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Some people beleive that Taekwon-Do is only kicking and sport based. This perception is generally taken from watching the Olympic rules Taekwondo. This style (WTF) does have a main emphasis on kicks in the competative sporting side and it is sometimes refered to as sport Taekwondo. This style came about in 1973.The fact that this particular style of Taekwondo is an olympic sport, means that many see it and come to the conclusion that, Taekwon-Do in general is that style.
The traditional Taekwon-Do I.T.F which our club practices is also well known for its vast array of kicks, but actually has more hand and arm movements than kicks in its traditional training. The competative sparring emphasises both kicking and punching.
There is only a very small percentage of the techniques learnt that are actually allowed in competition. So it is possible to think that Taekwon-Do doesn't use elbows,knees, throws etc by only observing competition. But in the Traditional and hosin sul(self defence) part of the training which is actually the bigger chunk of the sylabus, all of the bodies tools are put into action.
The original emphasis of Taekwon-Do was use in the army for quick destruction without rules as to where to hit. The competition side came in later in order to build the necessary fitness,timing,aggression, toughness and fear controll under pressure. Competative rules and legal targets were added to keep the practitioners relatively safe and alive!
