Japanese Karate Sensei Reacts To ITF Taekwondo Sparring!

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Taekwondo vs Karate...Which do you like BETTER?

[@nadeemuddin9070]

Tae kwon do is a child of Japanese Karate

[@josephhui1986]

@@nadeemuddin9070 Karate is a child of Crane Fist Kung Fu

[@mohdarbazshaikh0690]

@@josephhui1986 kung fu and all the other martial arts are child of Kalaripayattu

[@5antiramos550]

I do taekwondo itf, but i ever think that isnt good to compare diferent martial arts, there are simple diferente. in any case part of the taekwondo is karate, becouse it was made mixing taekyon (from korea) and karate (from japan), even the generel choi (creator of taekwondo) was a black belt in karate. The only think i see a big diference is that to create taekwondo the general choi uses physical equations and laws from newton to meke the punches and kiks stonger or do more damage. regards frome uruguay, south america

Karate.

[@HowToFight1]

One of the reasons we lift up our leg first and then kick is because it covers more distance while your leg is in the way. Basically, your leg is in between you and your opponent while your shifting towards them. Like, if you lift your leg first and they try to counter, you can easily sidekick them out of their rotation. It also helps with what is called 'flamingo kicking', where you keep your leg up and shoot a bunch of sidekicks, hook kicks, and roundhouse kicks.

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Wow I see. Maybe I'll try to mimic that in my next karate practice

[@MasterBaker01]

Agreed. and it makes your body and head away from hitting distance a bit more.

[@nicholasbray8168]

Yea, so in sparring, we lift our leg up to basically cover distance, and to easily defend, and to try and trick the opponent.

[@temoc011]

As luke said, it helps to control and gain the centerline, so you can defend or put pressure/attack with side/ Hook/round kicks

[@gooplay1169]

The way red uses the double kick has no purpose since he's too far away from blue. He's now off balance and has to land forward which red can set up for a counter.

[@JakeGonzzz]

Answering your question Yes in ITF taekwondo we can punch the head and then go for the stomach area, ITF Taekwondo is kinda similar to kickboxing meaning we do continuos sparring, ITF taekwondo is actually very similar "WAKO light kickboxing"

[@Ricardo-mr3bg]

I agree, but much more technical than WAKO Kickboxing

[@fredhugard7444]

Do y'all do the 'sine wave' thing? What do you think of that?

[@waynesimpson2074]

@@fredhugard7444 Yup, used for power on the downward wave...not that it is used in sparring as sparring has to be light. If you stun /open your opponent then load up with a heavy,penetrating kick, you could be warned for 'excessive contact'...even though you are both told 'you must protect yourself at all times''.

[@carlosvidal559]

@@Ricardo-mr3bg more technical? Maybe in the kicks, the punches and blocks need much more improvement on the itf.

[@intermaths1128]

@@Ricardo-mr3bg It's not more technical, the punchin technique in ITF sucks lol

[@ElGabrielify]

Hello sensei! Usually we lift our leg while advancing for two reasons, to gain space, and to minimize any possible counter attacks like closing the distance with punches, like the red fighter did. The numbers below indicate not the actual points of the fight, but how many judges are currently giving the victory to that color. Hope you enjoyed ITF! Oh, and yes, we are allowed to go for punches to the head and then the body. But the referees often stop te fight when punches exchanges are not clean

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Ohh wow! I thought those numbers were the scores! Thanks for letting me know~

[@hyvdavid]

Lifting our legs and combining with forward sliding we can close our distance quickly while changing the kicking techniques depending on the opening as well.

[@datanerdene]

Not entirely correct Gabriel. The score shown is the actual points produced when the majority of the 4 corner judges agree that a points was scored. That means at least 2 or 3 judges need to see the point scored from an angle where they can verify it. It's quite difficult for everyone including the fighters to actually keep the score during the fight. Even if you see the number on the score-board, those points can also be subtracted by the number of warnings (every 3 is a minus point) or direct minus points you get during the fight so far. So the score can totally change once the round has closed. In this fight, one of the fighters got an early score in the round, and then actually flees from the opponent around the ring to avoid getting into a situation where he can loose those points. As scoring points is so hard in ITF, it's quite common to see that the other fighter tries to "surf" his way to victory by avoiding to fight. I really hope this changes over time, as it makes the fights more boring when the lead is big (2 points or more in lead).

[@alvaroubeda7304]

Each style is unique and has its strengths, I think the skill of the practitioner is crucial in such a comparison.

[@Hon_cb1kr]

I used to practice wtf TKD and went on to do mma, thaiboxing and savate. Itf TKD in my opinion is better if you want to transition to pro kickboxing or muay thai etc... WTF TKD is a watered-down version for safer sport oriented Olympics games. Very good for health and kids to have fun.

[@ReivasMC]

it isn't. That's like saying that the skill of the driver is crucial in getting to the destination, isntead of the road they take. Ofc skills maters quite a bit, but these guys wouldn't hold up in a real Kickboxing ring

[@solarjudgement4575]

@@ReivasMC not 100% about ITF but in a way TKD probably internationally is gear more for sport and not for combat like traditional old school TKD. Old school TKD has the fastest and strongest kicks. Which of course would dominate in kickboxing competition or if coupled with Catch wrestling would dominate mma competition.

[@hairyplotter1121]

@@ReivasMC it is, to use your own analogy a rubbish driver will crash on straight road and a good driver handle the conditions he’s given

[@ReivasMC]

@@hairyplotter1121 false analogy. If you have bad techniques it doesn't mater how good you are at using them, you'll get destroyed by an average fighter with good techniques.

[@natehoustman]

I think you're right that the ITF style is closer to Karate. It was created by combining Shotokan with the old Korean martial art Taekkyon. The WTF style came later, and had more changes to emphasize kicking.

[@jerosa07]

Yup, that is correct!!

[@grahamharrington9085]

Nah, it’s descended from Tang Soo Do

[@brunovieira4630]

After the japanese invasions it became forbiden to practice Korean traditional martial arts, many of the practicioners started to study different forms of Karate. ITF Taekwondo was born when North Korean military mixed the old Korean arts with that Japanese influence.

[@ldgarius]

@@brunovieira4630 Plot twist: ITF TaeKwon-Do was born before Korea was split in two, so no "North Korean military".

[@yuuji3795]

@@ldgarius ohh

[@ryanoldryan9189]

FINALLY, the reaction video that I have been waiting for😄 Thank you sensei😁💪

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Haha thank YOU for checking it out!,

[@KarateDojowaKu]

ITF vs WTF....Which do you like BETTER?

[@anthonytang8199]

Itf for sure

[@themartialartsweeb4793]

ITF TAEKWON-DO ALL THE WAYY

[@mohdarbazshaikh0690]

ITF OLD SCHOOL IS ALWAYS BETTER

[@davidbarnwell_virtual_clas6729]

ITF...but..I'm hella biased.

[@tommynguyen6176]

ITF

[@q9421324o]

I learn ITF tkd for 14 years and WTF tkd a few years in school. In my humble opinion, both styles have their own merit and it'd be wise to learn from both sids and make use of of each strength in becoming more complete. And not to say which style is better than the other because both are incredibly strong when used right.

[@paulz4667]

Better well rounded itf more kicks in wtf imo

[@diddlenfiddle7311]

As someone that teaches WT some times. I think it would benefit from having face punching in the sparring. As much as I like the current style of sparring as it lets you really focus on kick development, the level of punching is very poor.

