Taekwondo Blog

What makes Taekwondo different to Karate?

2008-05-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

Seems there is a lot of confusion about the difference, and which is "better" between Taekwondo and Karate. There are some fundamental differences of course:

Taekwondo is has a focus on destruction and high spinning kicks. These are distinctly Korean aspects of martial arts. As a result, Taekwondo practitioners will have a tendancy to use kicks at least as much, if not more than hand techniques, particularly in competition. Karate (which means "empty hand" incidentally) typically focuses more on hand techniques.
Taekwondo comes from Korea. Karate originates in Okinawa. Both are really international martial arts today with high Dan grades of different nationalities to the art's founder country spread across the globe. Korean martial arts were influenced by Japanese styles during the Japanese occupation of Korea. But the flipside is that some distinctly Korean techniques (destruction & high spinning kicks) made their way into Japanese styles.
Taekwondo has just two major styles - WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) is the style I train in. It's the bigger of the two and is the one that is now an Olympic Sport. ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) is a breakaway style of Taekwondo started by General Choi (one of the original founders of Taekwondo). Karate on the other hand, is split into hundreds, possibly thousands of different styles. There is no unifying body. This makes it impossible to make an Olympic Competition sport.

Personally, I know practitioners of various Karate styles and some are quite similar in many ways to WTF Taekwondo, others are extremely different.

So which is better? Neither. Unless we want to bring in personal choice. I'm passionate about Taekwondo because I enjoy almost every aspect of the way it is taught and practiced. I've visited a few Karate classes but only found one I liked which was the Wimbledon Kyokushinkai club. Kyokushinkai seemed very similar in a lot of respects to Taekwondo, so while I enjoyed the lesson I attended, there seemed little point moving styles, particularly as Wimbledon is further away for me.

The choice between schools/clubs should come down to the quality of the school itself. And that comes down to who is running them. If the master of the club is both passionate about, and accomplished in the art he teaches, you're in the right place.

Taekwondo injury

2008-05-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Taekwondo is a contact sport of course, but this week I got a shock with a nasty swelling on my left elbow as a result of a kick from Wayne during sparring at Wednesday's squad training. Boy, does he kick hard - I had my arm protectors on, and yet the swelling is quite something. Hope it goes down soon.

Val was cornering me, and wasn't shy about the fact I really need to evade kicks rather than block them. We did some footwork excercises and I'm hoping they'll help.

I also spotted a very bad habit that's no doubt high on the list of reasons my tournament fights haven't been going so well. I'm kicking with my front foot nearly all the time. I can't imagine why as the moment I thought about it, it was obvious this is hardly ever going to score a point with an attack to an opponents body armour - there simply isn't enough power there. Time to work on making the use of the back leg automatic.

BTCB Competition - Dorset Championships

2008-05-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

The Dorset Championships are set for the 1st of June (Sunday). Apparently there's a patterns competition on the 31st May (the day before). Can't wait for this one - missed it last year due to family commitments. From what I hear this is the biggest BTCB Taekwondo Competition held in the UK or at least one of the biggest. Looking forward to meeting lots of fighters and, of course, hoping to improve on my lackluster performance at this years Chungdokwan Nationals.

The Dorset Taekwondo Association run this event - their website is here.

Particularly hoping to bump into Phill Payne as he says he'll be attending this event. He's got more information about this event on his Taekwondo Site.

See you there!

Longer training

2008-04-24T01:47:00.000-07:00

The Wednesday adult class at Mitcham is now running for an hour and a half (it was an hour until recently) and I finally got along to it last night. Really good lesson - I can always tell by how much difficulty I have walking the following morning!

I was very pleased to get some heavy practice of Yuk Jang (the sixth Taegeuk pattern). It's a lot harder than I thought it would be though. The stances are quite a bit more complex than the previous patterns and my finishing position is way, way too far from my starting position. It's going to take a lot of practice to get this one right.

The origin of Teakwondo

2008-04-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Steve Conway mentions on his site the large number of differing way Taekwondo is spelled, in particular "Teakwondo" comes up time and time again. I've always thought this must just be a simple miss spell on the part of the people using it, but have actually found an official source for this spelling.

Page 60 of the Taekwondo Textbook (the official guide to WTF Taekwondo published by the Kukkiwan) refers to Teakwondo. I found another version on page 78 - "Thekwondo" although I've never seen anyone using that particular one and hope I never will ;)

Are you a black belt?

