Category: Forms – Poomsae – Hyung – Tul

Forms are patterns – pre-defined sequences of movements. Traditional martial arts use forms. Japanese styles like Karate call them “kata”. Chinese styles use “taolu”. And Taekwondo has several names, depending on the style. Kukkiwon Taekwondo uses “poomsae” and ITF use either “hyung” or “tul”.

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Common Techniques Found In Taeguek Poomsae

What Are The Techniques In Taeguek movements?

In this post, we’ll discuss some of the common techniques used in Taekwondo’s Taeguek family of forms. Perhaps, I’ll have another article discussing Palgwe or Chang Hon forms, or, I’ll just edit this post. For now, I just want to cover some of the techniques, and highlight some important concepts that will be used in the forms examination posts.

I’ve categorized the techniques into a broad category of stances, hand techniques, and foot techniques. Hand techniques include grabs, releases, and elbow strikes; and foot techniques will include knee strikes.

This post isn’t a canonical list of the techniques, nor is it meant to be. You can find a canonical list of Kukkiwon (poomsae) techniques in Kukkiwon’s textbook, and you can find a canonical list of ITF (chang hon) techniques in General Choi’s Encyclopedia of Taekwondo. As a result, there may be techniques covered in those books, but if they don’t appear in a poomsae/hyung, then, I probably won’t discuss it. Maybe, I’ll cover those esoteric movements in another post, but that will be decided later.

Stances

Stances are designed to help us move from one place to another, or to stabilize our current position in order to effect a technique. I often see instructors have their students remain in a stance for as long as possible in order to build leg muscles or muscle memory, but I don’t think that is a proper training method for learning stances.

First, it creates too much emphasis on the “static” part of the stance – the part you remain still – and not enough on the other part of the stance’s purpose, which is to move you from one place to another.

Second, to have students move up and down a line doing nothing but back stances defeats the training needed to move from back stance to front stance to horse stance to crane stance, and so on.

Third, remaining in a stance “to build muscles” is misguided because in real life, the stance you use is only momentary at best. If you’re in the stance for longer than that, you’re doing something wrong.

Naming A Stance

We typically qualify a stance (left or right) by the majority of weight on a foot. Since in a back stance, for example, the majority of weight is on the back leg, then, it’s a left back stance when the left foot is back and the right foot is forward; conversely, a right back stance is when the right foot is back and the left foot is forward.

But in a forward stance, most of the weight is on the forward foot, so, a left forward stance is when the left foot is forward.

Note that many stances have no left/right or forward/back qualification, because, there is equal balance on both feet. For example, the horse and parallel stances are neutral in this regard. So there is only “horse stance”, while there is a “left forward stance” and “right forward stance”.

Note: some people qualify a stance by whichever foot is most forward. I won’t in this case. Please be mindful of this.

Walking Stance

The Walking Stance is performed as if you were walking a normal pace. One foot pas the other, feet naturally place on the ground.

When performing a technique in this stance, note that your base is more compressed than when in a forward stance; thus, your center of gravity is higher and you have less balance. You do, however, have better opportunity to move about, since you are less rooted to the floor.

The walking stance can be used for any technique, but generally a strike is best – like a punch. You are less rooted to the ground and therefore your punches may be less effective than when in a front stance. In cases where a punch requires such strength, then, a forward stance can be used. Note that our forms don’t (and shouldn’t) require great strength; therefore, forward stance punches are probably not punches at all, whereas walking stance punches probably are.

This stance is classified by whichever foot is forward: left foot forward is a left walking stance. It is consistent with the naming of the front stance, which has more of the weight over the front foot, and therefore, the front foot qualifies the stance.

Front Stance (aka Forward Stance)

The front stance is the counterpart to the walking stance. Your base is a bit wider, offering a lower center of gravity, and therefore more stability and balance. Your weight is more over the front foot, and thus it qualifies the stance based on which foot is forward.

In the front stance, the back leg is straight. I hesitate to say lock the rear knee – that would reduce movement. However, the back leg provides an anchor and stability when pressing against, or throwing an opponent. The front leg’s knee is bent, providing a capability to move it to maintain balance. The more bent it is, the lower your center of gravity and therefore more balance is offered – but at the cost of lesser mobility.

Because of the less mobility offered by the front stance, it is better suited for techniques where the opponent will be finally dispatched, not in the beginning or middle of a sequence of movements. As such, a final punch, or a throw, is more suitable for a front stance.

Because the weight is encumbered on the front leg, front leg movements is all but completely hindered. Sliding, kicking, or side-stepping are very difficult and are not advisable. There are no techniques in any form having any front-leg techniques executed whilst in a front stance.

Note the name of this stance is sometimes called a “front stance” or a “forward stance”. They are synonymous. The qualification of “left” or “right” depends on the front foot, because most of the body’s weight is placed on the front foot.

Back Stance

The stance allows easier movement from one position to the other. As one shoulder is forward over the other, there is a neutral telegraph. It allows to slide forward (stepping forward with the front foot) without changing shoulders. The distance covered isn’t as great as a full step forward (stepping forward with the back foot), and an experienced attacker will know this. Nevertheless, you are not compromising your options; in fact, you are making some of your options easier – we’ll talk about them as we get to them. A step or slide forward is much easier than when in a forward stance due to the fact that there is less need for body shift (which will reduce the time to take to complete the movement).

Note that also, a foot that is forward and back provides better stability when being pushed or pulled in the north or south direction, compared to when the feet are parallel and are tow-in-line. It provides less north/south movement stability compared to a forward stance. From a lateral direction, it provides more stability than when feet are together, and less stability then when in a horse stance. Thus, this stance is a compromise in stability for various directions, while optimizing options for some other movements

The other thing to note about a back stance, sometimes called a “fighting stance”, in which case the hands are also up in fists, is that it can be seen as an aggressive stance – an invitation to engage in combat. When sport sparring, this is not an issue – we expect to spar. But in self-defense, this hurts our changes to de-escalate.

