I'm a black belt but i dont know whether to continue with Tae Kwon Do or not..?

Question

So i tested for my black belt in may 2004.. but i honestly do not feel prepared to defend myself in a dangerous situation.. I can barely protect myself against other (martial artist) girls! A lot of you are probably going to say that i don't deserve a black belt or something.. but the thing is.. my technique is good.. just my sparring isnt... and since thats the most realistic thing.. isn't it pointless to continue with TKD if i suck at sparring?!

Um and another question, how come tae kwon do is really unrealistic at times?? Like with the self defense and grappling techniques, one of the attackers hands are always free and it would be easy for them to get out of that position unless the other person is SUPER fast.. (that was really confusing haha.)

?!?

Answer 1

Great question!! Ok First there is no style that is better than another style, each has its own great qualities and weaknesses. Only a great teacher can make a style great and teach you great.

Unfortunately here in the USA, TKD schools are like Fred Villaris in most cases, the McDojos of Martial Arts giving black belts away in 2-3 years where MOST true school it takes a minimum of 6 years of training to test for your black belt. Sure some are legit no doubt, TKD is a fine style if taught properly.

IF you feel that you are not able to defend yourself and you suck at sparring then you really need to go to another school. NO black belt should feel so empty after receiving their rank. Fighting is not everything, it is only 10% of Martial arts, the mind is the true martial artist. Awareness to know when a fight or bad situation is about to occur will always help you avoid situations.

TKD is not known for its self defence techniques (I have a BB in TKD, but also a nidan in Kenpo and Sandan in Shotokan/Shotokai and kickboxed for 4 years with a proffesional.) That is my point. DO not constrict yourself to just one style. In my school it is mandatory that if you ever wish to receive above Sandan you must study and earn a shodan from another system then they will promote you to 4th dan. Its taken me 16 years to get to my Sandan and I have no fears of handling myself, but I am not stupid either and no when to avoid them too.

If you feel you have learned enough basic karate, try kick boxing, or Mui Thai or Shotokan, or even a MMA grappling and striking with some real contact in it. Sparring is not enough to teach you to control your fear and make it your friend and not your enemy.

Good Luck

Answer 2

There is a common misconception that a black belt indicates that you are a master at your martial art. A black belt is not a PhD. It is more like a high school diploma. Most reputable martial arts schools will tell you that earning a black belt means that you can now start learning 'the good stuff'. In other words, you know enough of the basics to start learning more advanced techniques. Many schools offer special classes for their black belts that are much more intense and could help to improve your sparring skills. You may also seek out a coach who can target your weaknesses in sparring and help you improve.

As to your question of realism. When you refer to Tae Kwon Do grappling, I assume you are talking about the Korean art of Hapkido, which is encorporated in many TKD curriculums. Most of these techniques are taught in an 'You do this, and then I do that' method. This helps students focus on the technique. After you repeat the technique several hundred times, it becomes a natural movement, so that the speed can be increased to the point that it becomes reflex. Then when someone grabs you, you instantly execute the technique regardless of what is in their off hand.

From my personal experience, I don't regard TKD as a viable self-defense form of fighting. I would never kick anyone in the head. The distance from the floor to someones head is too great. However, the flexibility and power of the techniques in TKD are very useful. Try to convince your Sa Bam Nim to offer the black belt sparring classes so you and your fellow black belts can all improve.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Unlike most people on here I'll be honest with you. TKD sucks as a martial art. Its nice to watch, but its unrealistic in a real situation. Sure it'll work on someone that doesn't know anything, but if you run up against someone else trained in another art then your dead meat. Most traditional arts have the one strike one kill mentality. They think if they can just hit that person once they'll be dead. Thats just plain stupid thinking. Just do some google research, and look at police stories of where suspects were shot several times and were still fighting the cops. If there is no magic bullet then there is no magic strike. TKD has become so watered down. Come on I know you've seen those 6 yr old black belts (rolling eyes). Its all about money now. TKD has just become a social thing for moms to brag about to other moms. Look at all their gimmicks such as...you can get your black belt in 2yrs, our system is the best in the world, and so on. TKD even have their own contests because they can't compete with other arts. How good is your point sparring in a real situation? They even have web sites that show TKD defeating other arts, but if you do research you'll either find no record of the person the TKD practitioner was fighting or you'll find that the person they were fighting wasn't even trained in the other art, but was rather a TKD practitioner themselves. Your asking yourself a lot of important questions. Which is good. Go explore some other arts. Go visit those schools or gyms, and see what they're about. You may find something your really interested in.

Answer 4

In all of the schools I've been to the philosophy is that once you reach black belt THEN you're a beginner. You've just been taught all the basics and then the real training can begin.
However I'm a little biased against TKD as it is primarily a 'sport' karate and not a true self defense art.
So you can take two philosophies here: one is that you're just a beginner at this point. If you've enjoyed training in it this long would you enjoy learning more of the same?
Or, if you're unhappy with where you're at you could always try something that focuses more on sparring if that's what you want to improve. Any good school can teach you these things. Personally I like Kenpo, Goju, etc.

Answer 5

I think that there is way too much TKD slamming going on. TKD is not a bad style, its just taught badly in the USA. Korean TKD is good. All you saying that Traidional and kata is a waiste obviosly know little about teaching someone to fight. KATA is the basic fundamentals that teach a student how to start using blocks and strikes together until they can adapt that into true effective techniques. You have to put air in a ball before it will bounce. Many people to start are not creative enough to develop combination strikes and that is what kata teaches. Of course you dont stand like you are practising, that is for strength and conditioning.

I just cant beleive how people can think one style is better than another and traditional styles offer less than MMA? I do not agree. After over 30 years in MA, i have done both traditional and non traditional. The TEACHER makes the school and training effective if you learn well from them. These others here are so biased to there styles it sweats from their mouths.

