What's better than Tae Kwon Do?

[DwinsChamps]

So, I have a first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, but I have not participated in the sport for nearly 8 years. I am interested in getting "back into the game", because I have never been faster than I was during my TKD training, but I'm not so interested in re-learning TKD. What other martial arts (or fighting styles) do you suggest that would A) allow me the wheels/flexibility that I had during TKD, and B) be more applicable in self-defense/fighting than TKD is?? Thanks for your input!

[ThePump]

Muay Thai would be a great art for you to probably start in if you have the stamina. from what i hear it's got a very fast paced workout routine. i plan on getting into it a bit after i get some stamina back.

[DwinsChamps]

What's Muay Thai like?

[Monsteronjuice]

its ti boxing. You use your knees, elbows, fists, and feet. Very fast pace. like kicking boxing except with knees and elbows. very intense

[DwinsChamps]

Are the same types of kicks employed? I.e. heel kicks, back kicks, spin kicks, front kicks, etc?? I'm after a training regimen that will RAPE my hip flexors.

[Monsteronjuice]

yes, they are all indeed added.. Muah Tai will rape you hip flexors

[GQ-Bouncer]

Kickboxing brutha, TKD guys show their flare for that

[USfighterFC]

Are the same types of kicks employed? I.e. heel kicks, back kicks, spin kicks, front kicks, etc?? I'm after a training regimen that will RAPE my hip flexors.

These kicks are rarely and pretty much never used except for the front kick, most of the time its just low leg kicks with the shins as well as others but the leg kicked is most commonly used. You'll never see spinning back kicks or heel kicks. TKD is a show, this is pretty brutal. A lot of knee strikes and elbow strikes and boxing. LOTS of clinching with knees. It's brutal and painful as all hell. Just forget all the stuff you learned in TKD cuz your just gonna learn something entirely different.

[DwinsChamps]

Damn, this sounds intense as hell! Thanks for all the replies, as well, bros. What other styles are like Muay Tai? Also, what are your thoughts on JKD...more applicable than TKD?

[USfighterFC]

Damn, this sounds intense as hell! Thanks for all the replies, as well, bros. What other styles are like Muay Tai? Also, what are your thoughts on JKD...more applicable than TKD?

Forget JKD.....its completely watered down and was hardly developed into something that was rock solid. Every place has diff forms of the style. Muay Thai is it's own style there is nothing too comparable to it. Maybe something like kickboxing but a lot of Muay Thai is incorporated in that as well. Combat Sambo is something I have done for years and I love it. It's as close to MMA as you can get. Stand-up fighting, knees, kicks, ground fighting and submissions. There are just no upkicks or kicking downed opponents.

[Monsteronjuice]

Thats one thing I do agree on. Bruce lee wasn't alive long enough to develop the style of jkd to its maximal and fulliest. He died when it was revlentaley new, If he was still alive it would be alot better art then it is today due to change and improvement

[DwinsChamps]

Are there places that teach MMA? Also, GQBouncer or anyone who knows, what's Pankration/your take on it? Thanks in advance.

[GQ-Bouncer]

Are there places that teach MMA? Also, GQBouncer, what's Pankration/your take on it? Thanks in advance.

Panktration is a form of MMA - it's basically mixing striking w/ wrestling. It's great! good fitness, good training

The key to success in alot of these martial arts is having ALOT of sparring time

[sonar1234]

I practiced and competed in TKD, i never learned the front kick does that show you something..... front kick is very effective and was rarely used in competition.

USfighterFC has been very vocal and gives traditional martial arts a hard time but the man is right, hell a private kung fu school charges well over 1000$ for a year membership.

THere is a traditional marital art school that i have visited last month, it has traditional Jiu Jitsu, aikido, karate and judo, its 120$ per freaking month, for one class one course........ no wonder that freak doesnt give prices by phone.

Muay Thai class is very reasonable at 29$ per month the gym is amazing and you learn some usefull techiques. At that price you have 5 classes per week, compared to the other that only have 2.

Most TKD school even the ITF ones charge around 1000$ per year.

Even worst you can get your black belt within a year if you have enought money. You cant master an art in one freaking year.

Traditional arts are crap has far has training goes and effectiveness.

I guess i am gonna start to teach TKD the guy that has the school drives a Mercedes LOL.

Not to take nothing away from TKD, nothing compares with the counter back kick for couter moves, and the back kick, a part that there is nothing very usefull about TKD other then the stuff you see in action fiction movies

[Grappler13]

I practiced and competed in TKD, i never learned the front kick does that show you something..... front kick is very effective and was rarely used in competition.

USfighterFC has been very vocal and gives traditional martial arts a hard time but the man is right, hell a private kung fu school charges well over 1000$ for a year membership.

THere is a traditional marital art school that i have visited last month, it has traditional Jiu Jitsu, aikido, karate and judo, its 120$ per freaking month, for one class one course........ no wonder that freak doesnt give prices by phone.

Muay Thai class is very reasonable at 29$ per month the gym is amazing and you learn some usefull techiques. At that price you have 5 classes per week, compared to the other that only have 2.


