Is taekwondo anygood for mma?

[KOnah]

So will TKD help any or would karate be better.

If the instructor is good, yes, if not then no.

You will get many things from a good TKD school that you wont get from your other training.
And people who think kata/patterns are worthless miss the point of them completely...

 

[mvisit1]

:icon_confI dont disagree that both will not have the necessary takedown defense for MMA. However, yes!, i believe MT is definetely more applicable to MMA than TKD. In MT you spend a lot of time working clinch, low kicks, knees, elbows......etc. techniques much more applicable to MMA than TKD. More so than anything the clinch work that TKD does not incorporate. Not to mention, sparring and striking in MT tends in most cases to be far more aggressive and more suited to actual combat vs scoring points. Not to say that some TKD guys are very good MMA strikers, there are some. However, more MT/Boxing/kickboxing disciplined strikers are successful at MMA, and even more BJJ guys than the previously mentioned. I think MMA under it's current rules is much better suited to wrestler/grappler/gnp type fighters than pure strikers.

People confuse SPORTS with MARTIAL ARTS. We trained low kicks, knees, and elbows at my TKD school. REMEMBER, before the MMA craze hit, most people took martial arts for self defense. Although we trained for and competed in TKD tournaments under TKD rules, my instructors did acknowledge that an attacker on the street would not be following sport TKD rules so we also prepared as such. We also learned takedowns, throws, and basic submissions. Here's the kicker...they were all applications of moves we learned in forms!

As for the sparring and striking in MT being more aggressive and more suited to actual combat vs. scoring points, what do you think MMA is? What happens when there is no KO, TKO, or submission? Hit and don't get hit, what's the difference? Look at Machida, he moves like a lot like a TKD guy would in a sparring match.

 

[gomiplata**]

I was thinking about taking TKD but didn't know if it was really mma Suitable. I'v already started BJJ, boxing and Muay thai. So will TKD help any or would karate be better.

Are you a professional fighter? Cuz unless you're freakin' GSP I wouldn't recommend doing all that at once. People usually have a background on one.

 

[Nnedd]

I landed a couple axe kicks tonight that are purely the result of TKD. A better fighter would not have let me land them, but they worked. TKD is good, it will help your foot speed, just don't get sloppy turning over your hip when you throw the roundhouse. And keep pushing out your hips when throwing the push kick, don't throw it like a front snap kick.

 

[quikkick]

If the instructor is good, yes, if not then no.

You will get many things from a good TKD school that you wont get from your other training.
And people who think kata/patterns are worthless miss the point of them completely...

Konah, you have offered a great token of wisdom. Katas are great because they teach power, balance, crispness, and control.

Any TKD school that trains hands, and spars full contact is great.
The major problem w/ "TMA"s is that they've made kids their target demographic.
Find an instructor who doesn't baby his students and you've got a winner.

As Gomiplata said, I wouldn't try to spread myself to thin without establish a decent level in proficiency in one, two at most. You may want a kickboxing gym ("not cardio-kickboxing", mind you) that wraps boxing and the kicking arts into one class.

 

[ssullivan80]

People confuse SPORTS with MARTIAL ARTS. We trained low kicks, knees, and elbows at my TKD school. REMEMBER, before the MMA craze hit, most people took martial arts for self defense. Although we trained for and competed in TKD tournaments under TKD rules, my instructors did acknowledge that an attacker on the street would not be following sport TKD rules so we also prepared as such. We also learned takedowns, throws, and basic submissions. Here's the kicker...they were all applications of moves we learned in forms!

As for the sparring and striking in MT being more aggressive and more suited to actual combat vs. scoring points, what do you think MMA is? What happens when there is no KO, TKO, or submission? Hit and don't get hit, what's the difference? Look at Machida, he moves like a lot like a TKD guy would in a sparring match.

Well put. You apparently had a different experience with TKD than I did. I took TKD classes as a kid and through high school, earned my BB when I was a senior (10 or more years ago). However, we never did work on clinch and very few throws, more trips and sweeps than anything else. Never any submissions other than small joint manipulations were ever incorporated, those I really learned from our escrima instructor. I do credit TKD for building a great base and making other MA's easier to learn. I am not discrediting TKD in any way, you obviously learned it in a very different capacity than I did, credit to being at a good school. Mine really was a McDojo.