Hand Techniques

Punch

Ever hear the ages-old complaint about punching in taekwondo? We punch by having the first two knuckles forward (which is correct), and the palm to the floor. Eh…

So the punch with the palm to the floor vs the punch where the palm is vertical depends on context.

If you’re punching to hit someone, then you generally want the punch to be vertical. But that’s only when the punch is straight forward. The dynamics of that punch changes depending on the height of the target relative to the puncher’s shoulder.

If the punch is high, there’s just no way you’re going to land that punch. Sorry. Either method will have you spraining your wrist. If you’re going to punch high, you’re better off with a backfist or an upper cut. Or, maybe the punch isn’t a strike but a grappling maneuver instead.

If the punch is low, then you definitely want the palm down, although there can be argument for a grappling maneuver here as well, in which case the palm down or sideways depends on context.

If the punch is straight through, you can use either. But the stronger punch has the palm vertical.

Double Knifehand Block

Single Knifehand Block

Knifehand Strike

Low Block

High Block

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Examining Taeguek 1 – Movements 3 and 4

Quick – get a primer on understanding your forms here

Check out some basic concepts of the first two movements here

The Next Two Movements

The next two movements we do is to turn 180 degrees, from facing west to facing east.

We do that by following these steps, pretty much in order:

With our “punching” (right) hand, we bring it to our left ear in a fist, so that the palm of our fist faces the ear.

  1. With our “chambered” (left) hand, we bring it underneath the right elbow or arm pit.
  2. Turn the head to the right, so that we can see eastward.
  3. Lift the right forward foot, pivoting on the left ball of toe, so that we can turn and face east.  (There are some interesting discussions here, just go with it for a moment).
  4. As you turn to the right and face east, step in to a walking stance.
  5. As you step down into the walking stance, bring the right hand down into a low block.
  6. As you bring the right hand down into a low block, retract the left hand into chambering position at the hip.

Ok, we’ll stop here for a moment. Yes, the 4th movement is a step forward and punch, but we’re not there yet.

Don’t Tell Me We’re Blocking Kicks Again!

Sadly, the myth continues. If you thought that facing 90 degrees until the last moment where you turned and blocked a kick coming at you was ridiculous, think about this gem:

You’re now facing away from your opponent. That is, you’re facing west, and your opponent is standing at your back, ready to throw a roundhouse. You know this, because when you turn, you are throwing a low block… right? You can’t see him, but the instructor says that the form says that the opponent will be throwing a roundhouse at you.

Hopefully, you’re not buying that babble of baloney again?

We can think of several considerations here. Note that this movement is present in several of our forms, Taeguek 1, 2, and 3. Only, 2 and 3 have us using a full front stance, not a walking stance. I have a thought on why that is, but my reasoning is not particularly strong. I’m open to other people’s ideas.

For me, the walking stance is better for landing a punch whereas the full front stance is more suitable for a throw. The reason is this: when you step forward, you must be careful about commitment to that step. Too much, and you can’t back out very easily. Too little, and the technique won’t be effective. In my opinion, a rule of thumb, is that a walking stance is best when used with a punch, and a full front stance is best when used for a throw. When you throw, there is lesser expectation of a need to back out. With the walking stance, the punch may not be effective, or it may be parried or dodged, so you have more of a need for a backup plan.

There are subtleties here worth discussing in class, but remember that the presumption is that students have not yet learned Taeguek 2 or 3 yet, so they may not necessarily understand the nuances here. And ironically in the first movement, we really did focus on the throw with the walking stance, rather than the punch: the very opposite of what I just said!

Like I said, these are open to varying interpretations, and I don’t strongly subscribe to one theory over the other. I think the discussion is worth its weight in gold, much more than any conclusion to be drawn as to whether there ought to be a punch or a throw. In other words, I’m saying it’s better to have a lengthy and even spirited discussion over this and not yield a conclusion, rather than to have a conclusion or to subscribe to a rule of thumb without the discussion. The journey, then, is more important than the goal.

Why Turn 180 Degrees?

We must ask ourselves, what is the impetus for turning 180 degrees?

Is it that there is someone behind us that we need to dispatch?

Is it that the person we’re currently trying to dispatch needs to be re-dispatched?

Or is it that we’ve dispatched the person attacking us; the new movements presume a completely different attack scenario?

The answer could be either 2 or 3. But for all intents and purposes, movement 3 represents a new attack, it matters not whether the person got up from his throw, or he reversed us, or a completely new person is now attacking us. For our purposes, the attack is the same, it doesn’t matter who or why the attack was chosen or by whom.

However, let it be known that we are not defending an attack by someone who is behind us! Were we to assume that, then, we are assuming the strike that will be used. That’s neither realistic nor practical. Remember: our movements presume the attack has already occurred. Therefore, the person who is further west of us (in front of us), the direction we are facing before we turn 180 degrees, is the person who is attacking us.

Ole!

Who says that?

Yeah, a crowd at a bull fight. It’s said in approval of a matador’s performance. It sounds cheesy, but it’s a good visual. Think about the bull charging at the matador. What is he doing as the bull charges?

He’s getting out of the line of attack.

Spoiler alert! That’s what we’re doing, too.

Thinking about the matador and the defender, the effects of moving out of the way are the same. He steps aside allowing the charging bull/attacker to run through, continuing along the line of attack. There are some other similarities as well.

The bull fighter does not take a wide berth to get out of the bull’s way. Neither does the attacker – and for very different reasons. The bull fighter will appear to be running away from the bull, which shows cowardice and is not appealable to the crowd. He won’t get an “Ole” for that move. He gets off the line of the bull’s attack, but he stays close by, and he waits until the last moment to do so, otherwise, an early move off the line will give the bull enough opportunity to change his direction, and chase the matador.

