[ULLMONKEY]

Im an English teacher in Korea and this week i spoke to a couple of my students and they told me that they did Taekwondo and that they had been doing it for many years. I asked if they liked Pride or K-1 etc, but they said they didnt because Taekwondo had better mind??

It was a little hard to understand what they meant as thier English wasnt great but i got the impression that they were trying to tell me that Taekwondo offered something more on a spiritual front than other martial arts like Muay Thai or Kickboxing etc.

I think this view seems to be the norm here, and guess my students must have got this from thier Taekwondo teacher.

so, is this true? does Taekwondo offer something on a mental front that other martial arts dont?

Im not interested in doing Taekwondo, but more how Koreans think, are they correct or is it just bullshit?

[aaron_mag]

I think you'll find this is true with most martial arts. I've seen articles of the early Machado BJJ guys in the US who felt rolling on the mat was something of a 'spiritual' experience and that some of this has been lost with its new popularity.

But people feel that way about running, hiking, etc, etc. It shouldn't be too surprising to you.

[Kyryllo]

MT, KB etc. are not more than combat sports nower days, whereas TKD, KK, karate etc are martial arts. Martial arts go furthur than combat sports, because fighting is not the only thing within a martial art. It's not realy a spiritual thing, it is the paramiliteric form and behavior, it is your attitude towards the parts of the art that have little to do with fighting at all. Doing things like forms or one step sparring are considered retarded among the ignorants, but these are things where everybody can achieve their own perfection without looking for relative success. It offers room for excelence for everyone, a regular fairly gifted person as well as for a passionate and talented athlete

[krellik]

Well I would say that its bending the truth a little saying that taekwando is more spiritual than muay thai considering that muay thai is one of the martial arts with the clearest religious conections.

[Ayin]

Yeah, they obviously do not have a good grasp of Muay Thai history as they do not know the deep religious connections it has.

[Kyryllo]

As I already said it's not a spiritual or religious thing. You have to understand it like a secular thing mixed with taoistic approach.

[krellik]

Which religion does taekwando have closer ties to than muay thai has to budhism?

[Doodle]

Originally Posted by Kyryllo

MT, KB etc. are not more than combat sports nower days, whereas TKD, KK, karate etc are martial arts. Martial arts go furthur than combat sports, because fighting is not the only thing within a martial art. It's not realy a spiritual thing, it is the paramiliteric form and behavior, it is your attitude towards the parts of the art that have little to do with fighting at all. Doing things like forms or one step sparring are considered retarded among the ignorants, but these are things where everybody can achieve their own perfection without looking for relative success. It offers room for excelence for everyone, a regular fairly gifted person as well as for a passionate and talented athlete

Brilliant post my man. Couldn't of said it better myself.

[zenshin]

what really matters is, does it work? Spirituality or not, if it does not work in the ring or streets it is a waste of time

[Doodle]

Originally Posted by zenshin

what really matters is, does it work? Spirituality or not, if it does not work in the ring or streets it is a waste of time

I don't think that is what the thread starter is trying to get accross..