Tae Kwon Do will not require (or didn't for me) any special gear, outside a uniform (can be fairly pricy). I took this in college as well.
Kickboxing will require (at the minimum) hand wraps with potentially gloves. These are mostly to protect your hands, more than anything. I took this after college.
If you're looking for exercise, both are good. If you're looking for self defense, I think kickboxing is far more effective. Tae Kwon Do looks great, and is showy, but less effective.
You'll also get more contact (outside of board breaking in Tae Kwon Do) in kickboxing. The contact will be on pads, for both people's safety, but still contact.
IMO, it really depends entirely on the group. I did college taekwondo, and it was amazing, mostly because of the family group that formed out of it. Plus since it was a college group, we were allowed to be a little rough with each other. I could be biased. I'm engaged to someone I met in my college TKD class, and I still consider everyone my really close friends. :p
I wouldn't let yourself be intimidated by bouncy and flexible. I am decidedly not either of those things, and I still earned by blackbelt.
I'll think about it, but I was kinda looking for a hard style... I don't like getting loud or anything like that, but I do like kicking. But learning how to redirect opponents energy and use it against them would be good self-defense... Thanks for the feedback =)
with your reservations about tae kwon do don't forget you can always work towards becoming more flexible and getting more energy. Everyone has to start somewhere and I'm sure any club will give you exercises/drills that you can do to help you progress.
Thanks for giving me some input, guys =) I'll try to keep an open mind to everything. It's true- I'll attempt to not be intimidated by the flexibilty and energy of taekwondo, since I could one day work up to it (I also like breaking boards, as I found out in Kuk Sool Won XD). But kickbixing may be the one for me since it's good self-defense. Still- I have about a year to decide. If I can, I'll sit in on a class for each one so I can get an idea of what I'd be doing for that particular one =)
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Tae Kwon Do will not require (or didn't for me) any special gear, outside a uniform (can be fairly pricy). I took this in college as well.
Kickboxing will require (at the minimum) hand wraps with potentially gloves. These are mostly to protect your hands, more than anything. I took this after college.
If you're looking for exercise, both are good. If you're looking for self defense, I think kickboxing is far more effective. Tae Kwon Do looks great, and is showy, but less effective.
You'll also get more contact (outside of board breaking in Tae Kwon Do) in kickboxing. The contact will be on pads, for both people's safety, but still contact.
Hope this helps.
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I wouldn't let yourself be intimidated by bouncy and flexible. I am decidedly not either of those things, and I still earned by blackbelt.
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