The defender similarly doesn’t give a wide berth as well, but not because of crowd appeal, he does it so as not to telegraph his intentions. The same can be said for the bull fighter, by the way.

What Kind Of Attack

Enough of the bull.

What is it we’re defending against?

It’s a good question, and it can vary with the experience of the student here. A junior student can rationalize being grabbed by the shoulder again, only instead of a dispatch of the attacker by changing the attacker’s line of attack, he’s allowing the attacker to continue on his line of attack – and the defender moves out of the way.

An experienced student could be said to “invite” the attack by making an indication toward his shoulder – an invitation to grab the shoulder. This is a classic concept in Aikido and Hapkido, and the mantra is espoused in the Japanese concept of “Sen sen no sen” – the attack before the attack.

Important Note!

In order for either scenario to work, the shoulder closest to the attacker must be forward. But in both cases, the wrong shoulder is forward when we consider the punching hand when we’re facing west.

What we want is for the attacker to grab the left shoulder instead.

Why the left shoulder?

Because, that is the side being grabbed, and we are responding with the right hand. Thinking ahead for a moment, we are in punching position with the right hand and right foot forward. We know the next movement is the right hand chambers to the left shoulder in preparation for a 180 degree turn, and then execute a low block with the right hand right over the right knee.

In order to pull this off, we need to look at that turn in a microscopic way.

Let’s break down that turn to 180 degrees first.

A Note About Turning

I don’t know how you are taught to turn 180 degrees, but for many people, it goes something like this:

Push off with your right foot, so that your left foot takes the weight of your body, and then you spin clockwise, and when your body fully turns 180 degrees, you’re now facing east – as intended.

I’m not a true fan of this method. First off, for many people, they’re pivoting on the left heel, which is wrong. Others sort of pivot off the whole foot. Somewhat better, but best is to pivot off the ball of toes.

Except, we’re not ballerinas, and we’re not on ice. Any sort of pivot is creating havoc on ankles and knees, and only gets worse when wearing sneakers on grass. That pivot can tear an ACL.

Also, remember we want the attacker to grab the left shoulder, yes? If you don’t offer the left shoulder, guess which shoulder he’ll grab? Yes: the wrong one. And the low block will have no meaning.

So when you pivot, you should do so in these steps, verbatim!

A Note About Directions

I will indicate several direction methods.  Compass directions, because it’s easier to visualize, but also, clock directions.  As you face any particular direction, we’ll start the clock at the 12:00 position.  So when you are now facing west and punching towards west, you are facing the 12:00 position.  I do this because I want your right foot to land at the 8:00 position in a moment.

The problem is that I could say put your foot at the SSW position (south of south-west), but that’s hard for people to imagine.  I could also keep the clock at 12:00 at all northern facing positions, and so when we face west, we’re facing 9:00, and when we face east, we’re facing 3:00; that means we want to move the foot from 10:00 position to 5:00 position.  I think that’s a lot of imagination for people to think about.  

So what I’ll do is keep the compass directions absolute (north is always the direction you face when you start the form), but the clock will be reset to 12:00 for whatever direction you’re currently facing.  So now that we’re facing west, we’ll reset the clock and say we’re facing 12:00 position.

Turning 180 Degrees – The Wrong Way

How do you make that 180 degree turn? Let’s take it step-by-step, the way it is commonly, but wrongly done:

  1. From the position you are in, facing west, your right hand is extended for the punch
  2. As you face west, remember that is the 12:00 position you are facing, and, your right foot is at 2:00 position.
  3. Your goal is to turn and face the 6:00 position (east), with your foot landing at the 8:00 position.
  4. So do that: face west (12:00), and lean back, loading all of your weight on your left foot, and with momentum from the shift in weight, turn to the 6:00 (east) position.
  5. When the right foot lands at 8:00 position, your right shoulder is now forward toward east.
  6. When the attacker is offered the shoulder and grabs it (it could be the lapel, ear, arm, etc), your right hand covers his hand (either hand), and then, you turn (pivoting on the balls of toes).
  7. As you turn to the east, you are now facing the 6:00 position.  We’ll reset the clock to 12:00 position when we talk about the next two movements.

Turning 180 Degrees – The Right Way

In my opinion, this is the better way.  We’ll compare the two methods afterwards, and you can see which you prefer.

  1. From the position you are in, facing west, your right hand is extended for the punch
  2. As you face west, remember that is the 12:00 position you are facing, and, your right foot is at 2:00 position.
  3. Your goal is to turn and face the 6:00 position (east), with your foot landing at the 8:00 position.
  4. So do that: face west (12:00), but first retreat the right foot to the 8:00 position.  Do not turn your body to the 6:00 (east) position just yet.  Only move the foot.
  5. When the right foot lands at 8:00 position, your left shoulder is now forward toward west.
  6. When the attacker is offered the shoulder and grabs it (it could be the lapel, ear, arm, etc), your right hand covers his hand (either hand), and then, you turn (pivoting on the balls of toes).
  7. As you turn to the east, you are now facing the 6:00 position.  We’ll reset the clock to 12:00 position when we talk about the next two movements.

Comparing The Methods

I highlighted the text in bold red so show the results from the differences in methods, and the strikethrough text does not apply – we need to discuss that in a minute.

So note the main difference: in the first method, we’re spinning on only the left foot – a single foot. In the second method, we’re spinning on both feet.

Thinking of safety, the second method is safer, because you’re not straining the knee or ankle. You’re spinning on both feet.

Thinking of practicality, well… guess what? When you load up the left foot in preparation for the spin, your body’s position doesn’t provide enough telegraph of the left shoulder (the one we’re hoping the attacker grabs, because it’s the right hand grabbing at the attacker’s hand on the left shoulder).

Further, when the attacker grabs you as you make your 1-foot spin, your balance is completely compromised (if our esteemed attacker hopefully grabs the left shoulder), and our evasive maneuver is completely ruined (and we can be reversed much more easily) if he grabs the right shoulder.

