Question 077: Sport TKD

 

Site doesn't use Korean terminology. The site also explains its use of English terms. Koreans speak Korean; Americans speak English. There is no good reason to use Korean terminology other than it helps eliminate confusion during international competitions and it makes you sound "cool" and important when talking with non practitioners. Since very few Taekwondo practitioners will ever compete internationally, there is no need to use Korean terminology; it much more efficient to use the language of the practitioner's home country. Using or not using Korean terminology has little to do with whether a organization, school, or instructor is considered traditional or nontraditional.

There has always been criticism between the martial arts as to their effectiveness and the correctness of their theories. However, there seems to be an almost universal criticism of sport Taekwondo as being useless as a martial art. As with criticisms of many things, not all these criticisms are legitimate, but most are legitimate. A martial art is the art of hand-to-hand combat; which in modern terms means being able to effectively defend oneself in real life situations. Sport Taekwondo falls short in this respect. You will fight as you have trained to fight. If you train to stand with your arms at your sides and kick, that is the way you will react in self-defense situation and you will more than likely be defeated.
All these points are discussed in more detail in various topics within TKDTutor.com.