Way of the Hand and Fist.

Hello, and thank you for taking the time in reading my post. I am new to the message board and have been training in Tae Kwon Do for a total of about a year and a half. First off, I really like Tae Kwon Do. It is great exercise and has increased my stamina, which is great, since I leave for basic training in August. In my limited experiance with TKD I have had some troubling thoughts when it comes to the confines of the system. I don't know if I am the only one who feels this way but does anyone out there think that TKD limits the growth of creativity? I also feel that all that I am training for when it comes to actual combat application is learning how to score a point on a person. There are so many techniques within the system to learn. But, when it comes down to it, I feel that by learning all these techniques which ones will really become automatic, or without thought, when it comes down to defending myself? I am an honest believer that all Martial Artist, regardless of style, are training to defend themselves when the need arise. This is just my general thoughts so far. Thanks again.

Metta,
Christian

Welcome to the TKD community. Don't worry, i'm sure there are many people that think the same as yourself. Your progress and your barriers lie with you. In my view, TKD is a building block and i have aikido and kung fu in my belt to compare with and add their movements into TKD. Many people like to stay with TKD as they feel this sufficient enough to defend themselves, etc. Many like to have as much experience as they can in the martial art world by learning different arts. What i'm trying to say is, you are the best judge for your progress

absolutely.

If you go on just about any martial arts forum, you will see the usual forum - "TAEKWONDO IS USELESS", which always attack tae kwon do for being useless for self defence.

The way I see it is this: If you can pull of a hedging turning kick at head height and break a board, what happens in a street situation, when you use that same kick to hit the back of someone's knee. Complete devastation.

There will always be a difference between point scoring and self defence, you just need to use what you think is appropriate, if it is at all. One of the most important things about tkd, is teaching the student to think about the situation he is in, using the most appropriate, and not the fanciest move he can.

I train in ITF, I think WTF is supposed to be more competition based, but we always do some self defence. Today, I was doing how to poke someones eyes out if they get you in a headlock, that's good advice!

yes i have had the same thoughts as u and have been doing taekwondo for 7 years. sekeolath sounds like u have an intresting martial arts back ground i have always like to try kung fu and aikido but either there are no schools around or too far away well back to the subject, i dont think tkd limits creativity but thats just me, i think the best way to train is in basics and the basics will be the blocks/attacks that will be more automatic.. good luck in your training.