Doubtful. effectiveness.. plz help

I've been hearing a LOT ( i mean alot) of things about how TKD is now just a sport and an INEFFECTIVE martial art, that TKD cannot be used in a fight. i wanted to start martial arts for the martial art/fighting aspects, not the sports. I am already a 2nd dan and I feel i've spent too much tiem in tkd to switch now to another martial art. So which is it? Is it effective in a fight or not? Is TKD just another cheap sport? Should i switch to somethign like muay thai if im looking for a MARTIAL art? Need guidance. Thanks

If you are a 2nd dan, then you should have no doubt of TKD's effectiveness. It takes a while to achieve 2nd dan and if you train like we do at my dojo, then you would be absoultely certain. Every dojo trains differently and it basically comes down to this, if people train like it means very little to them, then they will perform accordingly. If you train like you are mad at the world, then it will show in your performance. You get out what you put in. People are very critical of TKD for some reason, but it is what it is just like bjj is what it is. TKD is not the fix-all for the martial arts world. It is only a small part of it. All arts focus on different things and none of them are "The Martial Art". If we as martial artists want to train like sissys, then that's what we will be. If we train to gain knowledge of any particular art and to be good at it, then eventually we will be good at it. Doubting is your first mistake. Believe in what you do and train like every day was your last. There is no sport side to traditional TKD but there is in olympic style TKD if that's how we want to look at it. But first and foremost, TKD is not a sport IMHO. Even though you have spent aolt of time in TKD, that does'nt mean that you can't start another style to supplement it. I train in three different styles and I absolutely love it. Try something else, sure. But don't stop training in TKD. Thats my advice. Good luck.

TKDfighter,

If you would be so kind as to indulge me, I would like to know how long you have practiced and how old you are? I am trying to figure out what made you think of your art as somehow unsuitable and why you think you must force yourself into training only TKD if you are questioning it. These questions are not aimed in some malign way, just curious.

TKD like any art has many different faces depending on the instructor and school. So how one trains is important, but also how the art speaks to one. I belive not all arts and not all folk are suitable for all arts.

Some folk are better in certain arts for pychological and physical reasons. Choices are always necessary when searching for what fits you.

If you have questions, either experience or insight is bringing something to the surface. In either case, few people can help you and ultimately it will be you who decides the merit of your own training.

So good luck, but I would certianly like to know a little about why you have questions...again, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Finding something that fits you for training is what you should strive for.

-B

If you are doubting your own effectiveness then you have not trained hard enough up until this point.

Train harder. It's not the art, it's the person. Any decent art can be trained to effectiveness. TKD is certainly decent enough. At nidan you ought to be good enough to feel confident in your abilities.

Start picking up any slack you've left in your training and just train as hard as you possibly (and safely) can from this point on.

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If you are doubting your own effectiveness then you have not trained hard enough up until this point.

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I don't think doubt means that at all. Even the best MAists sometimes have doubts about what they're doing.

TKDFighter, I think the response you are getting from the forum, is due to the way you asked your questions. Just because we would not rely on our skills in a "street fight" or other, does not mean that we do not think our art is useful for SD and fighting purposes. All it means, is that we view our TKD as an advantage in a fight, not the only means to the end.

As WhiteTiger says, cross-training can be very useful for understanding your own art better. It may indeed show you just how useful TKD is, when you see ways to approach situations which are different from the way your new art would respond to it.

You are second dan now, and I'm sure that means you are a very capable MAist, and easily able to take up another MA. However, TKD is still perfectly useful and valid as a fighting art.

I train in Chang Hon TKD, and my school and association really plays down any sport aspect of the MA. There are national, European and World championships, but no other competitions in the year. Therefore, we are mostly training to defend ourselves, rather than to score points. So I would certainly not support the view that TKD is just a sport MA.