This time I shall enlighten you about the True Taekwondo and expose the fake corrupted version for what it is, unrightfully claiming the label of Taekwondo.
Now before I get too deep into it, I would like to make it clear that no style is the true way. This is because they are incomplete systems constructed by imperfect human beings. One size does not fit all and their for you will never reach your full potential by only relying on a system. However everyone must start some ware and a system can provide a good foundation for a beginner. An infant needs to be spoon fed. They need good nutrients to give them the best possible start to life. A Martial Arts school is like this. Unfortunately too many martial arts schools have been feeding beginners McDonalds, providing them with a poor foundation. These are all the McDojangs/McDojo's.
These are videos that to me, illustrate what is closer to Real Taekwondo:
In this video, the first sentence is "Taekwondo is the national sport of Korea". By saying that they are outright telling us that it's not Martial Art.
I know that all the videos I categorised as real Taekwondo are all ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) and the fake ones are WTF. This is because the WTF generally doesn't have what I look for in Martial Art. Why is it that I can't find a WTF book or video about self defence, spirituality, meditation and philosophy?. And thus I have more respect for ITF. Let's look at it from a etymological point of view.
Tae refers to striking with the hand. Kwon refers to striking with the foot. Do means 'Tao', Yin-Yang balance. So a Taekwondo practitioner uses his hands as much as he uses his feet, as the label describes (and as seen in the Real Taekwondo videos). So these WTF sport players should not call them selves Taekwondo practitioners because they they almost always use their feet. They are not doing what they say they do by labelling themselves Taekwondo. By claiming to use the hands and feet equally, and then almost completely using kicks is being hypocritical. It's not the 'World Taekwondo Federation', it's more like a 'World Hypocrisy Federation'!. It use to be Taekwondo, but not any more. If they want to do the "tag me with your foot game' than the WTF should rename itself.
What you see in the Olympics is not Taekwondo. The real Taekwondo is still out there. I'm not saying that real Taekwondo is ITF. But in general the ITF does a better job at representing the real Taekwondo. I myself attend a WTF school, but what we learn is more like the real Taekwondo. We train the hands as much as we train the feet. My school must be a rare case because all the other WTF schools I see are like what we saw in the 'Fake Stuff' videos.
One more thing I'd like to clear up is the misunderstanding of Taekwondo's kicking. Many people criticise Taekwondo for its distinctive kicking, claiming Taekwondo's kicks to be ineffective. This is because the WTF Olympic sport has taken kicks out of the context that they are to be used. In WTF Olympic sport a tap to the body shield is extolled for scoring points. The Real kicks are supposed to creat distance and damage the aggressor.
I hope this blog has enlightened you about what is real and what is not in when you hear of Taekwondo. Of what will give you a good foundation to become a Martial Artist and what will lead you down a path that is not Martial Art.
Thank You for reading my blog. :)
I have to agree with a lot of what you sais, coming from a WTF school myself, I find that the WTF schools that train more of traditional Taekwondo, usually have instructors or masters that are more 'old school', that were trained by korean masters and prefer to train the aspects of TKD that don't necessarily involve competition, I have to say I've been impressed looking at some old training footage of WTF TKD in Korea, really skilled people.
ReplyDeleteI agree
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting guys. I'm glad this blog is appreciated and I'm happy that you guys see the current ways that Taekwondo is being represented in a similar way.
ReplyDeleteWow, I just now found out that your blog post was much longer than I thought, I clicked read more and boom! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Ben.Thanks for sharing something like this.it has so much truth in it.
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