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TNT
Author: Hyung-Min Jung
Ask any martial artist to name two styles that revolve around kicking, and chances are he will say, “Taekwondo and Thai boxing.” Both arts are renowned for their repertoire of effective leg techniques, which athletes often showcase in exciting full-contact matches. Yet the two systems work their magic in very different ways.
Sang Koo Kang is one of the few instructors in America who understand how to work both kinds of kicking magic. A former field-goal kicker for the Florida State University Seminoles, he now runs two successful martial arts schools in the Miami area. Prior to immigrating to the United States in 1983, he made a name for himself as a taekwondo competitor in his native Korea. He duplicated that track record in his new country, where he dominated the Florida State Taekwondo Championship for seven years, eventually earning a place on the cover of the May 1994 issue of Black Belt.
Korean Kicking
According to Kang, taekwondo is not what most people think. “Many martial arts enthusiasts have taken to bashing taekwondo,” he says. “Some of them say it’s worthless on the street and should be confined to the realm of martial sport. Yet the reality is that taekwondo does indeed contain sound combat principles, although that is not the emphasis in mainstream taekwondo training.
“Olympic-style taekwondo, which is also known as World Taekwondo Federation- style taekwondo, is in the mainstream these days around the world,” he continues. “There’s no denying that inclusion in the Olympic Games did a lot to further that particular style of training. But you have to understand that many of the attributes competitors work to develop in the sport arena are also principles that will serve them well in any fight.”
Those fighting principles form the basis of the training methods Olympic coaches are using to churn out champions. They simply apply the rules of the game to the principles of the art, then sit back and enjoy success in the ring. For example, kicks aimed at the front and sides of the chest protector and headgear are the main methods of scoring. Therefore, the bulk of Olympic training focuses on explosiveness, agility, high kicks and spinning techniques.
“Front kicks, ax kicks, round kicks, cut kicks, back kicks and hook kicks are the main weapons of the WTF style,” Kang says. “These kicks are delivered with a particular flavor that is distinct to taekwondo. There’s a lot of snap, a lot of whip-like power. The emphasis on creating an opening, getting to the target with maximum speed and simultaneously positioning your own body out of the line of fire makes taekwondo a great stand-up tool.”
Despite all its strengths, Olympicstyle taekwondo suffers from several strategic shortcomings. The rules prohibit attacks below the waist, knee thrusts and shin blocks. Furthermore, the action in a match stops once the competitors clinch. Fortunately, there is an art that teaches all those missing components—and teaches them very well.
Thai Fighting
“Thai boxing is like gathering all the attacks and targets that are illegal in WTF competition and making a style out of it,” Kang says half-jokingly. But fighting in the muay Thai ring is no joke. While Olympic-style taekwondo is full contact, there is definitely an elevated degree of danger in Thai boxing —thanks to the powerful leg kicks and vicious knee strikes that play such a prominent role in the brutal art. In Thailand, many a fighter has been finished by leg kicks alone, unable to even walk out of the ring because of cramped thighs.
While low-line leg kicks are the most notable weapon in the muay Thai arsenal, high targets are by no means safe from attack. “Thai round kicks use the shin as the predominant striking tool,” says Kang, who received his Thai training from the Las Vegas-based Tholisaphon Sitiwatjana, better known as “Master Toddy.” When the shins are used as an impact weapon, a kick can inflict a greater degree of punishment.
A Thai-style round kick to the neck or head causes far more damage than a taekwondo round kick, which uses the instep to make contact, because of the lack of padding on the shin and on the recipient’s head and neck.
After learning how to fight Thaistyle, Kang realized that his existing taekwondo skills would function even better in the full-contact ring and in self-defense situations if they were augmented with Thai boxing. After years of careful training and reorganization, he came up with a method he christened “TNT”—short for “taekwondo and Thai”—to address the needs of fighters who prefer to kick. With the growing number of martial arts students who are gravitating toward Thai boxing, san shou and no-holds-barred tournaments, Kang’s kicking system promises to help thousands round out their skills.
The Right Way
“TNT is beautiful because the kicks of taekwondo are not illegal in Thai boxing, so it’s not like you have to discard the good kicks of Olympic-style taekwondo,” he says. “Rather, you can use them to set up new angles of attack and defense in the Thai ring, the san shou arena or any other kickboxing-format event you compete in. You can use the sophisticated footwork patterns of taekwondo to out-maneuver your opponent, and then smash him all over the place with high kicks, spin kicks and crushing low kicks.”
The strength of TNT stems from the science with which it blends two ranges and two heights of kicking. Taekwondo has traditionally been considered a long-range, high-target system, whereas Thai boxing emphasizes the middle range, in which mid- and low-level kicks rule. By combining these divergent methods, you can transform your offense into a fearsome flurry of feet and shins.
Caution must be exercised whenever you mix arts, however. “You can’t just learn some taekwondo, learn some muay Thai and call it a new system,” Kang advises. “What makes an effective system is the special logic that is behind the moves, behind the physical motions. That logic has to be proved in sparring.”
To illustrate how such a logical mix can present you with additional fighting options, Kang cites one of the gapclosing moves of taekwondo: the sliding roundhouse kick. Once you have made contact with the technique and established the middle range, you may choose to slam a second roundhouse kick into your opponent’s midsection as is often seen in taekwondo.
Or you can opt to fire a Thai round kick at his outer thigh with your other leg. If the rules permit, you could even continue with a knee to the face.
It is obvious that TNT possesses an excellent set of combinations for moving in, but it also has great exit maneuvers that will enable you to fight up close until you can return to long range. One example starts from the clinch, a common position in the Thai and taekwondo arena. Instead of sticking with the techniques of one art, you mix kicks by firing an innerthigh round kick to loosen your opponent’s hold, then throw your weight back and blast a jump spinning back kick into his midsection.
The combination is unexpected, and the result is devastating.
The essence of this hybrid kicking art, Kang says, can be boiled down to a few simple principles: “Use the angles of one system to complement the other, and use the freedom of one system to break the rules of the other.
Attacks, defenses, fakes, retreats— you have them all, but more importantly you can adjust them to meet the needs of whatever ring you are fighting in.” ...