If you have been unhappy this long, there are a long chain of differant styles to try out so go out and find em and try them out. You wont find the right one for you until you try them out. Get into something that will boost your confidence and maybe give you some real contact sparring, not that point crap.

Answer 6

It takes an average of about 3 and 1/2 years. If the dojang is relatively Americanized then you can recieve a black belt in around that time. More traditional Taekwondo schools may make you wait longer. It also depends on your skill set. I've never come across a Taekwondo competition that had a belt requiement to compete. You are usually grouped together by belt rank so its not like youll be up against black belts with 18 years of experience.

Answer 7

Well just because you're a black belt doesn't mean that you're gonna be able to defend yourself in a realistic situation, (nor does it mean so because you've even taken the time to study a Martial Art, because there's ALWAYS someone better out there) or kick anyone's a** that steps up in your face.

another thing is HOW you use what you've learned, you have to have some sort of strategy (even in a fight on the street) Martial Arts only PREPARES you for situations that MAY come up because it's theoretical, simply meaning that there's always OPTIONAL things to do in ANY given situation; example IF the attacker does this, then you have the OPTION of doing this (or that) in defense.

Martial Arts in a general sense has a lot to do with training for the "what if" factor in a fight. because they ALL have their STRENGTHS, but they also have their WEAKNESSES.

just because you've received your black belt (I'm assuming you're talking about your 1st degree black belt here), doesn't mean you're training is over (it only really means that you're certified to teach the discipline if the head instructor asks you to teach someone else) it's more of a recognition (or "symbol" if you wanna look at it that way) of your dedication to learning the discipline.

Because Martial Arts is a life long experience, that you must CONTINUE your training, improving and perfecting the techniques you've learned.

So it's NOT pointless to continue your training in WHATEVER discipline you've studied because there is not one discipline that's "better" than another.

If you think you suck at you're sparring means youshould quit your TKD training, think again, it just means you need to train harder in that area and improve upon it.

You CAN study another Martial Arts discipline as another option, it'll only serve to better you as a Martial Artist, but I'm not saying that you should just up and quit your TKD training (or quit your Martial Arts training as a whole altogether) but it's not necessary.

every Martial Art has it's unrealistic (again here is the theoretical aspect I mentioned earlier) side, but that's where you have to question it, and practice USING the techniques in more realisitic situations to tweak and "tune up" your techniques to work better in such situations if they ever arise.

and look at it this way, isn't more reassuring to know that you do know SOMETHING rather than not knowing ANYTHING at all?

Answer 8

There’s so many factors involved when determining things like which martial art is going to work for me. How far can I really go in any said martial art? Where are my weak and strong points and what makes a weak point and a strong point when considering my abilities? Aside from the questions of why and how, we must consider some other factors that are there. Like body structure, an example would be someone short and stocky would probably do well in things like judo where someone who is leaner with longer limbs per height weight ratio may be better at kicking higher etc. Then there is the factor that makes me smile wide and that’s the ones with God given talent for martial combat. Yes, it’s very true there’s the special ones that God has given all the right tools from body structure, to synaptic linkage to strong wills and powerful desires to excel. Not to take anything away from the average person who has a strong desire to excel, at the same time, the ‘gifted ones’ do have an edge. Look at other sports and you’ll understand where I’m coming from. As far as saying that this martial artist vs. that martial artist could win or loose, you must have an understanding of not only the above mentioned, but an understanding of weakness and strength of parameter to defense and attack. When we are looking for the ultimate combination of martial combat tools, yes, Ninjutsu does have the full range arsenal, at the same time, between two experts in any given art it really does come down to seconds and half seconds.
As far as your sparring skills go, let’s both come to an understanding that you’re just beginning in the art of TKD as you’ve only had your black belt for a little over 2 ½ years don’t despair. Another thing to consider is there really is a lot of TKD schools out there, and yes, there’s a lot of bad schools and a lot of good schools which is the same for any martial art school no matter the style. It just happens that TKD has become an Olympic sport just a short time ago and has become extremely popular so of course it’s going to either be praised and or ridiculed more than other styles. It’s the same proverb in China when comparing different forms of ancient Kung Fu southern and northern etc.. If you truly love the art of TKD then don’t give up. I would consider either finding another school if satisfactory help is not found from your instructor. If your instructor is just now finding your inner fears and doubts of sparring skills then stick with your school and listen to what your instructor has to say to help you. Just remember this that no matter what you decide to shoot for, if you have the desire, you can achieve anything.

Answer 9

First of all you should realize that very few so called "martial arts" schools in the US teach Martial Arts. Tae Kwon Do in particular, what they teach is a sport involving scoring points by almost touching or lightly touching a particular target on your opponent. All the rules of contact negate any true Martial Arts effectiveness. Congratulations on your Black Belt, it is a worthwhile accomplishment showing your determination and ability to finish a difficult task. But never make the mistake of thinking you are learning something to save your life. Most of the "unrealistic" techniques are taught that way because the instructors learned that way, not because they work. Granted some of them will work against an untrained person if you work at them hard enough. But if you enjoy the discipline and the physical fitness, by all means continue.

Answer 10

In my opinion, two things come to mind: low of confidence and a self-fulfilling prophecy. In psychology, "if you think it, therefore it will happen." You are most probably very good at TKD, but when you start to visualize your movements, your low self-confidence kicks in and it gets in the way of your performance.

I believe that you wouldn't have gotten the black belt if your superiors didn't think that you can do it. Maybe if you were put in a compromising position (a hypothetical situation), your talents may surprise you.

I suggest that you continue on with your Tae Kwon Do.

Hope this helps and good luck.