Originally Posted by: hunter60There are plenty of groin injuries from overly agressive stretching to be sure but I have seen the very same in football, track and baseball. To each his own about what arts are more effective. It's solely up to individual. I have fought in tournaments against folks from a variety of arts. Each has its strength and weakness. I only advised TKD as it has been my art for ten years and the increased leg strength I developed has helped me run and complete 4 full marathons.

Each person needs to find what works for them. I am a short, somewhat muscular person. TKD because of it's use of the high kicking helps me when I go up against someone taller who has a natural reach advantage. But again, that's me. To each his own.

I never realy liked TKD either as a truly effective fighting system simply because it is overly technique based and disregards the modern fighting techniques of a well trained opponent. Then again, that goes for most traditional arts - karate included. TKD and other traditional styles are excellent for fitness and mental discipline though (TKD is particularly good for flexibility acrobatic kicks but you can't beat a solid shin to the side of the thigh at the end of the day :eek: ).
For anyone interested, I fought in the universities open in the Tokyo Budokan back in 1995 - it was mostly Muai Thai but there were also some Shorinji Kenpo guys there too. I was one of the only heavy weights so I was lucky to get away with a medal from two fights and a broken nose. It was crazy though, they had guys scrub the blood off the canvas in between bouts. Needless to say I only did it the once!
Then I got into MMA and trained at Kiyoshi Tamura's U-File Camp (Rings Japan champ and Pride fighter) all the time training in Budo taijutsu (under Ishizuka when I was in Japan and Brian McCarthy in Dublin). The Pride fighter was the most dangerous guy I trained with but the traditional arts were the most fulfilling in terms of a life path for health, outlook and philosophy.
The thing I've learnt in 20 years of training is that there is no one best style but there are common threads that can be utilised depending on body type, speed and your oponents qualities. A great UFC fighter I recently saw that mixed his traditional karate with jujitsu and MMA is Ueda Machida - very impressive. Anyhoo - sorry for hijacking the thread, I always love to talk martial arts!