Martial Arts Wandering

The study of martial arts should ideally be done under the tutelage of a single qualified master. However, in today's modern society people move, schools close, and students get bored.
A lifelong student of martial arts may need to transition to several different martial arts programs in their lifetime. This can be incredibly difficult if you study a somewhat obscure martial art like hapkido. There are very few hapkido schools, so finding one when you move is a challenge. This is why tae kwon do is a good martial art to study if you plan to move a lot. No martial art is more pervasive in America today. The two largest factions of tae kwon do are the World Taekwondo Federation and the International Taekwon-do Federation. Their systems are somewhat standardized. If you study WTF or ITF tae kwon do, you should be able to find another school teaching pretty much the same way in another city. Your rank will also transfer to the new school. This allows you to continue your studies unabated.

Karate Is Back

When Lyoto Machida won the UFC Light Heavyweight championship two weeks ago, he declared that "karate is back." Machida's martial arts training started at the age of 3 with instruction from his father, a shotokan master. Machita later branched out to sumo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and eventually mixed martial arts. He rose to the top of the UFC using a combination of his skills, but his technique remains dominated by the karate style he learned as a child. Tae kwon do and karate are closely related martial arts. You can see elements of these styles as you watch Machida fight. He is elusive. Machida never stands directly in front of an opponent, so rarely gets hit. He moves laterally with ease and strikes unexpectedly with remarkable precision. This karate style has frustrated opponents used to pounding opponents into submission. The UFC has long been dominated by submission specialists and heavy handed ground and pounders. Karate and TKD have long been written off as impractical for mixed martial arts. Machina is rewriting the qualifications for a mixed martial arts champion.

Tae Kwon Do Evolving

An 18-year-old second dan named Dakota Srigley just won the ITF tae kwon do Canadian nationals. When asked about his aspirations, Srigley stated that he plans a career in mixed martial arts.
This on top of his next project, appearing in an upcoming movie starring Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman. This points out an interesting trend in martial arts. Students are seeing tae kwon do as a springboard to other things. Any actor who wants to be an action star needs to know how to fight. Many actors study tae kwon do strictly for career development. Mixed martial arts is all the rage these days. Kids watch MMA fights on TV then head to the Dojang to try them out. Many move on to other martial arts when they realize that tae kwon do wont help them with their ground game. If this trend continues, it wont take long for the tae kwon do schools to adapt. We will see more hybrid programs and fewer pure tae kwon do schools. Could this be what TKD is evolving into?