This is bad karma. Don’t load up your weight on a single foot to effect a spin, you need to have both feet on the floor at the time you are grabbed. This is nearly universally true, and applies to all turns in all forms. So I won’t generally repeat this again unless it’s important to do so.

Moving On

So timing of the spin is important here. If you are late with the turn, then, the attacker grabs the wrong shoulder or barrels into you. If you are properly timed with the step back, but late with the body turn, then the opponent can still barrel over you. If you are early with the body turn, you could break the opponent’s grip – we don’t want that; when he’s gripping, we have control over him.

We want to turn early enough that the left shoulder is offered; as he grabs the left shoulder, we want to allow his momentum to follow through, so, we step backward (foot at 8:00), then turn and pivot.

This is the key here: the turn is done on two feet, not on a single foot.

What Happens After The Spin?

So the esteemed attacker has taken the bait, and has grabbed the shoulder, lapel, elbow, sternum, ear, or hair – all basically on the left or center side. We’ve turned to the right (clockwise) so we’re facing in the completely opposite direction. And now what?

As the attacker grabs us, remember, we’ve got a close fist with the right hand, and the form has us put it on the left shoulder, suggesting that we’re grabbing that which is grabbing us. As we turn and effect the “low block”, the momentum of our turn pulls the attacker in a line that moves east-west; because we stepped into the 8:00 position, we’ve stepped slightly off the attacker’s line of attack, allowing him to pass through.

Whether he grabs with the left or right hand, it doesn’t matter – although the effects will be different. Nevertheless, he’ll be thrown using a wrist throw, not unlike the first movement. The difference between the first movement and the third movement is that in the first, the opponent is not moving, whereas in the third movement, the attacker is moving – toward us. We simply get out of the line of attack, and “invite him to pass on through”. Because we are controlling his wrist, he’ll hopefully barrel into a forward roll, whereas in Aikido or Hapkido, he’ll end up doing a high-fall. If the attacker resists, he’ll sprain, strain, or break his wrist.

If you want to help him along in a forward roll (or push into traffic…), you can effect that by grabbing a part of him (preferably something around the waist – shirt, belt, pants, etc) and step forward with the left foot. The form says “step forward and punch”, but are we really punching? Maybe, maybe not. The “punch” is represented by a closed fist, suggesting a grab. We could, in theory, be punching him.

And importantly, that’s where different interpretations of the form lay: step and punch (although I don’t know what you’d be punching, since his position will be awkward enough that there wouldn’t be a viable target), but then again, circumstances may be that the throw fails, and your recovery is to step and punch him. Either way is a good interpretive method of the form’s movement. This kind of thing can apply to every single movement in every single form – there’s rarely a technique that has a singular purpose – almost everything has multiple interpretations. I don’t like to make categorical statements, but on the other hand, I really can’t think of anything offhand that has only a single purpose.

Conclusion

Like the last post, if you follow this post, you can find enough material to last a few months of practice and experimentation. What is remarkable is we’ve only covered 2 movements (and two movements in the previous topic, albeit with some background details not covered here).

One challenge I raise to the reader: can you find an alternative to a throw from a grab of the shoulder? I don’t mean to include subtle differences such as “grab of the lapel, ear, hair, sternum/neck” as alternatives (although they are), what I want you to do is get out of the mindset that you may not necessarily be throwing; and your opponent may not necessarily be grabbing at anything.

Get creative, while being completely realistic. (That means, one attacker at a time!) And what you should do is go to a place where you can try it out on a partner. Your partner should be engaged, and should make an earnest and thoughtful attack.

Please, send your thoughts comments!

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Rules of Analyzing Your Poomsae / Hyung / Tul

Introduction

When you analyze what you are doing in your forms, you will no doubt encounter a bias pigeonholing you into thinking about what your technique is.

Have you ever wondered what you are blocking with a rising/high block? What kind of bad guy is going to attack you with a technique requiring you to use a high block? Either, the person is empty handed and wants to pound the hell out of you, or, they are armed – knife, bottle, stick, bat, etc.

Analysis Context

Before we get to answering that question, lets put things into context. Thinking of the early-belt forms, what stance are you typically in when you are performing a high block?

Yes, you are always in a front/forward stance. And what does that tell you?

Yes, you are squarely facing your opponent. And what are we supposedly blocking with the high block?

Yes, our wrist is facing our opponent. That is, the part where all of the arteries and nerves are otherwise protected by the ulna by being tucked into the body.

What’s Wrong With Common Analysis

Now, let’s look at what’s wrong with this picture.

When the attacker is attacking us empty handed, that seems very unrealistic. After all, shouldn’t we assume worst case we’re being attacked with a weapon of sorts? And in that case, how would our form change?

It seems unnatural to me to have someone coming at me with an empty-handed strike; at a minimum, a haymaker seems more natural for the untrained fighter. To the trained fighter, I’d say the chances of a downward empty-handed pounding is about zero.

Weapons

So an attacker with a downward strike is more likely to have a weapon. For the urban legend that we’re blocking a downward strike to be true, I would think that a bottle, club, 2×4, a baseball bat, or some such weapon were being used. I’d even suggest a knife might be used, although likely not by a skilled user.

Self-Injury

Recall that our wrist is facing the opponent The upper ulna, right at the styloid process, is being used for the purpose of the block. What do you think will happen when said ulna meets weapon?

Yeah – you gonna get a fracture.

And what if the weapon is a knife?

Yeah – you gonna get cut. You will bleed out in about 10-15 minutes. Long before that happens, it’s going to hurt to the point you won’t be able to focus on the attacker.

Stances

And now I have to bring about the stance. Up until now, the attacks have assumed to have been with the same side hand, and a single-handed strike. That does NOT preclude the attacker from being able to use his other hand. He can still punch, grab, or stab. We need to be mindful of that other hand. Prudence dictates we need to get out of the way. And that front stance does nothing to further that objective.