I think that using Machida as an example is far fetched. Yes, he is very good and very elusive and uses his unorthodox style to win fights. However, he is far from the average guy training TKD and is truly masterful at his craft. Not to mention, he has what appears to be a pretty decent ground game. MT is much more practical for someone who wants to start MMA and does not have the 20+ yrs of training Machida does. Trying to win MMA fights on points, in my opinion, is not a very effective strategy. That is like telling someone to learn to strike like Chuck Liddel, instead of more traditional boxing. It only works for those select few!

 

[Grey_Steel]

Machida isn't (wasn't) a TKD stylist. His background is JKA (Japanese Karate Association) Shotokan karate.

 

[mvisit1]

Machida isn't (wasn't) a TKD stylist. His background is JKA (Japanese Karate Association) Shotokan karate.

I know, actually I thought he was a Kyokushin guy. But anyway, my point was, he moves like a TKD guy or karate guy or any other TMA guy in sparring. They get in and get out, hit and move, Machida's hands even tend to be low like in TKD sparring (not saying that that's a good idea, just pointing it out).

 

[Halfbreed83]

Side Kick and Spinning Back Kick FTW! Those are two great things to add to your arsenal.

 

[CenterMass]

Many MMA practitioners who are successful today have a black belt base in TKD

David Louisseau
Stephen Bonner
Shonie Carter
Frank Mir

and otehrs.

Although you'll likely never see a spinning tornado kick in the Octagon? You do occasionally see some brilliant TKD in the octagon on occasion.

Of recent not David Louisseau's jump spinning back kick several UFC's ago, Stephan Bonnar's attempted spinning hook kick in the first TUF Finale show vs Forrest Griffin,

etc.

I personally am looking for the day that a fighter with a TKD base just does a flying side kick to someone's head and drops them.

That to me? Would be the bomb!

 

[mvisit1]

Many MMA practitioners who are successful today have a black belt base in TKD

David Louisseau
Stephen Bonner
Shonie Carter
Frank Mir

and otehrs.

Although you'll likely never see a spinning tornado kick in the Octagon? You do occasionally see some brilliant TKD in the octagon on occasion.

Of recent not David Louisseau's jump spinning back kick several UFC's ago, Stephan Bonnar's attempted spinning hook kick in the first TUF Finale show vs Forrest Griffin,

etc.

I personally am looking for the day that a fighter with a TKD base just does a flying side kick to someone's head and drops them.

That to me? Would be the bomb!

Awesome to see another TKD enthusiast. The ignorance surrounding it really gets to me. People seem to think that just because there is no punching to the face in pure TKD competition and everyone keeps their guard low, that a TKD practitioner would not punch to the face and keep his guard low in a self defense situation. OR even worse, that a TKD practitioner would attempt a 540 spinning hook kick on the streets. Ridiculous...

 

[quikkick]

As a TKDer who's been in street fights.....I use the all the hand techniques..back fist, ridgehand, reverse punch, as far as kicks.....sidekick and front kick. Some moves you can't really use because of the stance of your opponent.....
if your opponent has a square stance then it negates roundhouse and hook kicks, yet leaves him open for straight line kicks to the torso like front and sidekick.

MVISIT: here's something for you:

YouTube - Jump kick knockout in karate competition

 

[CenterMass]

Awesome to see another TKD enthusiast. The ignorance surrounding it really gets to me. People seem to think that just because there is no punching to the face in pure TKD competition and everyone keeps their guard low, that a TKD practitioner would not punch to the face and keep his guard low in a self defense situation. OR even worse, that a TKD practitioner would attempt a 540 spinning hook kick on the streets. Ridiculous...

I love all forms of combat from military to hand to hand.

Some of it is stupid, but I love watching all of it just for the educational value.

I've seen some Korean Masters of TKD, that would make your average man, and maybe evena few Pro MMA guys today, cringe at the things they can do kicking wise.

I will say, that kicking as TKD teaches it, is not very useful in MMA competition because of the mechanics of it all.

But, that doesent mean, a TKD kick "Wouldnt Work", it's just that any pro MMA guy has to think of other factors before trying it (if he has a solid TKD background). He has to think of getting taken down, etc, is there enough power in delivering this, etc.


I think David Loisseau ( Who after he dropped the guy with a jump spinning back kick), said it best.

"Man that was some TKD stuff I learned when I was 6, and I always wanted to try it in MMA. Well, it worked!"

Or something like that he said.

It was classic. All arts have their place, if the timing is right IMO.

 

[NasDestiny]

I can advise you that some of the form of TKD uses hands low to block punches and kicisk. I had a hard time breaking the habit of dropping my hands to block kicks, and it messed with my boxing stance. I would recommend training muay thai or boxing before TKD, but I wouldn't say no to additional training in other martial arts like TKD.

