Why do Tae Kwon do and some other martial arts train with hands down? Don't they worry about being KO'd?

Question

I was at a community facility for my kids music class and they had another class in the building doing Tae Kwon Do. I was watching their workouts and they keep their hands near the waist after they punch. Why do some martial arts continue to teach a "bad habit". Show me an MMA fighter who fights with his hand down and I'll show you a fighter who will make someone else's KO highlight reel one day. Unless you have Ali reflexes you have no business training with your hands down if you are preparing for a real fight.

I assume Tae Kwon Do fighters know that in a real fight they can't keep their hands low but don't they realize that training like that will bring bad habits? They migh be in a real fight and instinctively drop there hands in which case a skilled fighter will knock them out.

So why do they do it? Do most stand up martial arts teach hands low? I know from my experience with boxing and kickboxing that hands stay high.

Answer 1

I agree with a lot of the people here. My instructor will cut loose on you for dropping your hands in class during drills. But when we spar, which is typically Olympic style, the hands drop pretty quick for the more advanced students. The rules just allow it. You just need to be fast enough to move when the kicks come at your head. Or you just might be picking yourself up off of the mat.

I train in both point and Olympic styles, though. In my first tournament fighting point style, my hands dropped and the guy punched me square in the face. I haven't let that happen again. Training in both lets me build up the speed and power I want out of my legs (Olympic), but point fighting forces me to remember to keep the hands up, unless I want another fat lip.

Answer 2

It has to do with the style of Tae Kwon Do sparring being taught. Since TKD has become an Olympic sport the WTF (World Tae Kwon Do Federation) sparring style is used in most TKD schools.

While punches are allowed in WTF sparring, the chance that you'll be awarded a point for landing punches is minimal. Also, punches to the face are illegal, so TKD praticioners don't have to worry as much about defending their head.

Think about it...If the only strikes coming to you are from kicks, you're probably going to be a lot more relaxed about guarding your head than if punches were involved. Also, some TKD practicioners state that they feel more relaxed and faster on the counter attack by doing so.

In many ways, you're question is like comparing MMA to sport Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. On one hand, a sport BJJ artist may not do so well in an MMA tournament because he/she isn't accustomed to taking strikes. On the other hand, an MMA fighter may not do so well in a sport BJJ tournament because he/she may be accustomed to using strikes to set up submissions.

Because these sports have different rules, fighters will spar differently since there are certain things they have to watch out for and certain things they don't. I've been training in Muay Thai for the past two years and have sparred against boxers many times. One thing that boxers use, which would be considered suicide in Muay Thai, is ducking and weaving. While this works great for a boxer against a Muay Thai fighter when using strictly boxing rules, it doesn't work so well (they take a nice knee to the face) when they transition to Muay Thai rules. It's the same difference...

Answer 3

I'm afraid some of the answers you have gotten are horridly incorrect.

Traditional TKD does not train with the hands down and there is no power generated "from the hip." The hands down style has been popularized through Olympic Style Sparring in TKD. Olympic Style Sparring concentrates on points generated from kicks. Punches rarely are scored so the hands have become unimportant.

Traditional TKD trains like any good martial art; keep your hands up, throw punches from the shoulder, use minimal movements to block, keep on your toes, knees bent, and moving.

Answer 4

In TKD, they train using traditional stances and punching from the hip to generate power. Traditional Kung Fu classes do the same thing. This is part of what Bruce Lee complained about and why he ventured out on his own to create JKD. They train from these stances, but when they spar, they don't get into a 'horse stance' or a 'front stance', they get into a 'fighting stance' which is hands up.

There is at least one argument for having your hands down in a real fight and that is, if you put your hands up then your opponent knows you want to fight, or you are at least ready to fight. If you keep your hands down, you look like a sitting duck, but what he doesn't know is that you are ready to 'shoot from the hip'. I'm not saying I agree with this or not. I tell my students that if they are in a threatening situation to put their hands up with their fingers open and palms out, as if to say 'stop' or 'stand back'. This way, you don't look like you want to fight, but your hands are up just in case. It also allows you to grab your opponent if necessary.

If you watch traditiona TKD classes, you will see a lot of things that wouldn't be used in a real fight (like jump spinning back kicks). It doesn't mean they are teaching bad habits, or that TKD can't be used for self defense. Those techniques are just the basics. You have to understand the basics before you can move on to the more complex techniques.

Answer 5

Most of your realistic Tae Kwon Do schools teach with hands up. Some of the schools that teach the Tae Kwon Do you see at the Olympics do not because lets face it in Olympic sparing it is about the farthest thing from a real fight.

Answer 6

i was in an MMA style kickboxing class for about 17 years. we never ever trained with hands down. we used to wear waited wrist guards even to make our arms tire so that we would drop them and when we did our instructor would slap us from behind.

Even if you are a skilled fighter up against an unskilled oponent if you have your hands down anyone will have a punchers chance of hitting you on the button.

I totally agree with your opinion but i would really like to know the reasoning behind the Tae Kwon Do training.

Answer 7

A lot of martial arts schools don't focus on keeping your hands up when fighting. I train in Tae Kwon Do, out Master always makes us keep our hands up. If you keep your hands down during class you get to do push ups for the rest of the exercise, if you keep your hands down during sparring you get the crap beat out of you! But, rarely does anyone drop their hands.

Answer 8

In sparring hands are never down but when doing forms yes they do bring the fist opposite of the punching hand back to the waist. Why you ask?? Because like most things in Martial arts it is something to train you. Bringing the fist back helps in turning of the waist because all power for kicks and punches come from the waist. It like this always be loose until the point of impact thats when the waist twist. You see in sparring hands are up. You probably wasn't watching them spar. Like i said they was just doing forms and in forms you do a lot of things that you don't do in sparring to build up things that need to be worked on.

There is always a reason something is done but most people who don't know the reasoning behind it don't know why it is done

Answer 9

no, tae kwon do is not the best martial art. there is no best martial art as all styles have flaws, and weakness. MMA is the best. bruce lee said a true martial artist should pursuewhat works best and discarding everything useless or impractical. blah blah. Sure everyone has their preferences, but the ring/cage/street is not the place to be walking around ignorant of techniques.

Answer 10

I agree with every body here. Hands up. I teach both traditional TKD and olympic sparring and I want my students all the time to keep ther hands up. It is a terrible and dangerous habit. Yes the advent of olympic sparring and their rules have made some practitioners drop their hands because they can't punch to the face. I still teach all my students to keep their hands up.