Help Selecting a TKD School

I've narrowed it down to two Taekwondo schools in NYC. And I'm very ambivalent about starting ITF Taekwondo or continuing with WTF Taekwondo, where I'm familiar.

I prefer ITF's ruleset for sparring and competitions much more, but I have heard that they only permit light contact and disqualify people for knockouts. Has this been true in your experience of ITF Taekwondo? If it's full hard contact and allows knockouts, I would be much more open to ITF TKD.

These are the two schools I am considering for ITF and WTF Taekwondo, as far as I know, they are both good schools, but I know less about the ITF school. If anyone has any opinions or information, let me know. Thank you,

~ Ben

West Side Taekwondo: http://westsidetkd.com/wordpress/

Queen's Taekwondo Center (ITF): http://qtc-itf.com/newsite/2012/07/01/new-york-taekwon-do-tournament-xvii-september-23rd-2012/

 

Do you plan on competing in competitions?
If so look at this:
http://www.itftkd.org/?Content=TournamentRules

I was in your shoes just a few months ago. I originally came from an indi club, and then I joined WTF for a few months due to moving away from my home town. After being out of training due to a knee injury, I took a serious look at whether I wanted to continue with WTF, or join the local ITF club.

My main beef with the WTF was overal I found their sparring really limiting. Although it was full-contact, there was a strong emphasis on distance fighting relying purely on kicks. For me as a martial artist, it didn't satisfy my sparring needs (the full spectrum of ranges).

My main turmoil with ITF was, like you, the semi-contact sparring, and the sine-wave. For me the sine-wave was a larger hurdle then the semi-contact, it felt silly, but i degress. When I took part in a class with the ITF group, the sparring was just what I was looking for.
As for the semi-contact thing, during class you can go as hard as you want so long your sparring partner consents. But semi-contact, isn't too different from full-contact, it just means that you don't get hurt and you don't get to practice at full-contact.

What I would suggest though, is taking a free class with both schools and see which one fits your needs. But don't let the semi-contact thing scare you away from the ITF.

 

Thank you for the informative post Lad Gorg. I am also out of training due to a knee injury (patellar tendonitis/tendinosis), commonly known as Jumper's Knee. If you had a similar injury, I'd appreciate any advice in overcoming it.

Regardless, I guess it would be best to try out the sparring and a class at each school. Do you have no regrets in deciding to go with the ITF club? I also like the emphasis on agility and footwork in WTF Taekwondo, and fear it wouldn't be as prevalent in ITF TKD, but I guess I'll have to try it out.

 

Yeh I had a pretty similar injury. I'm sure you've heard of R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) before. So after doing that for 2-4 weeks depending on how bad the injury is, then start to do some basic exercises focusing on the legs and knees; so slow sqats, jumping jacks, things like that. Of course listen to your body, if the knee feels like it's going to exlpode, give it more time.

I generally have no regrets from leaving the WTF club. Both clubs are amazing with their conditioning, the teachers and students were very enthusiastic. So for me it was just a difference in style and not school.

WTF has amazing footwork, there's no denying that. But honestly ITF also has some good footwork, however I find that it's more dynamic in it's range due to a greater degree in hand technique usage. Agility is not something that I've seen too much of in the ITF admittedly. But hey that can give you an edge when you spar in ITF

 

I will be trying both schools sometime next August. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks again,

~ Ben