Is taekwondo a good form of self-defense?

Question

Can it compare to boxing?And how long does it take to be good at it?

Answer 1

Taekwondo is not a good self defence art.

My rule is to not kick above the knee because your opponent can grab you leg or move in to off balance you while your leg is still in the air.
Taekwondo is a sport. It is a sport that uses 95% feet. It does not have good blocking and does not work against multiple opponents or weapons, as taekwondo schools don't practice against multiple opponents or weapons.

Taekwondo may have a reach advantage with the feet but boxers have relentless conditioning and are used to taking HARD shots right in the face.

How long does it take to be good? Not long. When I was doing taekwondo I was able to beat people several levels higher than me in sparring. They were getting frustrated and even commented to the teacher that I kept beating them with mainly my hands.
The teacher then told me to only use my hands for blocking, but I kept beating the bigger, more experienced students because I practiced with my father on blocking with my arms and legs, something the teachers NEVER ONCE worked on in my 3 years at the school.

I eventually quit when I realized I couldn't learn anything there that I couldn't teach myself.

So no, taekwondo is a sport martial art with little focus on real life application.

Answer 2

Don't listen to Jass: He doesn't know what he's talking about. Speaking of which: A lot of schools do multiple person sparring (I did it when I was younger: A couple 2 vs 1 and one 3 vs 1, Good fun!) in addition to fighting against weaponry, It's 70/30, and SOME schools of TKD are 50/50 like Moo Duk Kwan and some of the ITF.

The others are on the right path. It's good with the right teacher, and the right mindset of the teacher (Being self-defense tactics). It sometimes has a higher ratio of kicking to punching, but punches are still trained.

It takes a good amount of time to get "Good" at it. Learning the basics can take anywhere from 3-xyz years to earn, and to master it takes as long as what it took to learn the basics, plus an additonal 10 year minimum at most places.

If your build isn't great of kicks, it's not recommended. However, the kicks are good, and it's a great style to start things with.

As for boxing: You should mix both. The hand techniques of boxing will help you out, and they will complement your kicks with the Tae Kwon Do you learn. Some TKD schools offer separate courses in that as well, so you might want to look around for that too.
After that: Learn some grappling (BJJ, Judo, Jujutsu, Hapkido) to add to your self-defense repertoire.

Chuck is right too. If you're looking for speedy training, then boxing might be advised for you to start with.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Taekwondo cannot compare to boxing.

Boxing is possibly one the single most effective martial arts. Every technique works, undoubtedly has the best conditioning of all the arts, and can be learned in very little time.

Taekwondo, however, has forms which take months, if not years, of memorization and perfection, techniques like blocks that are unlikely to be helpful i a fight, and flashy high and flying kicks that are unsuitable for anywhere other than a TKD tourney. Not only is TKD theoretically impractical, but is physically impractical too. It is not suited for short people with short legs, and would take much longer to reach a similar level of proficiency as compared to a boxer.

The fact is a boxer would destroy a TKD stylist, not to mention just about anyone. Boxing spars with full resistance, has practical techniques, and the shortest learning curve of any art.

Answer 4

Andy G, a winner is you... He pretty much hit the nail on the head. I'd say that Judo or Brazillian JiuJitsu is the way to go. I'm more for BJJ, though, as it is more about groundwork. And lets face it, the situation that you're most worried about will occur on the ground, so that's where she'll need to know how to fight Grappling skills will allow somebody smaller to control a larger and stronger opponent on the ground. This is the ONLY type of martial art that has lived up to that common claim time and time again, WITH a crapload of emperical evidence backing said claim. Within a year, it is not uncommon for a grappler to be able to completely dominate bigger and stronger opponents (who are untrained). If your daughter started now and kept it up, she'd be golden. As for the 'fun' part, I'm sure that a grappling art would work fine. They're sports, which actually include no hitting, which can sometimes put people off. No reason to quit TKD, though, if she enjoys it.

Answer 5

that is a very good question... TKD is a very good form of self-defense, with a good quality instructor, and a good quality student.... Boxing is a very good form of self defense also.. if you have a good instructor and you are a good student :).... If you are concerned about the timeframe of the effectiveness... boxing will make you a better fighter faster... the time frame depends on the student , but i have never seens a boxing gym that takes instruction time away from sparring techniques, to discuss history and philosophy of boxing.... Also TKD will teach forms, one-step sparring, learn about the Korean culture, and some Korean teminology.... take a one year boxer, and a one year TKD guy, and the TKD guy is going to have serious problems, coping with the confident boxer, who has been hit hard plenty of times.... but take a 5 year boxer against a 5 year TKD guy, and the boxer is going to have a very hard time against the confident TKD guy who has a much bigger arsenol of blocks and strikes, joint locks and takedowns...... But i suggest that any 5 year TKD guy join a boxing gym, if only for a couple of months, to understand how good of weapons the hands are, and how to absorb punches properly..... but a five year boxer would not get much out of 6 months of TKD, because the training is designed to take longer than that to be used effectively.... boxing is great... TKD is great.... evaulate your locals schools/gyms for your self and get started in the one that you like the most... either will be a much better choice than neither.... good luck

Answer 6

most martial art are at good self-defense and it dose not take you that long learn how to defense your self with TKD
compare to boxing i think TKD would be more fun to learn but before choiceing one look around and see which one you real want to do i could be them or another one
good luck XD

Answer 7

taekwondo sucks for self-defence. taekwondo is more of a compotitional art.

Answer 8

Hugh Jass.... your a Hugh Jass

i do WTF taekwondo(the sport organizeation one) and we do defense against multiple assalient and defense against knife attacks. and if practise enoguh you should be ab;le to kick quicker than an oppenent to catch your leg. it like saying don't punch they will grab your hand