making up for lack of defense...

[Devin]

rephrasing...

Can anyone suggest a MA to take in addition to TKD to round out defense?

[doubleouch]

Well, it doesn't matter what we suggest if it's not offered in your area. Maybie you could let us know what arts are available to you?

[Devin]

Hapkido, Aikido, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Ninjitsu, kickboxing... More I imagine if I look around. I am looking for something that stresses high kick defense.

[eXcessiveForce]

TKD has the best High Kick defenses, Since they stress high kicks in most schools. The rest that you named probably spend very little time on kicking at all.

[medic06]

Alot of TKD practioners prefer Hapkido since it is also a Korean art (mostly) and it compliments TKD techniques pretty good. But beware, there is a large disparity in the quality of my beloved Hapkido. Some Hapkido schools out there are complete garbage. I say find something that you enjoy and go for it. . . . .

[Ikken Hisatsu]

kickboxing for sure.

[Ollis]

I would go for Hapkido, but then I'm biased. If you've already spent a few years learning TKD, hapkido is a logical progression seeing as pretty much every TKD technique is there in the hapkido syllabus, but I agree with medic06 that it all depends on the quality of the school you train in. I have seen some hapkido bb's who spend all their time practicing joint locks but have absolutely no ability or stamina when it comes to sparring.

I feel a good TKD school will give you strong foundations as well as flexibilty to perform some of the more challenging techinques (high kicks etc) and hapkido will fill in the shortcomings such as close range fighting, throws and the ability to cause sudden disabilatating pain without any permanent damage. It is also very direct and doesn't waste time with unrealistic attacks IMO.

In Korea, most of the top HKD Grandmasters started out in TKD, and took up HKD when the achieved a high rank in TKD for this very reason.

[MAfans]

It may be weird, but for defense, you can pratice some wing-chun. I have praticed wing chun long ago, their defense system is really great. I don't know a lot from Hapkido, but I guess that it is a good art too, like the other suggest.

[MAfans]

oh yeah, why do you need to praticed an another style to improve your defense? I think that should train on your speed instead to dodge the attacks. Like Bruce Lee said, it's better to dodge than to block.

[medic06]

Wing Chun is a great adjunct to most styles since it is principle based and concentrated on in close fighting. Most people are weak at this range. Chi Sao is great for developing sensitivity.

It's a good idea to get some experience in a variety of martial arts, even if it's only to figure out how to counter their techniques.

[m.artist]

Hapkido, Aikido, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Ninjitsu, kickboxing... More I imagine if I look around. I am looking for something that stresses high kick defense.

To be honest, one of the best high kick defense arts, is Kook Sool Won. I would look for that, especially if you want to stick to korean arts
good luck!

[medic06]

I agree with that. I like what Kuk Sul has to offer

[Tom Yum]

Korean Arts

As with any Korean art, check out the classes and talk with the instructor. If you see people practicing self defense in horse stances and emphasizes tons of techniques over application, you may want to re-consider.

If you are looking for a no nonsense korean self-defense art, I would go with Tukong Musool. They take the basic principles from hapkido, shaolin, judo and weapons. You learn principles and then apply them spontaneously from various techniques, whereas other Korean styles teach you 1,000s of techniques let you pay $1,000 for your black belt and promote you onward...

They are also big on conditioning your body, improving your focus and life in general. The Tukong Musool system is taught to the Korean special forces.

[Hwa Rang]

The Wing Chun I practice (tseun tin linage) has brilliant high kick defence.This is because you sheer off and redirect the energy from the kick so you still have arms after! To really round your defence I'd suggest Krav Maga. They basically teach you everything form striking to stand up and ground grappling and weapons. My Krav maga utilizes Wing Chun, Panagmat, Doce Pares Escrima and BJJ. Krav Maga generally also has MT elbows and knees which is a very good thing.

[electrorok]

i dont know about anybody else (and this isnt pointed at anybodies school) but if your school isnt teaching u good defence then dont stick with the school and learn something else to even it out. Just find a school which can cover offence and defence equally. I believe a good tkd school should teach everything, from offence, defence, locks, throws etc. obviously they r not going to go into the detail which grappling arts will but they should teach u a few basics of each. But when it comes to something like defence which is quite a major part of m.a, dont accept anything which isnt up to par.
My school is traditional ( non competition) which is why we spend quite a bit of time on self defence( throws, locks).but im sure my school isnt alone out there?