Is Tae Kwon Do actually "useless" against other styles?

To the OP:
The big factors are not about the styles themselves but about how the instructors present them. If the kung fu is a performance based art, such as modern wushu, it probably will not be AS practical as if it were a more traditional or combat based art, such as wing chun or sanda. Likewise, with TKD, it depends on whether the instructor chooses to present it as a method of personal development and fitness, a combative system, or a system of sports. We can all argue about what works and what does not not work in a 'real fight' but the truth is that each situation is different. We have to hope that our training prepares of for such potentially deadly encounters. As one of my instructors quoted "Everybody has a plan before the stuff you'd prefer not to hit the fan hits the fan"

Masked profanity is against the terms of service you agreed to when you joined MAP

 

Any system can be great or not great depending on the teacher and on the student. Don't look for a great style, look for a great teacher!

In addition to Hapkido I also hold a belt in TKD, and I can tell you, it's as effective as any system out there when somebody really know's what they are doing.

 

Incidentally...Mr. Henry is a GREAT teacher.

 

I may be flagged for spam, but I couldn't agree any more with Mr. Henry's post. Any style can be practical if trained correctly.

As long as you're comfortable and like the instructor/class drills, you'll probably have a good time training. Also, I'd say the most important factor is putting in your own time and developing your skills as a martial artist.

 

Season 2!

I had a primarily-kicking sparring partner for a while, I did fine until I had to walk up the stairs the next day at school :bang:

Train because you want to - not for the "real world". I train because I love the camaraderie at my club and I enjoy the confidence it gives.

 

If you want to go for TKd then do-but remember train your hands, don't leave them flapping about your waist, no matter what anyone tells you.
Try to look into the pattern applications also, don't just accept what your instructor may tell you, often I have come across some pretty crazy explanations of what the various techniques are used for....

 

Speaking as a TKD black belt I'd have to say that IMHO the kicking in Kyokushin is better.
This discussion has been done to death. TKD as a system has the tools to be an effective form of self defence, however in large numbers of schools it's simply not taught that way, and what you'll basically learn is a game of high speed foot tag. Therefore it becomes a numbers game, if self defence is your main training aim then you either need to count on luckily finding one of the schools that teach good H2H combatives, or you need to do a ton of supplemental training, so unless you're lucky it's going to take a lot of work to get a street effective training system.

 

If it's taking a long time to get your foot up then there's something wrong with your kicking technique. A high kick takes the same amount of time as a low kick. It's also MUCH easier to catch low and mid section kicks than it is to catch high kicks (trust me, I do San Shou).

 

I honestly believe TKD becomes really effective once you have studied other styles.By doing this you have a greater concept of when the right time to use a certain technique is and when its practical.
Without this training i would say no its not good for real world but once you have decent punching skills at the very least to compliment it the kicks can be extremely effective.

 

Try them both. See which you like best. I will tell you that TKD can be effective in a real word situation, however most TKD schools lean towards competition rather than self defense. The task at hand will be to find a school which will train you in a more traditional form. But traditional TKD as well as sport TKD will help you build better discipline. I can't, however say much about Kung fu as I have almost no knowledge on the Chinese martial arts.

Give them both a shot. IMO sport TKD is pretty fun. It's fast paced and requires a lot of strategy so it will develop both your physical and mental side.

 

welcome to 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oHUAP9I0jE

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swwLIRnRzbU"]Scott Tannenbaum (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) vs Tae Kwon Do Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDmwyIh4ryQ&feature=related"]rener gracie vs taekwondo black belt challenge - YouTube[/ame]

 

Wow, do any of the people in those videos actually do taekwon-do? I would be quite surprised.

 

Who cares! Guns beat thai/mma, tanks beat guns, fighter jets beat tanks, a-bombs beat all
Try all and stick to what you like

 

The thing about most of these 'challenge videos' is they seem more about someone wanting to learn about the art of BJJ then some sort of 'style feud'. The atmosphere around them is fairly relaxed and the guys typically shake hands after the match. I think in the last one the guy actually asked, "Would you like to go one more?" No one is trying to do anything cheap during the grappling (like grab hair, gouge eyes, etc). It almost is like someone came to the school and said,

"Hey I'd like to learn BJJ."

"Well what style did you do before?"

"I did TKD/Karate/Whatever..."

"Okay. Before you learn lets shoot this video..."

 

i often get the same feeling. much of it stems from the early dojo storm videos and people trying to replicate them.

i have seen vids of a local TKD guy (he does 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu too) win his semi-pro MMA fights with TKD, he does no muay thai.
Knocked the opponent, many of who'm are Judoka or BJJers, out cold with a kick.

 

I've seen some that are a lot more...ahem..."vigorous" than a friendly sparring match "just to learn about BJJ".

I've seen that too. I think Rorion did one where the guy tried a groin grab at some point (even after he'd conceded defeat if memory serves).

 

that was the dojo storm on the hapkido guy.

he lost three times and kept trying to grab his danglies.

 

That's the bunny. Hard to grab the groin when your carotids are being squeezed and the old fuzzy head is coming on.

 

I think TKD misses out on some fundamentals of fighting, SD or whatever its gets called and going against other styles or trying other styles exposes this and so educates the TKD practitioner on how he could move forward. Of course some will still bury there heads and make excuses but they are not interested in learning or moving forward ,just keeping a belief alive or have too much invested one way or another to be wrong.

I think these types of clips are very relevant and could move the discussion on in a positive way. But I do see how it could go another way.