Taekwondo vs American Kickboxing?

[Shibby]

I found out that the place in town teaches taekwondo. I use to do american kickboxing. Anyone know how they would compare in intrest. I really liked kickboxing. I have been interested in akito's.

[therock]

Well if you are looking to compete I would try to find a Judo place if I was you.

[lxorl]

Taekwondo is almost a general term these days, much like karate was in the 80s' and can vary a lot.. Some versions of TKD have a long history and political backings, where others are just piggybacking on the name. You might want to investigate what t ype of TKD they offer and where they focus most of their time.

In genearal TKD is a combo of tradition as well as sport, depending on which affiliation you end up with. ITF is more traditional where WTF has more of a focus on sport. I spent years working on ITF and got sick of practicing forms, learning history, one step sparing (one punch and counter). TKD sparing can be a lot of fun and I would say WTF probably spends more time on sparing.

To my knowledge American Kickboxing is sparing and practicing techniques related to sparing. If your looking for more fighting then This would probably be your best bet.

Both are good exercise and good techniques, its more of what you want to spend your time working on.

[Shibby]

Thanks Ixorl, the WTF (What does it stand for?) Is definately more what I'm looking for. Something more that I can use in the rare case.

[blm]

Kickboxing is more realistic if you ever had to use it. And it's a hell of a lot of fun.

[spidey]

WTF stands for World Taekwondo Federation. The WTF is what is allowed in the Olympics.

Tae Kwon Do is one of the oldest martial arts and it originates from Korea. It predates the chinese styles practiced in the Shaolin Temples by 200 years. Examples of murals depicting Tae Kwon Do stances and fighting forms have been found that date to as far back as 35 BC.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to find a competent school. There are a lot of subpar schools that teach it. These schools are basically just "belt mills" and will turn out black belts that should never have passed their tests and can't defend themselves. Study up on the school in question.

What federation does it belong to? What are the qualifications of the instructors. Observe a class or two and look at some of the higher belts. Do they look clumsy? They shouldn't if they are at least green belt or higher. If they do, that may be a sign that the instruction is not that good. Someone with bad technique to the point where they look clumsy and off-balance should have failed their belt test.

I would be humiliated If I looked that bad and had a green or higher color belt.

I respectfully disagree with BLM on the practicality of kickboxing vs. Tae Kwon Do. Both arts can be effectively used in real situations.

Having never taken kickboxing, I can only generalize from what I have observed. That being said, I think TKD focuses more on footwork and kicks than kickboxing, which seems like mostly boxing with an occasional kick or knee thrown in. Now Thai style kickboxing is a whole different thing but American style seems mostly like boxing to me.

You mentioned Aikido. I would go with that if I were you. I can't think of a more effective martial art. I wish I had the time to find a class here and enroll myself. I took it for about three months as a graduate student but had to stop due to time restraints.

[blm]

Originally posted by spidey
I respectfully disagree with BLM on the practicality of kickboxing vs. Tae Kwon Do. Both arts can be effectively used in real situations.

As I respectfully disagree with you, having taken Muay Thai (not American, not sure of the diff) and Shotokan as well (not TKD, but not too diff). Maybe once you achieve a very strong ranking (not by awarded belts) TKD could be as effective but even in the earliest stages of training with kickboxing you can readily apply it to real life altercations. Although there are a few fancy kicks in kick boxing, the emphasis is on close quarter contact using the knees, elbows, head, and fists for delivering blows.

For all intents and purposes though I completely agree with therock that Judo is the best choice (next to BJJ).

[Shibby]

American is the same as Muay Thai basicaly, but no knees or elbows. And yes spidey it's mosty boxing like with some kicks thrown in.

[Shibby]

Oh and in American Kickboxing there is no hits below the waist except for a boot sweep.

[lxorl]

Kick boxing is more realistic in that it doesnt teach tripple whindmill kicks , and bi directional jump spinning kicks ala van dam... but the fundimental techniques are solid in both. Its up to the practicioner to really make them effective.

[blm]

Muay Thai is pretty brutal. I only did it for about 6 months when I was in the Army. It wasn't a formal school, just a an old black belt that trained in the gym on base and was willing to teach some bored soldiers how to kick some ass, lol.

[blm]

Originally posted by lxorl
Its up to the practicioner to really make them effective.

Absolutley