[SolidRedux]

At my dojang we do absolutly no hand work. All kicking. This is why I show up usually half an hour early and jab weight masters. The most effective kicks I find are round-house, push and front kick. I currently wish to cross-train in kickboxing or ju-jitsu because I feel WTF TKD is more of a sport then a martial art. But if you wish to have powerful, fast kicks then TKD is right for you but boxing training on the side is a must.

[nEo-Wolf]

Originally Posted by 0o~KiNg*UmY~o0

Is your typical TKD competition similar to point sparring?

What is it like sparring without body protectors on (if you use them) ? Does it feel a lot different?

Yeah competitions are pretty much point sparring it being either point stop or continuos in my experiance.
Sparring without body protectors aint to much different, there usually so in competitions you can see if they hit the big circle target easier. You may have to keep the sparring on a lighter level without them, but we never use body protectors...
I dont like when hands, knees and elbows are not used as they are very effective weapons and much quicker in cases than kicking. Kickboxing is good to cross train in as it gets your hands up to speed. Im more of natural puncher and a good kicker so I tend to use my hands.

[TKDman]

Originally Posted by binhdinhboy

y is it some competitions discourage the use of hands? ive always wondered about this...i remembered reading that its because the skilled working class wanted to protect their hands. is this true?

I've never heard of this explanation. But it doesn't make much sense if TKD was developed as an art for the military. We DO have punches, blocks, knifehands etc. It's just that the flashy kicks stick out in people's minds because they're different. Like I said, flashy kicks are for breaking demonstrations. They don't make sense as far as self-defense because of the exertion and balance that you must sacrifice. A smart opponent isn't going to sit there while you try and tornado kick him.

[Kyorgi]

Anyways:

For point sparring I spar for points at tournaments, its usually 2 1 minute rounds with a 30 second rest, all hand techniques to the body are 1 point and all foot techniques to the body and head are 1 point. The thing that I hate about point sparring is when once a point is scored they stop, how can you even break a sweat doig that. Sometimes I spar at home with out padding but I end up killing my shins on my best firends knee

do you use jump kicks in sparring?

I use jump spining back kick alot, and if I am WAY better than me opponent I might try a 360 roundhouse...that is if its not for tournament puposes (I don't wanna risk anything).

[Kyorgi]

As far as basic kicks go:

Most of the kicks in sparring are roundhouses
90% roundhouse
As far as push, round, and straight kick being the most effective kicks (i think it was solid redux who said it) you forgot 2 of most basic and effective kicks in existance...side kick and back kick, if you say that back kick doesn't work in sparring you must have brain damage...since most guys roundhouse 90% of the time that means you can get an easy point by backing kicking everytime they roundhouse, and for those damn flamingo sparrers (on one leg the whole time roundhousing) back kick the mofos and make them fall over.

[gohara]

Sounds about right

2 of most basic and effective kicks in existance...side kick and back kick, if you say that back kick doesn't work in sparring you must have brain damage...

keep it basic

[Kyorgi]

old thread...i know, but I want to keep it alive

in addition to what gohara just said, back kick is what won the 2000 olympics for Steven Lopez

[TKDartist]

A little lesson about TKD hand techniques.

Tae kwon do hand work is actually very good. Everyong rips on it because they don't understand and if your dojang doesn't teach it then don't try to explain it.
TKD was originated from Korean battlefield arts and most of the hand techniques
are lethal. We use our legs for power strikes and our hands for accurate strikes.
Most hand strikes are delivered to soft targets like the eyes,throat,temples and side of the neck. We also have adopted the use of boxing techniques probably in the 60's when kickboxing became popular and all our strikes were illegal. It's also nice when you don't want to kill someone. I have to go to work now. I'll come back later, please give feedback.
P.S. I am a first Dan black belt in a traditional TKD system, far as I can tell the only black belt answering on this thread.

[gohara]

Now that sounds interesting. where I train they do not teach the hand aspect of tkd so had to go elsewhere to learn this.

george

[Kyorgi]

I am a first Dan black belt in a traditional TKD system

What do you mean? Traditional? it was created too recently to have a traditional style.