furious_styles said:
Most WTF schools in my area have and many others have abandoned the Katas
poomse
and so-called self defense moves and train only for Olympic style fighting. The art has evolved into this because of the fierce competition worldwide. The level of fighting has improved drastically since becoming an Olympic sport in 1988.
The competition has increased and the top athletes train most of their time for competition and not forms, and this is natural and understandable.
But the art didn't evolve into this. The art still has all those components, and all those components are required for a black belt test.
It's just that some schools don't teach TKD anymore. They teach Olympic sparring and call it TKD.
Personally, in a decade of TKD training I've never heard the term "Kukki-TKD". I suppose your refering to the Kukkiwon (The WTF headquarters in Seoul).
Kukkiwon is more than the WTF headquarters. Kukkiwon is a institution completely separate from the WTF, although the WTF headquarters are located in this building too.
The Kukkiwon sets the standards for the belt promotions, gives out black belts, decides on which forms make up taekwondo, how taekwondo techniques should be done, does course for instructors, and houses black belt tests. Basically, Kukkiwon is Taekwondo headquarters.
WTF is simply an organisation which organises tournaments. You can't get a black belt from the WTF. You can't do a WTF form, there aren't any. You can't do a round kick the "WTF way". All you can do is go to a tournament organised by the WTF. All the other things are done by the Kukkiwon. And if you do go to a WTF tournament, the first thing they will ask to see is your Kukkiwon black belt certificate.
This is the standard Taekwondo as practiced in South Korea, and by the vast majority of TKD practitioners -- though you truly get to see EVERYTHING in the West. It is also called "Kukki-Taekwondo".