[@Samperor]

It seems everyone enjoys your Taekwondo videos. Can you do a video of you watching old Taekwondo videos like during the 50s and 60s. Since all the Taekwondo founders were Shotokan Practitioner and you can compare the similarities. I'm sure even Karate changed from the 50s. I'm sure you will find a lot of common techniques from the 50s Taekwondo and Shotokan Karate.

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Thanks! I might do that later this month!

[@Samperor]

@Into Comedy I know many Taekkyon masters will avoid taekwondo. They will tell you that there is no taekkyon in tkd. I did not know about other styles. Thank you for this information. What Okinawan Karate and Chinese kung fu styles did the tkd founders studied?

[@Korrupt27]

Ah pre sign wave tkd

[@donelmore2540]

@Into Comedy I had done a little Shotokan before being drafted in 1967. In Advanced Training in Ft Dix, i did a little Mood Duk Kwan and found them very similar according to my limited exposure.

[@theitfguy]

Yes and no shotokan was a small part, General Choi worked with many different kwans, different karates, and other arts to try and blend and mesh them all into 1. This is why ITF and WTF are so similar but so different at the same time. This is why you even see General Choi and Oyama sitting side by side. Oyama, is actually Korean who changed his name to Japanese when he received his Japanese citizenship. Choi had asked him to join him and help the Korean art grow seeing how they’re both Korean. This is way before WTF was even a thing. Oyama politely declined but they stayed good friends

[@geesmith01]

I'm a practitioner of the "old style" as some call it (I prefer "Classical" Tae kwon-Do). One day back in the 90s I was alone practicing patterns (Katas). An older Japanese gentleman approached me after watching me from the other end of the college gymnasium. Prior to the start of my class, we had a brief conversation discussing each other's martial arts backgrounds. He told me his training was in a Wado Kai dojo, but he was familiar with Shotokan karate and that my patterns resembled those in the Shotokan system. I still practice and teach a version of Chang Hun Tae kwon-do based in ITF. That was an eye-opener for me. Today, there are many differences in our methods and approach to TKD from both ITF and WTF. Our GM Daniel (Yung Chul) Ra has evolved our system even further. Thanks for this video.

[@waynesimpson2074]

geesmith01: TKD call katas 'Patterns'?

[@geesmith01]

@@waynesimpson2074 Yes, in some schools the Korean term, "tul" is used. Interesting note: at the age of 13 I began studying kyokushin karate for a short while. I don't recall the name of the only kata I learned, but I still remember it's sequence of movements. The 2nd TKD pattern in our system (which I didn't learn until 9 years later) is very much the same. To me, that was pretty cool.

[@Danlows1]

Well, Taekwondo was adapted from Shotokan karate, taekyon, Subak and Gwonbeop back when Japan annexed Korea and suppressed the traditional Korean martial arts, so the kwans (systems/schools of martial arts) went underground. The Japanese forced all Male children to learn Shotokan karate in place of the traditional styles, and when the occupation ended, the remaining masters from the Kwans added Shotokan stances and techniques to their existing styles, two of which ended up splitting into the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) and ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) styles. ITF style is taught more according to the traditional systems taught by the 9 founding Kwans, WTF style is taught in a similar way, but with a much higher emphasis on fast mobility and striking speed, so the stances tend to be much higher centre of gravity, so you can push off either leg in any direction.

[@pv6304]

I attended the 2000 ITF Taekwon Do Junior World Championships in Nth Korea as a Coach. I returned home to watch the Sydney Olympics WTF Taekwon Do on TV, the Junior World's blew my mind, the speed, power, contact, and ability was 2nd to none. The Olympics however I was very disappointed with. After watching the Junior ITF World's, I just cringed at the WTF, as it was 2nd rate at best. I've seen some brilliant WTF fights but I've seen some Absolutely Awesome ITF fights. It's ITF all the way.

[@KarateDojowaKu]

What a great background you have!

[@pv6304]

@@KarateDojowaKu why thank you, however I no longer train due to several motorcycle injuries. It seems I tend to fall off a little to often.

[@tonynomikos3702]

Yeah same the olympic taekwondo is utter dogshit the olympics has turned taekwondo into a joke

[@GigaNigga140]

@@pv6304 a tkd motorcyclist Huge respect to you

[@HowToFight1]

I would also recommend the Pro TKD - Jin Suh vs James Kim, it's basically WTF taekwondo but no protective gear. I'm a little bias since I know Jin Suh, but it's still a really good example of Old WT Taekwondo with no protective gear.

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Oh you know him personally?

[@HowToFight1]

@@KarateDojowaKu He knows me because I go to seminars that he hosts, and my master and he are best buds. I've met the best like Juan Moreno (first tkd olympian), Tony Graf, and Terrence Jennings in seminars.

[@theitfguy]

There is actually Pro TKD for ITF as well. You even see the famous Raymond Daniels fight in the Pro ITF series. How a Kenpo Karate guy got into a pro ITF competition, I’m not sure , but money talks 😂. I am an ITF fighter and love Raymond Daniels, he made it to the finals and did very well.

[@ekpurdy]

The reason for the "double kick" is to close distance while threatening an attack. Any one of the knee pumps can instantly become a kick which stifles a slip and counter. Think of it like a boxer or mma fighter that paws with their lead hand.

[@alexiapissi]

I'm glad you liked ITF. It normally has a much more martial approach than WT, while WT is much more focused in sport and competition. That might be why it looks more similar to Karate. You can check other fights that look even more similar to Karate kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5Ktn4h-l6-mr68 😊

[@gonzalocuomo1401]

Thank you for checking this out, you and your channel are both great sensei, hugs from Argentina, keep it up!!

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Thanks so much from the other side of the world!

[@Blazko877]

the kick that you kept mentioning mentioning, its called an axe kick, its a very powerful and useful kick and we usually aim it at the head but you have to be very flexible you be able to use that kick. In normal situations we use the heel to land the axe kick but in sparring we use the ball of the foot because using the heel is too dangerous to be used in sparring. Hope this helps

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Axe Kick! Finally I know the name :)

[@Blazko877]

Karate Dojo waKu glad I could help you with it

[@idrnoel]

Its a lot like that Andy Hug kicks.

[@Liquidcadmus]

To see the best ITF sparring you should check out Tomaz Barada, Stephan Tapilatu, Ri Chol Nam. there's more, but those are the best examples of high level ITF sparring. they are all champions from the 90's. ITF comes from Shotokan, so there are a lot of similarities. but to answer your question, punches are allowed both to the head and the body. and also jumping punches/superman punches are allowed. The step with the raised leg is used to close the distance and also as a shield in case the opponent wants to cut in. if you go forward directly, the opponent can cut you off with a side kick (yoko geri), which is used a lot in ITF both for attack and defense. going forward with the side kick is also useful because from that raised position you can throw a lot of different kicks, so you can change it to an axe kick (kakato geri), a turning kick (Mawashi) or side kick, etc.

[@ludinherrera9782]

Yes!!! This was the video I was waiting for 🔥🔥

[@KarateDojowaKu]

I hope you liked it!

[@ShaneOriginStory]

Great assessment! You’re correct that ITF is definitely more similar to Karate that WTF, which makes sense because ITF is more true to the original Taekwondo as it was developed in the 1950s and 60s, which was based on Shotokan Karate. The WTF style has evolved into something very different from that original Karate-based Taekwondo.

