Is Taekwondo effective in a street fight?

Taekwondo is a martial art that originated from Korea and like many Korean fighting styles, it focuses primarily on kicks. Having said this, Taekwondo does also feature punches but for the most part it’s known for its kicking. Like many martial arts, it’s often judged by its effectiveness in a realistic situation.

As a result, many people have pondered over the years whether Taekwondo actually works in a street fight. Other than the mental benefits, many start to learn how to defend themselves. With this said, this leads us to a very important question…how effective is Taekwondo in a street fight?

Reasons why Taekwondo works in a street fight

Taekwondo is great for distance fighting

Perhaps the most advantageous aspect of Taekwondo is the benefits it brings from a long distance. The reason for this is that it often relies on kicks which depend on distance to work. For instance, if a grappler gets in close then your kicks aren’t as effective. However, against most regular street fighters, they will at least start from a distance. This is the perfect range for any experienced TKD practitioner. Here, you can avoid punches due to length, yet pick off the opponent with a number of kicks that don’t need such a close range to land.

As a result, if someone is fighting you, there’s a possibility that you can hit them without being hit yourself. Whenever this happens in a fight, you’re in a great position. This is where years of stretching and leg flexibility pays off and allows you to take advantage of knowing how to kick with the correct technique.

Taekwondo offers the closest thing to fighting with competitions

Hopefully, you’re not actively involved with street fights. If you’re not training or competing in MMA either, then martial arts competitions are the nearest thing in terms of offering adrenaline and going against a resisting opponent. Because of this, if you compete then it will only give you a competitive advantage in a real fight. Skills like handling nerves, losing tunnel vision and breathing properly can all be seriously developed in a TKD competition.

These all add up and will help you in a fight and are arguably just as important as physical fighting techniques. Learning how to handle stress is certainly a skill in itself and is something that can be developed. Therefore, although Taekwondo competitions aren’t fully realistic and have rules, they are the next best thing for preparing your mind for a self defense situation or altercation.

Taekwondo will improve you physicality as a fighter

Imagine training Taekwondo regularly for several years but not using it in a street fight. You would still be in a far better position compared to doing no TKD whatsoever. Why is this? Firstly, you would become far more flexible, stronger, athletic and have greater cardio as a result. All of these things count in fights and aren’t techniques as such but will still make you tougher to fight.

As a result, your cardio should be better than the average person which goes a long way if the fight becomes a marathon. Similar to the mental qualities that competing can bring, these aspects will not necessarily improve your technique but will help if things get ugly. What will improve your technique though is stuff like speedy footwork, co-ordination, balance and awareness. Although this stuff can’t be ‘taught’ that much, you will naturally pick this up from training Taekwondo on a regular basis.

Taekwondo can end a fight in one kick

In boxing, this is called a ‘punchers chance’ and means when you’re able of knocking someone out with a punch. Even if this punch is lucky and randomly connects, the point stands that you’ve always got a shot. This concept can similarly be applied to the kicks of Taekwondo. You may choose to kick from distance and slowly pick off your opponent. However, you could even do a spinning back kick if good enough which could easily knock out your opponent. Therefore, due to the number of kicks to chose from, you’ve always got a chance of an instant knockout.

This is great for two reasons. The first is that you can end a fight instantly. Instead of taking damages by getting punched or grappled to the ground, you can stop the fight instantly and walk away unharmed. Sometimes, you may ‘win’ a fight whilst taking significant damage yourself. With the option of a one-kick-knockout, that stress is bypassed. Similarly, if you’re getting battered you can always still end it with one kick. Knowing this is great for your confidence and always give you a chance.

Reasons why Taekwondo doesn’t work in a street fight

Taekwondo struggles against grappling

Whilst TKD does offer some clinch work, it’s also weak against grapplers if they get in close. If you keep them at a distance and don’t engage in close contact, but sometimes, opponents will try to take you down. This is an issue as Taekwondo doesn’t really teach you how to defend against takedowns. Further, if you’re taken down then you’re in serious trouble and make lose the fight and get seriously hurt.

This isn’t specifically a criticism towards TKD though, the same applies to most striking arts such as boxing and Karate too. In short, Taekwondo certainly isn’t invincible especially against a good wrestler or Judoka.

Taekwondo struggles close up against Muay Thai

Out of all the striking martial arts, Muay Thai is arguably the best from the clinch. The Muay Thai clinch is infamous and feared for good reason. Often utilized in MMA, it also allows for knees to the face as well as close range elbow strikes to the head. This can easily knock you out, cause concussions and pierce the skin.

Of course, Taekwondo does allow for kicks from the clinch but in reality the TKD clinch just isn’t as emphasized or as strong as the one used in Muay Thai. Therefore, it’s not wise to clinch with a Muay Thai fighter. Whilst the chances of encountering a Muay Thai specialist in a street fight is small, if this happens you may be in trouble.

Some of Taekwondo is unrealistic

Certain aspects of sports Taekwondo and Olympic Taekwondo have their weaknesses. One example of this is the point fighting. Sometimes, this encourages kicks that aren’t particularly powerful or effective but are good in a sports setting as they score points and win matches. Going further, you could argue that this also encourages weak stances that aren’t realistic when there’s real punches and other strikes and takedowns to contend with. As a result, you could say that some of Taekwondo is unrealistic and that you can pick up bad habits that lend into poor technique when fighting.

At the same time, there are quite a few other martial arts where this logic can be applied too. For instance, in Judo you may not fight differently compared to what you’d do in competition, the same goes for BJJ which can also encourage sitting on the floor which is bad for obvious reasons. With this said, as long as you’re wary of your competition style being different to your self defense style, then you should be ok.

Conclusion

Overall, practicing Taekwondo will definitely give you an advantage in a street fight. Not just in terms of learning technique, Taekwondo will also improve other areas that are important in fights such as mentality and physical attributes. For further proof of it working in realistic environments, there are countless videos of it working online, as well as UFC Champions such as Conor McGregor also using TKD to devestating effect in MMA.

Having said this, if we’re going to be balanced then Taekwondo also has some flaws. It certainly isn’t a perfect martial arts system and can fall apart against good grappling or different styles such as Muay Thai. Nonetheless, this argument can be said for many martial arts. And if we’re completely honest, the reality of fighting in the street against a trained martial artist is fairly slim anyway. With this in mind if you’re wanting to learn Taekwondo for self defense, then it’s definitely worth thinking about and definitely works.