tae kwon do styles?

Question

i no there are types for tae kwon do. i.e. WTF and ITF...what is the difference? and what would you reccomend?

also, i have not started tkd yet, but would like to get ahead and learn some techniques and excersizes. ne ideas?(stretches, blocks, attacks, warm ups, or anything that would help...?)

Answer 1

There are far more than 2 "styles" of TKD. The 2 you mentioned are the largest, but there are many smaller association. Of the 2 largest, the ITF is more traditional, the WTF is more sport than art. I don't like the new Taekeuk WTF forms, they're Way to geared towards Olympic style sparring, but there isn't enough room here & I have neither the time not inclination to go int detail about them.
As to which you should join, choose a school & instructor, not a style. Also look into other organizations. Bigger is not always better. Our association is far more traditional, with emphasis on values & self defense. Ignore ignoramouses who tell you that an art isn't practical self defense. They have no idea what they are talking about.

Answer 2

If I recall (sorry, I'm a little rusty) the UTF is mainly no contact and the TKD learned is for "form" and looks. The WTF and ITF are geared more toward sport and contact fighting. I don't know anything about the ATA.

Being as young as you are, I'd recommend a full-contact school. The full-contact schools are a very intensive workout and get you into phenomenal shape aerobically. Full-contact TKD is also one of the best stand-up fighting styles available (anyone who tells you otherwise probably hasn't fought a good TKD student from a full-contact school. I trained in full-contact and fought across multiple styles through friends and helping other schools. The only style that really gave me a run for the money was Muay Thai.) Do full-contact while you are young. The older you get, the tougher it is to recover from day after day of beatings.

If you have a different intent, that is fine to. Other TKD associations stress precision and the "beauty" of the art. While this will not really train you for fighting, it is still a decent workout and some people find it fun (I currently train at a school like this and I think it is just OK).

When choosing TKD, keep in mind that TKD is a stand-up art. If a fight goes to the ground, you may be in trouble. Some schools will teach you how to defend against ground pounders, but if the defense fails you are on your own.

To prepare for TKD training, I wouldn't worry too much about learning techniques. If you are not careful, it is easy to hyperextend your joints while executing TKD techniques. If you are determined to learn, I have found that Tae-Bo exercise tapes are "OK". Many of the techniques are very similar to those in TKD. It is not a good representation of TKD, but they are easy to find and will help with some basics (keep in mind, they are exercise tapes and will just get you started. Don't be surprised if what you learn in TKD is completely different).

Stretches are important. If you are not flexible, the first two or three weeks of training will hurt, bad. My advice is to stretch your hamstrings and groin. Having flexible neck and back muscles will help as well, but the hamstrings and groin are the most important IMHO.

Finally, your abdominal muscles are important, especially if you are in a full-contact school. Do sit-ups or crunches. When I was full-contact, after each day of training, we would do 250 crunches (50 crunches from 5 different positions) followed by 50 leg lifts. Your "core" muscles are instrumental for balance, protecting your breathing, and preventing injury when getting hit.

Know the reason you are going to train, but keep an open mind. I started TKD because I wanted to learn to fight (I was kind of a hot head). TKD taught me much more. It taught me peace, respect, and confidence. It is more than fighting.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

The WTF (World Tae Kwon Do Federation) is one of the largest organizations; but most of these schools vary in their training where one may do a form one way, and another would have it's own way of performing the same form.

There are over 200 private Tae Kwon Do organizations in the world, such as: ATA, UTF, USTF, WTU & ITCF. These organizations usually will require that students belong to a member club or school that pays dues to the organization and the leader or founder of the organization makes the profit.

Events and competitions held by organizations like these are usually closed to other taekwondo students, whereas the World Taekwondo Federation allows any person, regardless of school affiliation or style, to compete in World Taekwondo Federation events.

It's also a member of the IOC (international Olympic Committee), making it a public sports organization. The major technical difference among these many organizations revolves around the poomsae (or forms), a set of prescribed formal sequences of movements that demonstrate mastery of posture, positioning, and technique, sparring rules for competition, and philosophy.

about fighting or preparing for the class, once you enroll they'll help you in getting where you need or want to be in your training if you ask them.

Answer 4

You will be able to choose, if you care at that point, once you have found a good school and taken classes for a while.

