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[Steve88]

i am, and i know better than the hands down crap, and my class is taught with a high hand stance for defense and im mostly in it for the flexibility and reflexes for now.. basically because where im living right now has no where else martial art wise so it's a lack of options and my gf is in it haha

i know better then to let bad habits hinder me from tkd

[Ramma]

Originally Posted by deeznizzies

no offense to anyone who's a tkd fan or to the thread starter... but, how damn easy is it to get a belt in tkd? shit, i see 6 to 10 year old kids, boys and girls, walking around here in my apartment complex and on the street w/black belts (i live in korea.. just outside of seoul).

i think i was about 11 when i had my checker belt and that's here in korea as well.

i think if you're taking tkd to learn flexibility and to get your reflexes together... there are much better traditional martial arts you can take where you'll become a better "fighter" in a shorter amount of time then it would take you in something like tae kwon do.

all the bad habits you learn in tkd (stance, hands down, etc) may hinder your progress if you're trying to build this into mma training (which from your posts, i'm assuming you are?)

Korea or not, those schools are shit. There is no grey area about it. The most you could get at my old TKD school was a pune belt (or junior black belt). You couldn't take the BB test unless you were 18 or older.

Additionally, that hands down shit is olympic style TKD which is a disgrace amongst any real TKD practioneer. Seriously, TKD teachers/students make fun of it. My teacher also taught us to stand with our shoulder's mostly squared, not that straight line stance that many are trained in.

Any good martial art school will break away from some of the fundementals of the art to make it more practical for real life situations.


Anyway, TKD has its good and bads. Teaches flexibility, speed, technique, accuracy, and humbleness, among other things. Unfortunately it is very 1 dimensional and where you can kick is limited (can only kick the body and head... no where else).

A good TKD school will teach TKD with another martial art (such as Hapkido) to have a defense for punches, grabs, etc.

As a single martial art, it is one of the least effective for sure. Most of the time, a TKD fighter will get his arse handed to him by a Muay Thai fighter or kickboxer. You need to know other martial arts.