Evolution of Taekwondo
Taekwondo used to be about self-defense. It was battlefield tested in the Korean and Viet Nam wars. In the dojang you are not taught battlefield tactics, although the concepts are loosely taken from the battlefield and applied to street defense. You practiced without sparring gear. You worked hard to get a black belt (and every color leading up to it). It took a long time to get a black belt. There were meanings to the forms. Breaking meant breaking things.
Now, competitors dress up like astronauts, and schools sell $6 worth of material that wholesales for $50 and retails for $250. 6-year-olds can get a black belt. One can “earn” a black belt in only 2 or 3 years. You do forms just to get through a test. And they make boards that are 1/4″ thick and can barely withstand the pressure of a sneeze.
In its technical application, Taekwondo is about self-defense, breaking, forms, and sparring. But in each of these areas, Kukkiwon Taekwondo has withered away into a system that does not adequately prepare the student for self-defense.
Illegal Sparring Techniques
Sparring is limited only to punches to the trunk, and kicks above the waist.
In demonstrating what that really means, it is plainly obvious that as a martial art, there is a lot lacking.
Elbow Strikes
That stuff you do in Taeguek 5 and 8 is meaningless, unless you apply it for the self-defense curriculum which does not exist.
Face Punches
In several of the Taeguek, Palgwe, and Yudanja forms are illegal in sparring, and without a self-defense curriculum, and actual practice to use the technique, is liable to garner you a sprained wrist if you don’t train properly for it.
Knifehand Strikes
In Taeguek in Taeguek 3, and that really strange “swallow poom” in Taeguek 4, are totally illegal in sparring, because hand strikes must only be of the clenched fist. You can block with an open hand, but you can’t score a point with it.
Upper Cuts
The upper cut in Taeguek 7 is not illegal in sparring, it’s just that it’s useless because where you hit the kidneys you are not likely to record a punch from the electronic scoring sensors. They’re built to detect hard kicks, not punches which are often not strong enough to count as a strike by the sensors. The upper cut in Taeguek 8 is illegal because there are (1) no grabbing, and (2) no punching to the head.
Knee Strikes
In Taeguek 7 is illegal in sparring, and will get you DQ’ed for illegal technique. You can’t even block with the knee. And you can’t grab the head, that is an illegal technique also.
Backfist Strikes
In Taeguek 5, 7, and 8 are patently illegal in sparring, and will also get you DQ’ed. Further, the grabbing alone in Taeguek 7 (just before the backfist) will also get you DQ’ed.
Throat Strikes (arc-hand, kawi-chigi)
This is also illegal in sparring and will get you DQ’ed.
Strange Techniques
- Taeguek 4’s “swallow poom” (jebipoom mok chigi)
- Keumgang, Pyongwon, Po Eun’s “cup and saucer” (dolzeogi makki)
- Keumgang’s crane stance
- Keumgang, Taebaek, Won Hyo, and Chung Moo’s “diamond block” (keumgang makki)
- Sipjin and Gae Baek’s “push mountain”
- Sipjin and Se Jong’s “yoke block”
- Chonkwon’s “spreading wings”
- Chonkwon’s “mountain push”
- Chonkwon, Taebaek, and Do San’s “wrist release”
- Gae Baek and Se Jong’s 9-block
- Keumgang and Gae Baek’s mountain block
These are all generally legal in sparring. But there is no reason to use them, unless you use them to strike, and unless done with a clenched fist or foot below the ankle, you can expect a warning.
There are other techniques that are not present in Kukkiwon poomsae, but do show in some ITF forms, such as the eye pokes (Choong Jang hyung), are patently illegal in sparring. Kukkiwon’s textbook occasionally describes such techniques, but they are not seen in any form.
And you can forget about grappling or weapons. In fact, Taekwondo is taught as an “unarmed martial art”.
Breaking
Breaking is often showcased in flamboyant flips and partner-assisted lifts with multiple arial breaks of very thin boards. And yet, breaking has little martial relevance.
What Is Self-Defense
So really… What is self-defense? Isn’t it a means for protecting oneself?
