What do you think? 4 years of that stuff any good? or better of with boxing? or bjj, or muay thai?
TKD is useless. I’m not even an expert and know that. Take anything but. Those pretty kicks will get you nowhere.
Strongly consider Judo, which I’ve become a huge fan of recently. It has just as much of a ground game as BJJ, but this fact is very little-known. The only thing is that there are no leg-locks in judo competition, but they do practice them, along with chokes and arm submissions. Plus it has throws, which are great pseudo-takedowns for submissions and ground and pound.
Regardless of what anyone thinks, its not so much the art you learn, as the teacher that you learn it from. Any martial art can be deadly effective, as long as you have a teacher who knows what he’s doing, and teaches it the way it was meant to be taught. The reason TKD has such a bad rep is that most dojos these days are run by people who really have no idea what they are doing, and are trying to make a quick buck by running people up the belt ladder as quickly as possible. A competent TKD teacher will make you a compentent TKD artist. No matter how awesome BJJ or Judo may be, a crappy teacher will create a crappy student, and no matter how crappy the art, an excellent teacher will make an excellent student.
All that being said, if you want to take TKD, go for it, just make sure you do youre research on the school, and more importantly, the teacher. Other less “mainstream” martial arts, such as Judo, tend to have higher quality teachers in general, making it easier to find a good school, but theres no reason you cant find a good one somewhere nearby.
Sorry, mate, but you are talking bollocks. Everyone knows that high kicks are not to be used in a real-life situation, but practising them makes your low kicks faster and more powerful.
Like any martial arts, TKD is as good as the teacher and the student are are, no better.
Then why not take muay thai? Kicks that are practical. Who gives a shit if you can spin around. When’s the last time CroCop did that? Hell, you’re better off kicking a soccer ball for a work out. It’s free.
Muay Thai is good, very practical. But there are not many genuine Muay Thai gyms outside Thailand.
The lack of a standard ‘MT’ system/grade/belt/etc means that there is likely to be a lot of variance in quality among the different schools around the world. Some of the more ‘standardised’ (if I can use the expression) styles, like some Karates, have become more aligned in terms of quality.
The fact that Muay Thai is good does not have much relevance to your statement that TKD is shit though !!!
???
If you want to take it for self defense or to compete…STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM IT!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoSFk4thj0s&search=mma%20fights
(Yawn.)
A TKD guy got beaten up by someone who has a different style. That therefore automatically makes the entire style inferior to the MMA.
Good job life is not a series of axioms.
yeah i think that’s a good point. i used to spar with a tkd kid and he explaned it to me that a lot of the techniques in tkd are long range to keep people at a distance. since he understood that he used it to avoid a clinch because he aparently had an instructor who taught him the appropriate strategy. that was also his argument for tkd as a self defense. hahaha he said they learned to use tkd’s long range stuff to create seperation and then… run! lol.
but like missy said the “street effective” debate is kinda weak no matter where you’re comming from. and from competition, i guess it’s ineffective because you don’t see it in mma events. but then again, mma doesn’t mean mma anymore. it means that kickboxer/grappler style. which i’m not knocking because that’s what i practice.
contrary to popular belief though, he didn’t spin that much. and i only saw him jump if he was messing around.
i do know what people are talking about though when they say it has weaknesses, but heavy d made a good point about the instructor
Sorry Dude!!! But if there are a choice of a few different arts I could take for SELF DEFENSE OR COMPETITION thats not the one!!!
Maybe you should read 1st before you post…If you want to take it for forms or excercise or you want to do it for the acrobatic kicks I SAY GO FOR IT!!!
But for self defense purposes I wouldn’t especially coming from a JEET KUNE DO backround and MMA I spar with all kinds and Like someone posted its good at long range but not at any other…
The video was more a joke than anything and it was handy so lighten up socrities!!!
Ha - good comeback with the Socrates stuff !!
I am not having a go at you, I am just disagreeing. I am not a TKD expert (but have done it for about 7 years) I have seen some people though who have used it extremely effectively in self defence and also mixed competition.
My point was, and I can’t have made it clearly, that I don’t think that one style is necessarily ‘better’ than another. That is a bit typical of our society where we want a ‘crutch’ or ‘shortcut’ to be able to beat people up more effectively.
