Live free or die by the sword
Retired Forum Staff
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💻 Oldtimer
It really, really bothers me when people bash Tae Kwon Do, especially because it's deserved in many cases. There are several different "masters" of tae kwon do that have essentially ruined a good martial art. Tae Kwon Do does tend to stick to the flashy, but there are still good masters out there that teach the proper style, and not the olympic sport. They are hard to find (impossible if you don't know what you're looking for) but I've had Tae Kwon Do as the core of my martial arts expericence for many years, and switched to many other styles after. I've never considered Tae Kwon Do second bannana to any of them.
Again, that may be because my Grand Master was an excellent teacher and showed many things that most belt mills won't show. He himself segregated his talented students from the ones he was just taking money from, and that gave me a unique perspective on the style and how its handled as a business and the serious art it should be.
All I'm trying to say is, never underestimate Tae Kwon Do. There are perhaps one or two good schools out of ten, but there are good schools.
All of that out of the way, the second martial art I picked up was Hun Gar. Tiger Claw White Crane is based on the five animals shaolin style I believe but has been carried forward in a different lineage or pedigree if you will. Tigerclaw did quite a bit to cover the holes in my hand techniques left by Tae Kwon Do. I followed that up with Hapkido, Tai Chi and greco roman wrestling. Then I moved on to taking techniques from many other styles, including bits of Isshinryu Karate, Muy Thai, Judo and Akido. Though I didn't specifically study in these schools, I cross trained with experts from those styles to pick up techniques that worked for me. I've also done some studying with the Navy SEAL's SCARS system.
The point is, you carry what you learn forward, you compliment it with what works with you as a fighter. My legs are relatively long for my height, my body is stocky and massive, so kicks transfer a lot of that mass into damage. TKD makes sense for me, so does Muy Thai. I'm fairly nimble, so Hapkido and Akido help in situations where I can't use my kicks. HG helps at a more medium range when I need to close in or move out further. They all complement my style. This is why I say one should never learn from an MMA School, one should study a style that suits them, and compliment it with other martial arts to form their own MMA. That's kind of what Bruce Lee did with JKD anyway
A word on Ninjitsu. It's like TKD, you need to be careful about the schools you pick. Ask to sit in on classes before you commit, and see if you like what's being done. If he insists that you pay for the classes, by all means join in, but don't commit. You need to feel a school out before you stay. That really goes for any martial art. When it comes to some dicey styles like TKD and Ninjitsu, you need to be picky.
A final hint. Master Joe MacDonald might not be as good as Master Hiroshi Tanaka; I'm not saying to be dismissive of western masters, only to be more careful in selecting them. Many are the stories of a three year student dropping out and teaching martial arts as a master of his own style.
Again, that may be because my Grand Master was an excellent teacher and showed many things that most belt mills won't show. He himself segregated his talented students from the ones he was just taking money from, and that gave me a unique perspective on the style and how its handled as a business and the serious art it should be.
All I'm trying to say is, never underestimate Tae Kwon Do. There are perhaps one or two good schools out of ten, but there are good schools.
All of that out of the way, the second martial art I picked up was Hun Gar. Tiger Claw White Crane is based on the five animals shaolin style I believe but has been carried forward in a different lineage or pedigree if you will. Tigerclaw did quite a bit to cover the holes in my hand techniques left by Tae Kwon Do. I followed that up with Hapkido, Tai Chi and greco roman wrestling. Then I moved on to taking techniques from many other styles, including bits of Isshinryu Karate, Muy Thai, Judo and Akido. Though I didn't specifically study in these schools, I cross trained with experts from those styles to pick up techniques that worked for me. I've also done some studying with the Navy SEAL's SCARS system.
The point is, you carry what you learn forward, you compliment it with what works with you as a fighter. My legs are relatively long for my height, my body is stocky and massive, so kicks transfer a lot of that mass into damage. TKD makes sense for me, so does Muy Thai. I'm fairly nimble, so Hapkido and Akido help in situations where I can't use my kicks. HG helps at a more medium range when I need to close in or move out further. They all complement my style. This is why I say one should never learn from an MMA School, one should study a style that suits them, and compliment it with other martial arts to form their own MMA. That's kind of what Bruce Lee did with JKD anyway
A word on Ninjitsu. It's like TKD, you need to be careful about the schools you pick. Ask to sit in on classes before you commit, and see if you like what's being done. If he insists that you pay for the classes, by all means join in, but don't commit. You need to feel a school out before you stay. That really goes for any martial art. When it comes to some dicey styles like TKD and Ninjitsu, you need to be picky.
A final hint. Master Joe MacDonald might not be as good as Master Hiroshi Tanaka; I'm not saying to be dismissive of western masters, only to be more careful in selecting them. Many are the stories of a three year student dropping out and teaching martial arts as a master of his own style.