[@rawjoe]

It's no surprise you see similarities in ITF and Karate. The founder of ITF taekwon-do, Choi Hong Hi, is second degree Karate black belt. He learned Karate in Japan when he was a student there. And his teacher was Gichin Funakoshi (among others).

[@jonss9252]

Maybe you could watch some videos about Choi Hong Hi, as he was the founder of taekwon-do (Also notice that most times, when we talk about ITF, whe put a hyphen before DO)

[@MichaelWilliams-mo1vv]

Jon Btr you're correct in ITF it's Taekwon-Do in WTF it's Taekwondo. There are some independents that refer to it as Tae Kwon Do.

[@nickreagin9585]

Much has changed since I was a kid. I was in the Midwest Taekwondo Association here in the US about 22 years ago when I was around 12. There was 0 punches to the head, guard was high, but we also used a lot of hand work unlike what I see in a lot of your videos. We were wanted to make combos of kicks and punches to take and maintain dominance in the match by being unpredictable. And while sparing we were coached on technique the entire time we were in the ring. I still hear the instructor yelling "FLIP THAT HIP WHEN YOU KICK." To everybody. What we called a form you would call a kata. In training those perfect technique and an almost kung fu like smoothness transitioning from one move to the next was what mattered but in sparring increased aggressiveness was what was looked for. It was training for both contests and self defense. What they wanted us to do was avoid fighting as best we could but if came down to throwing strikes, it was win fast and hard. In sparring it wasn't the modest slapping you see but hard and fast properly thrown strikes held back at the last moment. This taught us how to fire off the strikes, how to control them, but also condition us to getting hit when we moved into one. I should of stayed in. But I brought home a first place trophy for form and a second place for sparring I got a little more confident and tried advance more and challenge myself in class but the instructor talked to me like my efforts and trophies didn't matter. I left feeling very insulted. Forgiveness is something I should of learned back then.

[@srirachasoda8961]

TKD was the first martial art I was ever introduced to as a child, and from then on I was hooked. I have 4 years of "quality" tkd training(when I got into my teens and started to grasp/understand the art I was being taught, taking it more seriously). I love the style. Even to this day, though my martial arts journey has lead me to boxing and Muay Thai, I still retain alot of the techniques I learned in TKD. I find myself switching between all 3 styles in a sparring session, where certain techniques just work better. Im finding some success with a philly shell boxing guard, as this boxing guard is more "bladed" and closely resembles tkd's/karate stance. I can utilize boxing and TKD kicks within this "bastardized" philly shell, I took and made work for my own body mechanics. I utilize my muay thai kicks generally as power shots, and my tkd kicks as probes. I also have to attribute TKD for allowing me to be comfortable in both orthodox and southpaw, as I know I have access to ranged speedy powerful kicks from either stance. The evolution to my current art just felt natural, as it combines both of the arts I know, into one neat brutal package. TKD kicks are my ranged and aerial toolkit, boxing is my "in the pocket" tool kit, muay thai is a combination of both kits with the bonus of clinch work, elbows, and knees. If there is one more martial art Id like to learn, itd be Kyoukoshin Karate. Simply because I know it has alot to offer me, and I feel it could be a missing piece for me to effectively blend all my current arts, more smoothly, without telegraphing which style of striking Im gonna use based on my stance.

[@MrMeltdown]

I do the shell to. Our instructor doesn't even name it just says it's our sparring stance.

[@idrnoel]

I practised Itf Tkd when I was younger and competed too. It was great fun at that time. One thing I like about Tkd at the time is that despite how much point your opponent is ahead, you can still win the match through a clean TKO. Today, I'm older. I can't keep up with the high kicks. So I take up Karate because I believe it will be with me longer as I grow older. But I like both of them. Thank you for sharing this. Reminds me of the good old days. I do miss fighting sometimes.

[@hunter54pennington]

In itf the two hit combo of head and stomach is there however, you saw how difficult it is to actually score a clear point. All the judges have to be in agreement and when you hit to the body there is always a judge whos line of sight is obstructed. Hence all the flashy head punches and kicks.

[@blaithinlynch6189]

For the question "why don't they step in and kick?" - In ITF sparring you train to kick without (hopefully) broadcasting your move. If you step in and kick, a good opponent will read your move and will close the distance and strike first while you take that split second to redistribute your weight backwards and then kick off your front leg. In ITF training you spend hours practicing front leg kicks with power and speed without moving your back leg first. Good fighters will have as much power with a front leg side kick or turning kick without a step up. It's a great offensive and defensive technique. Oh and I studied shotokan as well as ITF taekwondo (1st Dan in both). I think I prefer the traditional aspect of shotokan, but definitely prefer the sparring aspect of ITF.

[@MrMeltdown]

This. I can get a lot of power and speed into my rear leg kicks. But I never hit anyone half descent with them unless I've dummied something else first.

[@zacharygreen4712]

You are correct they do lift their knee before they kick. The knee up allows them to switch between a sidekick front kick roundhouse kick in midair. It also allows them to have a knee Shield. And although not as powerful it can't be faster in some cases

[@RyuEnGamer]

in TKD, that "lift off" you mentioned at @3:00 is to close distance without too much exposure or telegraphing. Plus it gets the opponent to either back up or go into a defensive stance in most cases.

[@jaredlol8500]

Love your taekwondo reaction videos

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Thanks champ!

[@jayve4433]

From what I’ve heard, Taekwondo is a mix of karate and Taekkyon

[@gomesbandrey]

Question for Tae Kwon Do fighters: do you keep your guard around your waist to defend better against kicks? For Yusuke-sensei: your videos are so well produced! From the green screen to the timing of the info-cards and even the timing of the ads, they're very pleasing to watch. Keep up the good work. Waku waku!

[@irinahershelle4297]

We keep our guard near the abdomen or near the chest in order to block/guard easily your opponents target.(which is your body and your head)

[@gomesbandrey]

@@irinahershelle4297 I see. Thank you

[@rpmx1399]

At least in World Taekwondo yes, it’s easier to score the body for points than the head.

[@gomesbandrey]

@@rpmx1399 Because it's more kicks than punches? 🤔

[@davidbarnwell_virtual_clas6729]

I'm not a world class fighter but I've been told, by world class fighters, that they keep their hands low like that because a high guard makes them stiff. They can't move as fast, in order to respond to incoming kicks/punches or to seize on mistakes made by their opponents. They raise their hands when things are coming in against them, however. I think they believe their reactions are good enough that they can fight loose like that and still defend.

[@serioja03]

I grew up with ITF and when I moved to USA I went to Traditional Tae Kwon Do to continue, and I'm glad I did. I like the rotation of the hip without sine wave, you're faster, as well, the breathing is different, the energy is different and profound, and much more.

[@anti_hero_660]

People that used sin wave in like forms in competition never used it in sparring

[@OppaKimJongUn]

Choi hong hi, founder of Taekwon-Do was student of Ginchin Funakoshi of Shotokan Karate also. Please send our warm regards to Karate practitioners in Japan from Indonesia ITF (IITF).

[@bryanshaw4434]

I'm taekwondo but fought a lot if open tournaments. Fighting with your front leg pumping like that would allow your opponent to groin kick or drop spin sweep to back leg

[@raoulkhaleb7258]

No one is mentioning that they dont' have protection on their chest and back.