The Other Hand

And what are you doing with your other hand?

Ah, the infamous “chamber”. Lemme guess: you were told it was a way to make the high block stronger, right? Because of something about the “opposing muscles” in the chest? That’s where one action is running in the opposite direction of the other, somehow increasing your power.

LOL

You have my permission to LOL in front of any Sabumnim who preaches this crap.

So I said all that to say this: I said all that because we made the presumption we’re blocking something. Why?

Because we called it a “high block”.

That name gave us a bias. We were biased into thinking we were trying to block something. Just because of the name. As a result, we invented a scenario whereby we blocked something.

Thinking Outside Of The Box

Imagine this defense scenario. You are in a forward stance, and are quickly rising a closed fist with one hand and quickly pulling back with the other.

Now our options open widely. We can now imagine our technique as striking someone in the face whilst the chamber hand pulls him forward (or us closer), or maybe the chamber is preventing the attacker from using a weapon. Or maybe we’re jerking the opponent in such a way to make the attack/strike to the head more effective – the jolt momentarily stuns or off-balances the opponent while the rising fist strikes the opponent.

This is but one scenario that could be imagined; but you might ask, “well what if the opponent really is using a baseball bat?”. My answer to you, then, would be to use a different technique: your high block is going to be ineffective against a bat. I’d be going out on a limb here, but that would be my thinking.

The Rules

We’ll cover the specifics of each technique later, but for now let’s set up some rules:

#1 Don’t name your techniques

Instead, use them in terms of a description. Our analysis gets wordy after a while. But when we use the word block “block”, it suggests a singular use of the technique.

#2 Blocks are, well, not really blocks

This stems from rule #1, of course. But this rule emphasizes that blocks are more likely to be a grappling technique or a strike, rather than a block. Consider that the shape of the movement has some grappling application. If you can’t find a grappling application, then if it makes sense, it’s a strike. But don’t give up on the grappling. A “mountain block”, “hinge block”, or “inside block” are definitely not strikes.

#3 Don’t be afraid to look to Japanese bunkai for your Korean bunhae

Bunkai and bunhae are spelled the same way in Chinese characters, so it stands to reason that when Japanese and Korean readers see the phrase spelled that way, they’re thinking of the same concept: analysis.

We also know that Taekwondo poomsae has had heavy influence from Karate kata. In fact, you’ll see a huge similarity between techniques seen in Palgwe forms and Shotokan Karate kata. Don’t let your sabumnim lead you astray: many refuse to acknowledge Karate’s influence to Taekwondo. But if you follow the history, you find the understandable denial is related to the Japanese occupation of Korea. As a result of the Korean liberation, they’ve cleansed themselves from Japanese culture. In Taekwondo, that was no different. The history there is for another post, but suffice to say that Japanese influence is often denied or is only briefly acknowledged.

There is a ton of bunkai in Japanese karate, so, if you’re having trouble with a specific technique, it’s okay to step outside the style.

#4 Taekwondo is a newly and wholly invented system

Compared to other styles, it is relatively new, having been born in the early 1950’s. Yes, I know all about the Koguryo, Paekje, and Silla dynasties… they are always the go-to talking points whenever a traditionalist Sabumnim is asked about Taekwondo history.

Poomsae Evolution

The truth is, Taekwondo is only 70 years old, and it has undergone three evolutions of its poomsae in the Kukkiwon style.

The original Kukkiwon series of Poomsae was called Palgwe, and some say these poomsae are near copies from Shotokan karate.

The next evolution was the Taeguek series of poomsae, although, they kept the yudanja (black belt) forms.

The third iteration is born from World Taekwondo, is a confusing mess to describe. The organization created 10 new competition poomsae, with a single pilot poomsae called “Bikkak”, later the name and content changed to “Bikak”, then “Bee-gak Il jang”, “Bee-gak Ee Jang”, and “Bee-gak Sam Jang”. But these are only a few of the names of the forms in the series. The official names of the forms are Himchari, Yamang, Saebyeol, Nareusya, Bigak, Eoullim, Saeara, Hansol, Narae, and Onnuri.

Where’s The Bunhae?

The Taeguek forms are arguably invented to be basic with elements derived from Palgwe, but likely not with the idea of bunhae in mind. In other words, they are just a string of basic movements stitched together without any thought of application. The official Kukkiwon textbook does not cover in any detail about the applications within the poomsae, and so, it stands to reason that they do not place any real value into forms. Whether that is due to ignorance, bias, a new concept, or altogether something else, I have no idea.

Nevertheless, don’t expect any breadth of applications to come out of the Taeguek or Yudanja (or even Palgwe) forms. As a result, you will occasionally have to take liberties (read: get creative) about where the form ends and where applications begin.

The same is true for the Chang Hon set of forms seen in ITF. Gen Choi had no love of the Japanese, either, and his theory on forms was not at all in alignment with Shotokan Karate bunkai, and indeed, there are very few discussions of applications described in his Encyclopedia. In fact, some are quite comical even if the presentation is dead-pan serious.

#5 The form is not a complete sequence to be used in a self-defense scenario

This is reminiscent of the Saturday afternoon Hong Kong Kung Fu movies from the Shaw Brothers. There, one learns a style by completely learning a taolu (Chinese poomsae / hyung / kata, a word from which the Korean “tul” derives and is commonly used in ITF).

But here in Taekwondo (and Karate, and true Kung Fu), only one or two movements are used in a specific attack, there just happens to be many attacks presumed.

#6 You are not fighting two attackers at the same time

Let’s be clear here. In an altercation, there is the high probability you’ll be confronted with more than one person. But when you defend, you defend against one person at a time. So this business of punching a person at your front, and kicking a person at your rear is incorrect. The reason is because it makes a huge assumption which changes with the slightest of variables, not the least of which may include a 3rd (or more) persons, a weapon, or a specific technique. The quantum mechanics of handling such a scenario make for dealing with such things in poomsae impractical.

