any one do tae kwon do??

I'll answer the latter first:

Is it enjoyable? Well, I suppose it can be neat to learn all sorts of crazy kicks and do them thousands of times over, but that's no different from any other combat sport. You do something, you apply it in the appropriate circumstance and you do it over and over and over and over again...

Now to the question of whether or not it's effective?

Practically speaking... not really. If you want a stand up style, an individual, not hybrid, stand up style that is the most functional... you're pretty much already doing it in Muay Thai.

What TKD is good at... getting you into fairly decent shape and depending on the instructor, can give you some form of structure and a kind o archaic discipline centered around a "sensei". You do also learn pretty decent balance and can do some pretty damn neat kicks including some really really powerful ones.

What TKD is bad at is pretty much everything else. What TKD is absolutely terrible at doing is preparing you for the actual duress of being in a confrontation, a real confrontation. It doesn't teach you how to handle being in a situation and how it feels to be there with your blood pumping your adrenaline rushing and how to cope with that to do what needs to be done.

Also, the techniques themselves are really only viable for a pretty damn narrow band of situations. Really narrow. The way the stance works in TKD you should be able to see that our punch defense is absolutely horrid and defensively, generally speaking, TKD is pretty bad.

All of this is on the basis of TKD alone. In conjunction with other styles it can be okay but really you're only taking away the balance and the equilibrium you get from practicing crazy spinning kicks repeatedly. The majority of techniques learned in TKD are just absolute garbage and you will, I suppose, have to "learn" them but I would HIGHLY recommend not ever using them.

I'd recommend Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to compliment your existing skill set. And really, I can not recommend this strongly enough. Try it for a week and you'll see exactly why. (Or even a day with a decent instructor)

 

How about Thai Kwon Do.

You fight using Tae Kwon Do kicks with the intensity of Muay Thai.



Kidding, all points aside. It depends on how you use it. In a real sanctioned fight, there was already a turning long kick KO in the UFC. And Cung Le does it as well. That's definitely a Tae Kwon Do move. So, utilizing it in the right situations shows its effectivity.

 

Pretty much all of what he said.


Try it out, if you like it keep going with it, but in all honestly, if you don't even like the idea of wearing a gi, I seriously doubt you're going to like the bowing, the forms, the ceremony that goes along with the majority of Tae Kwon Do.


For someone in your particular situation I'd probably normally recommend something like Judo, wrestling or BJJ, but if you find the clinch part of Muay Thai a bit tedious perhaps look at something like boxing or one of the harder styles of Karate, like Kyokushin.

 

Dude... they have 12 year old black belts... i've seen 15 year old 3rd degree black belts... Enough said? :think

It's up to you but I wouldn't go near it if I was you...

Lynchburg

 

I watched a bit of TKD at the Olympics yesterday and to be honest it doesn't look good.

 

fancy kicks are very risky

try finding somebody that teaches something like capoeira if you want something different

 

Yea, got my black belt when I was 7 but haven't done it since.

 

i do tkd. I enjoy it. Strong points are the kicks and general excersise/fitness. all the hand techniques are rubbish but i done boxing before hand so im not to concerned. I find they compliment eachother well