[@tkdguy5494]

There’s a good reason for that. Unlike Olympic TKD, ITF isn’t full power sparring.

[@CCChen-cr4km]

@@tkdguy5494 and also kicking back is not allowed .

[@leahdunne2865]

Yeah we are not allowed to do full strength sparring cause it is too dangerous but sometimes we end up doing full strength anyway, we only recently started wearing shin pads as well so I’m not sure if we will ever wear chest gear😂

[@raoulkhaleb7258]

@@leahdunne2865 wow!

[@turusan02]

@@tkdguy5494 I've heard from a friend that started ITF after I was gone that it is NOW not full power (when I talked with him about a year ago). But back in the early 2000s, at least in Poland we used full power always during competitions. I do not know if it was theoretically not supposed to be full power but I suspect so based on the one time both me and my opponent almost got disqualified for going at each other too rough. Every other time everyone used their full force in order to win, so it was virtually full power sparring even if the rules forbid it. During the first big MMA event in Poland (which had a form of a tournament) an ITF guy won, during the second edition he got second place.

[@odojang]

This is not a championships finale for sure. But I'm glad you appreciated it. Your comments are most interesting. As for some of your questions: In WTF Taekwondo, the only hand techniques allowed are reverse punch to the torso and pushing. In ITF Taekwon-Do, pushing is not allowed but most hands strikes are allowed to body and head indiscriminately. Both gives 1 point, like a kick to the body (a jumping hand strike to the head however is 2 points like a kick to the head or a jumping kick to the body; a jump kick to the head, that's 3 points); straight punch, hook punch, cross punch, uppercut, backfist, knife hand, reverse knife hand are all allowed. As for the step kick motion that puzzles you; that's just the way these guys fight. It is not a ''standard'' way of doing it.They can move (or not move) as they please as long as they stay in the sparring square. Their ''bouncing motion'' also is pretty bad; way too high and predictable, knees locked too rigidly. They should only bounce with their knees, not their toes. Regarding the point scoring; only blows that can land solidly are counted. An overextended hit or one done while unbalanced is not scored. Hope that helps :)

[@Solarlube]

There were strong similarities drawn from Shotokan Karate in the beginning and you will still see it occasionally as expressed by Nate in an earlier comment. A small number of young Korean boys were taken to Japan to study at university and while there studied Shotokan and eventually went back to Seoul set up some clubs but rebranded their teachings under different names. A conversation for another time.

[@honigdachs.]

01:25 It's not seen in karate point fighting matches, but I do think you could also classify this as a karate technique as well. Basically it's ura mawashi geri with the front leg. The difference here is that it's stepped in so it covers a lot of distance, which sport karateka kind of don't do. I personally added a step in to some of the more longer and flashy kicks - ushiro geri and ushiro mawashi geri for example. So it's actually just a small footwork adjustement for a karateka.

[@bryanpoole3036]

The 'leg lift' as you call it. We call it a chamber. That chamber is the starting point for any of our sidekicks, front kicks, turning kicks and even the downward kick. The Chamber allows you to coil without your opponent knowing where your target is. It also lends itself to more snap into the kicks.

[@marcoslacombe9831]

About the leg when advancing, some people call it "lift and shift", it's about not getting into your opponents kicking range without having a kick set up yourself, otherwise you can easily get side kicked when trying to close the distance. Can Van Roon is an ITF champion who has a great video on this specifically, highly recommend it. About the body positioning when punching, in ITF we have rules about excessive contact, specially for head punches, every punch must be controlled, you can't just throw them around. This is usually judged based on if the punch came back right after landing or if it stayed or went through, which would imply a lack control and the person just throwing the punch instead of a hit and back with the hand. Since power is not a factor to the punch, punching from maximum distance is usually interesting for the longer fighter because you can score points with head punches while the other can't. It's very common for taller fighters to keep their head as far away from their punches as possible because this guarantees that, when both fighters have their arms extended aiming for the head, when his punch lands, it will hold the opponents body too far for their punch to land. Short fighters do the opposite and usually try to get closer to punch. About the speed, really rarely do a lot of fast punches actually count as a lot of points so it's more important to get one or two good clear and clean punches than volume. About the spinning kicks, having head punches makes spins a lot more punishable , but we still see some here and there. It's possible to punch the head and then go to the stomach but that would mean getting your guard low in close distance, which can be risky. You can move as much as you like and have the stamina to. Point system is simple: head kicks counts for 3, body kicks are 2 and punches are always 1. The score in the bottom represents how many judges are considering that fighter the current winner, so it doesn't always change when there's a point. ITF taekwon-do is a lot closer to Karate when it comes to sparring, but the tuls/kata have really different styles.

[@TrueSighted]

Itf and wtf.. Both pretty different. But with similarities. I remember when I first trained with practitioners from itf. Myself being a wtf member. It was an interesting change of pace, but it was fun.

[@zacharyishikawa2459]

Leg lifted up skipping forward can attack at different angles, step kick is telegraphed and usually a thrust (side kick) or roundhouse (can be stuffed into a clinch, which is risky). Usually longer range is preferred. Skipping with front leg can be round kick, downward axe kick, weaker pushing sidekick, or reverse hook kick.

[@basuraeterna]

The winner in this video is Julio Carlos, a well known practitioner. Six times World Champion, and a lot of experience. Of course ITF shares many things with karate, the founder, Gral Choi Hong Hi did karate himself before create TKD. As a practitioner of both martial arts, I thank you for show such nice videos. Ossu!

[@taverasnorberto]

Yes , you can punch to the head fallow by a punch to the stomach you can blend the techniques. Answering your question about leaning forward with the punches, you need the understand the concepts and rules, you see, the competitor must try to score as many points at the same time that you are trying not get score by the other competitor. Also, the techniques must be clean and sharp in order to score just because you see a lot a punches and kicks not all count, punche worth 1 point, kick to the mid section worth 2 points and kicks to the head 3 points. The other thing is that sometimes the judges in the corners can’t catch the techniques to be able to score the points due the angle that they may be setting , this is not fair for the competitors but it happens. In the end the gold is to score as much points in two minutes rounds, try to have the less warning posibles since every 3 warming they deduct 1 point, this can be: stepping out side the rings, kicking or punching to ilegal area, sweeping, holding, grabbing, pushing, and many others. Also doesn’t include -1 point that are deducted when you make fault such as: excess of power, atacking to ilegal area and others. If the center referee deduct 3 faults that means -3 point , you automatically get disqualified . So as you can see there’s a lot to cover, it not only kicking and punching. It will be my pleasure to discuss more details it you need to. By the way: the competitor with the blue gear his name is Julio Carlos from the USA I know him very well and he won several world TaeKwon-Do championships and also kickboxing championships.

[@KarateDojowaKu]

OMG! Wow thank you so much for the details!

[@FredKuneDo]

Of course there is an "Axe-Kick" in Karate. It is named "Kakato-Geri". The most famous "Axe-Kick" was the one of Andy Hug, a Karateka. But again, it may not be in Shotokan for multiple reasons, but Kyokushin. I like Shotokan, but the Kakato-Geri was one of the major reasons I changed to Kyokushin.

