Tae Kwno Do at the Olymlics

[Banzai_Joe]

What a load of rammel.
It’s probably one of the few events that doesn’t mirror the true skill and training of the exponents.
In the dojang they train hard and develop great skill. In a tournament they armour up (pussies), bounce around on the spot like they want to go to the toilet, arms down (no guard) and keep flicking (side) kicks out.
It’s obviously the rules that are to blame not the players, but I see nothing of interest or demonstrable skill in it. Side kicks and a dodgy axe kick whilst hugging each other, which shows flexibility I guess.
Such a shame to disallow these athletes from truly showcasing their martial skills the way full contact karate used to.
Judo isn’t toned down and there’s plenty of risk in that, just in case someone spouts up about potential injury.

My background was kick-boxing, aikido and some karate. I used to spar with a 2nd Dan scottish TKD champion and due to their silly rules he’d never even been taught how to “sweep the leg”. Even Daniel-san knew that. when I did sweep him he hit the deck hard and complained “wth was that?!”

What do other TKD exponents think? Does this type of competition restrict your potential do you think?

 

[Zatoichi.uK]

ITF>WTF

 

[Banzai_Joe]

ITF>WTF

Pretty sure my mate was ITF. But I confess I’m not well versed in the differences any more.

 

[Zatoichi.uK]

Wtf focuses very much on sparring and point scoring. Punches to the head are not allowed and kicks to the head are, scoring the most points. These rules create the weird looking sparring and generally result in an art a million miles away from self defence. Its more of a sport than a martial art really.

Itf focuses more on patterns, 1, 2 and 2 step sparring, tenets etc. Its still rubbish for self defence mind you and arguably worse than doing nothing as it builds terrible habits.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Yeah I guess that can be the danger, bad habits etc, especially the hands down guard just so you can potentially raise a foot for a kick.
Every TKD exponent I’ve trained with (quite a few back in the day) has had poor hand/close quarter development, get inside their guard and they’re clueless.
I have no problem if a “martial art” is regarded a useless in the street etc; I studied aikido for 11 years and people slate that to hell. But it’s a path to self improvement (do) and that happens in the dojo/dojang. IMHO.

 

[jsmoke]

I did TKD for a couple of years when at school, it was movies like kickboxer and bloodsport that got me interested. I could do the full splits and hence some impressive high kicks. As for a lot of things when I left school I stopped doing it.

Those TKD kicks were deadly so I guess they have to tone it down to prevent serious injuries or even deaths.

I also agree that hand/upper body defence and attack isn't usually great with the average TKD artist.

Krav Maga is the way to go though.

 

[dave28]

they dont like KO`s on daytime TV. The viewer complaints would crash their system lol

 

[BUDFORCE]

I did it for several years, but it's a sport NOT a proper martial art, never do it on the street.

Of course, it's really good for fitness, coordination etc etc, and there is nothing stopping you developing to something else or on the side.

I used to do a lot of bag work mostly punching to balance with all the kicking.

But I agree, in its pure form and especially to watch it, it's ********.

 

[swillsy]

Was literally just saying this to my partner - looks so weird with them jumping around, feet proding heads and none of the punches counting.

 

[hurfdurf]

Judo isn’t toned down and there’s plenty of risk in that, just in case someone spouts up about potential injury.

Judo very much is toned down, just not to the silly degree that TKD is, and even full TKD as a sport is soft and stupid compared to kick boxing.

 

[4k4uNuNu]

They should introduce gladiator games. With lions and shields and ****.

 

[Luckystrike123]

I did TKD when at primary school school and remember thinking (at 10 or 11!) that the techniques for blocking were stupid and completely useless. Why learn to block when competition is simply a game of the fast and the dead?

Its not very useful for self defence due to the lack of punching/blocking and how easy it is for an opponent to catch a kick. The method of victory is headkicking your opponent into next week which would lead to a GBH (or worse!) conviction.

I wonder what the future holds for these ineffective martial arts with the popularity of mma show casing disciplines such as Judo, BJJ, Wretling, Muay Thai, K1 etc. My parents sent me to TKD as they thought it would be good for self defence, my son will start with BJJ / Judo at 6, and if he's interested, a form of MT/K1/Boxing when he's an older teenager.

 

[dlockers]

They should introduce gladiator games. With lions and shields and ****.

100%

 

[robfosters]

I watch this and I can’t help thinking “How the hell is this ever going to help you in a proper fight?”

 

[Eurofighter]

I agree. Late night olympics should be a thing. KOs and top less birds.

 

[Nasher]

It's very much a kicking/dancing competition in tournaments. But I guess it's not meant to be real fighting.

If you went at someone experienced in something like Shotokan Karate or Akido with high kicks like that in a sparing match they would throw you to the floor instantly. Or just grab your leg and kick you in the balls lol (I loved doing that back in the day).

 

[mmj_uk]

I watch this and I can’t help thinking “How the hell is this ever going to help you in a proper fight?”

It's like most boxing all tippy-tappy nonsense to win on points, I saw one girl hopping around the mat while holding her leg up in the air with her hands to make it easier to get a head hit.

 

[The Running Man]

We needed full contact karate

 

[Efour]

I've been doing wtf for 20 odd years now and I can say my Fu and Fo are strong.

 

[chroniclard]

Its really poor, especially for spectating. Flip side I watched some great women's boxing with GB Charley Davison schooling cheddar someone. much better fighting sport.