2008-04-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

The first question you get asked when someone finds out you're practicing a martial art tends to be about the mythical Black Belt. Normally to try and avoid this one I just tell new people I meet that I do fitness training, rather than mentioning Taekwondo at all, but that's not always enough. People tend to find these things out and once the cat's out of the bag the question of belt colour isn't far off.

No is the reply and then comes a look of shock when I tell them how long I've been at it (it's getting close to a decade I think now). The important thing is that, to me at least IT DOESN'T MATTER all that much. If I was in it simply for a certain colour of belt I wouldn't go through all the effort, pain, sweat and tears. I'd just go out and buy the Black Belt (any sports shop will happily sell you one) and job done! Now, there may come a day, and what a day it will be, when I do reach First Dan or even beyond it. But it's not the reason I train. It shouldn't be anyones' reason to train (at least, not the ONLY reason).

I don't honestly think anyone can truly understand what it means to wear a Black Belt until they have really earned it.

Green Belt Grading

2008-04-03T01:20:00.000-07:00

Today I am the proudest dad in the world. James took his grading for 6th Kup (Green Belt) last Saturday, and at last night squad training session in Mitcham he was awarded his Green Belt.

James took his grading among the adults, and as such was allowed to attempt his first break. Master Rose asked him to break using back kick. Unfortunately, 4 attempts were not enough and James wasn't able to break the board, however, I tried my best to assure him that since at his age breaking wasn't a required part of his grading he shouldn't worry too much about it. He did say he felt happy with his pattern (Taegeuk Sam Jang - third Poomse), his Kibom, the 3 step sparring and free sparring.

James is now just one belt behind me - better get moving and work on staying ahead or he'll be the one showing me what to do.

Well done James!

Here's a pic of his official BTCB certificate.

Black Belt Class

2008-03-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

I was very honored last week to get invited to attend Master Rose's Black Belt class. Before going (bare in mind I am still at 4th Kup - Blue Belt) I felt a certain amount of trepidation as to what to expect. Was I going to be the instructors punch bag for the evening? Would I struggle to keep up?

I enjoyed the class enormously - Master Rose gave me a lot of help with the finer points of my technique which I will most certainly be doing my best to remember. I felt I was able to keep up reasonably well, although my instructor told me afterwoods he felt Master Rose had definately "toned down" the pace of things for my benefit and usually they are pushed a lot harder. I'm going to have to move my fitness level up quite a lot when I (hopefully) reach that elusive 1st Dan and start attending Master Rose's classes regularly.

The club website has some fantastic pictures of Master Rose performing the flying side kick and split kick which if you have an interest in Taekwondo you'll appreciate.

Chungdokwan Nationals

2008-03-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

I attended the Chungdokwan Nationals this weekend. Despite a great desire to come away with a gold medal I'm afraid this year, yet again, I came home wearing silver. I'd have to say, I was appalled at how badly I fought (losing by 7-0 in the first round) but am humble in enough to admit that even at my best I wouldn't have beaten the young man from Portsmouth University Taekwondo that I was lined up with - he was definately quicker, stronger and all round better in the ring. I'll be back next year of course and am hoping to get to some other tournaments this year, in particular the BTCB competition in Bournmouth.

Unfortunately, my son James did not get the chance to defend his Gold Medal from last year as a pressing social engagement meant he missed the tournament. A lucky escape for whoever he'd have been facing! Hopefully James will be accompanying me to the next one.

Hopefully the entire Chung Yong Squads results will be visible on the club website this week so be sure to take a look at the tournament results for Chung Yong.

James is allowed to train again (at last)

2008-02-22T00:59:00.000-08:00

James came back to training this week. Great to see him training again, and we both have high hopes of progressing this year. He'll be working on Taegeuk Sam Jang as he hopes to rise to Green Belt. Many thanks to all those who left comments, or sent messages through the contact page expressing their dismay/surprise at his not being allowed to train - I sincerely hope this will never happen again and that his mother and school come to appreciate that his Taekwondo training is only beneficial, not detrimental to his physical and psychological development. With James training again, I get to go more often, so from a personal point of view this is also great news - more Taekwondo for me!

We're both hoping to compete in the upcoming ChungDoKwan National Championships next month. Hope to meet lots of other Taekwondo addicts there!

