whats the difference between itf tae kwon do and wtf tae kwon do?

[nobody]

i used to take itf, then i moved and tried to join up, but they said that i would have to start back at white, because they taught wtf, and i learned itf. i learned kungfu anyway, but im just curious.

[Mr Nunchaku]

Have no fear! I can answer that. I am in WTF AND ITF, so I hope I will answer this to the best of my ability.

ITF and WTF are the two main tae kwon do associations. The two styles are actually slightly different.

ITF-International Taekwondo Federation. Considered the original and therefore "traditional" (please notice the quatation marks). ITF uses the original forms. ITF, generally, is more like karate than WTF due to a more balanced use of hands and feet while incorporating various Chinese martial arts kicks. The curriculum often teaches use of varous weapons, typically the bo, board breaking, sparring, etc.

WTF-World Taekwondo Federation. This is what you see in the Olympics, known as Olympic style tae kwon do. Generally, WTF focuses more heavily on kicking, but they still learn the use of hands. Sparring is almost always full contact. They have forms that are very similar but are different to ITF. They also do all the basic martial arts training including board breaking. However, I rarely see weapons training, other than your bare hands of course.

The reason they wanted you to start over may be because of different forms, but were it me I'd let you start where you left off, but make you double your efforts on learning the forms.

[nobody]

well im actually kind of glad, because i said, if im going to start again, ill take a new style, so i took kung-fu...i like it much better then tkd, but thats just personal opinion.

[Mr Nunchaku]

Great, you should always take what you want to take. Just don't judge an art on a few basic ideas, especially from what little I told you in my post. You're not of course, just wanted to mention that.

[Dark Knight]

When I took TKD I came as a Black Belt from another system. They just let me stay Black and learn all the forms.

[rogue]

Our school will respect someones belt if they have a certificate, show what they know and have someone that'll vouch for them. Then they just have to learn the hyungs. We do have one WTF BB that took it upon himself to just start at white. This guy is an awesome kicker and a excellent sparring partner but feels that the two (WTF/ITF) are different enough to start from scratch.

[Dark Knight]

The benifit of starting again as a white belt is incredible amount of trophies you will accumulate as you go to tournaments as a lower rank with BB skills