Olympic Sparring Disappointing to Watch

by Chris
(London)

As an ex Taekwondo enthusiast , I found it quite embarrassing to watch Olympic Sparring...

Bunny Hopping together,with the odd brave move to throw a simple kick, with no combination of moves..

I'm surprised they didn't exhaust themselves with all their hopping up and down.

This may sound a bit harsh, but for anyone who has practised any martial art, it was like watching yellow/ green belts having a non aggressive spar...(The referee constantly having to tell them to fight ).

I was shocked by the standard, it had no relevance to the Taekwondo I used to practise.

Unless Taekwondo steps up to the mark, and truly embraces the spirit of Sparring at a much higher level, I can see no future for the dancing show I viewed with this London Olympics..

CB

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Olympic Sparring Disappointing to Watch

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Aug 22, 2012
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darn right!
by: Tiago Costa

It is wonderful to know that someone else agrees with me. Olympic sparring is terrible, it's a sad excuse of a sport and I do not consider it martial arts. Fencing with feet is just not a martial practice. There's too much strategy and little fight. One could say that know when to strike is a martial practice and it is, but it's the same in chess. I've practiced Taekwondo since 1997 and it has changed so much that I barely recognize it. That is why I don't compete anymore and find great joy in Traditional Taekwondo. I'm not saying that it is wrong to like Olympic Sparring, to each his own, but it's not Taekwondo as it was created. Sparring is part of the martial art, but Olympic sparring is no different from running, or swimming or soccer, it's just a sport.

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