dont confuse sports with martial arts,
mma eliminates hundreds of technqiues with the small circle rule, that makes no sense to me. why dont i hear people complaining about that
Where did you make that assumption. While the Olympic style of Taekwondo does not allow punches to the head, ITF Taekwondo does allow punches the head.
I do not know why the rule was created. Also there is the traditional side of Taekwondo, which includes just as many hand strikes as much as kicks, as well as pressure points, joint locks and throws.
Edit: Kokoro: punches to the face/head are banned in the Olympic style. ITF Taekwondo allows punches to the head
"Usage of the hands" isn't "forbidden" in Olympic TKD. You're allowed to punch to the body. It's just that nobody does it because it doesn't score.
Basically, Olympic TKD (World Taekwondo Federation, or WTF) sparring was changed to distinguish it from other combat sports. The Olympics already had a hitting sport in boxing, and simply adding kicks may not have distinguished it enough, so by eliminating punches to the head, and minimizing the value of punches to the body, they got to put a tremendous emphasis on kicks.
And you're right, it isn't particularly realistic. But the goal wasn't to be realistic. It was to promote TKD. A sport full of spinning kicks creates an awesome visual, doesn't it?
In ITF, competition rules vary: some allow it, others don't. Officially, face punching and kicking is allowed, but neither is allowed to the back of the head. This contrasts with WTF, which allows kicks (only) to the back of the head, but never to the front.
In WTF, competition rules forbid it.
In both styles, punching isn't forbidden, it's just that they aren't scored as much. And of course, in both styles, use of hands to block is perfectly appropriate and allowed. In fact, in some ITF competition, a good block will score a point. So it's not accurate to say that "hand techniques are forbidden": they can be freely used defensively, and have limited use offensively.
As to "why" - now that's another matter.
WTF over the years has withered away use of hands in order to promote the use of kicks. This is done so as to differentiate (WTF) taekwondo from Karate and other styles. To score with a punch, in many places, you must do so with a reverse punch (no jabs), in a front stance, and effect a knockout (torso - knock the air out or cause injury forcing opponent unable to continue) or a knock off-balance. It's not uncommon to see a well-executed punch that does not score.
In ITF, some competitions allow a flying reverse punch.
But make no mistake: this is sport only. Punches to the face are commonly seen in forms (self-defense). So TKD isn't devoid of face punching, just only in competition.
It is a myth that it has anything to do with insurance. A punch, by the way, has a higher tendency to cause a nosebleed or a bitten lip (producing blood) - and if blood is drawn - even if a slight scratch - means instant DQ for the person who causes it. Kicks can also cause a nose bleed, and the punishment is the same: DQ. For safety reasons, no direct frontal kicks to the face are allowed. Fighters wouldn't want to kick here anyway - too high a risk to draw blood and be DQ'ed.
Here is an excerpt from WTF's competition rules, as of Dec 26, 2012:
??? ??? ?? ????.
3 The valid points are divided as follows.
3.1 ?? 1?
3.1 One (1) point for a valid attack on trunk protector
3.2 ?? ???? 2?
3.2 Two (2) points for a valid turning kick to the trunk protector
3.3 ?? 3?
3.3 Three (3) points for a valid kick to the head
3.4 ?? ???? 4?
3.4 Four (4) points for a valid turning kick to the head
So you can see which kind of strikes they're promoting.
http://www.tkd-itf.org/pagina.php?idpag=...
I don't understand it either. The only thing u can think of is liability concers for safety. Now I don't buy that argument as we spar full on with head shots allowed for senior students so its possible to do relatively safely if folks are trained right.
I will say its a reason that many look so poorly at TKD. It's also why most of the TKD folks I've met would be destroyed against someone who knows how to fight in close.
And that's exactly why TKD sucks. It doesn't matter if "the art" including hand strikes to the head, because 99% of TKD dojangs spar with either WTF or ITF rules as a way to practice the application of the art! Who gives a crap if an art "includes" striking to the head with the hands if it is virtually NEVER practiced. I've been to countless TKD schools and it is a VERY RARE occurrence that I have ever seen one decide to spar in a fashion much different than the rules of WTF or ITF, and of the times when it happened, it was very light contact, almost no contact.
Possum understands very well why WTF competitors have limited use of their hands: kicks are encouraged and scored higher (1 point for a punch to the body, and a minimum of 2 points for a kick and up to 4 points for a kick to the head) and because the WTF wants to make TKD unique and look different from kickboxing or Muay Thai or Karate. And they've done that alright... and not in a good way.
But I am pretty sure Possum is wrong (at least when I was in TKD) about the drawing blood thing. I've had blood drawn on me and I have drawn blood on m opponents, and never has that ended in an instant DQ for the person who caused it... unless it just wasn't enforced.
because there stupid and i agree but if you allowed that then it would be kickboxing. you wont get as good at kicking if you were also learning boxing but i really do agree with you they need to know some basic boxing
Why do you want a realism in sports? Is golf a weapon and should compete with human as target? lol
It makes no sense and this is even worse in Olympic Taekwondo where the usage of the hands are forbidden. It teaches fighters to fight without putting their hands up, leaving their head wide open for attack. There's no realism in it. Why was this rule created?
