Does Taekwondo Work?

Judging the relative merits of a martial art is no easy task. It depends almost entirely in what context you're evaluating the style. There is no surefire answer to whether or not taekwondo works. In terms of fitness and overall health, it does work, but gauging its effectiveness in the overall scheme of fighting and self defense is more difficult. Ultimately, taekwondo has as many effective techniques as it does limitations.

  1. Benefits

    • According to MayoClinic.com, a 160-pound person can burn 752 calories per hour training in taekwondo, so it's an effective method for maintaining or losing weight. Additionally, you're going to increase core strength, flexibility and reflexes from regular training. Psychological benefits are more difficult to measure, but they exist in the form of increased confidence, self-esteem and self-control.

    Effective Techniques

    • Taekwondo fighters largely focus on kicks, and they have developed some of the best single strikes of any style. Side kicks, roundhouse kicks and front kicks combine technical finesse with devastating power if delivered properly. Since speed and timing are paramount to success in high-level sparring matches, taekwondo fighters are usually difficult to hit and possess impressive reflexes.

    Combat Sports

    • In sparring tournaments, fighters wear protective equipment, including headgear, chest protectors and foot pads. Most taekwondo tournaments feature point fighting matches, where bouts are halted after each clean strike landed by either fighter. Because of this, a taekwondo fighter might not fare well in a more intense, nonstop combat sport such as kickboxing, Muay Thai or mixed martial arts. Still, taekwondo techniques can be used by full contact fighters to great effect.

    Self Defense

    • Perhaps the most important measure of effectiveness for any martial art is whether or not it works on the street in a live self-defense situation. A taekwondo kick delivered with power and finesse can surely finish any fight, but self-defense situations have no rules and don't often go according to plan. Taekwondo fighters could suffer from a lack of ground fighting skills and an inability to take full force strikes to unprotected body parts. More well-rounded martial arts systems that include ground fighting and street defense tactics are more effective in these scenarios.