I got lazy on the title, that is the video one. The best bar fight I ever saw was outside of a Korean bar in Harker Heights, Texas back in the 90's. I had exited the bar next to it with some friends when we saw the bouncers toss out two elderly Korean gentlemen in full suits. I would guess they were at least 50 or so.

Anyway, once they were outside, the bouncers left and these two guys proceeded to get into a full fledged Tae Kwon Do (or maybe Hap Ki Do, I don't think it was that though because it had a lot of power kicks) fight. I mean they were going at it, and I mean HARD. Much more contact than in any of the TKD matches I had been in at tournaments. After about a minute of not landing a solid hit, they stopped and mutually allowed one another to remove their suit jackets. Then back to the fray. They did get a few kicks in and got a bit bloody, but that is when the bouncers returned, apparently with their WIVES.

Hilarity ensued, because both wives basically glanced at one another and then waded into the fracas. They each started slapping and kicking on their husband, screaming at them. I don't speak Korean, but you could tell by the tone they were dressing them down hardcore. The fight stopped and two bloody, formerly distinguished looking guys looked like a couple of kids who had really torqued off their mom. I was dying off to the side from laughter. I swear if camera phones had existed back then it would have been an instance classic.

It's entirely possible that some of these guys actually are martial artists (most likely TKD), but what's on show here is not martial arts.

It's gymnastics, maybe movie stunt fighting at best, but calling it "martial arts" is a stretch too far.

Still pretty impressive though.

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by eric3579.

While I heartily approve of violence against the Footy Show hosts, guests and/or audience, I'm gonna have to agree with Newman here (one sec.... gotta throw up.... ugh)

Anyway, did anyone watch the TKD at the olympics? It was utterly boring to watch. I've nothing against it as a martial art, but as a spectator sport it's really dull.

In reply to this comment by LarsaruS:
I love TKD. *Promote this

Thank you so much for the promote!! Such a nice surprise.

I love TKD. *Promote this

>> ^xxovercastxx:

>> ^ShakaUVM:
Heh, I taught kids TKD for a number of years. This isn't too out of line with what normally happens.
Sometimes I'll get on my knees and tell them to punch me in the chest, and they can't do it. I'm not moving. I'm not blocking. They just can't do it.

There were teenagers in my class; of higher rank than me, even; who fit that description and were no more dangerous in sparring than these little guys. It used to really annoy me that they kept passing their belt tests without developing any skills at all.


It's funny there could actually be a thread about this.

Even fifteen years later and 70 pounds heavier, I can still knock a fucking house down with my back-turning side-kick. But I remember when my one tough instructor Marcus used to yell at me to hit him while sparring, I could never hurt him. He was a veteran of a shitty childhood and even when he put his hands behind his back, I could never hit him hard enough in the chest, stomach, kidneys, etc. to even make him blink. Of course, I was wearing gloves, but still. It was always like one of those dreams when you just can't do the thing you want to do and it always made me feel like my arms were just a couple of limp sausages.

>> ^ShakaUVM:

Heh, I taught kids TKD for a number of years. This isn't too out of line with what normally happens.
Sometimes I'll get on my knees and tell them to punch me in the chest, and they can't do it. I'm not moving. I'm not blocking. They just can't do it.


There were teenagers in my class; of higher rank than me, even; who fit that description and were no more dangerous in sparring than these little guys. It used to really annoy me that they kept passing their belt tests without developing any skills at all.

Heh, I taught kids TKD for a number of years. This isn't too out of line with what normally happens.

Sometimes I'll get on my knees and tell them to punch me in the chest, and they can't do it. I'm not moving. I'm not blocking. They just can't do it.

>> ^xxovercastxx:

>> ^TheFreak:
Don't know what's been happening with tae kwon do in the past decade. It's developed this strange focus on ineffective spinning-jumping kicks. More like gymnastics than martial arts.
Government interference is what happened.
First they pressured the separate kwons to unify in an attempt to form one universal Korean martial art. This is what created TKD (in name, at least). Then they sought ways to make it a symbol of the country, to give the Korean people something to be proud of. Ultimately this culminated in an effort to introduce it to the Olympics. In order to accomplish this, they had to turn it into a sport. The military style of TKD still exists but, aside from the actual military, it's hard to find anywhere that teaches it inside Korea.
I have a friend who is from South Korea. He was adopted and brought to the US when he was still a baby. He's a TKD black belt. He's taken trips back to Korea and he's sparred with people who have learned TKD there and they are all horrible because they've been taught to dance rather than fight.
The only fighting they know is point fighting so they do not learn to defend and they do not learn how to generate power. They are incredibly fast but, in a real fight, he had no doubts that they would pose little to no threat unless he was greatly outnumbered.