Something different

2008-02-19T00:34:00.000-08:00

Got an e-mail this week through the website contact form which I can't help but talk about. Mark sent me a link to his online collection of Taekwondo stamps. Check it out:

Taekwondo Stamps

I didn't even know philately went on online, but obviously it does. Thanks mike, very nice work!

New year's resolutions

2008-01-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

Perhaps a bit late, and perhaps more for my own benefit than anyone else, this is what I want to achieve this year and I'm going to push hard for it!

1. A gold medal for me (and my club of course!) in competition. Shameful, but Silver has always been the best I've managed. Watch out if you're in my weight category and keep your guard up!

2. Up my training to 3 times a week as many weeks as I can so that I have a chance of...

3. Moving up to Red Belt. This is going to be tough, but if it wasn't, it wouldn't be worth doing. Red tag needs attaining first of course, so time to get Taegeuk Yuk Jang "right".

Happy new year

Andy

Bad news

2007-12-23T01:33:00.000-08:00

My son (James) managed to get himself into trouble at school in the last week of term, tripping another child during a PE lesson resulting in a broken arm for the poor boy he tripped. James is heartbroken to have caused this injury to one of his friends, but his punishment seems inappropriate.
After speaking to the school, my wife and his teacher have decided he should stop training in Taekwondo. I'm absolutely devastated - James really enjoys Taekwondo, and I love doing a sport with my son, but I'm not the kind of father who won't support decisions made by his mother and his school. I would understand this if he'd used a technique learned in a Teakwondo class but this just wasn't the case - he was just involved in a game another child had started. James, through no fault of his own, is quite a bit bigger and stronger than his peers at school.
Hopefully this will blow over soon - I'm going to try and speak to the teacher myself in the new term and let her know just how important I feel James' Taekwondo is to him, and to his personal development, both physical and mental.

Grading results!

2007-10-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

Well, we didn't get to go for over a week after the grading what with one thing and another, but we did finally get to a lesson on Friday. James did exceptionally well - he was one of only three people Master Rose rated as A* for their grading. I'm the proudest dad alive! Here's a pic of James with our instructor Mrs Gibbs and his certificate.

Unfortunately Mrs Gibbs has her eyes closed in the photo, but you can see how happy James is.

Despite my poor performance with my pattern, I got through as well and have moved up to 4th Kup - Blue Belt at last! It's odd, I really saw it as just another step on the ladder prior to the grading, but once I put the belt on I had a very real feeling that something had changed. It's difficult to put into words but it feels like a really significant transition going from Green to Blue.

Blue belt grading - 4th KUP

2007-09-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to take my 4th Kup (Blue Belt) grading. My son James was also grading for his Green Tags (6th Kup). James, I felt, did me (and himself of course) proud. His pattern (while of course not perfect) was in my humble opinion well carried out, and he certainly has understood the sequence of moves, and how to get the stances right. I could clearly tell the difference between his long and walking stances, and that back leg of his has stopped bending in long stance. I didn't spot any errors in his three step sparring, and he was as exuberant as ever in free sparring - maybe a bit too keen as I did notice the odd bit of contact when he was sparring.
My grading was a little longer - there were three other 5th Kup grades and we got to do Taegeuk O Jang, Sam Jand and Ee Jang. O Jang (the fifth pattern) being the main criteria for the grading. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I did my worst on that particular one - the last move in particular I managed to foul up.
We also did two step sparring, which I felt fairly confident with.
For breaks, I had a Horyo (reverse turning kick), a suspended board to punch and a 360 degree turning kick. I broke them all with just one attempt and doubtless that was the best part of my grading. I don't think I broke any toes this time around!
The grading must have been tougher than it felt at the time. I spent the rest of Saturday aching and feeling utterly exhausted. My wife didn't appear to want to sympathize though - there was still a load of housework to be done when I got home...

Results are out on Wednesday - I'm hoping the pattern didn't let me down too much but if it did there is always next time. Perseverance!

How long does it take to achieve a black belt in Taekwondo?

2007-09-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

The length of time required to acheive the coveted 1st Dan Grade (Black Belt) is an oft talked about topic. Should it take a year, 5 years or 10 years. I really got thinking about this after reading and commenting on a post here and after talking to a couple of girls on holiday this year who'd achieved their first Dan grades within 3 years.

