How to fight in olympic tae kwon do?

[tkd_wrestler]

i'm study tae kwon do and i want to compete in the next Olympics but i have a problem. i using boxing in my tae kwon do but they don't allow to hit to the head with your hands. do any of you have advice on how to better my kicking speed and strategies to use for without me losing my boxing skills?

[Piston]

You won't *lose* your boxing skills if you keep training with them. I do have a tip for you if you want to increase your kicking speed, which is pretty much the most important thing in WTF imo. Do bag or pad work with your turning kicks and really focus on bringing the kick back down quicker, a lot of people lose valuable time where they could throw an extra kick or two out simply because they dont put any effort in bringing their kick back.

I am curious though, if you intend to compete in the olympics, how long have you been practising WTF TKD?

[tkd_wrestler]

i've been doing TKD for 8 years but i've never actually done WTF TKD before. it'll be my first time doing it. my problem will be not getting penalties for hitting the head with my hands. i can't seem to shake that part. i guess the good news is that i won't get knocked out with the high kicks unlike most of the other fighters.

[bigred389]

I do INCTL rules...punches to the hogu are FULLY legal.

Odds are that under WTF rules, most fighters will not be able to deal with your in close boxing work. And a good punch(cross to hogu, bodyhook) will at least scare them a bit, if not take em out of the fight outright...you can also always follow a punch with any kick.

Close, clinch, destroy.

You'll still have to watch out for the guys who love to throw out jumping back kicks, which is a pretty popular counter for a linear movement in among WTF practitioners. After a certain point in belt level they start throwing those out like candy.

Piston gave you good advice with the pad/bag work, IMO. You'll get really good at bringing your foot down faster hitting a flopppy pad if you really focus on recovery after contact.

Careful with the high kicks though...you're actually going to be seeing a lot of shots coming in towards your kidney/liver and in SOME interpretations of WTF rules, you HAVE to drop your hands to block...which I don't like, but hey otherwise they might score. Point is, that sets you up to get hit in the head as the fight drags on...train for it when you spar or you might be "surprised," shall we say.

[tkd_wrestler]

thanks for the advice. i'll try to knock them out quick and if i can't do that then i have these tips. i'll make sure to stay close and make my movements as agile as possible.

[eXcessiveForce]

One of the olympic trainers in our system has the claim to fame that he has never had a fight were he hasn't broken something on his opponent.

Learn to keep your gaurd and flow through you target with your kicks. The increase in power can shred someone right through a hogu

[Piston]

I would be careful with the close the distance tactic. While it may work on some fighters, I would't rely on it. Remember these are top class athletes and chances are most of them will have trained in some way to keep an opponent at range, watch for a sneaky sidekick to the gut as you start punching. Secondly you'll want to score more points and kicks score more points than punches.

[bigred389]

Yeah...reading it back it didn't cover all of what I wanted to say.

I'm talking about flowing from an offensive kick(which already propels you forward) into a clinch. Then as you leave the clinch you can easily throw in some body shots which are WAY inside kicking range OR pop a cross high on the hogu above the pectoral muscles to cause some serious pain. He might sneak a side kick through that...but your cross is going to be much, MUCH faster. Remember, your fists aren't gloved like in boxing, so you can cause SERIOUS pain with your fists hitting anywhere on the torso. Not to mention most competitors aren't even conditioned to take a punch to the gut...they're usually more worried about kicks to the side of the trunk.

[tkd_wrestler]

okay, so what do you mean by clinch.

[Piston]

You must not be too familiar with the WTF rules they sound very different to your INCTL rules. In WTF its a point based system to pain and damage aren't a factor, that said what you previously stated is very valid in another situation. Also there is no clinch in WTF, could you outline the INCTL rules and what the acronym stands for?

TKD wrestler a clinch is when the competitors come close together and their striking range is shorter, there are different types but what Bigred I *think* is outlining is a Muay |Thai style clinch. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[bigred389]

You must not be too familiar with the WTF rules they sound very different to your INCTL rules. In WTF its a point based system to pain and damage aren't a factor, that said what you previously stated is very valid in another situation. Also there is no clinch in WTF, could you outline the INCTL rules and what the acronym stands for?

TKD wrestler a clinch is when the competitors come close together and their striking range is shorter, there are different types but what Bigred I *think* is outlining is a Muay |Thai style clinch. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Pain and damage still work if you can get a ref stoppage or break something...like a rib. They can also slow the other fighter down. I know it's not really in the "spirit" of the sport, but still...it's technically within the rules.

I saw a teammate drill a guy with a punch, then follow with a roundhouse to the same spot...caused a "KO." The other guy decided not to continue after that...but from my eyes the punch is what put him down...the kick was more of an afterthought.

Naw not a MT clinch...under our refs(I say refs since the refs practically make the damn rules) that would cost you points.

We have underhooks(your arms under his arms), the guy with underhooks(you can't actually wrap for a clinch-you're trying to hold tight to the guy with just your forearms and stay close until the guy controlling decides to break) usually controls the clinch...he decides when to break it off, which means he controls the timing of the "farewell" hit.

To be honest, i haven't watched many Olympic WTF matches, but I do seem to remember a little clinching/closing. You know, both guys pressing into each other, arms out, hands open, waiting to pop one as they go out?

Technically, INCTL follows the WTF rules word for word. But the refs make the calls. For example, we score only good solid hits as points, a weak glancing impact will not count. This of course leaves room for interpretation(and favoritism). KOs are rare, but they do happen. Very loose following of the WTF rules, with an emphasis on safety more than anything else.

Against an Olympic class WTF fighter, I'm not sure this would work. But it seems to do fine in amateur WTF competitions...very few are even ready for something different from kick only fighting. And of course, in ITF based tournaments it's a whole different story, plenty of spinning backfists thrown there.

[akio123]

i suggest do footworks coz it will increase ur kicking speed and also ur stamina...even the greatest does this and u know who that guy is...

[ZeroAquaduct]

Isn't there a change with WTF rules? I think judges will now let competitors go unpenalized if they fall while trying a difficult move (intentional vs. unintentional falls). Matches stop when someone falls, so I'm expecting competitors in Beijing 2008 to come out doing high-flying spinning hook kicks, and triple roundhouse kicks with 360' roundhouse kick combinations (just to get more points). Actually, that'll be cool.

I don't think the WTF is interested in Muay Thai-type knockouts. I think they want it to look pretty, so they could market TKD to the mainstream market. I could be wrong -- I stopped TKD for a couple years now, so I haven't been following too closely.

[us-navy-seal]

Few words of advise. (I won Nationals back in 89)

Always keep loose and bounce slightly on the balls of your feet. Keep one of your hands in a tight fist just in front of your waist as if to block a low kick and the second rested against your Sternum. Never tense up your upper body. (If you use boxing techniques that I have seen I presume you are really tense)

For quicker snap on your kicks, the advice so far is good, but another technique that is used in many arts such as Jeet Kune Do will come in handy.

Let the ball of your front leg push into the ground as if you are going to kick dirt behind yourself with that foot. You will feel the nerves tense in that leg. The Adrenaline from being in a fight will assist in this also. With that added intensity you can quickly snap the back leg up and bring it back. This also leaves openings for powerful combos to body shots.

You could bring the back leg up and snap quickly, expecting the person to block, but suddenly bring up the powerful tensed front leg to their opening in a double sequence. This technique also allows you to pull off faster spin kicks and fake outs.