I met yesterday a guy and our conversation drifted very quickly into martial arts (surprise!), specifically about self defence. I was confused when he stated that he wanted to learn Tao Kwon Do for self defence because a friend of his is a high ranked student of the discipline. My first reply was: “TDK is mostly based on high kicks, really not ideal for self defence and then, also, you are 37 years old reasonably large and heavy male, TKD is ideal with people with lot of flexibility in their legs and trying to achieve it at this age might be tricky”. He continued with his explanation that in ideal situation he would like to be able to seize the opponent’s attack and avoid striking but simply locking his attacker in a way that would be impossible for him to hurt any further but without risks of injuring him too much. I then added that what he was talking about was possible doing Aikido, or Ju Jitsu or other styles not primarily based on strikes… and there he came out with: “oh!, yes, Aikido, I meant Aikido, this is what my friend is an expert of…”.
To me somebody that confuses Aikido with TKD is like confusing a steak with a salad, both food but very different in content. So what are the main differences that a neophyte should look out when checking a class, of either Aikido or TKD?
Let’s list the main ones:
- Aikido is Japanese; TKD is Korean, well no easy to spot by observing them
- In a Aikido class you’ll see most people in white Gi, perhaps with coloured belts and the higher ranked people and the masters will wear a black hakama, a very broad pair of trousers that look like a skirt; in a TKD class they wear white Gi, with coloured belts but their top is some times a “V” neck long sleeves shirt.
- In Aikido you see people twirling and twisting, throwing and applying arm and wrist locks: people fall and fly around a lot; in TKD opponents are striking each other, mostly with kicks to the upper part of the body (sport rules forbid kicks below the belt).
- Aikido is mainly defensive, e.g. it starts working when an opponent attacks you; TKD is based on attacking with strikes.
- Aikido’s techniques can be subtle and usually require a very long time, several years, to be practiced to a level of proficiency to be useful in self defence; TKD can start to be effective with some of its techniques within a few months or a year of practice.
- Aikido teaches, apart from the bare hand practice, the use of various weapons like sword and staff; TKD is purely based on bare had strikes.
I have chosen and selected 2 videos to show what Aikido and TKD look like. It was harder than I thought as many are dispersive and not representative enough. Please keep the volume down and ignore the part of the TKD video from the boxing ring onward:
Posted under self defence, styles, video_review
Written by massimo on 29 May 2009
I am considering either TKD or Aikido for my 8 year old son. I have watched both your videos and as a mother, I would ask, which is the safer sport? The head kicks in TKD look really scary to me. You know 8 year olds are inspired by Power Rangers and Ultraman, and he thinks he can really fight if he learns TKD. For me, I would want him to learn balance, discipline, respect, self defence but never an arrogant sense of invincibility.
@Judy thanks for your comment. Unfortunately TV programmes and movies tend to exaggerate what martial arts can do and young children are usually disappointed when they first try a martial art and cannot fly or jump a 3 storeys building (!). I remember teaching to a friend of mine’s son (at that time aged 6) who was quite disappointed when he had to learn how to stand and balance properly in order to deliver a single punch. Going back to your question Judy, the answer will very much depend on where you live and the access you might have to good schools. Both Aikido and Tae Kwon Do are traditional martial arts and will teach balance, discipline, respect and some self defence. They also help your son to grow with a sense of self awareness and self esteem. Something to be kept in mind is that while for TKD I am aware of many schools for children of that age Aikido tends to be more addressed at adults or teen agers. Martial arts are a long term investment and for a growing child they might be a big challenge at the beginning.
My suggestion would be to do a serious amount of research around where you live: it’s little point find a school many miles away from home because in the long run it will develop problems. Please check the available schools, talk to the instructors, watch a few lessons and ask a few parents who already have their children there how things are. In the end there are many, and I mean many, martial arts schools out there, ranging from very good to dead poor: the right school and the right instructor/master at the beginning are more important that the right art. Ultimately there isn’t a right or wrong art but just what is right for you (or for your son in this case). Thank you again for your comment.
Thank you for your reply. Well here in Malaysia, there are numerous martial arts schools around. So I will “shop” around and talk to people, as you suggested. My boy’s just fixed on TKD because that’s what most kids do, as Aikido is lesser known here compared to TKD.
@Judy TKD is very popular, full stop; many good instructors are doing a great job with children and will help developing a good strong and flexible body for your growing son. In Malaysia you should have a number of Silat schools (there are many different styles of this particular arts that originated in Indonesia but has several developments in your country of residence) and many Chinese martial arts, such has Hung Gar, Lau Gar or Wing Chun Kung Fu, given the large Chinese communities you have there. I wish you all the best for your hunting and I’d be keen to know how it goes and progresses once you find something.
Thanks again, for your suggestions. Well you do know about Malaysia, then.
Just for your information, Silat as far as I know is not practised by the Chinese-Malaysians, a cultural barrier I guess. And yes there are a number of Chinese martial arts here, but by far outshadowed by their Korean counterparts. But the dragon and lion dance troups here have a pretty strong following.
I will definitely let you know our progress.
Firstly, Taekwon-do is an art of self defense, at least ITF. The statement that TKD is an offensive art is false. TKD is not mostly high kicks, there are over 3000 techniques listed in the 15 volume encyclopedia by General Choi, the founder of TKD. The assumption that the art is only kicks comes from colour belt training techniques that are heavy in developing kicking techniques. Black belt levels develop other techniques, hands, knees, elbows,fingers, forearms, shins etc. Any study of marital arts will reveal many techniques ‘borrowed’ from other arts, TKD is no different in this respect. Yes TKD is a kicking art but the self defense techniques draw from many arts. You are correct in stating TKD is not a grappling art, however many schools have a very open application of self defence. I started TKD at age 39, 195 and and 5′-11″. I have practiced TKD for 10 years and intend to practice for many more. Yes flexibility is required but the TKD training cycle promotes flexibility, strenght training, cardio, balance. We have several large males attending our school, heavy and big. Age does have an impact but this is true of any hard style martial art. TKD does not teach weapons but does teach defense against weapons. For most students martial art training equals character development, the quality of the instructor may be more critical than the choice of martial art style. For beginners, try a number of schools and arts, if you intend to train with your children find a school that caters to families. Most importantly, find a school with an instructor that is humble and respects their students.
@R Moore thanks for your comprehensive comment and for the clarifications. My article is based on my direct experience, having trained with black belts of this arts in several different countries and different backgrounds. Over the years I also welcomed in my kickboxing club at least 3 dozens of students that had experience in TKD; several of them were at black belt level and had many years of experience of TKD. I can accept that some schools borrow or adopt techniques from other styles and use wrist locks or self defence techniques and defend against weapons but I see that more as an exception than a rule. My definition of offensive is really geared around the fact that a punch or a kick is more offensive (even when used as a counter attack) than deflecting and redirecting attacks in the way that aikido does. I agree with your suggestions for beginners. Last but not least I would be curious to read the 15 volumes and understand the 3000 techniques of TKD as I would have expected no more then a couple of dozens of them unless each combination is classified as a different technique.