dojang. So, is TKD effective? I'd say "yes"... but I am a TKDist anyway.
I think TKD can be an effective MA if done properly. Every time I've watched TKD being done in MMA competitions, it seems like the TKD kicks are really powerful when they hit (ie watch Stephan Bonnar's kicks). However, it seems like often the TKD kicks are a little too obvious, so many times the opponent can see the kick coming and easily stop the kick from landing. Also, when I've seen people who only do TKD enter MMA competitions, it seems like they can wear themselves out pretty quickly. I've also noticed that a lot of TKD people have great reflexes. My dad was a black belt in ITF TKD in college in the 70's (at CU [University of Colorado] under master Lang) so I have the whole "ITF rules, WTF sucks" bias, but I won't get into that .
its effective for striking, if your in a standing fight, but its not that effective if the fight goes to the ground or if someone puts you in a hold, like a headlock or an armbar, cuz they dont teach escpaes from that. if you asked your teacher though they might help with that, i just had to ask and was taugh some things, but they dont practice it in class
Posting this on the TKD forums will likely skew the results a bit... That said, I believe there's nothing inherently ineffective about TKD. It's people who train it incorrectly and McDojangs which are ineffective.
some ppl don't understand that most of the people who practise TKD just practise it just to take a black belt and show off for their friends if someone really cares about TKD he\she wouldn't care about belts,and yes, I say it another time,W.T.F TKD is super effective,but if you say that if you want to face someone while you are injured,don't be in a place where troubles happen,right?
