The problem with TKD, like karate, and soon, many people fear, BJJ is that there are tons of those McDojos that EFOC was talking about.
I did manage to have a good Tae Kwon-Do teacher, who sadly left for Korea shortly after I attained my first dan. Our school regularly won tournaments in Toronto, both domestic and international. I myself managed to win a few competitions, though I was far from the best student at our school. But yes, my kung-fu teacher was world's ahead.
Meh, I still learn TKD (ITF) and this is my 8th year of serious training and I learn at no McDojo. I've too become dissapointed in that TKD, even if it haves very many moves, in practice is quite limiting, but no martial art is perfect. After I [again] finish university next year, I'll complement TKD with Aikido and maybe Thaibox.
None of that is legal here... You're not even allowed to carry pepperspray or a stun gun. The constitution here even defends the attackers, your not allowed to do more harm to him than is absolutely necessary for defending yourself. This may seem OK at first sight but its not, the attackers use it to threaten the defender and the 'line' is rather vague... I guess you're assuming that I live in the US... But I actually live in the Netherlands as shown in my profile, Amsterdam to be exact, so I don't think that you can be of much help there... But one advantage of living in Amsterdam is that there are many martial art schools near me.
I like the sound of Krav Maga and there seems to be a school near me that teaches that. I'm going to look into it.
You want to learn how to fight? Simple, A combination of striking and grappling. Brazilian Jiujitsu would be a good choice... Of course, the best tool for the defense of life would be a firearm.
TKD is completely f*cking useless. I should know, I was given a black belt. Boxing is more grounded in reality, but if you're going down that route, supplement your training with grappling (ground fighting). Why? Most fights end up in shoving/holding matches and sooner or later, someone will lose balance and it's going to the ground. You'll learn plenty of chokes, locks and bars (eg. armbar)... enough to disable your opponent without necessarily inflicting grievous bodily harm. Well, if that's your cup of tea, anyway. If someone attacked me, I'd make sure his ass would be in a hospital for a prolonged period of time.
Solidus: Same here. Your sentiment is shared by others on the thread, and I also agree. EmptyChi is right about the McDojos. I was about 13 when I was given my black belt, and it had taken me about 3-4 years to earn. But to be honest, I was pretty good for a kid. I never messed up on the patterns, I wasn't bad at sparring, and I remembered the Korean terminology off by heart. Pretty good for a kid, considering the 'competition'. What was disgraceful is that many kids who were completely useless (forgot their patterns during gradings, cried after getting a light kick in sparring, couldn't learn a word of Korean) managed to get black belts. No kid should be given a black belt in any martial art. I don't care how good they are. Even if their form is good (un-fucking-likely), they still don't have the maturity to understand how to apply said art in a social context. What's funny is that most of the chaps I knew in martial arts were pussies. I remember one teen who was a black belt, who got smashed at school by three bullies while refusing to fight back. Dumb ass. Why spend years learning self-defense, if you aren't going to employ it when the opportunity arises? I wish I had the time, will and health to take up a new art. I always wanted to learn Judo, because it seems quite practical, especially against larger opponents. Given that I'm short and light weight, I'd rather use my opponent's weight against them instead of relying on punches to a barrel chest.
I have long heard this. Do you know of any schools which still do it this way? Of course, quantity of practise/=mastery, but still it's pretty cool.
no, boxing is not practical for self defence. it drills in rules and ristrictions that hinder your reactions in a street fight. boxing is a sport not a realistic self defence system. any training system that requires you to wear protective gear will be bad for non sporting no rules defence. it limits your entire fighting range, you are only allowed to punch thats it. no grappling, no kicking, no knees, no elbows. and you are trained and drilled into not engaging in anything but strict punching in a confined space. you dont learn knife fighting, no weapons handling, no 2 on 1. boxing is a sport not a self defence system. but its good if you want to improve stamina and simple striking. but i advice people to not wear any form of gloves or protective gear. peace.
and how is bruce lees jeet kun do, a traditional system? he has done exactly what i do. updated traditional systems and turned them into a realistic modern system. how is jeet kun do traditional? i study jeet kun do. peace.
your laws are the same as our laws here in the UK then. there are ways of getting around those laws. you can carry a cane or walking stick, wich can be a very good weapon. it has a range advantage over knives also. i didnt assume you lived in the US thats why i asked what area you lived in, many countries allow you to own guns. i can help you, i know some instructors that come from holland, but im not sure if they are still living there. i will search for a good instructor thats local too you. peace.
nah, i dont know anybody that does it this way, the tradition is long dead i assume. the closest thing i have seen to this, is my black gong fu uniform with white cuffs. the cuffs have turned dark dark grey from sweat dirt and general training over the years. also it has hundreds of holes and rips all over it. peace.
real muay thai is excellent. i practice muay thai at a place called the KO gym in east london. it is very good and highly respected even in thailand. the sports side of muay thai can be negative towards real combat. but unlike boxing muay thai uses nearly all bodyparts, and is an old military system. muay thai is demanding and can create rock hard warriors, but the sparring is brutal and i have come home busted up so many times. muay thai is the second best training i have ever done, second only to shaolin gong fu. in my opinion the 2 most demanding systems. peace.
Funny you should mention that. My friend has 2 pair of 16 oz gloves. I want to get a pair of 10 or 12oz gloves. He wants to use the 16oz because one can block easier. I want to use my smaller gloves because they are more realistic. JKD is another style I would like to learn. One of our district managers here studied JKD and one of the fighters he trained was supposed to be going into the UFC. I would love to take lessons from him but he lives in FL and I'm in TN. Bruce Lee: Be formless, shapeless. Be water my friend. Be water.
thats what i dont like about drilling boxing training into people. because it gives you the instinct that putting up a boxing gaurd can block punches. but when you take the gloves off the boxing defence does not work, ungloved fists just pass through a boxing gaurd. thats why in the UFC people dont use a boxing gaurd. they use a long stance, and try to evade rather than block. when sparring i use 4 OZ fingerless gloves, like UFC fighters use. i do iron fist training and if i didnt wear gloves i could seriously indent peoples skulls. jeet kun do is great, you dont find many UFC fighters using that style. but my guess is that it would work well. but again UFC has rules so it will usualy favour grappling styles, because in real life JKD is brutal, you cant use it fully in the ring. say a BJJ fighter takes you down and has you in a lock. you cant use your JKD to get out of it. bruce would have told people to rip his balls off, or plunge 2 fingers into his eye sockets. wich will work on the street. but ofcourse you cant do that in the ring. so the BJJ guy will have the advantage with his holds and locks. peace.
I have known some with black belts that have almost gone light grey, almost white again from so much fading and use...full circle as with many things. The most and least experienced in martial arts wear white belts Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