It doesn’t mean we don’t deal with multiple opponents; rather, it means dealing with each one, one by one. When we are learning the technique, we practice them and improve on execution, timing, and other elements of defense. We begin at later stages of our training to start including additional opponents, each of whom may have different attacks planned. What we have to do is consider each attack – whether by the same attacker or the others – and react appropriately and individually. But at no time will a single technique involve dealing with two or more opponents. So the classic argument that a mountain block is blocking simultaneous stick attacks from an opponent in front of us and another behind us is farcical.

#7 There are no wasted movements

In Taekwondo poomsae (Kukkiwon and ITF), most of the movements have a purpose that should be obvious that even with the more arcane ones it’s understandable to have martial relevance. The same can’t be said of Karate kata, some of which have strange movements that many have written off as a useless technique. In Taekwondo, we don’t have that issue – except one area.

That is the ready position – junbi. We have four of them. One is both fists down and in front (most forms); two knifehands forward (Koryo); covered fist (Ilyeo, Won Hyo); and covered palm (Pyong Won, Hwa Rang). ITF additionally has an open stance rightward covered punch (Yoo Shin), open stance crossed knifehands (UlJi), and covered fist variant (Choong Jang).

Each of these – the covered fist is famous – are discussed in terms of greetings, covering the groin, or some strange thing. No: we do not greet, and we don’t protect the groin by placing hands there. The shape of the hands and their manner of posture (fist, open, etc) tells us something about a moment in time we are being attacked.

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Examining Taeguek 1 – Movements 1 and 2

Quick – get a primer on understanding your forms here.

What Does Learning Mean?

Did you know? Taeguek 1 (Taeguek Il Jang) is only 18 movements long?

How long do you think it would take to learn this form?

Hint: This is a trick question.

I didn’t ask how long it would take to remember how to demonstrate the 18 movements; instead, I asked,

“How long would it take to learn this form?“

There’s a huge difference. For many people, learning the form means being able to perform all 18 movements without making a mistake.

For me, learning a form cannot occur in its entirety. It’s not like you get to the finish line of a race and that’s it. Done. Finito.

Learning a form at a minimum requires remembering the movements, and when you get to that point, that’s where the real learning begins. On the contrary, if you get to that point of learning only the movements and you don’t examine what you’re doing, then your instructor is doing you a disservice. A huge disservice. You haven’t learned anything!

Where To Start

Anyway, what is the first thing we do in the form?

Hint: “it’s not the turn-and-low-block“

Yep. It’s the junbi. The ready position is the first thing we do.

Why?

Urban Legend

If we consider that the usual “first movement” is the turn to low block, we need to ask: “What precipitates the need to turn to the left?”

The urban legend has it that the turn to the left is to block an incoming kick, because it’s a low block, and so what else could the strike be?

The problem with this interpretation is that it presumes the defender will remain standing straight staring forward, until at the last moment turns to the left and instantly knows to block something. If you knew someone was going to come at you from the side, your instinct isn’t going to be to just stand there looking straight, would it? And since this is self-defense, what is to be blocked? The guy could be armed with something, and you want to block?

Let’s get one thing straight: we rarely “block” in our forms. We call the movement “blocks“, but we really don’t want to parry an incoming strike, that gives the person another chance to attack us, unless there are circumstances where that may be appropriate. For example, you may be defending against your drunk brother at a party: do you want to hurt him, are you in fear of your life, or do you just want to control him until he calms down – forget about the police. This is, of course, a rare consideration – but it is nevertheless valid, and is the kind of scenario that is used to justify true blocking in self-defense.

Let’s Go To The Hospital

Now, in this whimsical scenario, we’ve blocked a roundhouse kick. What do you think will happen to our forearm? Remember, we are issuing the “block” with the clenched fist, and are “blocking” with the outer part of the top of the forearm. Tiny bones in there. Roundhouse kick: Big bones in there. What will happen with tiny bones vs big bones?

Correct. You will likely break your arm or wrist.

What else have we not done?

Hint: “get off the line of attack“

Yes: we have not only moved into the line of attack, but also, the stance we use locks us into place. We have no easy way to move out of the way once we’ve moved into harm’s way. No decent self-defense strategy, for a beginner, will have you stepping into danger and then lock you into that position, and then finally do something to break your arm or wrist. If the guy coming at us from the side has any sort of momentum, we will meet that momentum head-on: It’s gonna hurt.

Are We Forgetting Something?

And, what are we doing about the guy’s other hand? Shouldn’t we worry about his other hand, too?

Hint: “yes“

Do you now see the problem with this turn to the left, low block an incoming kick, and then step in for a punch which (we hope) knocks the person unconscious or renders him unable to continue his attack? It’s a long shot. Only the strongest (or luckiest) people in the world have a hope that this succeeds. We need to re-think this fanciful scenario. Let’s go back to the first technique.

Don’t Anticipate

The problem is this: our forms do not anticipate what the primary strike will be; rather, they are reactions to what has already been done. You may argue that you are “reacting to what you are inviting”.

The Japanese call this “Sen sen no sen“, and is a part of a more formal theory of training which includes “Go no sen“, “Sen no sen“, and “Sen sen no sen“. These respectively mean “After the attack (block and counter)“, “Attack the attack (same time, be faster than the opponent)“, and “Attack before the attack (take initiative, invite the attack)“.

I’ve never seen this discussed in other styles or cultures, and therefore I’m relying heavily on Japanese Karate for my source here. I’m not saying such doesn’t exist elsewhere, I’m just saying I’m not aware of it. I presume it does exist elsewhere, and perhaps it’s just not codified in neat little phrases.

The junbi offers that answer: we are grabbed. As a result, we don’t have to stand there until the last minute waiting for an incoming roundhouse and break our arm. This form assumes a very basic frontal grab of the wrist, lapel, hair, shoulder, etc.