The most important task is to find the correct instructor. A glitzy studio or a plain one does not matter. Go to a number of schools, even better, make a point of visiting EVERY school you would feel comfortable going to 2 to 4 times a week. Set it up ahead of time and watch teh head instructor teach a class.Then findout how often he/she teaches classes. Once you have visited a number of schools it will be very clear who the effective istructors are.

Do not try to learn techniques on your own. Have your Instructor teach you from the beginning so you will learn techniques correctly and in the proper sequence.

Rick

Answer 5

There are many different so called styles of Tae Kwon do. The most prominent being the World Taekwondo Federation. (WTF) This is what the USTU and other "Official" schools teach. The WTF focuses on physical fitness and sport application, particularly Poomse (forms) competition and Olympic Tournament Sparing. The teach the Taegeuk forms for Gup level students. (Note: Some older WTF schools still teach both the Taegeuk & Palgue forms) this is the "Modern" Tae Kwon Do and the official TKD of Korea and the Olympics.

The second most prominent system is the system endorsed by the International Taekwondo Federation. (ITF) The ITF focuses on physical fitness, personal self-development and self-defense. The teach a set of Hyung (Poomse) often call the Chon-Ji Hyung after the first form in the series. Sparing is practiced, but usually not to the extent of the WTF. This style if often referred to as traditional Tae Kwon Do and was the system taught by General Choi Hong Hi, the founder of Tae Kwon Do.

The last of the major systems is the Tae Kwon Do Moo Duk Kwan system. This system has a long history that predates the WTF and in fact is an off-shoot of Tang Soo Do, which explains why it shares many of it’s (Poomse) with Tang Soo Do (for instance Kee Cho 1-3, Pyung Ahn 1-5, Pal Sek) as well as the Palgue forms from the WTF. TKD:MDK is self defense oriented and teaches real life techniques for real life situations. This system of Tae Kwon Do came about when the Moo Duk Kwon split in the early 1960's. Many of the Tang Soo Do practitioners, including the majority of the memberd of the board of directors for the Moo Duk Kwan voted to join the Korean Governments Martial Arts Unity Initiative and thus changed the name of their system from Tang Soo Do to tae Kwon Do and learned Poomse from other systems. However Grandmaster Hwang Kee refused to join the unification project and Kept his tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan separate. Today, Senior members of both the Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwon Do Moo Duk Kwan consider each other brothers and often attend each others special events and tournaments and keep close relationship. We both recognize Hwang Kee as our founder and have a great admiration for him and everything he achieved in his life for our martial arts.

There are a few other "systems" of Tae Kwon Do, but they are almost all mirrors of one or more of these three systems and stem from the dozen or so system of martial arts that existed before the 1961 Korean Tae Kwon Do Unification initiative.

AS for learning before you join a school, don't! Let a teacher teach. that's what they are there for, to teach. All you have to do is learn. Don’t try and do it yourself ahead of time. That's a GREAT way to develop bad habits. Then you have to unlearn before you can relearn and that takes a lot of wasted time. If you want to do anything before you join, just do basic calisthenics like you learned in Phys. Ed. class in school. Simple stretches, pushups, crunches, jumping jacks, sprints, etc... Jump rope a lot, it will help with your endurance, coordination and agility. Other then that, don't try and learn anything new until your have a real teacher.

Best wishes and enjoy your training!

Answer 6

Well if your going to join a TKD look for one that has there students workout like crazy thats when you know you found a good one. You should try stretching your legs, running at least once a week and exercise your both your legs and abs a lot, also try not to let your guard down when your sparing it becomes a bad habit if you do.

Answer 7

Try out classes and look for ones that spar full contact if you wish to fight or use for self defense. Beware of contracts and exorbitant fees. If you want the basics, just look for a manual or something on TKD or its technique alike art, Shotokan.

Answer 8

One is flowery Tae Kwon Do for those who only want to fantasy themselve as a martial arts and role play.

Other one is a real Tae kwon Do that actually do full contact spar and learn how to fight like this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbfLuSZbIxI

However be careful, many Tae Kwon Do school doesn't teach you how to fight that well.

Answer 9

The ammount of ignorance that surrounds TKD amazes me!!! I was going to write this whole things on TKD but I can't stop laughing at most responses... try it... then you decide.

Answer 10

TKD is all about TKD and competitions, not practical self defense.

It is suited for a beginner, or a child, but to follow it forever is delusion.

choose Muay Thai if you want fitness and skills to protect yourself and others, and it also has competition if you wish.