[@daveyjones18]

Axe kick is used a lot in Taekwondo too, but it usually turns into a downward stomping kick as the opponents move out of range to avoid it. Even if you're supple and experienced, it's a hard kick to land and I'm not really a fan. Andy Hug is the only top guy I remember using this kick effectively (and devastatingly) 😎

[@FredKuneDo]

@@daveyjones18, yes. But there is also a reason why Axe-Kicks work more often in K1/Glory-Kickboxing or Kyokushin: See, like in the video, Teakwondo often uses "Pointfight"-rulesets, while K1-Kickboxing or "Knockdown Karate" use continous fighting. When you are doing pointfighting, you have to use more sideward stances and long range attacks to make your points and break. That is why the Axe-Kick is not so useful there and punching is also different. In K1, Knockdown or even Muay Thai on the other hand, you fight more in square stances, to use both hands and feets, or knees for combinations in closer distances. This changes the whole game, making Axe-Kicks more useful there. And don't get me wrong, I like the kicking in Taekwondo very much, but these are just totally different games.

[@daveyjones18]

@@FredKuneDo I did a few WTF style tournaments, but there was no break after scoring a point. You're probably right about axe kicks, but when I started sparring MMA guys, I wouldn't dare throw an axe kick/stomping kick cos it seem too easy for your opponent to bull their way forward and throw you off balance 👍

[@FredKuneDo]

@@daveyjones18, yeah, in MMA an Axe-Kick is too much of a risky technique. But hey, the funny thing about "Axe-Kicks" and "Crescent Kicks" is: If you practice these in training, you do a good "dynamic stretching", which helps especially with developing better "Front Kicks".

[@teovu5557]

@@FredKuneDo both ITF and wt style taekwondo is continous and full contact kicks....I dunno why you think it's point style ...lol there was a no stop after a strike lands.. You welcome.

[@actstkd]

ITF is the child of Shotokan. General Choi studied with GM Funikoshi. Gen. Choi of ROK incorporated TKD into his troops. He adapted the Shotokan katas to Korean forms. After the Korean War, General Choi made political moves for the unification of North and South Korea. His political views precipitated his moving to Canada. Old school ITF does not bounce the way these guys do. This film seems to reflect the influence of WTF on the whole of TKD. The forms of ITF are much more difficult than than those of WTF. About 70% of forms (kata) reflect the hand techniques of Shotokan. WTF reflects sport and ITF reflects military emphasis.

[@goulburnmartialartsacademy2379]

The double kick allows the competitor to enter safely... To cross the distance without being scored on. The first kick is used as much as a feint as well as covering distance safely. The ITF system allows punches to the body. Spinning techniques are allowed, but generally must be performed with an attacking motion, for example, spin back kicks. Hope this helps.

[@goulburnmartialartsacademy2379]

ITF does has a history in Shotokan Karate as it was a parent art of ITF Taekwondo.

[@arant5]

Hello sensei! I don't know if any taekwon-do itf player explained before where the similarities to karate comes from. Founder of taekwon-do Gen. Choi Hong Hi practiced karate-do in kyoto at his 20 years old. There is a lot more history to explain but it clarify about similarities. And maybe you will find some more seing Po-En tul, one of the 1st DAN black belt form. By the way, I'm really enjoing your channel very great job!

[@tjbjjtkd]

I've done both Karate and Taekwondo, and I favorite Karate, because Bunkai and self defense is emphasized more, where is TKD concentrates too much on sport. Also TKD has some roots in Shotokan Karate like Tang Soo Do! The founder of TKD General Choi Hong Hi also trained in Shotokan under Gichin Funakoshi!

[@KarateDojowaKu]

Thanks for your opinion! Tang Soo Doo seems interesting too...

[@gooplay1169]

I would not generalize tkd as focus on sport. You just need to find a good school that focuses on self defense.

[@basuraeterna]

Agree

[@tjbjjtkd]

@@gooplay1169 I'm sure that there are some great TKD schools out there, but from what I seen they're mostly sport based. Even the one I trained at!

[@Gacho39]

Its all about finding the right school/dojang, there are some places where they really care about your ability to at least be prepared to defend yourself

[@Waizzie]

If you are wondering why the scoreboard goes back and forth: It shows the amound of judges that have more points on that particular fighter. 3-1 means: blue has more points on 3 scorecards, and red has more points on 1 scorecard

[@swghavoc]

To answer your question regarding using the lead leg to fill the space between the players instead of stepping into the striking zone, then bringing the leg into play. If he steps in first, he might not be able to get his leg up in time and would have to react to incoming strikes. So, the attacker fills the area with a lead faint that prevents the other player from filling the space and forces him to move back or stand and trade strikes. If the defender moves away, the attacker can then close in and launch follow-up attacks. The risk is that if he presses in too deep, he might walk into a trap.

[@Anton_the_Vampire]

I'm not a sparring expert but the slide kick is very common in ITF. The idea is several fold: 1, you're guarded as you move in, 2, you're not committed to a specific technique (ie you can slide a side kick, turning kick, hook kick, axe kick etc) 3, it makes for good deception as you close the gap. As for spins, ITF definitely has them (though the fighters here didn't use them at all) but spinning back kicks, reverse turning kicks, reverse hook kicks, & even tornado kicks are pretty common....often as counters. Rules? Punch & kick anywhere above the belt, in any sequence. Different points for different techniques to different areas. (jumping head kicks scoring the most)

[@EjnarRaidriar]

3:01 There are some benefits from doing two step kick. With the first one you usually test if you will reach with the second one, in other words it helps to control the distance better. Also there might be an issue if you close enough to do only one kick, then the other one might just jump a bit closer to you, so your leg will be blocked and most probably you will lose your balance cause you will be standing only on one leg.

[@FIyingPengwin]

The front left leg is lifted for a multiple of reasons. To advanced while having side-kick loaded ready to go, kind of like a jab and to also act as a counter. It can also be used as a feint, by having that leg up you could advanced, drop it down, and then kick or punch accordingly. You can also use the raised front leg for a snap kick as well. It is also can be used to measure distance as well.

[@spencerpetersen4092]

As an ITF practitioner, I appreciate that you're covering this. To answer your question, ITF practitioners can punch to the head and to the stomach. However, I think that we're generally not as comfortable with the punching range.

[@charliecrome207]

Boxing is good to learn to supplement that issue for sparring

[@caldie4338]

@@charliecrome207 like he said, ur at a different range. They don't really overlap

[@adisar9613]

It's not easy to step in and then kick. Of course we do attack in this matter but not as often as using legs to kick first and punch after. In ITF when closing a distance it's always with the mind you can( and most of the time you will) be countered by sidekick or any kick. You blitz with punches to quickly shorten the distance and avoid being kicked, and sometimes follow up with the kick(s). Or you move forward kicking by sliding the foot on the floor to avoid telegraphing the intention. That is to shorten the distance. Because ITF TKD is higly skilled in kicking when sparring we have to put more thinking how to avoid being kicked when closing in and how to counter them. Stepinng in with punches first and kicking next is usually best when countering the attack. That's where you'll see it most of the time. Or blitzing. Great videos Sir by the way. My brother used to train Shotokan Karate and I have nothing but ultimate respect for this martial art. Did you know that Gen Choi, the founder of ITF Taekwon-do, was a second Dan Shotokan Karate also?

