I ran over to one of my favorite blogs today to see what the author had brought to table this week. Low and behold it was about how he didn’t care for what he saw in Tae-kwon-do. Click here to check out his post:

My Response:

Please don’t take this as an incidiary rant. First Tae-kwon-do translates loosely to “way of fist and foot,” but a more literal translation is the “way of breaking with hand and foot.” It should be pronounced Tay as opposed to Thai, however, the names of Taiwan as well as Muay Thai (being completely unrelated) have lead English speakers to incorrectly pronounce the name (sort of how Americans say Ae-LOO-min-num [Aluminum] as opposed to the way it is pronounced in Great Britain Alloo-MI-num.Secondly, you are looking at taekwondo in its more “evolved state,” as a true sport. To understand why it evolved into this you must look at the origins of the martial arts.

The styles that form the basis of tae-kwon-do were formed so that peasants could fight off invading foreigners with horses. Combining the knowledge that the legs generate the most power in the body and allow you to jump high if trained correctly, a basis for the art was born.

True Tae-kwon-do centers in on correct techniques for upper and lower body striking. However, in sparring (staying close to the roots of Tae-kwon-do) points are mostly scored by kicks to the chest, stomach, and head. Points can be allowed for punching to the body, however,they must have showed to take the person being struck “off-balance.”

As for what is better in a fight, against anyone, seasoned or not, whoever is smarter will most likely win. As there are those that suggest the smarted thing would be not to fight, whatever to them. You can ravage youTube and find videos of Tae-Kwon-do Vs. Karate | Muay Thai | MMA | Kung-Fu (They are all pretty much interchangable) and you will see both styles winning.

I like to think for practical defense, that a Tae-kwon-do practitioner would look less threatening. (Assuming they are using a more sport related sparring stance without bouncing) They would be less menacing, not instigating by placing their hands in an aggressive stance (how it is seen in court), and might even have a jump on their opponent being ready from this stance. Coupled with the fact that ALL practitioners are taught to counter attack effectively might be enough to help one walk away from a fight unscathed. (Hopefully)

I will be the first to tell you I have heard more stories of TKD practitioners doing stupid stuff, like trying to kick knives/guns out of peoples hands and paying the price for it. When it comes down to weapons, we are taught to handle them as if they are in a sense “fire.” Focus on slapping/pushing away with the arms at all times and subdue the attacker at the same time.

I hope I haven’t rambled too much, but I just want to end saying, there is no supreme martial art. Whoever is faster, smarter, better and/or stronger, should win in a fight, but that isn’t always so. Thanks for taking a look at out sport and I hope some day you decide to try it out.

December 3, 2007 9:39 AM