Even worst you can get your black belt within a year if you have enought money. You cant master an art in one freaking year.

Traditional arts are crap has far has training goes and effectiveness.

I guess i am gonna start to teach TKD the guy that has the school drives a Mercedes LOL.

Not to take nothing away from TKD, nothing compares with the counter back kick for couter moves, and the back kick, a part that there is nothing very usefull about TKD other then the stuff you see in action fiction movies

I'm moving to your state. My gym dues are $45/mo and Jits/Muay Thai classes are $160/mo. Yamasaki Academy! That's what I pay to have little Brazilian guys beat the crap out of me.

[taiboxa]

Whats better than TaeKWANDoH.. anything IMO
i love muay thai.. bjj.. even tradional boxing > TKD

[DwinsChamps]

Hmm...Jui Jitsu (sp?)...what's that all about?

[Hunter]

Hmm...Jui Jitsu (sp?)...what's that all about?

Its ground fighting. True BJJ has no strikes and is simply how to take an opponent down and apply chokes and joint holds. It is the primo style for ground fighting. There are no BS Kata's or anything like that. Lots of live sparring. Although in Hybrid BJJ(what I take) we roll with and without strikes. Their is also Gi and No Gi class's. If your going to get into MMA do both becouse with the Gi you will learn very good defense and without the Gi you will learn not to really on handles for chokes and locks etc.

[BOUNCER]

Wow, you guys are paying CRAZY fee's over there compared to Europe!.

Our fee's are probably about 1/4 of what you people are splashing out!.

[DwinsChamps]

mn fighter, thanks for the response.

[sonar1234]

http://www.sparmax.com/html/academy.html

This is the place, trainer is Normand Grimard, he is about 5 feet 7 an weights in around 140 pounds but he is one hell of a fighter and a great trainer.

He has a package deal its 70$ per month and you can do all the course MMA, Muay Thai, JKD and even boxing.

[DwinsChamps]

Sounds like a nice place, although the 20 hour drive to Quebec makes transportation a little rough. Besides, I refuse to be taught by a frenchman.

[USfighterFC]

Sounds like a nice place, although the 20 hour drive to Quebec makes transportation a little rough. Besides, I refuse to be taught by a frenchman.

LMAO

[sonar1234]

Sounds like a nice place, although the 20 hour drive to Quebec makes transportation a little rough. Besides, I refuse to be taught by a frenchman.

That really is a dumb comment, funny to see how there is so much ate against the nations like this.

Normand is a great guy and could actually make a real man out of you.

One of my tae kwon do teachers was a black guy and the other one italian, do you have anything to say about this......

Idiot

[USfighterFC]

I think I give some traditional arts more of a hard time than others because some are simply out there to make money. TKD is all for show. If someone tries to do a spinning flying backflip high low kick he's gonna get his ass handed to him. Put a TKD on his back and he's about as useful as a woman to a gay guy. BJJ is great for one on one because it's grappling which seems so practical since virtually every fight is a grappling fest. You just wont be looking for any knockouts. My cousin fights professional Muay Thai in Arizona and has gotten into numerous street fights and knocked out plenty of people from what he has told me. Seems practical enough for me.

[sonar1234]

TKD is legs legs legs, all you have to do is get inside the guy position and he cant do nothing.

About 3 years ago i saw my old friends that i was practicing with he is now 5th degree black belt in tkd and has been training for 20 years, we got into a bit of sparring for fun, i add learned some boxing at that time, cardio was good, all i add to do is wait for him to kick me, move and get going with punches that really confused him.

Muay Thai is simply amazing, you learn so much close fighting, long distance, knees, elbows.

And you dont have to learn katas....... the school where i posted the link also has a lot of open classes, you can get there and just hit the bag, spar with the guys, really looks like a boxing school.

I really cant wait my back injury is getting better so this summer i will finally be able to get back into martial arts, muay thai and MMA both class are on the same nights back to back.

[Panzerfaust]

So, I have a first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, but I have not participated in the sport for nearly 8 years. I am interested in getting "back into the game", because I have never been faster than I was during my TKD training, but I'm not so interested in re-learning TKD. What other martial arts (or fighting styles) do you suggest that would A) allow me the wheels/flexibility that I had during TKD, and B) be more applicable in self-defense/fighting than TKD is?? Thanks for your input!

Do you want to fight MMA? Do yuo want to be able to fight on the street if need be?

My answer to both of those questions would be: Forget about TKD and switch over to Muay Thai and learn basic BJJ positions/subs.

I am shocked that you do not seem to be aware of what Muay Thai or BJJ is? Did yuor old TKD have sleep overs where all you talked about was how the "masters" could destroy everybody?

Sorry i had to poke a little fun at TKD...sorry.

Here is a link for you to familiarize yourself with these arts:

Muay Thai: This clip shows a Muay Thai guy against one your own TKD guys. TKD has obviouly never expierienced a Thai Kick..****ing brutal man..just wait until you get into it.

