Archive for April, 2015

Kyukpa Is Not “The Art Of Destruction”

        Before I even started martial arts seriously I had always heard that “Karate masters” break boards. Breaking boards is a common thing in martial arts, especially Taekwondo. Not only breaking boards, but bricks and tiles and other such things. When I was a kid I always called it board breaking, and everyone else I heard talk about it called it board breaking as well. When I started Taekwondo I learned that the Korean word that means board breaking is called kyukpa, but it also refers to breaking various things as already mentioned. At Taekwondo tournaments sometimes they had a “kyukpa event.” It was also called “board breaking competition.” Never once did I hear people say, “Hey are you going to participate in destruction?” Seriously, what the heck does that mean? Why yes, I am going to participate in destroying things, in ultimate destruction. It sounds so badass!!! Grrr!!

        When people started calling it destruction it was usually the mcdojangs in town who called it that. Then when the internet got popular a few random Taekwondo groups called it destruction as well. I personally think calling kyukpa “destruction” sounds stupid. It makes me feel like I am going to participate in destroying the world and everything in it, and all people and just destroy! Destroy!! Destroooyyyoouuuu!!!! or something to that effect. I recently saw an online Taekwondo article on a website call it “the art of destruction.” It said you should “participate in the art of destruction.” What do you mean? Participate in death metal music and break guitars or burn down buildings and blow bridges up? Is the art of destruction an anti-world anti-life philosophical outlook on life? Or does it mean being a demolition man at a construction site who sets up TNT and other explosives in order to implode a building so it can be rebuilt later in a much better way? So if you are a master board breaker does that mean you are a “master in the art of destruction?” It sounds so stupid.

1. When you break boards nothing was made out of them or constructed out of them. So therefore you cannot “participate in destruction” with them since you are not tearing down a house or fence built with the wood. You cannot destroy the boards themselves either since all you are doing is breaking them in half. Now if you could bust them up into 100 pieces of wood maybe I would acknowledge that the board had in fact been destroyed. But then you would have to use those crappy “balsa wood” thin demo boards for children to try to come close. It is the same with bricks.

2. Technically all you are doing when kicking or punching through boards, bricks, tiles, ice etc. is breaking them. You are simply breaking it. It is a more proper and accurate term to call it breaking. I don’t think anyone actually destroys a board or brick when doing kyukpa.

        The English dictionary defines “destruction” as the condition of being destroyed; demolition; annihilation. This is hardly anything that happens when doing kyukpa.

        It defines “breaking” as to smash, split, or divide into parts violently; reduce to pieces or fragments. This sounds completely like what happens when doing kyukpa and is the accurate term and does not sound stupid.  

        I believe the Korean word “kyukpa” simply means “breaking” or “breaking method” when translated into English. It does not mean “destruction” or “destroying method.”

Man that board has been totally DESTROYED!! Look at it! Destroyed maaan!

But I guess all the cool mcdojang kids are using the term destruction now days because it sounds so cool and makes their Taekwondo performance sound so hardcore!!! DESTRUCTION MAN!! TAEKWONDO DESTRUCTION!!


If Anderson Silva, The GOAT of MMA, Embraces Taekwondo Then That Means Taekwondo Does Not Suck And Is A Legitimate Fighting Art

        Anderson Silva has recently made it known that he has a desire to compete in the next Olympics in the sport of Taekwondo Sparring. The Brazilian Taekwondo Confederation (WTF member of Brazil) posted on their website (in Portuguese) that Silva desires to compete in the next Olympics in 2016. He says that he has a passion to represent Brazil and that the Olympics are the dream of every high performance athlete.

        The BTC in the past has given 5th degree black belt status to Anderson Silva already. I believe it is honorary rank. I am not sure if Silva is certified by the Kukkiwon as a black belt. He may be, but I could never find anything to confirm this. If he already is ranked in the Kukkiwon then he can compete in WTF tournaments and also in the Olympics. If he does not have rank yet then he has to test and perform every poomsae to pass. I would love to see Anderson Silva performing poomsae it would be interesting. He also has to wear a dobok and black belt with pads (chest gear and head gear as well).

        What he should do is compete in very high level tournaments like nationals or other world tournaments to get himself prepared to Taekwondo sport. I think that it is very interesting that a “no holds barred” MMA fighter wants to compete in a martial art that almost every single MMA/UFC fanboy and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu bandwagon jumper has repeatedly said sucks over and over for the last 20 years. That Taekwondo is a joke, that Taekwondo does not work in a real fight, that Taekwondo is a stupid sport. Well if the GOAT of the UFC and MMA says Taekwondo is a sport good enough for him to compete, that Taekwondo is a legitimate martial art then that means it is.

        Yes, Silva has recent performance enhancing drug issues, but I hope it gets resolved and he is allowed to compete in Taekwondo. It will be interesting to see how he moves, how he kicks, and how he will not punch the face and only the chest gear. I look forward to training videos and more. Will he be able to transition out of MMA, will he do well against lifelong sport Taekwondo sparring experts? This is exciting! There is a reason why Taekwondo is an Olympic level athletic endeavor.

Sick Head Kick In A Street Fight

        Here is a street fight in some country, possibly Argentina, where a guy does a really hard round kick to the head of some guy in a street fight.

I think it that it is very important to learn to kick high and fast. I remember when people ignorantly said you should never kick above the waist in a real life fight and that Taekwondo sucks for real fighting. But of course time and time again Taekwondo is proven to be effective for use in street fighting and self defense, even its high kicks. That was a beautiful kick! I have no clue who was the bad guy or what they were fighting over but dang, that was a great kick!

Difference between sport fights and street fights: one uses a mat so when you land on it it softens your fall and you do not get serious injured. The other has concrete more often than not and when you fall on it you can get a serious injury. The way the guy fell on the pavement head first shows you could possibly die if you fall wrong in a street fight, or at least get a concussion. You can get knocked out cold simply by falling forward. If you get knocked out on your feet and then as you fall your head crashes down on the pavement you will get seriously hurt. Hope the guy didn’t end up in a coma.