Different Taekwon-do Organisations + Styles Explained / ITF - WT - ATA comparison

In this video, I am going to explain the differences of the three main Taekwon-do organisations: ITF, WT and ATA. I hope that you will all like the video! Make sure that you have SUBSCRIBED ❤️ to my channel and your notification bell is switched on 🛎so that you know the moment I have uploaded a new video!

🥋Nora Csiszar is a 4th Dan black belt ITF Taekwon-do International Instructor.

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[lawrencehealey]

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, ITF competition sparring WAS basically full contact to the body for black belts (it was permissible) especially if the opponent showed poor technique or sloppy defence. A haymaker knockout punch or unsighted spinning backfist however WAS a disqualification - again depending on the belt level And the people sparring. I've done Thai boxing and Kickboxing too and I've seen more injuries in Semi Contact ITF, because there's no conditioning and usually a terrible defence. WTF (as you said) was far more realistic as the opponent had to be staggered to score the point but unfortunately punches were not often used because the judges really needed to see those staggering kicks and not punching to the face? I don't agree with it - I fought WTF proponents in kickboxing matches and to be honest they had no defence whatsoever, but their kicks were full commitment leaving them off balance and exposed (but if they caught you.... night, night). Nowadays, WTF is terrible to watch and should be replaced in the Olympics with WAKO Kickboxing.but... there's a lot of money invested in it at the moment .... ATA? .... sorry from what i've seen that is pure McDojo. The Best TKD exponents are mostly ITF because they can more easily transition into full contact kickboxing and many have done. But, an informative video. thank you.

[kirkbrooks]

When I became an ATA black belt back in 1981 the hyung were all Gen. Choi's forms. Apparently many years, perhaps after the passing of HU Lee, they changed completely. Other differences were that sparring was hand/foot pads only with no head contact and no schools provided any type of grappling or weapons training. Now it appears that the ATA does teach weapons but I think it's more of a sport aspect than traditional weapons. Also, I remember when tournament scoring went from 3 points to 5 points with changes to the scoring method for punches (1 point), kicks to the body (1 point), head kicks (2 points), and jumping head kicks (3 points). That was a change I liked, it made for great sport competition fighting.

[bradleygilmore]

I was/am an ATA blackbelt before switching to WT. WT and ITF are actually much more similar in practice. They draw much more heavily from Taekyeon. ATA practices Songham Taekwondo, which draws much more from Tang soo do (Korean Karate).

[sergiodiaz]

Corrections ATA is world wide not just USA, also weapon style is incorporated differences of ITF

[roberttaylor]

Thank you so much for this information, I have obtained my first dan black belt from ITF under master James B C Yu of Ann Arbor Mich. Back in May of 1983, since then I have been out of TKD due to open heart surgery in 2006, and now in 2024 I have returned to ATA TKD under Master Prosser, in Cuba, Mo.

[bombdotcom]

I've seen a lot of people crap on ATA for the style and all, calling it a McDojo especially when it comes to sparring, but seeing with this breakdown of the different styles it just seems to me that there's a major difference in how it's taught and really who the overall style is targeted towards. I've heard people say that the reason it's so padded with ATA sparring is because it's meant for a much broader range of people to be able to try. Little kids or older people might want to take it a bit easier with sparring so ATA's style might be a better option if they want to spar than say ITF and WT. This video has made me want to try these different styles of Taekwondo to see how different they really are from each other up close.

[daxbradley]

Worth noting is in the ATA, Grandmaster H.U. Lee and his team introduced the new forms in '83 or '84. The ATA used to do General Choi's forms (Chong-Ji, Dan-Gun, etc) until then. ATA wanted their own 'brand' if you will, and the new Poomse/hyungs are distinguished by everything being equal on the right and left, whereas the old style sometimes featured kicks mostly on the right.

[natashamillard]

I'm a 3rd Degree Black Belt in ATA and my husband is a 5th Degree Black Belt. While not all the information in your video is correct, it was educational to watch.

[EndersFireEdits]

i do ATA. currently a red belt going for Red-Black. I've seen a lot call it a McDojo, i just wanna see the majority opinion? I don't think it is as i would probably beat most kids at school in a fight, but i just want to know what others think about ATA.

[brendanoconnor]

ITF black belt here, in all the ITF clubs that I know off, you must be a 7th dan before being seen as a master. And we certainly don't spar semi contact! Nice video :)

[carlosarellano]

Morning Nora, great video and history breakdown!! I practice WT

[Deadlock]

ATA has schools all over the world. In Canada and Europe and other places, the organization is known as W.T.T.U, and in South America, the organization is known as STF.

[vetampa]

I only just started my sixth year in the ITF. Thank you for the informative video!

[theresavonphul]

ATA member for 35 + years. I love learning about the other styles and strengths. Thsi was great. ATA is now worldwide.

[jeremrock]

Martial arts are not just sports, they are lifestyle, too!
Do you prepare others videos about flexibility or musculation?

[jaimeflor]

It's interesting to hear the comparison. I'm a former ATA student, but that was in the 90's and I'm sure it's different now. In fact, modern WT olympic sparring looks considerably different to what I remember of ATA. In the 1990's, at least at my dojang, sparring was hard. When I first joined, there was also no chest protector. No punching to the face of course, and the camouflage belt was just added. My master emphasized power and technique.

[jaypeve]

Great video lady, awesome info,
I’m not sure you mentioned the breaking boards or bricks, I’m not sure if or how ATA do breaking, but WT i think mostly does more acrobatic, jumping or flying, flashy kicks for breaking were they break many boards one at a time as quickly as they can, and I see mostly ITF do power breaking like Karate where they break many boards at once stacked together with one strike to break through as many as possible

[its_yosuru]

I’m glad to know that not all big tkd names aren’t all about foot fencing like ATA or WT, both CTF and ITF focus on the original aspect of tkd

[tlewisAK]

Great video! I study ITF and I’m in the one under Choi Jung-hwa. Keep up the great videos!

[VolodymyrLysak]

I had a red belt (ITF). After 20 years I started practicing WT (black belt version). Now I have an orange belt (WT) and can say there are differences. The main difference for me is while ITF has slow but powerful kicks, WT has quick and weak ones. My best assumption is that they simplified moves as much as possible to make them quicker.
However, some kicks are more powerful in WT (like naeryo chagi, no idea why).