Muay Thai vs TKD
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...29&q=muay+thai

BJJ: This is a demo showing some standup self defense and then turns into a light sparring...nothing to heavy but a very technical demo by Rickson and Royler.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...40646472&q=bjj

[catabolic kid]

You can better prepare yourself for a fight by sitting on the couch and watching MMA events (pride, ufc) than taking TKD classes!! I have seen so many TKD black belts get there asses whipped by avg. Joes. I do like the motto: It is not the art, it is the artist," but I do not think it applies with TKD.

[KAEW44]

I got a black belt in taekwondo a long time ago, but then i joined jui-jitsu and muay thai and forgot all i knew in TKD, Muay thai is the real deal, but do supplement it with some ground system in order to be a complete fighter.
Also check out the deadly system Joe-San-do

[DwinsChamps]

Well the one huge upside of TKD was that it developed my body; I had great flexibility and tremendous speed, plus I never injured myself through years of sports. I now play D3 lacrosse and speed is the difference between playing and standing on the sidelines. So, my main goal is improved athleticism, self defense is a close second.

"Joe-San-Do"??

[KAEW44]

Hmm..u bought up an interesting point about injuries, truth be told i did go through alot more injuries Competing in muay thai and bjj and none when i did TKD. But u can train very hard with little or no injuries.

[DwinsChamps]

I didn't explain myself very well. I think TKD has helped me stay healthy through years of football, lacrosse, and wrestling, which is the perk I'm speaking of. There were a few times, in wrestling especially, where should have torn my knee pretty badly, but flexibility and strong tendons saved my ass.

[USfighterFC]

I didn't explain myself very well. I think TKD has helped me stay healthy through years of football, lacrosse, and wrestling, which is the perk I'm speaking of. There were a few times, in wrestling especially, where should have torn my knee pretty badly, but flexibility and strong tendons saved my ass.

I agree when it comes to flexibility and strengthening tendons TKD can actually be pretty helpful.

[DwinsChamps]

Does anyone know about Hwa Rang Do? I hear it's alot like TKD (good for speed/flexibility) but more a more applicable martial art for self defense.

[USfighterFC]

I never heard of it.....therefore it sucks.

[Panzerfaust]

Does anyone know about Hwa Rang Do? I hear it's alot like TKD (good for speed/flexibility) but more a more applicable martial art for self defense.

From all the advice on thios thread it still seems you wish to study some nonsense shit art...by all means feel free to. Muay Thai and BJJ are not for everyone. To brutal but with that comes practicality.

[sonar1234]

TKD fighters that i see in videos most of the times do things that are plain simply stupid.

TKD champion fought in K-1 against Genki Sudo, that idiot kept doing the spinning back kick and got knocked out.

I have met some pertty good TKD fighters but theses fighters did go out doing spinning back kicks all the time, theses guys add there timing in place and where great counter strikers.

It is quit sure that if you put a tkd fighter against an experienced muay thai fighter that uses is knees, elbows, low kicks, punches and more against a guy that only uses is legs, well there is 100% of a good chance he will get knocked out.

Myself seeing a big difference when i made the move to tkd coming out of kyo kushin, first time i sparred i was wearing an armour LOL, head gear, mouth piece and all, i used to kick the guys in the legs cause leg kick in kyo kushin where allowed, and it took me a while to stop doing it, i also used the knee without grabbing cause we where allowed too in kyo kushin, when i was in close combat.

Why did i train 7 years in tkd then if its not that effective, well this is the point of all this tread, even if its shit, crap. poodoo i enjoyed it.

I loved the training, the Saturday morning 3 hour sparring, the competition, and the seminars with the 70 year old Coreen masters that where quit amazing and defi age.

I do hate what the sport has become again its all about Money $$$$$ and the fact that you can have your black belt within a year or so doesnt mean you learned to a black belt degree.

[DwinsChamps]

The only problem that I have with Muay Thai is that there are no schools anywhere in my region. For all intensive purposes, for the next 4 months I only have TKD, this Hwa Rang Do club, b.s. karate, wrestling (which i already know) and some fitness-style kickboxing class that's hosted by the school. The soonest I can start any muay thai is june.

[sonar1234]

The only problem that I have with Muay Thai is that there are no schools anywhere in my region. For all intensive purposes, for the next 4 months I only have TKD, this Hwa Rang Do club, b.s. karate, wrestling (which i already know) and some fitness-style kickboxing class that's hosted by the school. The soonest I can start any muay thai is june.

Well you see dickchamp if you would be trained by a french man you would not be all lost in the deep forest of the end and could learn great muay thai.

On the other hand you can complement your TKD with ballet, look what it did to Jean Claude Van Damme he was a killer was he not.

[DwinsChamps]

Wow, you are so funny! Has anyone ever told you that before? Wow, that was fresh.

For everyone else out there, I sent a PM to sonar apologizing for the potentially offensive, however jokingly contexted comment that I earlier made regarding the french. Sonar, a real man would try to move past these childish skirmishes and move on, like I have done.

If you insist, though, I'll "give you this one." Perhaps the first french victory ever...