A question was posed by a post 50 year old man regarding whether he should study TKD. He complained of a lot of soreness and how to cope with it. 100% of his replies were that he should pursue another form of Martial Art. I will include my $.02 that I contributed to the discussion.

Often over the years, people have asked me questions like “what martial art is best” or “what style should I take” and other common and sensible questions.

The first answer I usually give is that they’re all good and it’s the practitioner, more than the style, that will either yield great, average or poor results.

The second question is something that a man or woman needs to really think about as certain styles best lend themselves to the body type, temperament, age and other factors relevant to the prospective student.

If you were to ask me – and you haven’t I know – I’d ask you first if you had other styles available to you than TKD? I’d also ask you what your body type was (if in person I’d know) and your age, since these have a great amount to do with your success at TKD as compared to other styles.

TKD is more commonly known as sport karate and requires a lot of flexibility, strength and stamina. It’s also not the greatest choice for fighting/self defense, in the streets.

When I used to compete many years ago, it was quite easy to defeat TKD fighters, due to the nature of what their focus usually ends up being – “to kick you in the head.”

A couple of “for instances”:

Whenever a TKD stylist chambers for his powerful round kick or spinning/jump spinning kick, there’s a moment when a simple rush and a push will floor him.

Much easier, at this same moment, the groin is exposed like a large bulls-eye and accepts a properly thrown front, round or side snap kick. A few of these will generally bring the TKD man’s kicks down to an easier angle of attack to deal with. It will also derail many of their plans on offense.

I hope you’ve searched out what’s available to you in your area as well, 50 years old and athletic is still quite a hurdle to overcome in performing excellent TKD.