Why Taekwondo is Superior to Ground Fighting

I.Most martial arts are taught as a form of defense, not as a way to attack; and as such Taekwondo (as
well as many other stand-up fighting techniques) is superior to ground fighting because it teaches you
how to defend against multiple attackers, something which is impossible when grappling. In everyday
life, I don't fear the individual who starts to get violent with me, I fear, and train for, the group of
people who corner me in an alley or wait for me at my car.
II.The most serious threat to an individual is not the person, on the street, who is going to punch them,
but the person who threatens them with a gun or a knife; it therefore stands to reason that a martial art
form who's focus is to get to the ground and force submission, is going to have very little ability to
stand, fight, and disarm. Taekwondo (the martial art not the sport) has a lot to say about defending
against an armed attacker. Several of our blocks were specifically designed to defend against a sword
or knife attack. In this way, Taekwondo is very adaptable to defending against an armed attacker.
III.In any fight, it is very important to protect certain vital areas of your body, the most important of
which is your head. In fighting there are three potential body orientations, each having a significant
affect on the protection of your head. The first most common position is an upright position where
your head is directly over your feet for most attacks and defenses, I call this a neutral fighting stance.
This stance would be very common in boxing, as well as in Muay Thai, Judo, Aikido, Hapkido, certain
forms of Kung fu, and to some extent Karate. Next there is the aggressive/negligent fighting position,
where your head is fully exposed during a large percentage of attacks. This body orientation is largely
implemented by American Wrestling, and to a lesser extent Jiu Jitsu, though is a favorite in MMA style
fighting. The final body orientation is one in which the head is withdrawn from the opponent during an
attack, I call this the protective body orientation; this body orientation is used in Taekwondo, Tang soo
do (shares similar origins with Taekwondo), and Kickboxing (a derivative of Taekwondo). This body
orientation is most accurately a variation of the neutral fighting style, do to the fact that many of the
attacks are still performed in the neutral position, though do to it's increased focus on protecting the
head and torso (without giving up aggression), this fighting position is in many ways superior to the
previous two.
IV.Ground fighting, as well as many stand-up fighting techniques, seeks to ware down the opponent,
or cause submission, the only method for a true K.O. is by way of suffocation. In real life, this leads to
long fights, and/or the point at which you have to let go and hope they don't come back for more. This
is the problem with martial art forms such as Judo, Jiu Jitsu, Aikido (unless your using a weapon), to
some extent Hapkido. Similar to this, there are many stand-up forms that, as mentioned, seek to ware
down the opponent, rather then focusing on short fights; which martial art forms belong in this
category is somewhat debatable, but I will suggest a few. From my experience, there are several forms
of Kung Fu that focus on a rapid succession on less powerful punches (therefore eliminating the
possibility of K.O.). I also think that in practice, both Karate and Muay Thai tend to be fought up close
(though with Karate this is not always the case), this limits your range of motion and therefore
eliminates the use of the strongest possible attacks. While it is important to be versatile, and have the
ability to fight in close quarters, you need to have range of motion to use your power most effectively
(it's pure physics, to get the greatest energy and momentum in a single strike, you need speed, and that
takes full range of motion). There are several martial art forms posses this distance bias, some of
which are Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, Kickboxing, and certain forms of Kung Fu.

A. As it pertains to purely stand-up fighting, It is very important to utilize your legs in

attacks, due to the fact that they are more powerful that your arms, and also longer.

Why I Believe Taekwondo to Be The Best Stand-up Fighting Technique

I.Taekwondo is very focused on kicks, because of there power, but does not ignore hand strikes in the
least. Taekwondo utilizes kicks at a distance, but uses hand strikes and simple joint manipulation up
close.
A. When I say hand strikes, I'm not just referring to punches; Taekwondo utilizes many
crippling, if not fatal hand attacks. For example there are a number of strikes to the throat, as
well as hand strikes to the elbows. Let me reiterate my earlier point, Taekwondo does not seek
to ware down opponents, (in it's purest form, as a martial art, used in combat) it seeks to cripple,
or kill, in the fewest possible strikes. The goal is to end the fight quickly and decisively.

II.Taekwondo is one of the best pairings of power and speed in any martial art form. There are many
martial art forms which practice board breaking (a practice which develops power through refined
technique), and there are others (namely certain forms of Kung Fu) which focus on lightning fast hand
strikes, but there are very few martial art forms that can combine speed and power as well as
Taekwondo. Taekowndo is well respected as one of the most athletic of the worlds martial art forms; it
incorporates quick reaction times with incredibly fact kicks, to achieve both speed and power.

III.Taekwondo is an equalizer for height; there are several kicks in Taekwondo that were developed for
the sole purpose of knocking an attacker of his horse. While not useful in the same way today, it's these
jumping kicks which allow even the smallest defender to perform a knock out kick to the head of even
the tallest attacker.

In conclusion I believe that Taekwondo is clearly superior to ground fighting techniques, and
that it is arguably the best stand-up martial art form as well, but you be the judge.