[@df5826]

I want to take a crack at explaining why we sometimes slide when we kick in Taekwondo (not all the time but what you see in the video is very normal). We will still step into range and throw a kick like you might in Karate but kicks are the primary weapon in Taekwondo and so there is a lot of movement and freedom that comes with mastering your kicks. We learn to allow our kicks to move us around as much as we want or don't want. By that I mean, when we're throwing a side kick, sometimes that kick is simply to move is into range to then chamber and slam in the real kick. It's a form of feint I guess? We would do drills where we Side Kick and let that kick slide us down the floor, my Master used to attach a length of chain to your belt each time you made it the length of the studio. The idea being that you can use your techniques to close your gaps and give your opponent something to focus on all while moving into the range you want.

[@The_Real_TK]

In ITF sparring we don’t have points but instead we have five judges that chooses a side. So a 1 on for example reds side means that 1 judge thinks red is leading. So max you can get is 5-0

[@davidruizdiaz5217]

Matsogi rules (Taekwon-Do sparring): punches with the hands; to the head and torso: 1 point. also punches with the feet to the torso. 2 points: head kicks, jump kicks to the chest, hand punches, jumping, to the head. Kicks with jump to the head or with jump and half turn to the torso: 3 points. Half turn to the head kicks, jumping: 4 points. and, kick with full turn or two turns in the air to the head: 5 points. the fight is fluid and continuous

[@joelweber3462]

About the step versus kick: TKD uses kicks and their range first. Front leg distance versus back leg range are used strategically, but we learn to "see" back leg movement easily. So, using front leg kicks along with a hop or slide allows to close distance without being so easily anticipated. Back foot stepping is easy to see, but TKD relies a lot on front leg speed, and how it can alter its expected range.

[@WineOnTheDime]

Thank you for taking my recommendation on watching ITF. What would be great is a comparison between your style and 1960's TKD.

[@recycle_your_money]

To your question at 2:40, they do it because it’s harder to intercept. If they come in within range first, then its a matter of who’s fastest to intercept the other person’s side kick. But if they already chambered and have their sword pointing towards you then it’ll be hard to you to bit them to it cos their leg is already up

[@PDKMA]

Hello Sensei! The reason it looks like Karate is because it is Karate. Both founders of taekwondo (wtf and itf) are Shotokan black belts and trained with Funikoshi. Some of the schools still practice Shotokan kata.

[@EmmanuelReyes]

こんにちは , so I am an old ITF Style practitioner and things had change a lot even on sparring. My perspective for that lifting front leg is just to stay away of the opponent, in other words, guarding themselves from an attack. If the person launch forward, there leg is there to kick right away. That is a style that I personally don't use, I do fight and teach my students to fight like you said, "get in" and continue the attack. About the punches: Yes we can punch the head and stomach, the problem is that they need to be clear points for the judges in the corner to see. Sadly the judges concentrate more on the head punches than body punches. Sadly running that much in the ring should be called by the referee but they allow it. This is a problem because when the competitor see that is winning, they will start avoiding confrontation and run around the mats, in other words they play with the time until the match is over.

[@theitfguy]

You chose a good match to watch for ITF. This is a finals match I believe for the world championships. These guys are not only world champs in ITF but WAKO as well, so they are very well rounded. You have the smaller guy Julio (blue), where his craft is movement and using that to his advantage no matter the size of the opponent. Timothy Bos is much taller, and them being so skilled Julio definitely has to keep moving. This makes Mr. Bos have to keep guessing on when Julio will be moving in and out to close the distance or bait him in for a counter. So yes you can move this much, but comes at a price. You get tired faster, and if you get knocked out of bounds 3 times you get a -1 point. For every 3 warnings, you get a -1. Going out of bounds is a warning. Red fighter being so much taller and longer he can easily take control of center of the ring, that’s why Julio (blue fighter) must keep moving or he will be forced out of bounds or pressured by red fighters longer limbs. Both of them usually have very good hands, you just don’t see it too much it seems in this fight. Usually it is 2, 2 minute continuous rounds, unless there is a tie like you see here there will be a 3rd rounds. Another reason they lift the front leg to close the distance instead of just walking in, you never know what they will do next. Will he close the distance with a lead leg side kick, hook kick, turning kick? Or will he fake the kick follow up with his hands? The problem is if he just try to close the gap without that leg up, the other fighter will most like just stop him with a lead leg side kick, back kick, etc. which is a point for him, keep that leg up doesn’t only help him close the distance due to momentum, but that leg being up also protect the fighter from the other scoring a point it’s like a moving shield that hits back.and yes to be short and hand technique is allowed from the waist to the head, depending on tournament rules back of the head may or may not be allowed. Attacks to the back are not allowed

[@irmasil3]

ITF TKD has very many similarities with Karate as its founder Ge, Choi was a Shotokan practitioner. I practice ITF for more than 27 years now and I practiced WTF for 5 years before switching. Its night and day, and I ma happy to found myself with ITF TKD. Having said that, I trained very lightly in shotokan (maybe for 6-12 months) back in the day and the transition was smooth.

[@imbored3415]

3:02 simple explanation is that coming in then kicking is way too slow, tkd sparring is extremely fast, especially when both fighters are in rang and it makes it obvious what your about to do to your opponent, come in with your foot up and your kick is faster and less easily guessed and blocked. A longer explanation is we use the cut kick for a couple different purposes: to score, to block or cancel oncoming kicks as we advance, a set up for the following combo (ie: coming in cutting then doing a sidekick, another cut, a high or low kick, a punch, a crescent kick, a jumping kick, or a reaching kick), to bait your opponent, and because if your foot is down and you're in range of the other person it takes longer to get your kick back up and your opponent is trained to wait for you to put that foot down while you are in there rang in order to score or if you're on the edge of the ring push you out and cause you to receive a gamjjang or foul since you can't push if they have their leg up to kick.

[@vinaykumar488]

2:50 .. the front leg works like a boxer's ... Jab ... They check the opponents distance ... From the front like they can use the chamber ... To convert it into font leg dolryo chagi ( mawashi ) or a side kick ... Because if the .. opponent uses back kick ... We can push him through side kick while he is spinning ... But taking a 'step in' and delivering the kick .. can be a great opportunity " but for the opponent ,not you " he will get a perfect target to deliver his back kick ..

[@KarateDojowaKu]

The fact that they're able to use their leg so lightly like a jab is amazing!

[@vinaykumar488]

@@KarateDojowaKu and at the same time when they use their .. front leg so lightly .. they can. . throw a lot of power just by using their hip ... Rotation .. and quards

[@soygustavo81]

Great,im first dan(black bely)of taekwondo itf.You can punch with:jab,cross,hook only in torax.Punch like uraken or reverse punch.But in tournament,its point fight,and the punch you see in the video its faster,and of that way you can do more points(sorry for my inglish,saludos from argentina.

[@KarateDojowaKu]

I understood you perfectly! Gracias!

[@RichiXEats]

I think the reason they chamber the kick first (the lifting of the leg) is because from there he has a variety of kicks he could use, could be a mid round house, High, a hook kick or axe kick or even a set up for a jump spinning back kick. So you can see it could be pretty disorientating for the opponent .. like I said I THINK haha.. don’t at me.. all martial arts are cool

[@KarateDojowaKu]

I agree with that guess too!

[@pcdadgames5322]

Just saw this one the pre kick you mention in this fight is part faint, part momentum builder and part guard check if your opponents guard shifts you can change your angle of attack if needed.

