The Eternal Question

Funny, I was recently re-annoyed with good old well-known question I face since I ever started to train TKD: Why (or often "how") Taekwondo differs from Karate? This time, asked by my girlfriend who is better known for not asking something on the first ball, the question sounded like it (again) deserves a good answer.

Needles to say, unlike people introduced to martial arts by more than watching Jean Claude Van Damme or Jackie Chan or (The Legend!) Bruce Lee movies, most of others experience difficulties to notice reasons why there are different names for exercises that all involve punching and kicking.

The Internet (and Google in the first place) knows all, so I dig a little and here is best of what I have found: Article 1 and Article 2.

The Articles are somewhat "technical" so I must add some subjectivity of my own. How I used to explain the difference to my fiends. I will try to throw out competition, as it is obvious that rules and practices differ here and there is so much written about it.

Yes, both Karate and TKD use punches and kicks. Both introduce and develop self-defense. Both have forms (or patterns) - TKD has Poomsae while Karate has Katas. However, I found TKD's natural energy transformation and movement closer to my way of moving and using the body. If you take a look, TKD athletes will mostly perform TKD kicks with more softness, higher rate of limb extension and more round paths. Overall, there seems to be much more flexibility and smoothness than in Karate's hard and short techniques. It all seemed like dance to me and made me feel like performing in a ballet - although the last was often used by some Karate fans to mark TKD as "unusable" as real martial art (which does not keep the water because these "balette" kicks are performed with much strength and speed and are in fact far more powerful than short and straight Karate techniques).

The most important difference is probably kicks emphasizing in TKD over Karate. For all said in paragraph above, TKD's leg techniques are driven to perfection. There are lots of non-fighting techniques which are complex and impressive but will probably never be used in a real fight (liek 540 degrees spin kick) but also basic techniques are significantly more teatrical.

To be correct and fair I must say that I have seen many karatists who executed their kicks with flexibility and movement very close to TKD, and I have noticed too many TKD practitioners performing with more stiffness than worst karatist, but... well, that is why world is beautiful and fun.

Now, just to illustrate the subject of this post a little, some materials from almighty web, as one picture worth thousand words:

Karate (Shotokan) front kick
Taekwondo front kick

Karate side kick
Taekwondo side kick

Karate roundhouse kick
Taekwondo roundhouse kick

These are of course three main kicks. There are other less or more advanced techniques in both arts, but even if you don't practice any you can see differences while watching videos. YouTube sure has many more examples so whoever is interested, can find a bunch of examples from here on.

If after reading and watching you still think that difference is small or does not exist at all, I give you right. After all every martial art depends on performance of the athlete, and like my Master once said, not two people on earth are the same, so how could their performance even in the same martial art be. Let's believe him. ;)

Master Kim

I always wondered what feeling must rule the soul of a man who leaves his country and almost all his life to go to distant foreign land and start his own Taekwondo school. How much must he miss all he left at home, how difficult it must be to adopt different people, culture, lifestyle. And to keep will strong enough not to go back after few serious failures, when life shows his teeth and reminds us that this is Earth and not heaven...

Master Kim left his home in Korea more than 10 years ago and went many timezones west to teach people what he knows best. He instructed many people and let them know The Way of Taekwondo helping his Master Shin in Austria; then moved to Slovenia in order to help national TKD team. Some time later he succeeded to open his own school in city of Ljubljana. Such an enterprise, in so small country where Taekwondo is still some "exotic" sport (or art) for people who lose their eyes (and money) staring daily at ball-based sports (namely soccer) emitted on TV, with a glass of beer.

He organized classes starting with rented gyms, later arranged his own in former hangar which he adopted together with few enthusiastic students some three years ago. And worked hard and professional to give his students the best.

He proved himself as the only "real" master of the art under this part of the sky, which, however, did not help him to stabilize income and push the school up; frankly, although I never ask him or talk to him about that, I think he is struggling a lot and like mentioned in previous post the school is probably going to be closed soon, unless a miracle happens. The miracle would be that people again discover how great Taekwondo master is teaching in their neighborhood, and how many benefits for their mind and body they could gain training under his leadership. Maybe that happens next month, later last evening Master Kim was quite optimistic.

What I can do to help? Like I do - tell everyone I know and wider about my Master and help him show the beauty of our art to people in the right way. This blog is for sure one good way. So I enclose some pictures of Master Kim performing at his best. Information about the school can be found at it's official homepage: Taekwondo Club Hankuk Sport Ljubljana.

Go on doing a good job, Master Kim! The rest will come. The better, or the change. To better, we believe. :)

Winds of Change

It is now more than 3 years since my return to Taekwondo. Ten years of pause from active training were devastating for my overall physical condition and now I truly realize what I was missing all that time. A good moment to write a little why I came back to something that was once my lifestyle, and is again now.

I used to train Taekwondo in high school, and finished my "basic education" with black belt exam one distant December just before I had to join the army. Years that followed were stormed by war and changes and turnovers in my career and life and - slowly - sport and martial arts became something more like obligation than joy or way of life. Moving to a city where there were no close facilities and schools to train in, made situation worse. I really think it is hard to force yourself to train alone, especially when you are young. So I faded. And thought Taekwondo was not important to me anymore.

Trying to engage myself physically after many years of computer-based work with less sport activities lead through search of appropriate sport. In a new place again, distant town I used to work in. Another town, another country... Not surprisingly, I was immediately attracted by the sport I once enjoyed in, when I found that there was a new dojang just across the street I lived in! And Korean Master running it...

I had a great deal of doubt in myself. I felt old and stiff. I had NO condition. My technique, beside I had all clear in my head, performed by my neglected body was like that of blue belt student. Sometimes I felt really embarrassed among younger guys performing with much energy and stamina. Yet, I had knowledge they were obviously missing, concentrated more to "sporty" way of training. At least something!

However, Master Kim made a miracle. By showing. That everything is possible, when you get some self confidence and strong will. By each day of training, even with many breaks and pauses because of work demands, I felt better and went forward. I made my 2nd Dan grade after not one whole year of training. I was back and it made me feel fantastic.

And now, suddenly, the unstoppable change comes like it happens so many times in life. The school is probably going to be closed due to financial issues. Too small country for a private self-sustaining school. There will soon be no trainings on red tatami under Korean an Slovenian flags. Unless a miracle happens. We shall see. Where to go on from now? I can train for myself for some time, but I am also sure that loss of will is going to come sooner or later, without community spirit you can feel during group trainings.

I am not going to leave Taekwondo ever again and am very thankful for past three years which brought me back. Optimistically, let us say that maybe this wind of change brings something new, which even considering the end of a nice period can be good. Positive point of view? Damn right!

The Blog Has Been Created...

... And there is a long way to go. But we are optimists. :)