This tends to be a loaded question, and it requires an understanding of what martial arts, combat sports, and self-defense are.
Martial Arts
Etymology
“Martial” means “of, or pertaining, to war“.
“Arts” in this context means several things, which in of itself embodies martial arts perfectly, and is stated well by Merriam-Webster:
- skill acquired by experience, study, or observation
- the art of making friends
-
- a branch of learning:
- one of the humanities
- arts plural : LIBERAL ARTS
- archaic
- LEARNING, SCHOLARSHIP
- a branch of learning:
- an occupation requiring knowledge or skill
- the art of organ building
-
- the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects
- the art of painting landscapes
- works so produced
- a gallery for modern art
- FINE ARTS
- one of the fine arts
- one of the graphic arts
- the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects
- archaic : a skillful plan
- the quality or state of being artful
- decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter
Putting It Together
When you put it all together, you can deduce this general definition based on word etymology:
“A branch of learning war skills acquired by experience, study, or observation“
As a result, you can see the concept of wrestling, taekwondo, boxing, karate, aikido, muay thai, etc are not really “martial arts”, despite that we commonly call them that.
And the definition begs the question: “how does this help me in self-defense“?
It doesn’t – and was never meant to. But if we study an example of what martial arts historically really is, we can see why.
Example Of Martial Arts
A modern example of martial arts is the military. When a soldier goes to boot camp, they learn all sorts of skills – not necessarily related to fighting. Of course they learn how to fire rifles and throw hand grenades. They’ll also learn some hand-to-hand combat. But, they’ll also learn first aid, wash clothes, take care of personal hygiene, bivouac, command structure, and other soldiering duties. And when a soldier goes to MOS training, they’ll learn to focus on a particular skill, like infantry. Or cooking, or chaplain, or engine repair.
That is because all of these skills train soldiers to become as independent as possible during war. There won’t necessarily be a laundromat in the deserts to wash uniforms, nor will there be a place to worship – and even if there were, there’d be no guarantee of safety. As a result, militaries around the world – and importantly throughout history – have taught their soldiers to become independent. We call this branch of discipline and knowledge “martial arts“. Yes, first aid, cooking, and radio communications are just as important to a soldier as learning how to build and deploy bombs, fire M-16s, and drive tanks.
Rationalize The School As A Place To Learn Martial Arts
And notice that few dojangs, dojos, and kwoons will teach their students how to fire M-16’s, etc. How is it then, that these places are teaching “martial arts“? There are two kinds of answers.
One is :
Just because. We’ve been taught that what I’m learning is a martial art, so, I’m learning martial arts, so get over it. [insert your martial art] is a martial art.
The other answer is
They aren’t. You’re being taught only a small part of what war skills are, and then adapted for private use. So, strip out the first aid, tank driving, and Claymore mine planting, and keep the hand-to-hand combat skills, then adapt it for… (well, we’ll get into that in a minute) and you have what we call “martial arts“.
Are You Really Learning Martial Arts?
IMHO, what you are learning in any dojang, dojo, kwoon, and gym is anything but martial arts. In most cases, what you’re really learning is combat sports or self-defense.
As if it wasn’t contentious enough to say that your beloved BJJ, MMA, Taekwondo, Karate, boxing, and wrestling classes weren’t truly martial arts, it gets worse when I say they’re mostly not even self-defense. Either because of the focus of the instruction or because of the ignorance of the instructor.
Self Defense
Self-defense is a strategy of defending yourself against the average assailant. It’s not meant to suggest self-defense against an armed military combatant, mercenary, or covert government operation, which is typical for martial arts. Real martial arts.
I’m talking about barroom fights, street thugs, home invasions, carjackers, hold-ups, and the like. It generally implies the training for hand-to-hand combat – situations for when the common population has generally nothing to help them defend themselves.
Pointing Fingers
It’s funny to see the MMA crowd whine that Taekwondo isn’t realistic for the street, or that Taekwondo whines that Wushu use weapons like butterfly swords and spears are illegal on the street and so the style is irrelevant, or that Aikido requires compliance and has no strikes. And the outlier is the one trained in handgun use, and says none of you have a plan to deal with an armed mugger, while the others argue guns can’t be taken into many places.