Interesting, I was unaware of most of that.

I was talking to one of my older Aikido students last night who's been teaching TKD for a long time. I'd judge his style as very martial and effective based on the punches and kicks he was using while we compared notes. We were discussing how the tai sabaki from Aikido has influenced his TKD and I asked him about the change in TKD. He brushed it off and pointed out how he teaches both point fighting and martial effectiveness and distinguishes between the two to his students. His only thoughts on the current state of some TKD was that it was a passing fad.

>> ^TheFreak:

Don't know what's been happening with tae kwon do in the past decade. It's developed this strange focus on ineffective spinning-jumping kicks. More like gymnastics than martial arts.

Government interference is what happened.

First they pressured the separate kwons to unify in an attempt to form one universal Korean martial art. This is what created TKD (in name, at least). Then they sought ways to make it a symbol of the country, to give the Korean people something to be proud of. Ultimately this culminated in an effort to introduce it to the Olympics. In order to accomplish this, they had to turn it into a sport. The military style of TKD still exists but, aside from the actual military, it's hard to find anywhere that teaches it inside Korea.

I have a friend who is from South Korea. He was adopted and brought to the US when he was still a baby. He's a TKD black belt. He's taken trips back to Korea and he's sparred with people who have learned TKD there and they are all horrible because they've been taught to dance rather than fight.

The only fighting they know is point fighting so they do not learn to defend and they do not learn how to generate power. They are incredibly fast but, in a real fight, he had no doubts that they would pose little to no threat unless he was greatly outnumbered.

This is very cute but you have your facts wrong though. They are competing in Taekwondo and not kickboxing. The commands are in Korean and the chest protector and helmet are the official WTF TKD protectors. I mean even the sign at 2:20 says Taekwondo match... but it is ok dystopianfuturetoday. I like you anyway

^ All a matter of context I suppose. As I recall Bruce thought the same at one time, never make kicks above the waist. Your far better off targeting the shins, knees, thighs, and midsection. Mainly because their closer to the foot, utilizing both travel time and energy. Lower kicks can also fall beneath an opponents guard very easily. However, after training with several strong high kickers (i.e. Chuck Norris) Bruce changed his tune slightly, if the opportunity presents itself even a flashy high kick can be extremely devastating. Take one from the master, "be as water" nothing should be written in stone.

The problem is, the most popular dojos/dojangs you find today are either Tae Kwon Do or Karate and anyone who's been to a TKD/Karate tourney knows that high kicks are the only way to score points.

>> ^brycewi19:
So the ref needs to check their balls before fights now? Hmmm.
timeshift



In pure TKD tournaments, at least as far as I know with 8 years experience, the fighters get checked prefight that they don't have any piercings which are not taped down, that all the protective gear is legit and not modified and for both men and women they have to make sure they are wearing a cup. Usually the fighter is asked to tap it but the person responsible for the saftey is the controller and if there is doubt they tap it themselves. The fighter then gets a signed paper to give to the ref, sort of like the signature on boxers gloves.

In this open tournament it seems like the ref is the only one checking so he has to tap it as the fighters wear gloves...

Whatever. I could take him.

This is obvious proof of how the US accels above all other western countries in the martial arts. We have thousands of 8 year old black belts all over the country. You can find them in practically any strip-mall. We have 8yo Ninja black belts, 8yo Kung Fu black belts, 8yo TKD black blets, 8yo Judo black belts... Why, you practically can't walk anywhere near a strip mall without stepping on an 8 year old black belt.

Makes me wonder why I've studied all these years to get my San Dan when I could have just gone to a strip mall when I was 8 and gotten a black belt with a side of french fries. And you know those kids are legit because by the time they're 18 they'll have promoted themselves to 10th Dan and started their own martial art form complete with shoulder patches with tigers on them.