Krav Maga 411

Here’s a video clip of Bill Duff, host of the History Channel’s TV show Human Weapon getting knocked out. It looks like someone else beside the cameramen from Human Weapon was shooting this match.

He’s fighting a Champion Taekwondo fighter when he gets caught with a spinning heel kick to the head. The funny thing about a Taekwondo match is that it’s really the furthest thing from a real fight; it’s really about who ever can kick the other one in the head first.

Here are the official rules taken from the World Taekwondo Federation handbook. I have embolden the ones that that make it completely useless and laughable as a martial art, especially pertaining to real combat in the street.

Article 14. Prohibited acts and Penalties

 5. Prohibited acts

1) The following acts shall be classified as prohibited acts, and “Kyong-go” shall be declared.

a. Crossing the Boundary Line

b. Evading by turning the back to the opponent

c. Falling down

d. Avoiding the match

e. Grabbing, holding or pushing the opponent

f. Attacking below the waist

g. Pretending injury

h. Butting or attacking with knee

i. Hitting the opponent’s face with the hand

j. Uttering undesirable remarks or any misconduct on the part of a contestant or a coach

2) The following acts shall be classified as prohibited acts, and “Gam-jeom” shall be declared.

a. Attacking the opponent after “Kal-yeo”

b. Attacking the fallen opponent

c. Throwing down the opponent by grappling the opponent’s attacking foot in the air with the arm or by pushing the opponent with the hand

d. Intentionally attacking the opponent’s face with the hand

e. Interrupting the progress of the match on the part of a contestant or a coach

f. Violent or extreme remarks or behavior on the part of a contestant or a coach

They have two different rules about punching someone in the face! They must really not want you to punch someone in the face. You can’t even palm heel strike them.

Taekwondo matches are fought at kicking range where the fighters close the gap and try and get a kick off. It favors the fighter that is the quickest. Fights on the streets, and for that matter mixed martial arts bouts are not fought at this range.

Bill is the victim of the rules. Bill is not the greatest kicker in the world, ad to that the rules won’t let punch his opponent in the face or wrestle him… poor slub didn’t stand a chance.

For people that say “you can adapt your Taekwondo training for the street”. Maybe you can, but there’s a reason people say “how you train is how you fight.” Under a stressful situation do you really want to have to think “it’s okay to punch in the face now, I’m not in the dojang”.

If you train in Taekwondo I don’t want to bum you out, I like people that have trained in Taekwondo, in fact some of my best friends at Krav Maga have trained in it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an05g99QPnY[/youtube]