Competitions

[Aefibird]

angelag said:

.Because we've all seen clubs promoting Olympic TKD also banging on aout the benefits of their self-defence training, which is somewhat misleading. I have no problems with Sport MA as long as they realise that it's sports MA and do not promote themselves as something completely different. Selling yourself as teaching the customer how to fight is a lie, and could one day get the customer seriously injured.

Without wishing to a) drag the thread off topic or b) stir up a whole new portion of bickering, can I offer a slight defence of Olympic TKD?

All WTF sparring events in the UK are now known as Sports Fighting (emphasis on the sports part of that).

Also the British Taekwondo Control Board, which is the governing body for WTF TKD in the UK has now made it mandatory for all WTF clubs in the UK to teach Self-Defence as a required element of their training and as a separate part of training from the Olympic style sparring.

I know that WTF TKD is very much competition based and sports fighting-orientated, but at least there is some truth in the fact that taking TKD is good for self defence - if you train at a BTCB club (and therefore train WTF in this country) you have to learn self defence as part of your training.

Some clubs are just teaching it because it is a grading requirement, in the same way that they teach one-step (because it is a grading requirement). However, some clubs are teaching it because they want to and want their students to get better at SD and be able to use the skills they have learned should they ever need to.

My TKD instructor is an ex-bouncer/doorman and has also done done event security, as well as being a personal bodyguard in Doncaster and Sheffield for many years, so he knows what it is like on "da streetz" and has the stories and battle scars to prove it (including part of one ear missing!). He has a vested interest in his students learning decent and useful SD skills and says that anyone who only attends club sparring sessions and not SD sessions as well will not be allowed to grade or to enter competitions - something that most of the people who take Olympic TKD are only interested in.

I know that WTF TKD is primarily just a sport and that many people in this country who take WTF TKD are just into it for the sport aspect of it but at least WTF clubs in the UK do teach SD skills, even if it is not their sole purpose.

Just a little aside, in small defence of TKD.

[AngelaG]

pasmith said:

Angela...why do you have such a negative view of "sparring" or kumite?

Personally I feel that people that do well in free sparring (provided that that sparring is robust and allows fighting in the clinch and on the floor) also do well in scenario training, pressure testing and other forms of...erm..."sparring" or combat.

I don't necessarily have a negative view of kumite per se. It's just some form of sparring I don't like (such as no contact), and even then mainly only if sold as an effective SD tool.

I've no problem with no contact sparring as a fun exercise and certainly think it has benefits (fitness etc.), but do wonder if it leads to problems elsewhere. If the club is selling self-defence then it needs to be balanced with something else.

[whitewarlock]

angelag said:

Cheers WW.

My ego salutes you.

Seriously though, thanks. It looks like you have your work cut out for you with the clean up job on this thread.

Oh, and your latest post in the LAO forum thread has merit (even if it was a bit short. Then again, mine are always a bit too long). Will respond to it later when i have the opportunity.

[pasmith]

Ah right I see now.
Yes I agree with that then. "No contact" is useless apart from being a gentle introduction to sparring in a more robust manner.

[random]

I have fought in both full Thai rules and semi contact, and no contact. No contact is of no use except as a tool to bring beginners up to speed with kumite. Light contact is ok as long as it is refereed or assessed by someone or group who point out when a clash where two techniques land together which would be the most effective, not the one which scored the point. There really is no substitute for getting the gear on and having a good go at it, although it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Does semi contact produce bad habits, not necessarily; a lot of what goes off is mental. Fight or flight that kind of thing.

[chimp]

OK, lets back up a second fellas. I think this article is relevant here ... written by none other than the man Andy himself:

www.martialartsplanet.com/magazine/articles/pointandstreetfghting.htm

Oppinions?

[AngelaG]

Let's not turn this into a slagging Andy off session. He has decided that he is no longer going to participate here and therefore is not around to defend himself. Therefore as far as I am concerned any conversation about him is out of bounds.

Thanks in advance for your compliance.