WTF Sparring Knockout

Posted by: Leo_E_49

WTF Sparring Knockout - 06/21/05 05:19 AM

Why is it that people think that WTF TKD tournaments are "tappy"?

I have personally been winded, bruised (through padding), knocked out, floored and generally put through a large amount of pain in TKD sparring. So I personally can't imagine where this image of full contact TKD being "tappy" came from.

How did I manage to lose by KO in a "point sparring" match? In fact, to be honest, I'd have preferred if it weren't full contact that time so I'd not have been put through all that trauma.

Do the WTF TKD people here find that they experience the same as me or is my experience unique? Are your tournaments "tappy"? Has anyone else here personally been KOed by a TKD style kick? Have you personally been put on your back by a side kick to the solar plexus?

I'm sure that the rules of WTF and Olympic sparring don't prohibit win by KO, so how come people give the impression that KO doesn't happen in TKD?

It's perplexing and also continually used as an argument against the "effectiveness" of TKD (whatever that means) .

I'm open to comment from people who have real life experience. No theoretical power analysis please, I went into a non-WTF dojang once where they said TKD had the most powerful kicks but they didn't let me use any power during sparring there. The proof is in the eating of the pudding, if you've not kicked someone with the intention of KOing them or been in that situation yourself, please say so before you post your statement, for my education.
Posted by: Dereck

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 06/21/05 01:54 PM

Nothing tappy about our sparring. A month and a half ago one of our 2nd Dans caught me with a front kick to my lip/chin that stunned me and made me bleed. The corner of my lip was split through and took weeks to heal. Should probably got stitches but I'm way too tough for that. I had attacked him and had done an attacking spin kick and when my head turned ... WHAM. I was eating foot.

I've personally hit people hard enough for them not to continue as well have had this done to me. In a tournament I was kicked in the throat and I lost feeling in my arms and we had to wait a few seconds for me to get the feeling back. In class I've thundered people and vice versa ... that ain't no love tap. I even did a cut kick that knocked a guy in my class while sparring down that took him off the ground and landed him on his butt.

When sparring you are wearing full gear so you can kick hard. The gear doesn't stop the pain ... not in the least. In will help minimize it ... but that is it. Even my instructor said he received broken ribs when earlier fighting competitively. No love tap can do that.
Posted by: badkarma

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 06/21/05 03:35 PM

Deff. nothing "tappy" about TKD sparring. I'll never forget my first time sparring a 2nd Dan Black Belt, he side-kicked me right in the ribs...i was on the floor unable to breath for about 2 minutes :-/
Posted by: Ufaded

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 06/22/05 01:31 AM

I'll say this much. In the studio there is definitely nothing tappy about our sparring. I've actually been knocked out by a blackbelt once (I'm a brown, WTF). I more or less walked into it, but thats another story. What I have noticed though is that in the tournaments I have been in (I have been in 4 so far), it seems that there is no real threat for a knock out (at my level and below that is). For the blackbelts (adult), there is definitely a threat for knock out. The level of intensity for the blackbelts at the tournaments is extremely high (electric you might say, it really shows a difference in confidence level from where I am at to where they are at). I would love to go for a knock out shot, but am still timid of trying, as I am sure that if I don't connect that I will have a nice counter take me out.
Posted by: knightcommander

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 06/25/05 11:21 PM

The "tappy" name for TKD sparing came from all the little kids that spar.

Us adults fight full contact, or at least should.

I've been borderline knocked out a few times, and I have knocked out several people. Most knockouts are caused by people not keeping their guard up. Something that effects alot of TKDists.
Posted by: Ethanael

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 07/01/05 06:28 PM

The only time I "tap" is when I'm sparring a woman...Chivalry isn't dead, you know.
Posted by: northern_monkey

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 07/01/05 08:21 PM

i must admit, being a beginner and sparring with beginners alike. I find it a bit 'tappy'. But that's because we don't really know each other and it's sort of courteous. "oops sorry mate" "no my fault" "i'm sorry mate, that was a bit low" "no you're alright there's plenty of puppy fat to take the impact", that sort of thing. When i used to train in kung-fu as a boy, we were thrown into sparring, pad and bag work from day one. But i think with tkd, from my experience anyway, you are trained from the very basics. When you are ready and you've built a strong foundation, the "tappy" business goes out the window.
Posted by: Leo_E_49

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 07/02/05 01:39 AM

I was thinking more along the lines of tournaments. In class, training should always be a little "tappy" because we can't go around injuring our training partners can we?
Posted by: MattJ

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 07/02/05 08:52 AM

The TKD tourneys you guys are describing are not "tappy". I think the "tappy" references are more about the open, point style tourneys. Those are not exclusively TKD, but there tends to be a large TKD prescence, so the image sticks.

A lot of non-TKD people do not know how TKD sparring really is.
Posted by: cannonfodder

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 07/03/05 02:49 PM

in my sparring class we warm up without going 100%, but after about 15-20min it's full power. the higher belt levels aren't allowed to go full to a lower belt levels head, but other than that it can get pretty ugly. i'm getting ready to test for yellow belt and i'm the lowest belt in class so needless to say i come home with quite a few bruises
Posted by: Christiancadet

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 07/04/05 12:12 AM

I was knocked out as a yellow belt. I knocked somebody out as a green belt. I knocked somebody out as a blue belt.
Posted by: Spin_Hook

Re: WTF Sparring Knockout - 07/11/05 02:10 PM

I always thought TKD guys were tappy...until the first time I went to a TKD tournament and a yellow belt kicked me hard enough in the arm to make in numb wrist to elbow. That was a pretty hard tap if you ask me.