Thinking about training in TKD

I am not familiar in this form at all. Well, actually, I am not familiar with anything other that what I taught myself (mainly simple blocks). Anyway, I'm just curious what all you TKD lovers do.

I don't know the basics behind the moves. I figure I'm trying to get people's opinions on the art, so I can figure out if I want to join a TKD "dojang"...as the Koreans call it.

If you would let me know exactly how you all train in class, and how effective you believe it to be in real life...etc.

I am not wanting to do any real competition. I may try it down the road, but I can honestly say, right now, I am not wishing to really compete. I want to learn something that I can really use to defend myself.

Also, what do you feel are some things to look for when searching for a school?

My class starts with about 10-15 minutes of stretching. Then we have a 10 minute warm up(push-ups, running, practicing kicks/punches and rolls, but all very fast paced). Then we focus on what ever the main lesson of the week may be (It may be sparring, forms, one-steps) for about 35-40 minutes. Then for about another 10 minutes we work on joint manipulation, grapples and sometimes throws(depends on the mood of our SaBumNim)

My dojang focuses a lot on self-defense but not all schools do. It mainly depends on the teacher and federation you go into (ITA,WTF,ITF).

Many people are under the impression that TKD is all fancy kicks and no blocks or punches but they are wrong. I suggest you go to a local dojang and ask if you can watch a class. After that you should have a basic idea if TKD for you. If not you could check out other martial arts schools in your area.

TKD has many effective self defense applications, but it all depends on the school you attend. Many schools focus just on sparring technique, which is mostly impractical for real life. Visit some schools and ask these questions of them. The instructor there will be able to tell you if their school offers what you are looking for. Also, ask if they include Hapkido in their program, or check if there is a Hapkido school in your area. Since self defense is your primary goal check out Hapkido first since it is a more self defense oriented art. Then if you get curious, or catch the kicking bug, check out TKD.

When I first started I had to learn the basics. I don't know what I was thinking but I thought I'd learn more. This was foolish because you have to learn to crawl before you can walk. I think this is one of the reasons that many people don't stick it out. They think they should be taught killer moves right off and don't realized they have to train the basics before learning anything more complex.

Our class starts with lining up and then kneeling to clear our minds of the day and to focus on what will happen in class. We then bow to the black belts and then we break up for about 10 to 20 minutes for warm ups. These vary and can be anything from doing running, stairs, skipping rope, short/medium/long stretches, chin ups, push ups and a combination of other exercises. They change frequently so your body doesn't have time to adapt and you are always pushing yourself.

We have a set schedule that has a 6 days rotation over 7 days so no day is the same. They are:

A Day = Promotion Preparation

If there is not test scheduled then it is the instructor's choice. The instructor may pick any of the other days to do this day. If a test is scheduled we will go over all of the material required for that test to make sure everybody is ready. If you can't do it during this class then you don't get to test.

B Day = Kicking Training

This speaks for itself. We will always do different exercises to keep it interesting. We may do line where one person holds two paddles and everybody will have to do roundhouse, then followed by doubles, etc, etc. Or we will do it in a cirlce one way and then the otherway. Or we may work one one with another or with one person in the middle of two people. Or we will work on heavy bags, wave masters or with blocker shields.

C Day = Patterns & Basic Movements

Heavy on the patterns plus our One Step Sparring Techniques (self defense moves from our Hapkito training). We will also practice proper fighting stances, horse stances, L stances, basic movements, punches, kicks, knife hand strikes, blocks, etc.

D Day = Sparring Techniques

This is what many of us call Fight Night. Suit up and go at it. We usually start with some basic kicks to get everybody prepared. This is then followed by matches of 1 to 2 minutes each and you may have to fight as many as 8 fights in a row with 30 seconds to 1 minute rest periods.

E Day = Self Defence / Falling Techniques

This changes many times. Some days we will do "E Day" punching and kicking patterns, falling techniques from the side, forward and backwards. We may do throwing & sweeping techniques, arm bars, joint manipulation, chokes, wrist locks, etc. Or we may grapple the whole class (jujitsu & hapikto mixed in).

F Day = Long Stretch, Breaking Techniques & Target Sparring

Again pretty much self explanatory. Practice breaking technique. Do long stretching. We do target sparring where it is you and the instructor and depending on your belt level it could be anywhere from 1 minute to 3 minutes going full out where he holds to paddles and you have to do different kicks depending on how he/she holds them. Then you may have to do pyramid kicking where you kick each paddle one and then twice each ... all the way to 10 an then down again.

Obviously each school is different. We are WTF so our sparring days are full contact. Classes change constantly to keep you intrigued and challenged. Our instructor takes courses and fights shoot fighting and jujitsu so we get these benefits. We've brought in a Roman-Greco instructor to teach fundimentals. Always more we can learn. Its good stuff. Shop around and try some classes out. You can't go wrong.

[This message has been edited by Dereck (edited 03-15-2005).]

TaeKwonDo is a very enjoyable sport. You should try it. Our class starts with kicking combonations across the floor, then push ups sit ups etc. Then, we stretch. Finally, in the juniors class, they sit in the back and wait to get called up to do thier form. In the green-blue and purple-black classes, they spar until the end of class. In the adults class, we do the same thing, but we don't always work on our forms. You should watch a class at a school and see how it flows. If you want to try out, you should.

Just a note. While many martial arts have varying styles (how many types of Kung Fu are there?? [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG] ), it is particularly important to be careful when looking at TKD. As an Olympic sport, it is a martial arts style that is often taught as just that, a sport, and nothing else. A general rule to follow is what style of forms (katas) the school teaches. If they teach 'ITF' forms, they are more traditional and combat oriented, and if they teach 'WTF' the school is probably more sport oriented.
Try asking the instructor which style of TKD they teach. There were several traditional schools of TKD such as Chang Moo Kwan (which I study), Moo Duk Kwan, and several others.
As everyone said, always go to the class and take a look before committing to anything and talk to the instructor.