And with even more in-depth analysis and practice, we can even react before the grab is successful – this is where the sen sen no sen comes into play.

This is the beauty of sen sen no sen: we invite the strike (the grab) so that we can (1) anticipate, and (2) issue an appropriate response. The beauty is that we are not attacking, so this has direct legal implications. If the person had real intentions to attack, they’ll attack – just in a preferred manner that you invite (we hope). If their attack was disingenuous, then we have not done anything harmful or illegal, and the person was not harmed in any way.

(As we get more experience, we can imagine other parts of us being grabbed. But let’s get this part figured out first.)

Grab Or Punch?

Why a grab? Why not a stab, or a double leg take-down?

Because one of the rules of forms is that when we have a clenched fist, more often than not, we are grabbing, or we are being grabbed. In the other occasions, we could be punching. Also, this is Taeguek 1. A basic form. Let’s start with easy principles first. Later, we might imagine more advanced attacks and imaginative responses with the first movements in the form. For now, let’s keep it simple.

When The Body Turns

And why the turn to the left, shouldn’t we worry about the other side as well?

Because, most attackers are right handed, and turning to our left turns to the attacker’s right. And yes. And your practice will address that. The form offers us a scenario, it’s up to us to analyze it, apply it, and practice it – any side.

The Attack Begins

Let’s imagine (we’ll do a lot of imagining in our forms; and we can adjust and change things up slightly to see how our techniques might adjust. For the moment, though, let’s just keep it simple) we have been grabbed by our right shoulder with the opponent’s left hand (this is called a “same-side grab”), and his intention is to use his dominant right hand to strike us with a punch to the face. That’s a very common and likely scenario, and basic enough for a beginner to understand.

So as we stand face to face with the opponent, our right lapel is grabbed. A “same-side grab”, means their left hand grabs our right side. A “cross grab” means the opponent grabs with right hand to get our right side – his arm crosses his body to get to us.

I’ll start by explaining a dirty little secret: Our turn and low block is not a low block. We’re not blocking anything at all! Here’s the gist of what’s happening, we’ll analyze it in a minute. The motions to execute the low block don’t change. The interpretation of what we’re doing does.

Primer – What Does The Form Have Us Do?

Recall all the little details that we do in the form:

  1. Start by facing north

  2. Turn our head to the west

  3. Lift the left fist to the right ear

  4. Do these things at the same time:

    1. Lift and prepare to move the left foot

    2. Step into a left forward walking stance

    3. Pivot on the right toes to turn our body westward

    4. Reach westward with the right fist

    5. Bring the left hand down into a “low block” just above the left knee

    6. Bring the right hand to the waist or chest into “chamber“

Interpretive Example

Here’s what we’re doing in actuality:

  1. Start by facing north

  2. Turn our head to the west

  3. Lift the left fist to the right ear shoulder, grabbing the hand that’s grabbing the lapel

  4. Do these things at the same time:

    1. Lift and prepare to move the left foot

    2. Step into a left forward walking stance

    3. Pivot on the right toes to turn our body westward

    4. Reach westward with the right fist

    5. Bring the left hand down just above the left knee

    6. Bring the right hand to the waist or chest into “chamber”

If you try this with a partner, you’ll see some amazing things happening. Let’s analyze each of these steps.

Analysis

Step 1 Why face north?

Because that’s just a reference point. We can face any direction, but the other steps are done with this reference point. Basically, we face “forward”, then turn left. With respect to the other movements in the form, it’ll be more clear to use compass directions. North is forward, relative to the starting position of the form. West is to the form’s left, east to the right, and south is opposite North.

Step 2 always turn your head before you turn

Why? Because you don’t want to step onto something dangerous, or turn into someone who could hurt you. As you turn your head, you are looking for friends or foes, an escape route, safety in your step location, and, for the next movement we haven’t done just yet, we need a place to put him: that could be onto the floor, into an opponent, into traffic, or into a wall. Your ethics will determine this, but this is one of those strategy concepts we talked about in the previous post.

Step 3 initial preparatory movement for “low block”

Why the fist? Why not an open hand?

Because, we’re grabbing something. As it turns out, that “chamber” at the ear is a grab: we’re grabbing his hand which is latched onto (or about to latch onto) the lapel.

And that grab of the lapel? We need to be sure we grab the right thing, and the correct way. Otherwise, if he’s got a hold of our clothes, we’ll be fighting his grip on the clothing, and that will mess up our “low block”. So we need to apply the proper grab of his grabbing hand. Place your left thumb on top of his thumb/hand joint just above the webbing of his hand. Place your four fingers on the other side of his hand. As you turn, peel his hand off of your lapel. That should release his grip. There’s a pressure point in the hand that, if done properly, that should make it easier to release his grip.

Step 4 we are doing a few things at the same time.
Step 4.1 Why step with the left foot and not the right?

Because after we step with the right foot, that would place our right foot next to his body. That gives him something to grab onto and use against us. Also, that prevents him from falling into our space, which is where we’ll place him in the next movement. By stepping with the right foot as we face westward, we prevent him from getting into that space. But by stepping with the left foot, we create a sort of pocket we can “dump” him in a moment.

Finally, by stepping with the right foot, we’re moving ourselves into the line of attack. The same may be said for moving the left foot, but with the former we don’t take him off-balance, whereas in the latter, he is off-balance.

There’s a subtlety with that balance. By stepping with the left foot, we pull him slightly forward while we maintain our balance. By stepping with the right foot, we allow him to maintain his balance, although we still maintain our own.

Step 4.3 another subtle thing about balance

We turn on the balls of the toes, not the heel. Why do you think that is?

Answer: if we turn on the heel, we’ll end up rocking backward. That will pull him into our space. That means, both of us are out of balance. When we pivot on the ball of toes, we have much more control over our balance. We’re not pulling him into ourself, either.