It’s comical and petty, because they’re all bitterly pointing fingers at each other about realism, and each are as culpable as the other, because they’re not truly understanding what it is they’re studying, and worse, what self-defense really means.
Ideal Self-Defense Strategy
For good self-defense skills, you ought to have a broad range of instruction, and some of that necessarily needs to require hand-to-hand fighting. Use of fire arms, grappling, kicking and punching, weapon disarming, and ethics and law are all necessary components of good, well-rounded self-defense skills.
Consider the adage: “If the only tool you have in your toolbox is a hammer, then all of your problems will look like nails”.
If the only thing you have learned for self-defense is carrying a firearm, what will happen to you when you get into an argument in a bar with a drunk patron?
That’s right, you’ll be taught to use the firearm, and that is not an appropriate use of justifiable force. Indeed, you risk injuring other innocent people, you may be barred from carrying it into the bar, and if the person insulting you has used only words, you can be jailed – or even charged with murder.
And if you are taught how to kick only above the waist and punch only the trunk, what do you think will happen when you are accosted on the street by several muggers each armed with a knife?
That’s right, you will get hurt. Badly. You may not survive.
In each of these scenarios, the fault is entirely yours: you did not understand what self-defense means. You did not seek competent and complete instruction.
Well-Rounded Self-Defense
You may encounter several places that have competent, but incomplete instruction. For example, an MMA school teaches grappling, a firearms school teaches how to use a handgun for self-defense, aikido teaches about mindfulness and using the opponent’s aggression against them are all good self-defense learning strategies – as long as you study them all. In addition, seek instruction about law and ethics. It may mean the difference between you or the perpetrator going to jail or being sued.
Don’t listen to the concrete black-and-white justifications of “better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6”. That is nonsense and is a strawman argument for using deadly force in all situations. You have a family to support, yes? Well don’t risk that by going to prison. (And, don’t risk that by being buried 6′ underground, either).
Self-defense is a narrow concept with broad considerations. It’s like insurance: you hate to pay for it until you need it. Study it in its entirety. But don’t think you Taekwondo classes at the strip mall or the MMA gym turning out state champions are going to be all that you need to know for competent self-defense.
Know that there is no one single style that teaches all aspects of good self-defense, nor does there exist any seminar that adequately teaches proper self-defense you can use competently on the street. You WILL have to put in the time, energy, and money to learn self-defense. That trophy on the wall will not help you.
Combat Sports
Combat sports can be an important part of learning self-defense. It’s just that they are not the end-all-be-all for self-defense. Boxers will tell you “nobody ever messed with me when I took boxing”. BJJ students say similar. Taekwondo students say similar.
Statistically, most of us will not need to resort to self-defense, and if we do, most of us will either hand over the cash or car, or will talk our way out. The remainder of the time, we will need to resort to hard skills, either with hand-to-hand or firearm skills.
Each combat sport teaches an aspect that contributes to the sport – but not for the purpose of self-defense. Of course, you can apply many fighting techniques to self-defense and claim that the sport works for self-defense. But if we get to the adage of having only a hammer in the toolbox and then apply it to self-defense, we end up with something that can kill us or a loved one.
Dangers Of Relying On Sport For Self Defense
Consider the guy who’s mugged on the street by a perpetrator, and takes the perp to the ground and applies a rear-naked choke on the guy. Great, you took him out and you’re safe. Except you weren’t trained to think about the guy’s friends, each of them armed with knives, bats, or guns. Besides getting the beating of your life, what is your plan now that you are on the ground and outnumbered?
Or consider that a mugger sticks a knife in your face demanding your money. Your state-champion high kicking skills allows you to knock his block off his shoulders – except the knife cuts through your femur artery. You’re dead in minutes.
