SAYSON, JOSUA R.

BSED 2A – SCIENCE

ADVANTAGES OF LEARNING TAEKWONDO

As well as the sporting and self-defense aspects to Taekwondo, there is also an exercise element,
which brings health improvements such as; balance, flexibility, stamina, strength and posture.

In addition to the physical health improvements, Taekwondo is also known to benefit mental
health through increased confidence, improved self-esteem, focus, concentration levels and self-
discipline.

Taekwondo is suitable for all ages, and the British Taekwondo membership ranges from 3 years
to 84 years.

More health benefits of Taekwondo;

 Improved muscle tone and appearance

 Increased strength and stamina
 Improved confidence and self-esteem
 Improved flexibility
 Improved agility and reflexes
 Improved concentration and focus
 Improved leadership skills
 Greater self-discipline
 Reduced stress

Taekwondo remains a hugely popular activity for both adults and children, and boasts circa 70
million practitioners across the world.
 DISADVANTAGES OF LEARNING TAEKWONDO:

1. Lack of Punching Abilities: Tae Kwon Do is referred to as “The way of kicking and
punching”. Though these two elements are supposed to be the biggest strengths of Taekwondo,
these qualities in this form of martial art are mediocre. Easy on the eye and spectacular from the
stands, its impact as compared to other martial art forms is next to none. 
The punches lack venom since speed overpowers the strength and impact. Apart from a few hand
techniques and kicking abilities, there’s nothing in it to brag about. Especially when you’re in a
close range duel, your lack of punching power can land you in trouble almost instantaneously.

2. Lack of Power in Kicks: Taekwondo is 70% kicking. For a martial art so heavily reliant on
kicking, one must assume that the kicks might get the job done, but they don’t. Kicking in
Taekwondo is highly emphasized on speed and explosiveness rather than power and impact
(which knock the opponents out). For example, the most famous kick in Taekwondo is the
roundhouse kick, but it leaves an extraordinary amount of space for an opponent to close-in.
Moreover, the moment the distance is closed, its lights out for the Taekwondo practitioner. Thus,
in a street fight situation, if you land the kick, you’re lucky, but if you miss it, the game’s over.
For instance, if you see the video below, herein, the instructor talks about how to effectively
close down the distance and rain punches on a fighter heavily reliant on kicks.
3. Poor Ground Control: Taekwondo involves minimal to zero ground game. Hence, it’s
without a surprise that you shouldn’t expect too much when taken down.
Imagine a Jiu-Jitsu fighter scoring a takedown, what do you think happens after that? Doesn’t the
imagination scream nightmare? Let’s not consider a Jiu-Jitsu fighter or a wrestler, let’s imagine a
kickboxer, even, in that case, the Taekwondo practitioner is most likely to get battered. Watch
this video, wherein the fighter with Taekwondo background was left crying within the first 2
minutes.
4. Clinching Abilities: Taekwondo is not meant for a close distance duel. Yep, it’s effective if
the contest was to take place on a football pitch, but a squared circle, street or a small area? The
chances of escaping are pretty less.
Furthermore, a wrestler or a jiu-jitsu practitioner is in there to catch hold of you. As a taekwondo
practitioner, you know that you’re most likely to maintain the distance. Why? Because your
clinch is not up to the mark and the very approach is to defend.

Moreover, amidst your initial fury, if your opponent grabs you in a clinch, there’s not much you
can do about it. Before you can evaluate the situation, you’ve already been smoothly transitioned
into a submission.

5. Lack Overall Conditioning: Being a modern form of martial arts, Taekwondo is revered for
speed and agility. However, when it comes to the overall bout, these two abilities seem lacklustre
against several areas in the fight which includes power, strength, clinch, takedown and
submission holds.
Since Taekwondo is lopsided in its approach, it lacks the overall conditioning required to stand
tall against other martial arts.

6. Lack of weapon training: While not every martial art endorses the use of a weapon, there are
many which have weaponry as its basis. Sadly, Taekwondo is not one of them.
Far from weapon training, it doesn’t even allow a punch to the face during sparring session (at
least it yields no point). It’s soft and lacks edginess which makes the fighters incompetent in a
street fight.

7. Show boarding: Perhaps the biggest drawback of this martial art. You’ll see the fighters with
Taekwondo background flying all over the place trying to land the kick. What’s the result?
They’re KO’ed into the ground within less than two minutes.
8. Exhaustive Timeframe: Due to its lengthy time frame, majority of the Taekwondo
practitioner opt out before they even reach the Green Belt. The federation states that black belt
comes with endurance and persistence that makes it more valuable, which I agree with.
9. Degrading quality: Taekwondo is more concerned with teaching how to use Taekwondo than
how to fight using Taekwondo. Get the difference? There’s no fighting essence left in this
martial art and has instinctively transformed into a cat-mouse point scoring sport.
Add the new rules to the mix, and the competition becomes mostly unwatchable. If you were to
randomly sample a group of 10 BJJ, Muay Thai and MMA with TKD students, it wouldn’t take
much time before you realise the ineffectiveness of Taekwondo and its limitless scope against
other fighting styles.

10. Belief: Based on medieval Korean beliefs, Taekwondo believes that hands should only be
used for greater purposes. Thus, feet are apt for self-defense. This misguided notion is what
culminated into what Taekwondo is today.
Also a street fight requires agression and the intention to hurt, unfortunately taekwondo lacks
this intention to hurt people during the fight, and we all know that’s not the mindset of a person
during a brawl.