TKD Forms Discusion

Me at a tournament long ago, flying side kick, took 2nd.

 

Boy oh boy, this is my topic. Today I came across some people who have had a really polite, yet disagreeable, topic on the net and I find that refreshing. They were opinionated but not in a rude way. I love talking about the forms. I know some WTF forms but I have never been coached on the applications of the moves, however I had great coaching on the ITF forms.

My instructors broke down every move, as they felt it applied, and did a pretty through job. I have a largely analytical mind, so I broke the ITF forms down even further than I have ever been taught. If you look at the belt meanings and back ground the forms become important because they  teach you history of Korea, from a Korean perspective. I feel it’s really important to get out of your way of thinking, from time to time, and listen to other perspectives. Very refreshing.

http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=328347&page=10

I implore you to read through the above link and hear them out. Again, they only speak from their perspectives, being what they know, and although I may disagree I respected what they said. You have to take criticism like theirs constructively and ask yourself a question; are the forms to teach you TKD as a martial art, or as a martial sport? From my perspective it looks like that has been the discussion all along in TKD, is it real or is it “sport real”. I enjoy the sport, but if you know me then you know I side with the martial art philosophies.

Sport strategies I believe can be taught in drills and by sparing, but the forms are what are going to preserve the martial art; therefore I am for keep the integrity of the ITF forms and maintaining their martial teachings. The sport has grown over the last three decades into something bigger than what most could have seen coming, but sports change. This one already has, so if you continuously change the forms then you lose the true teachers of the founders.

Although I am athletic, I don’t fancy myself an athlete, but instead a martial artist. I hope that rings true with you as you read my writings, and even if you are heavy into the sport I would hope you could come to see the difference in perspectives. (If you don’t already)

So I know a lot about ITF forms, some about WTF forms, but ATA forms I don’t really know. They seemed to have started their own thing; I have never really looked into it. But here are their forms.

http://www.segalsata.com/additional.php?id=33

They seem to have evolved from ITF, obviously because of some of the patterns, but when I have seen ATA guys perform them at tournaments they seem like they are done for show. I would like to learn more about the approach in teaching ATA perspective. I will leave off with that.

Peace.

Are WTF and Olympic Style Kicks Useful In Real Life?

Try throwing a fancy kick with that guy coming at you!

First things first wtf and all its flashy kicks are pretty much useless in the street. WTF is a sport and that’s where it belongs. While its origins are from a military art it has done a great job of dialing it down to pretty much something about as useful as baseball on the street. If you enjoy the sport there is nothing wrong with that but you must have an understanding that the moves and fighting style used in the wtf ring should stay there.
One of wtfs biggest flaws the lack of punches or really anything besides kicks, if you watch wtf fighters in tournaments or even in the dojang you hardly ever see them throw a punch. In the street that’s pretty much all you’re going to see and maybe some grabbing, but how are you supposed to fight against something when you never practice it or even how to defend it. How you practice something is how you’re going to perform, if you always practice throwing fancy kicks then that’s probably what you’re going to use in the street. I’ve actually had a wtf fighter tell me that in street he’d use the multiple diagonal kick move I forget what it’s called, it’s when you go from foot to foot alternating kicking leg, you see it in tournaments a lot and while it might be good for scoring points you would most likely get destroyed using it in the street. All it would take is a good punch to the face, a slam to the ground, or even a kick to the groin, which are all illegal moves in the ring.
It is very necessary to distinguish to fighting in the ring and fighting in the street. It is also necessary to train for both if you are a ring fighter, if not your knowledge of fighting elsewhere will be very limited giving you significantly less chance of surviving an altercation. The true way of martial arts is training for survival in a life or death situation, to do whatever it takes to come out on top. Wtf sport training teaches you to score points by a specific set of rules, with pads for protection, and referees to watch over the competitors, all things absent in the street.
So if you’re a wtf fighter, you enjoy what you do, plan on only sticking to your sport training, and not worry about training for the streets; that’s fine more power to you. All sorts of people train in all kinds of sports everyday that they enjoy and even live for, but that does not mean that that training will be of any use in a street fight or a survival situation. Have fun enjoy your training but never forget what your training for and know the difference between street and ring.


BatDad