The Three Authorities: Criminal, Civil, and Spiritual
Consider that you are in a crowded place, a fight ensues, and a drunk breaks a bottle over your head. You pull out your side arm and fire 2 shots at him, and one of them kills him. The other kills an innocent person. You might be cleared of the homicide charges for killing the guy with the bottle, but you may be charged with killing the bystander. You will most certainly have to fight a civil suit from the person’s estate (and possibly from the estate of the bottle holder). It’s possible you even survive all that – but will you survive the thought that you took an innocent person’s life? Your spiritual beliefs will play a role as to how you may survive – or not survive – this episode.
Relvance to Taekwondo
Kukkiwon Taekwondo doesn’t have a curriculum for it, and neither Kukkiwon’s textbook nor Gen Choi’s Encyclopedia of Taekwondo describe much in the way of self-defense. For Kukkiwon in particular, it’s not defined as part of any dan grading requirement – only sparring, forms, and breaking. We punch and kick according to tournament rules. Classes are spent refining roundhouse and spin kicks, not something that should be used on the street. Any kick where the foot is raised above the waist, or that requires to spin on the balls of the toes is just asking for trouble.
What The Purists Believe
There are purists out there that say their spin or round kicks can knock out their opponent and have the trophies to back it up. They are forgetting two key details.
The first is that not everyone can break more than two boards with either kick. With that lack of skill, apply that on the street with an opponent who is filled with adrenaline, has weapons and friends, and you’re throwing these techniques in sneakers on uneven ground. You really think you have a shot at a knock out?
The second thing that is oft-forgotten is that street fights have no rules. You can kick anywhere – including the front of the face, the groin, and knees; or you can strike with any hand technique – including eye pokes, palms to the nose or chin, or knifehand to the neck or throat; or you can catch and trap your opponent’s strikes. So take that round or spin kick that can’t break boards and apply it to someone whose natural reaction is to catch your foot. Think you have a shot at a knockout now?
Lacking Realism
To be fair, though, many schools do practice self-defense techniques. But watch any YouTube video of Taekwondo self-defense. There lacks true realism in their demonstrations. It’s not that YouTube is the definitive resource out there, but it is the go-to place for people who don’t know better. And it’s not that Taekwondo schools all teach horribly, but it’s the standard, and few schools that rise above that low bar do not feel the need to showcase their skills.
Conclusion
If you want to learn self-defense here is a laundry-list of thing you need to be proficient in. If an instruction does not cover them, you should either go to a different instructor, or take several classes.
Kicking
Kicking skills are typically taught in Taekwondo, Karate, kick-boxing, MMA, and Muay Thai. Be wary that in Taekwondo, and sometimes kickboxing, the emphasis is on high kicks – exactly what you do not want in self defense. Karate’s kicks are low in some styles, and high in others. It depends on the school and style’s focus. The more there is a focus on sports, the higher the kicks will be thrown.
Punching
Punching skills are typically taught in Karate, kick-boxing, boxing, Muay Thai, and MMA schools. As to Taekwondo, they are taught there as well, but the focus is typically placed on foot techniques.
Grappling
Grappling is typically taught in BJJ, Judo, Jujitsu, wrestling, Krav Maga, and Aikido schools. Some of the better Karate schools will teach it. Few Taekwondo schools teach grappling at all.
Weapons
Weapons are taught in firearms schools, some Aikido, some Karate, Arnis, and Silat. Keep in mind that weapon use as well as weapon disarm are also good skills to have. Also, there are weapons taught for historical context, such as HEMA and feudal-era Japanese weaponry. These are not helpful for modern practical self-defense.
Law and Ethics
Learn about justifiable use of deadly force, castle doctrine, and stand your ground. This differs by state and country, so be careful of the instruction you get. Often, a good instructor here is a good lawyer or police officer.
Well-rounded self-defense
Learn about avoiding dark alleys, how you dress, carrying valuables, defensive driving, safe buying and selling over the internet, locking doors, landscaping concepts, interior and exterior lighting, and identity theft. Self-defense clinics are good for this purpose. Battered women’s shelters are also good, although you must also be a victim here; also, there is a theory that teaching victims to fight back (read: women) can be dangerous and should be discouraged. Don’t fall for that crap. Learning self-defense can only help, never hurt – as long as the instruction is competent.
In defense of others
Your self-defense instruction should include defending others when you are not the object of attack.
