Boxing or tae kwan do?

[Emoore]

Hey all! Dh and I are moving from Austin to this little small town about an hour outside Dallas. I've been taking Krav Maga since July and really enjoy it and want to continue some sort of combat/martial arts training when we move. There are no Krav training centers near where we're moving to. Nearby there appears to be 2 Tae Kwan Do dojos and a boxing gym.

Neither discipline seems to have as much as a practical aspect as KM, but I'm leaning towards boxing because I've kind of gotten used to the aggressive atmosphere in KM and getting beat on, thrown on the ground, and generally knocked around. (and getting to do this to other folks too of course!) In my very limited knowledge of TKD, it doesn't seem to have this aspect.

Is one or the other of these disciplines more effective for self-defense than the other? Is one a better workout than the other? I know basically nothing about either one. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

[waynea]

Although neither are self defence focused, both can give you a great workout and develop your martial skills. One of my general recommendations when considering training in a new style/dojo is to actually take a class. This gives you a chance to critically evaluate your options. Each instructor imparts their own flavour to a class and this may make a seemingly low impact art into something completely different.

I personally have a leaning to boxing (I do some coaching) but I have done some TKD training that was very aggressive and combat focused which incorporated a lot of contact.

As I said both systems have their pros and cons. You just need to find out which dojo/instructor is the best fit for you at this time.

Hope this helps

[jvernacchio]

Boxing

[sg516]

boxing. most tkd schools will focus too much on point sparring and "controlled contact" this has the unfortunate side effect of teaching the bad habit of pulling punches. plus if its full contact you are looking for tkd is going to divide your time up between learning forms/kata (or whatever the korean equivalent is) and sparring where as boxing is just the sparring. if you want my advice though look for a good san da or san shou school there.

sanda/san shou is kick boxing with with take downs and throws. the only thing its missing is the ground and pound aspect. its limited in that it is still sport fighting but its better than just boxing bc it has knees, elbows, kicks, shooting/sprawling and throwing.

[ledove]

Poomse (and other spellings) is the Korean equivalent of kata.

I know little of boxing but lean toward TKD cautiously, depending on the schools and instructors themselves.

As waynea said, you need to visit the schools. There are different styles of TKD. You want to find a style, a school, and instructors that fit you and your goals.

Some schools largely teach just competition-style point sparring, as sg516 said. Some schools are "McDojos": take your money and give you a black belt. (Avoid, please.) Some schools may offer a separate self-defense class. Also at some dojangs, there will be black belts who have cross-trained in other martial arts and who may teach special classes.

In addition to participating in a class, ask also if you can watch a class, especially a black belt-level sparring class. The way the black belts spar should give you a good idea of the contact level of the school, the work that goes in to make each black belt, and how much non-TKD work they get (throwing, grabs, takedowns, submissions, etc.).

[Chiron]

As someone who's done both of them, with your stated goals in mind, I'd easily recommend boxing over TKD. Generally speaking, boxing is better for self-defense and for a workout.

[Chris Correia]

It really depends on the particular gym/instructor and exactly what and how they teach. Some people tend to offer a knee jerk response and pick the presumably "more practical" art. Yet, my "Taekwondo" style/school teaches hapkido techniques and military techniques, which includes some actions very similar to krav maga, and also includes some techniques and principles of boxing & kickboxing/thai boxing. So, that's all integrated into our "Taekwondo." It's just depends.

You have certain goals and wishes. Go visit and see what clicks with what you want.

Of course, sometimes what we need most is not what we want.

[diamondpete]

Hi Emoore

I do neither boxing nor TKD, so why am I posting? .

But let me add:
• as said before go to a class (there is a wide variety in TKD)


I think in terms of self defense TKD will offer more. For the 6' 220 pound male boxing has a lot to offer in terms of self defense (hands are generally faster than feet and in spite of what B.L. does, it is very hard to kick someone in the head "in real life" who has any fighting ability). Punches are much harder in boxing as well.

But for a woman who generally will be shorter and weaker than her attacker (I am 5'7" and 150 lbs) so short weak stuff is from experience, being grabbed and grappled in an attack is quite likely. A bigger stronger person with a longer reach can use boxing skill more easily to keep an attacker off than a shorter weaker person (relative to the attacker).

Very good defensive moves that work very well against stronger/bigger people:

eye strikes, groin kicks (it is not like punting a football), joint locks and reverses. and I think the biggie, is the head butt. This probably the most effective one. None of these are part of the boxing line up, and all except the head butt are probably routinely practiced in TKD (and I am sure you can get some head butt instruction as well).

BTW, the above poster, Chris Correia, is a master in TKD, and really knows what he is talking about.

[Emoore]

Thanks for the advice. This is a pretty small town I'm moving to so my options are limited, but I'll make sure to watch a class at each before I make a decision.

[ko67]

I would take boxing over Tae Kwon Do mainly hand skills and footwork that you would learn.

But really neither are going to give you what you want.

A quick google search turned up this site:

TXMMA.com - The Home of Mixed Martial Arts in Texas - Web Links

Try poking around there to find a school in your area.