[@justsomeguywithtattoos6267]

Something I've noticed in training and competition videos from taekwondo is how after a combo they tent to fall back. Their attacks are short, they close the distance but inmediatly go back, and that gives a chance for the other guy to go forward and start an own attack. To me it seems like a disadvantage, but I don't really know

[@ColdDoomOfficial]

We do that in lightcontact sparring (what you see here) because it allows you to come in with another kick(s) and counter his techniques with a kick

[@TKDragon75]

When I learned ITF, sparring for below blackbelts was full gear and all, but when you became a blackbelt, the chest protection came off and I think they allowed head strikes. Though they'd still call for white or red when a point was scored.

[@iandurie8580]

The founder of Taekwondo was a Shotokan Karate Nidan which he learned in Japan as an exile from his country Korea, as it was a colony of Japan for eighty years. After the second World War General Cho relocated to Korea and created a style of combining what he learned in Japan with the native fighting style of Tae Kwan and the Chinese influenced art of Tang su do, like karate the name of this art was changed to make it more cultural acceptable to Koreans as the Okinawans changed karate name from Tode to Tangte to Karate to make it acceptable to the Japanese. Like the Japanese the Koreans have an inherent chauvinism against foreign influence, other Koreans were teaching karate like fighting styles learned in Japan or China ,Northern styles of kung fu, which because of the geography of Korea, being largely full of mountains emphasis was placed on kicking as well as the greater protein consumption of Koreans in their diet, they eat a lot of pork, they were taller than Japanese so kicking was emphasised. General Cho created the name Taekwando as a catch all term to include all the other karate styles taught in Korea in one body the students of Tang su do rejected this amalgamation and stayed separate. This amalgamated art was taught to Korean soldiers during the Korean War and was introduced to American troops who fought there. Due to political differences General Cho had to relocate International Taekwando Federation headquarters to Canada where he was a political refugee, his exile was due to money, others wanted to take over the art for financial gain in the government of Korea, seeing its popularity as a cash cow with gradings fees and affiliation costs so the government backed World Taekwando Federation occurred with its emphasis on a kick boxing style that emphasis kicking and a sport structure. One of the reason for General Cho downfall was that he believed in a United Korea and had sent instructor's to teach his art to the North Koreans which was unacceptable to the South Korean government.

[@ictkd3515]

The cut kicks as shown is a great counter and defensive technique. I use this a lot before my opponents rush into me so that way momentum from their intended attack is immediately stopped. Its very fun to use😁

[@SIP_aad123]

the reason for the slide rather than the step is for power it transfers weight directly forward this is also used for power breaking, the only variations without the slide is in patterns

[@Trailtraveller]

I see many comments about WTF vs ITF, I am from the old school of TKD, we did WTF poomsee (kata) palgwe and sparring was like the ITF, a mixture of 60% foot and 40% hand. So it depends also on the school I think. We did many alternative compatitions even against Kung-Fu and Karate schools. We were highly succesful. Especially with turning and double kicks, finishing with a punch.

[@artimarzialiroma]

ITF regulation extract: TARGET AREA a. Head at the front, sides and top of the head but not at the back. b. Trunk of the body from shoulder to navel vertically and from a line drawn from the armpit vertically down to the waist on each side (that is frontal area only, excluding the back). POINT AWARDS a. One (1) point will be awarded for any legal Hand Attack directed to mid or high section. b. Two (2) points will be awarded for any legal Foot Attack directed to mid section. c. Three (3) points will be awarded for any legal Foot Attack directed to high section. LIGHT CONTACT SCORING PROCEDURE SYSTEM In competition a technique is valid according to a light contact system and if: a. executed correctly. b. dynamic, that is to say it is delivered with strength, purpose, speed and precision. c. controlled on the target. MINUS POINTS/FOULS One point will be deducted for the following offences: a. Heavy contact. b. Attacking a fallen opponent. c. Leg sweeping. d. Holding/grabbing. e. Intentional attack to a target other then mentioned in art. T33. International Taekwon-do Federation - By ITF World Junior & Senior Tournament Rules - Rules and (pages 1-21 - in force of January 1st, ITF World Junior & Senior Tournament Rules - In force of January 1st, 2013 14 WARNINGS Warnings will be assigned for the following offences: a. Pretending to have scored a point by raising one or both arms. b. Stepping completely out of the ring (both feet). c. Falling down, whether intentional or not (it means any part of the body, other than the feet, touching the ground). d. Faking a blow, pretending to be injured to gain an advantage. e. Intentionally avoiding sparring. f. Adjusting equipment during the bout without the consent of the Centre Referee. g. Unintentional attack to a target other then mentioned in art. T33. h. Pushing with the hands, shoulders or body. The sum of three (3) warnings automatically means deducting one (1) point. N.B. If an athlete is pushed out of the ring with intent (without undergoing a technique) then he will not receive a warning. The athlete who pushed shall receive a warning. DISQUALIFICATION a. Misconduct against officials or ignoring instructions. b. Uncontrolled or excessive contact. c. Receiving three (3) minus points/fouls directly given by the Centre Referee. d. Being under influence of alcoholic beverages or drugs. e. Loss of temper. f. Insulting an opponent, coach and or official. g. Biting, scratching. h. Attacking with the knee, elbow or forehead. i. Causing a KO. (see T.39)

[@alan_perez127]

Closing in and then kicking can put you in punching distance from a blitz, the slide up then kick is a gap closers to pit you in range of a punch after possibly picking

[@jeffhunt1976]

I'm not a fan of the front foot leg raise, but it's basically an attempt to keep a barrier up to protect against a counter attack (read that as a spin kick, back kick, or turn back side kick). It's the same reason he didn't lean into his punches like you talked about. In TKD matches punches are great after you close the distance or as counters, but to lead off with them is dangerous. You'll eat a kick to the face. TKD rules long distance encounters. I could deal with most anyone 20 years ago if I could control the distance. My first time dealing with a boxer and the first time I dealt with a Tang Soo Do guy they were excellent at getting inside on counter attacks and created real problems for the unprepared once they were there. My first encounter with a BJJ guy from Brazil that was also a Shotokan Karate blackbelt was enlightening too. He was bad news in close. But, they had to get there first, and that's not always easy which is why you see so many of these guys leaning back all the time. It may sound funny, but the more the competitor works on forms to perfect technique, the more those techniques stays together under pressure in sparring in my experience. I wore my students out with forms in an effort to maintain good technique that transferred into sparring, and it worked. Power came from the ground instead of the arms, they kept their feet under them and maintained good posture both to move their feet and deliver speed and power while maintaining balance. That's why you see so many TKD guys fall down so often. They get off balance playing sport TKD trying to protect their heads and faces. Often the arms are relaxed to conserve energy during multiple rounds as well as to taunt opponents into shooting for head attacks so you can counter, but if they would use the blocks they were taught they could maintain balance better because they wouldn't have to lean back. That said, it's frustrating when you fight that guy that's so much better than you that you throw everything you can think of at them as hard and as fast as you can for ten minutes straight and they don't even bother to block but just slip slightly out of the way and watch it pass by while giving you a sly grin. Those are long days. It's a point of ego as much as anything else, but in the real world a very dangerous practice keeping your hands down. Trying to block everything gets you banged up pretty bad at times too, so you have to find your own preference and sweet spot to balance your game out.

