My name is Master Joe Brown. I am a 5th Dan TKD instructor and have been involved in taekwondo since the 1970s. When I first started training in TKD it was in army boots learning it with the British army before the sport even existed as it does today. I was learning hand-to-hand combat skills that involved taking out an enemy, no matter what their size or strength, quickly. This helped me in my later career as a bodyguard to celebrities and powerful business men and women.
So if there is one thing that really, really frustrates me it is when you see comments online from uneducated people who say taekwondo is “just a sport”. It’s not. And anyone who says that does not understand the true power a TKD practioner has when it comes to the ability to defend themselves or their loved ones from harm.
Most taekwondo students do not truly understand the art and how it can be used to defend themselves against all attacks that happen on a daily basis around the world. Things like assaults, stabbings, bottle attacks, robbery, kidnap and even attempted murder can be defended against using TKD. But most practitioners do not know how to use their skills against these specific attacks. They may think they do. But they don’t. I know this because of my many, many years involved with the martial art.
When you practise your patterns ( for example your green belt pattern. Also called “Kup”) you are actually practising fighting an attacker. It is NOT just a pattern you must perfect in order to get your new belt and work you way towards the coveted black belt. No, the patterns you practise are a training tool which is designed to train your brain and body to be able to easily carry out attacks and defenses using the TKD system.
You see when the Korean military first developed taekwondo they knew that the techniques were too brutal to be able to practise them on another human being. So instead they developed a way to practise the techniques without having to harm anyone. They practised the techniques into the air in a flowing pattern that has become the patterns you learn and should be working on in each of your lessons with a trained taekwondo instructor.
Those who truly understand taekwondo know that these patterns are developing a truly devestating form of hand-to-hand combat that programs your body to react to anyone trying to harm you.
If you take one thing from this web site it is this – Every time you practise your taekwondo pattern imagine you are fighting an enemy who is trying to harm you. When you do a high block imagine you are blocking a downward attack with a weapon. When you snap a front kick out imagine you are connecting with the attackers groin. This will dramatically improve your taekwondo and ability to defend yourself.
Unfortunately this often isn’t enough. If you want to really become the best taekwondo practioner you can be you need to be able to SEE taekwondo used in a real world situation. That way when you are practising your patterns you can imagine things a lot more clearly. And if, God forbid, you are picked on as a victim you will know EXACTLY what to do rather than having to stop and think what technique to use. It will just happen. You will react and despatch of your attacker in seconds and be able to make your escape.
That is what this web site is all about. We want to help make your taekwondo become much, much more street ready and effective. To see what we mean click on the image below and you’ll be able to watch video clips of taekwondo being used in situations that happen around the world every day. Please note these are renactments not real footage. You will not see anything too brutal or scary.
Real World Taekwondo -
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