I watched the Olympic Taekwondo coverage on television and it was a major disappointment. Why do the WTF patterns have hand techniques in them if competitors never use them when sparring? Why do the WTF rules permit hand techniques in sparring if they are never used in competition, especially when there are so many opportunities to use them? The reason appears to be because you will not receive a point from the Korean influenced judges if you use a hand technique in international competition. Therefore, WTF instructors do not stress them and they have gradually disappeared.
Tae-kwon-do is the way of kicking and punching. The WTF should change the name of its martial art to Tae-do, the way of kicking. In their effort to remove the influence that Japanese karate had on traditional Taekwondo and to create a uniquely Korean martial art, the Koreans in the WTF have indeed created a new art, but one that is totally useless as a martial art. WTF Taekwondo is now a totally different entity from traditional Taekwondo. It is now a pure sport, such as is Greco-Roman Wrestling, and as such, it is now totally useless as martial art. There is no guard, there is no blocking, and there are no hand techniques. All the fighters just bounce around with their arms hanging at their sides and throw kick, after kick, after kick. It reminds me of a production of Irish Riverdance. There are no defensive techniques, only offensive kicks. An armless person could win an Olympic gold medal in Taekwondo.
I have been neutral in the WTF vs. ITF battle in the past, viewing the two arts as merely two different ways of accomplishing the same thing. However, that view has now changed. WTF Taekwondo is now purely a sport and does not deserve the title of martial art; it should be called leg fencing.
A martial art is defined as a method of self-defense. WTF Taekwondo is useless for self-defense. A WTF fighter would be slaughtered by any street thug, not an experienced street fighter, just an ordinary neighborhood thug. In a real fight, you cannot drop your guard, ignore hand attacks, and ignore kicks just because they will not score. Nothing can be ignored in a real fight, since the purpose of every attack is to hurt you.
You fight as you train. If you train in the WTF style, then, in stressful self-defense situation, you will fight that way. Likewise, if you train in the ITF style, you will fight that way. As explained in TKDTutor, the only difference between ITF sparring and a real fight is range. In a fight, the overall range is merely decreased by one or two inches so techniques are delivered with full-contact instead of a light touch. In a fight, a WTF practitioner that fights as he or she spars would be slaughtered. A street attacker is used to getting hit and getting kicked, so after blocking or absorbing a kick, the street fighter would be all over the defenseless WTF practitioner.
All this would not be a problem except that the two styles share the same name. If WTF Taekwondo had a different name, it could be considered a separate sport and be treated as such. But, because of the Olympic exposure, the world now thinks that the Taekwondo they witnessed in the Olympics is what Taekwondo really is all about. That is sad.
Update
In the the spring of 2005, the WTF rules changed so that hand attacks to the head are now permitted. Time will tell how this will affect the course of sport Taekwondo.