[@BreakTheYagura]

Lifting instead of stepping first before a kick is also taught to discourage telegraphing the intent to kick, though using stepping has its merits in short range/mindgames.

[@k0nk0n]

The momentum like kick is a check to see how the opponent reacts. The extension kick is if they decide to attack while they're retracting the initial kick to lessen the possible attack. It isn't an offensive kick and it isn't meant to attempt to score.

[@andrewlaw8121]

Step in telegraphs the kick. As punches are allowed a simultaneous lead punch counter is quite common and lifting the leg to shift- double kick preempt this. You see this in the first blue point in the extra round... Yes you can punch head then stomach- there is no limit

[@rafaelmorales2518]

3:00 it's a feint to see what your opponent does and it helpes set up your next kick because of your forward momentum, I use it alot on my itf sparring

[@heavymeddle28]

When I competed in the 80s and 90s, I was a Wtf tkd guy myself, itf tkd had some pretty cool stuff in their "toolboxes". Lost many times to itf tkd guys. And my weight class - 68.... Some can be deadly fast😊 Then there's other things that play in. My Wtf tkd instructor in the 90s, born in Albania, lived in Sweden /USA came in 2nd place world Cup turkey - 68 kg. He got a towel for participating. Some countries produce better "players". Sweden couldn't compete with Turkey, Korea or Iran at the time. They devoted their whole life into tkd. Training as a job. Because they got paid and sponsored. We weren't. Just "hobby" training. Probably a bit different today. I really don't know

In ITF Taekwondo sport sparring players move forward with the leg up because they don't want to get countered, if you raise your leg too close to your opponent, he can easily surprise you with punches or even stop you with his kick first, if you have your leg raised its very easy to catch any counters with sidekick. It is also an advantage to have a leg on top because your opponent has fewer possibilities to kick or punch you. Therefore sidekick is often named jab of Taekwondo. You also missed that the numbers on the screen are not actual points, but the number of referees having a bigger score for one of the competitors, so it changes only if the number of points at a referee surpasses the points of the other competitor.

[@mikestokes3601]

After watching these videos, has the way you fight changed at all or are you forever locked in your forms and katas? What about other fighting styles, Philippino styles, Russian, Israeli, or even Jujutsu, or Brazilian Jujutsu? Is it possible to expand your fighting techniques or is your karate the best?

[@buckaroobonsi555]

I did ITF TKD for a many years. I stopped for about 4 months and a friend invited me to their WTF school with out me really understanding they were WTF. At that point I just did not understand their was a difference. This was a long long time ago. I was from a notorious school in a bad part of town that was know to turn out top notch fighters because the kids had to actual use their TKD to survive daily. This was before TKD became an Olympic Sport. I think the schools instructor wanted to use me as an example and make his students look good. So fairly early the class turned to sparing and he put me up against his top black belt assistant instructor. I was easily owning him inspite of him being higher in rank than me and older, tallers and about 30lbs. heavier than I was. This guy got in close and I punched him in the head and rang his bell hard enough that while not knocked out he was down and not able to fight. The head instructor was on me like white on rice yelling at me for punching him in the head. I had this strange look on my face like he was speaking a foreign language. I said to him " Of course I punched him he closed to with to punching range and did not have his guard up that is why we wear pads on are fists after all is to safely punch with out out hurting out fists right?" ! That was when I learned about the difference between ITF and WTF prior to that I had no clue. I was about 15 or 16 years old and had no clue about the internal politics in TKD at the time! In fact I fought in tournaments were pads were not required even in class pads were decided between sparing partners. The level of contact was decided by the day of the week. ITF was in the 1970's to early 1990's hardcore and was to WTF what Okinawan Karate is to Japanese Karate in terms of training differences. P.S. I have a few months of Shotokan under my belt. When I left TKD that is were I went. Then we moved from USA back to Germany and I took up Wrestling. When I went off to University I did Judo. You talk about the slide and yes ITF prefers to slide over a spin. ITF was more focused on real combat and turning your back to the enemy is always risky. The slide and shuffle step is faster and safer than a spin and allows you to cover more distance. It also allows you to transfer more power into the target than a spin. Spins look impressive and take a lot of practice to master but they no place in a real fight! My Judo instructor learned Judo in Japan and in Okinawa as a US Marine and after the kids and house wives would leave he would teach brutal combat Judo to me and one other male student. Every Martial Art has it's "martial side" and it's "Art/Sports sports" side and the they are often very different. WTF and ITF sprang out of political conflict. That said the ITF is more pure and must more "martial" the WTF is rather weak and is biased towards "Sport"!

[@Marcus-up5wk]

Just for the records, ITF is Shotokan Karate with more kicks..The grand master of Tae Kwon Do is a second Dan Shotokan Karate BB.. He was raised in Japan (aka North Korea) I trained ITF for 14 years and I competed in Karate and TKD tournaments at the same time..

[@MADAOSushi]

I like WTF personally as someone who competed in the 90s. I do have a belt in ITF style as well. I feel like ITF is more karate-esque in terms how they do their forms .

[@nialloshea4323]

2:39. The double kick is used to closed the distance more then trying to score when your at a long rang like that. At a shorter range it's only a single kick they might try to land a score with.

[@jutsubushido]

To answer your question (1st Dan ITF TKD) - in my opinion they're both very good but red made a bit of a mistake with this distance there but there's a couple reasons - it can be used to cover distance and kick quickly with timing of your choice (e.g. when opponent breathing in or bouncing up) so can deceive the opponent and can also be start of "universal chamber" or "flamingo kicking". So because there's at least two options there - the opponent can't know for sure. That's how I understood it but now I'm going to look myself I'm interested thanks! :)

[@1337strvids]

It's a pump side kick to use it to cover distance and keep pressure with our kicks look up Vitalii Solovey he displays this well yes we can punch head then go to the stomach but its just risky and susceptible to counter side/ back kicks

[@KarateDojowaKu]

I see. Thanks for your knowledge!

[@RoutaAskel]

@@KarateDojowaKu To quickly explain the utility of pump-sidekick, it is good opener, because if the opponents tries to slap it down, you can quickly pull it back. Then he is wide open for a sidekick.

[@squirrel6687]

Traditional TKD, Ohdowan-Chungdokwan, ITF precursor, Shotokan hands with Koean kicking tradition.

[@spitzfire1107]

I trained this style of Taekwondo.

[@asterix908]

The reason for 2 steps kick is ... if you do 1 step, the opponent will instantly have a counter. the 2 step is meant to throw off the opponent's judgement. If the opponent did counter with another kick, by the time your kick 2 lands, opponent's kick is already done.

[@speediemtb6343]

We lift our legs before that and then from there we can choose from different kicks as examples to make a front kick, round kick, side kick. But we also do them to get more power and it should be easier to stop the opponent when they come with a flying shot as an example

[@leorosa]

Hi Guy, that was my 1st impression as well when I wtkatched itf. I thought, they're like Karate-Ka me being a Karate-ka as well. And you should look for I think the great French Karateka Christoph Pina, he was a former taek jin and he played similarly like this

[@callantaylor8286]

The scoring can be confusing the way it's set on screen to someone who hasn't seen it before. When you questioned that a punch wasn't a point, it did score a point. However, the score on screen is how many judges have a fighter ahead. So if blue had 3 points and red had 1 but red scored a punch. The score would be 3 - 2 but the judges would still have blue infront. Also, all 4 judges are in corners so see things differently.