 

[Grey_Steel]

You will get many things from a good TKD school that you wont get from your other training.
And people who think kata/patterns are worthless miss the point of them completely...

And the point is?

We can talk about many things that forms/kata offer but many times that is just grasping at straws. Balance and flexibility, coordination, balance while turning, using techniques in combinations and the list goes on. But these things can also be learned...probably faster...without learning any kata at all. There are many good athletes and fighters that don't practice any kata. There are also fighting systems that have no kata...how about Jeet Kune Do? Are the kata based systems better? This hasn't been proved nor has it been apparent in any competition between opposing sides. I can say kata has this or has that or that it does all these wonderful things. I can also say "look at that kata move...see how it looks like an armbar or a defense?" But then again I can also look at clouds and swear they look like animal shapes. You see what you want to see.

Kata are an antiquated way of passing on information/techniques from a time when, if you wanted to pass the info in writing, it would have taken many many "scrolls." Kata became a shorthand so to speak or a catalog of a systems techniques to be passed on. On top of that it was also a form of exercise and a sort of box of basics or all of the techniques of karate. A simple way to package it all to make it easy to remember. Today we have video and no longer need to waste time practicing forms over and over. Any fighting applications within the forms can be taught, video taped for reference and then move on. Why waste time practicing a kata over and over without a partner in front of you? Kind of like shooting baskets for practice without a ball isn't it? I think time can be better spent. You fight as you train.

For someone who has been already practicing a traditional martial art as karate or TKD then I say that there are things that you can carry over into MMA. There are also many things that are bad habits (for MMA) that need to be dropped or adjusted. But this is if you already have experience in a traditional art. To begin karate or TKD to add to Muay Thai, Boxing and BJJ/MMA/ Then I think that is counter productive. Well, that's just my opinion:icon_chee

 

[comquest]

Tkd Front Kicks & Side Kicks Are Particularly Useful Especially In An Aggressive Opponent. More Often Than Not They're A Good Set Up For The Jab & Cross.

 

[blanko]

Many MMA practitioners who are successful today have a black belt base in TKD

David Louisseau
Stephen Bonner
Shonie Carter
Frank Mir

and otehrs.

Although you'll likely never see a spinning tornado kick in the Octagon? You do occasionally see some brilliant TKD in the octagon on occasion.

Of recent not David Louisseau's jump spinning back kick several UFC's ago, Stephan Bonnar's attempted spinning hook kick in the first TUF Finale show vs Forrest Griffin,

etc.

I personally am looking for the day that a fighter with a TKD base just does a flying side kick to someone's head and drops them.

That to me? Would be the bomb!

ok..... when you want to make an argument with a list you should make sure that the list actually SUPPORTS your argument. How much TKD do you see when you see stephen bonner and Frank Mir fight? That's half your list right there.

 

[blanko]

I know, actually I thought he was a Kyokushin guy. But anyway, my point was, he moves like a TKD guy or karate guy or any other TMA guy in sparring. They get in and get out, hit and move, Machida's hands even tend to be low like in TKD sparring (not saying that that's a good idea, just pointing it out).

going "in and out" is not just a point tma thing. Many boxers and kickboxers fight that way also.

 

[devante]

As a TKDer who's been in street fights.....I use the all the hand techniques..back fist, ridgehand, reverse punch, as far as kicks.....sidekick and front kick. Some moves you can't really use because of the stance of your opponent.....
if your opponent has a square stance then it negates roundhouse and hook kicks, yet leaves him open for straight line kicks to the torso like front and sidekick.

MVISIT: here's something for you:

YouTube - Jump kick knockout in karate competition

i have seen alot of tkd cats who can handle themselves on the street against trained and untrained fighters; one guy i know a bb in tkd who actually trained personally w/the old school korean guy, well he koed a boxer and a wrestler.

another guy who did tkd in my school, i watched him ko a bjj bluebelt; sidenote his bro used to wrestle, so he was familiar w/the takedowns. He kept sprawling, then backpedalled and sidestepped all the while chopping the bjj stylist w/body kicks and then stopping him w/a wild overhand right.

it works-just depends on how much u open urself to working w/diff stylist and types; it helps u learn the correct timing, range and tech to use in a variety of diff instances.

 

[Valiss]

I think someone who training with real/full contact sparring in TKD and took boxing would make a great striker. If you had that and wrestling or BJJ background, you could probably do MMA. But by itself obviously TKD wouldnt work.