Hard work and dedication, along with some natural talent, will make any style effective … even TKD !!!
when..you talk like this!!!
don’t expect!!!
anyone!!!
to take you seriously!!!
especially when saying you train in mma!!!
I couldn’t stop laughing after that video…That guy looked like he was going to cry…If you want to see some more silly TKD stuff go find a video of their national or olympic stuff. Its the dumbest looking combat competition I’ve ever seen.
it more of a “Forms” martial art…all show and no go…what do want to do?..TKD is not designed for real fighting…it’s more for tournaments…if you want to get in awesome shape…boxing is the way…wanna be crazy go for Muay thai and deaden your nerves…no feeling..lots of years and pain…BJJ is pretty cool…but I just watched the Matt Hughes /Gracie fight…not gonna go there…
i want to stray so please check out the my new thread. i’ll call it ground and pound
Actually, I took him very seriously!!! ;D
But seriously, TKD for self D? Come on. Who’s ever got 15 feet to get a running start for an acrobatic kick in a crowded bar? If you had 15feet to begin with, chances are you wouldn’t have pissed each other off in the first place!!! lol. 
Why was that skinny punk in there with a guy who had easily 40pounds on him?
Nuh uh!!!
TKD is great my son does it. But when he’s old enough he’ll train in judo with me so he can gain some real world useful skills ;D
Anyway here’s my bit on self defence that i posted in another thread
[b]Can’t believe no-one has mentioned Judo. Its pressure tested (competition), is adaptable and is widely known and recognised as the best support system in a fight should the fight get close in. Its what a lot of doorman train in. Geoff Thompson Renowned self protection expert and ex doorman) says judo is the best kept secret in martial arts. I used to know a couple of dan grades that worked the door and they literally OWNED every confrontation they found themselves in. Wing Chun is the biggest pile of shyte going (sorry all you wingchunners) I sparred full contact with a Wing Chun red sash and had him submitting 2 times in a couple of mins from two chokes. The 3rd time i threw him on the deck with a bastardised osotogari (grabbing the trachea and powering through) and funnily enough he didn’t fancy anymore. Plus their strikes carry zero power (they punch fresh air in training) and under stressful conditions they recall sod all of their fancy straight line punches. (well thats my opinion anyway)
Self defence is so much more than learning to strike. Its all about awareness, situational control, body language, posturing.
I train in Judo and Urban Combatives which is just that. Urban combat. We train to strike pre emptively and cover all bases of combat. Judo is my support sustem.
My advice? Train 3 or 4 pre emptive strikes and drill them until they are second nature. Learn to hit fukcing hard and hit first. When you are faced with a real situation and adrenaline is a factor all your learned fancy training and targetting will go out the window. You will rely on a few gross motor strikes. Judo is the best support system because it is pressure tested in competition. Forget BJJ…if you go to the ground in a bar you are IN THE S*** and someone (anyone…not even someone involved in the altercation) will feel the need to play football with your head.
Look up F.A.S.T training. Fear and Adrenal Stress Training. A lot of martial artsist have had a bit of a shock when attending on of these course. Sudeenly their Karate ‘death punches’ don’t do S*** under the infuelnce of adrenaline.
In summary train strikes (3 or 4)…my suggestion. Elbow,Hammerfist,tiger claw palm strike (you don’t want to hit a skull with bare knuckles..learning open hand strikes will allow you to employ continuous attack rather than F****** your hand with the first punch) and chinjab.Traing them hard with full agression and if possible get your training partner to simualte adrenaline by calling you all sorts of names,getting in your face, spitting at you. Then train them pre-empotively hitting the pad with 110% agression and with all the force you can muster. We are looking for a one punch knockout here if that doesn’t happen you wan’t contiunous attack until the threat has gone.
Choose Judo as your support system should the fight get in close. It teaches you weight displacement and body mechanics. Enabling you to get back into a position to win the fight from a standup. Also you can slam the c*nt into the deck. Ever been thrown on concrete from a judoka? You aint getting up.
Minsdet also plays a huge part in self defence. Train agression 110% when you train. You need to be able to flick a swtich in your head and be at 110% agression and fight until there is f*ck all left to fight about.
Self defece/urban combat regardless of art is 80% aggression 20% technique. Ever seen squaddies fight? They are some of the most ferocious fighters i have ever seen yet they hardly have any formal training. Yet their mindset is second to none for out and out aggression.
Thats my two penneth anyway. [/b]