I've been training a long time, although I will be the first to admit my attendance is by no means the greatest. I always make at least one training session per week, try to get to two and on the odd week I make it to three. Realistically, a first Dan is AT LEAST another three years away from my grasp (and I am aware that I may not get it if I train for another 100 years!).

How long it should take should be irrelevant. It's a question of a number of factors which will be different for every student including fitness, talent, number of hours trained each week, commitment and probably many more aspects.

If a club tells you you WILL get a black belt in a given time, I would be cautious however short or long that time may be. This would indicate they simply "give away" belts in order to attract more grading fees. If you need a black belt and are prepared to pay for one, you can save time & money by just buying one - you can get them for about a fiver almost anywhere.

So what do I think?

Three years is too soon unless you are perhaps able to train 5 times a week.

There is no such thing as too long a time - not everyone will make it, but those who truly persevere will.

How much do you pay to take a Taekwondo grading?

2007-09-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

I recently met two Taekwondo students from the north of England. The subject of the cost of taking gradings in TKD cropped up and they told me at their club a KUP grade cost £45. On top of that, failing to pass the grading would result in having to pay the grading fee again.

By comparison, at my club a KUP grade test is £15. If you fail it, you can re-take it at no further cost. I don't know what our instructor charges for Hapkido gradings (another Korean Martial Art he teaches) but would be surprised if there was any difference.

The two Northerners told me they had achieved First KUP grade (red belt/black tag) in three years with their club - that'll be a topic for another post later...

So how much is the "right" amount to pay for a martial arts grading? Should it be dependant on what the club needs to charge in order to stay operational? A quick glance at the BTCB website didn't offer any kind of guide, but I'd say £45 sounds expensive.

Finding a good Taekwondo (or other Martial Arts) club

2007-08-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

First up, this isn't purely relevant to Taekwondo - feel free to apply this to ANY martial arts club you are either already at, or considering attending.

We met a great family on our holiday this year - the two younger girls in the family were twins, and when the subject of Taekwondo came up they told me that at their club you achieved black belt in three years ie it was not a question of anything other than time (and paying for the gradings of course!).

I would suggest this is a great way to find out whether the club you are enquiring about is run purely to make money, or has instructors who are genuinely keen on passing on teachings and developing their students. If the answer is "you'll get a black belt in X number of years" you need to ask more questions. If the answer is "not everyone achieves a black belt and there is no specific time frame" you are probably in the right place to learn.

First leg technique

2007-08-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to adding the first leg techniuqe (Kibom Aree Il). Here's the page:

First Leg Technique

Be great to get some feedback on whether or not it makes sense done just in text - will try to do some images for it at some point.

***yikes - for some reason I originally posted this with "third" when obviously it's the first! Don't blog half asleep;)***

Aches and pains

2007-08-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Strange how quickly fitness suffers when you don't train even for a short space of time. One small two week holiday in Gran Caneria and seemingly my fitness, strength & flexibility have all evaporated (maybe it's all the sangria!).

Managed to make Master Drury's Tuesday lesson last night and boy, are the muscles (particularly the legs) complaining about it today. Even managed to over stretch on a side kick causing my left leg to twitch all day today.

We went though some self defense towards the end of the lesson. Master Drury gave a great bit of advice - above all else DO SOMETHING and do it QUICKLY. If it doesn't work (maybe your attackers' grab is too strong etc) do something else RIGHT AWAY and keep doing different things until the attack has been stopped. Once I heard it, it was so obvious, but just prior to that I'd been standing there scratching my head wondering what I should do. Don't want to get caught like that in a real situation.

Are patterns (forms) useful in Martial Arts?

2007-08-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

Many practitioners of other martial arts seem keen to question the usefulness of learning patterns (forms). Particularly those training in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and other purely combat based systems. The argument runs that learning patterns does not in any way aid fighting ability. There are two problems with this.

Firstly, Taekwondo is not just about fighting & self defense. It is a complete martial art in that the student is learning a wide range of skills that apply to situations in life other than combat situations. Mental discipline and physical fitness aid the Taekwondo student in most aspects of their lives. Learning patterns helps with mental discipline, gives the student a means to practice when alone and is of course the backbone of the grading syllabus. If Taekwondo were merely about combat ability a grading/belts system would not be needed. The senior students would be simply measured by their success in defeating other opponents.

