Does TKD work?

[thenewme93]

I was wondering since I might take up Tae Kwon Do does it work in a real fight if someone is really trying to attack you?

[Tay the Cat]

Considering that modern TKD is used mostly for sport... I'd say you wouldn't have a chance.

[Beat]

I was wondering since I might take up Tae Kwon Do does it work in a real fight if someone is really trying to attack you?

No. No. No.

For self-defense in the street, take up Judo. To fight, kickboxing + Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Plain boxing is great too. But TKD? Don't do it.

[Tay the Cat]

What Beat said.

Heck, some of the more traditional forms of karate could do you good... but TKD? No.

[Tapout]

TKD is like anything else. It'll work well enough against some untrained thug just looking to throw haymakers, but against someone with any training its pretty useless. Unless you're Lyoto Machida most traditional forms of karate are weak in actual fighting, but if you're just looking for a workout or to have fun go for it. With the explosion of the UFC both BJJ and general MMA classes are popping up everywhere, and they seem to cater more to an older crowd.

[Mynd Hed]

Tae Kwan Do is wonderful as a competitive sport, or simply a way of getting into shape. But as self-defense? Can you imagine telling a mugger, "Mr. Mugger, as long as you agree not to use a knife or a gun, or hit me below the belt, or try to grapple with me, then, Mr. Mugger, THEN I will kick your ass."?

[Classic Speedy]

^ Well, there -are- knife defenses in TKD.

[Zach Logan]

Tae Kwan Do is wonderful as a competitive sport, or simply a way of getting into shape. But as self-defense? Can you imagine telling a mugger, "Mr. Mugger, as long as you agree not to use a knife or a gun, or hit me below the belt, or try to grapple with me, then, Mr. Mugger, THEN I will kick your ass."?

Taekwondo teaches methods to deal with knife attacks and grappling attacks that you can use in real life situations. We focus on both the real-world and the competitive. It does help a lot with keeping healthy (I lost 20 pounds doing it), it definitely gets out aggressiveness, and it's a hell of a lot of fun, and I think it definitely shows the basics of street combat, at the very least. I think it depends how good you are to really show any kind of effectiveness in a real world situation.

[Mynd Hed]

Hmm. Maybe it depends where you study; I did quite a bit of TKD in high school, and my gym was very much geared toward TKD as a sport, not a method of self-defense.

Don't get me wrong, any martial art is going to improve your chances in a self-defense situation by building strength, flexibility, and reflexes, but there are a lot better choices than Tae Kwan Do if self-defense is your main priority.

[Beat]

Taekwondo the way it's taught mostly is useless. Wrist locks without wrestling is not grappling, it's just wrist locks. Wrist locks for the most part tend to be useless anyway.

Judo is what I'd recommend for a self-defense situation. There's a reason so many police departments use it.