Right off the bat I want to say that I don't want to start any fights with this topic. I don't want to talk about whether TKD is, or should be, a sport or a martial art and I don't want to get into the WTF verses ITF debate.

What I'm interested in is that there seems to be a general acceptance (I find it here on budoseek, on other websites, and even from some people at my dojong) that WKD is not very effective in a "real" (for that read "getting started on in the street") fight.

Where I train we occasionally practice TKD in it's Olympic form (which I enjoy but I don't want it to be the focus of this thread). However, for the most part we practice what I think of as TKD as a martial art. We practice kicks and hand strikes to all areas of the body, elbow and knee strikes, throws and joint locks. We probably spend 50% of the time purely on kicks and the other 50% on the rest.

Now I freely admit that I have little experience of other martial arts. However, other than a lack of wrestling and ground work I feel that all of the bases are covered in what I'm taught. I also feel that many of the moves and combinations that we learn bear some similarity to what I see in Muay Thai, which generally is considered a good "street fighting" martial art.

So, sorry for my long preamble, but my questions are these: 1) Is it fair to say that TKD is not a good martial art for "real" fights, and 2) if so, why and what makes other arts better suited?

Thanks as always.

Owen