Secondly, patterns, when executed correctly give the student the chance to practice techniques which are simply too dangerous to try out on a real opponent. The patterns teach us how to combine techniques effectively (block/counter attack). For techniques to become second nature and applicable in real situations, you need to have practiced them repetitively hundreds/thousands of times so that your brain can react instantly with the appropriate technique in a given situation. Taekwondo Poomse's are designed to simulate complex situations in which the student has to deal with multiple assailants coming at him from all directions - something that without doubt can be carried over into real defensive situations.

Effectiveness of Taekwondo

2007-07-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

Quite a lot of people I speak to that train in different arts seem keen to question the effectiveness of Taekwondo as a self defense system. Now, Taekwondo is an "offensive" martial art, as opposed to Jujutsu which would be classed as "defensive". The basic premise being that the Taekwondo practitioner blocks and then counter attacks with a strike capable of incapacitating the aggressor, whereas in a defensive system, the attack is worked against the aggressor typically using using twisting, painful grab techniques. Some Taekwondo schools perhaps leave it out, but at my club Ho Sin Sul (self defense) is an active part of the curriculum. Ho Sin Sul is in many respects very similar to Hapkido, the most well known Korean self defense system and really the Korean equivalent to Japanese Jujitsu.

Taekwondo itself is, by it's nature, geared towards fancy high spinning kicks. These are perhaps not the best techniques to use on the street as a foot at head height, if grabbed, puts you in a very dangerous position. But that isn't the point. If you can kick hard enough to break a board at head height, you can kick a lot harder, and faster at lower levels.

That being said, the best thing to do in any potentially threatening situation is to get out of the way and leave quickly if possible. Taekwondo students have an instant advantage because due to the very nature of the way Taekwondo is practiced, you get very fit doing it. Practitioners of defensive martial arts don't require, and so don't focus so much on, physical fitness as it's not required so much to perform the techniques.

I'm fortunate that I've only been in a violent situation once since taking up Taekwondo. That being my only experience (thankfully) it perhaps can't be taken as a definite indicator of the effectiveness of my training although I would argue it could. The guy "having a go" fired 4 or 5 punches at my head, each of which I managed to block easily. I resisted the temptation to counter attack. I was sorely tempted, but looking back the use of self control in the situation is not something I regret at all. Getting out of the situation without sustaining injury, and with my integrity intact was for me, the perfect way out.

Make no mistake, had the situation involved more than one person attacking me, I would've run. No question. I've seen people attacked by more than one person and without doubt, however good you may be, multiple opponents (regardless of the eventual outcome) is much more likely to result in you becoming injured.

A word of warning

2007-07-05T00:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was standing outside the office, the door was open, when suddenly a gust of wind attempted to blow it shut and lock me out. The old "lightning" reflexes jumped into action and I swiftly and accurately thrust my right leg forward to halt the doors' progress. There was a twofold result.
1. The door was successfully kept unlocked.
2. I lacerated both sides of the ankle as it came under pressure from on one side the (metal - ouch) door, and on the other a rather sharp edged brick wall.

Anyone who's been at Taekwondo for a while has probably found themselves operating light switches, opening doors etc with knife hand techniques, or worse with their feet. Anyone who hasn't and is reading this probably has their mouth open in the sheer stupidity this would appear to imply.

I just hope when it's really important, the reflexes operate properly.

Still aching from Tuesday....

2007-06-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

Boy, that must have been some lesson Tuesday night. My legs are STILL aching from it today (Friday).

Taekwondo on a Tuesday

2007-06-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

Finally made it along to the Tuesday session in Croydon held by Master Mark Drury (4th Dan). Exhausting, but certainly a great lesson. I'm definately going to try and make the Tuesday session more often as it's very different to the lessons I normally go to in Mitcham. I'm not, however, drawing comparisons as to which sessions are better - too much respect for my instructors to want to start doing that! It does seem to me though that training with different instructors regularly can't be bad for your overall Taekwondo development as there is different emphasis on the various aspects to the training.
Not busy next Tuesday and live in or around the Croydon area? Grab a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt (plain) and just turn up - starts 8pm, runs for an hour and a half. Always good to see new people. The address is:

Energie Fitness Club
Stephenson House
2 Cherry Orchard Road
East Croydon
Surrey

Tip: 1 minutes' walk from East Crydon train station. The class is for 14 year olds and up.