As we turn westward (to the left), notice what happens to the opponent’s body. Because we’ve held onto his grabbing hand, he cannot easily let go. Because we kept his hand close to the pocket of our shoulder, he can’t easily fight his way out, try as he might, we have the technical and tactical advantage. And now that we’re turning, guess what happens to his body?

Yes: it’s turning too – and it’s turning westward as well – the same direction we’re facing as we turn.

And you know what’s happening to that hand that was preparing to strike us in the face? It’s now becoming less of a worry, because his body is turning that arm back as it faces westward.

And as we turn to our left, we have now changed the line of attack.

Step 4.4 Extending a punch

In our forms, we’re taught to extend the right hand in a sort of clenched fist – like a punch – and then when we issue the low block with the left hand, we retract the right hand. This is the famous “chamber” that everybody fights about.

What we’re doing now with the right hand is this:

As we are turning westward, he’s potentially trying to get out of this wrist lock we’ve got him in with our left hand.  The safest way for him to do that is to bend his elbow as much as he can. That will get him closer to us, potentially allowing him to reverse the wrist lock, or strike or stab us with his other hand.  Or go for a double leg take-down.

We don’t want any of those to happen.  So with the right hand, in the fashion of extending the fist, we grab the cloth in the crotch of his elbow, or we grab the elbow (and note our chamber is a fist, and when we grab something, we represent it with a fist).  As we issue the low block, we’re pulling his horizontal arm into our belly.  This allows us much more control over his arm, and he can’t bend it for a reversal or escape.

Do you bring the right hand to the hip or to the shoulder? Recall all the arguments about where to chamber. The true answer is this: whatever works for you to keep that arm in control. By bringing your fist/his elbow to your hip, his arm will rest across your groin. He can’t get up since his arm is down. This is a kind of a weak shoulder lock. If you bring his elbow to your chest, you allow him more space to get up and potentially reverse you. Also, his elbow will naturally bend, and tactically, this is advantageous to him. In this case, then, I would “chamber” to the hip.

Step 4.5 Where is the hand facing

Notice as we bring his grabbing hand down to the knee: how is our hand facing?

Correct: in the form, our hand is a fist and the palm is facing the kneecap. (So, kind of downward facing.) In application, our fist is grabbing his hand, but our hand is completely turned over, and our palm is facing outward – completely opposite of what the form calls for.

So, that our palm is not facing the same direction as the form has us doing it is telling. It doesn’t mean the form is wrong (indeed, it isn’t), but what it does mean is that it we need to come up with an interpretation of an attack where the fist is not thus overturned.

End Of The First Movement

So, there’s a lot of principles at play, and we only made one real movement: a low block. We talked about balance, strategy, pressure points, eyeline, technique, realism, the chamber, and about pivoting on the toes.

Partner Practice

Now, go thou and get a partner and practiceth much. Rinse and repeat. And keep doing it. Practice being the attacker, and practice being the defender. Be sincere with your partner. That doesn’t mean try to beat the hell out of each other, but rather, offer realistic strikes and reactions so that you can get to understand the nuances of each of the elements just mentioned. And do that over and over.

Now, let’s play a little.

Changeup – sternum grab

Suppose we are instead grabbed by the clothing at our sternum? How does the form change here?

This is a perfectly valid alternative, and it’s also a realistic attack that can be addressed by this form’s technique. The only change here would be that instead of reaching for the hand grabbing the shoulder or lapel, we’re just reaching for the hand grabbing the clothing in the middle. Everything else remains the same.

Changeup – wrist grab

Suppose we are grabbed at the wrist. Suppose he grabs our right wrist instead. Does the basic movements of the form still work?

You bet it does. Same if he grabs hair or shoulder.

Changeup – cross hand lapel grab

What happens, then, if he grabs the right lapel with his right hand this time, instead? This is a cross grab. Can we do the same thing?

It turns out it can be done, but there’s a lot of fancy footwork to pull it off, and it would tend to violate the form’s teaching. So while it could be done, you’ll need to practice it. Does that mean this is an invalid self-defense strategy? No, it does not. But it may be too advanced for a beginner to grasp. It’ll be handled in another form, I assure you.

Conclusion

If you follow this post, you’ll find enough material to last a few months of practice and experimentation; by that time, you can probably cross over to an alternative technique (the Japanese call this a “henka-waza“, and in Korean, we say “byonhwa–gisul“) and play with the other hand grabs.

Please, send comments!

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Examining Poomsae

Introduction

Do you have any idea what you’re doing when you perform your poomsae (hyung, tul)? That is, the series of movements you do when you kick, punch, and block? You might call the forms “Taeguek“, “Palgwe“, “Songahm“, “Chang-An“, “Chil-Sung“, “Kicho“, “Say-Kye“, “Pyong-Ahn“, “Yuk-Ro“, or some variation within? Maybe, you refer to your forms by the name of the first form, like “Chon-Ji“, “Taeguek Il Jang“, or “Kicho Il Bu“.

The name doesn’t matter. What matters is the material inside what you’re doing, and more importantly, do you have an understanding of what you’re doing.

Myths Of Forms

What was it they told you about your forms? I’ve heard the forms teach how to kick and punch. (Meh…) I’ve heard that forms teach how to fight. (Meh…) About breathing, balance, and eyeline.

I don’t entirely subscribe entirely to any of that. Forms can put those things into context, but really – how old are you now? That’s how long you’ve been breathing, looking, and balancing. Forms won’t change any of that. Teach how to fight? Sure. But with no opponent to worry about? Those Kung Fu movies are very entertaining, but not at all realistic.

Itinerary For Novices And Seniors

For the novice practitioner, forms teaching how to kick and punch, breathe, look, and keep balance is fine. But the instructor ought not approach the next form until the truth – the real truth – comes out. And that’s where this article comes in.

The complete story is this. Forms teach many things, and there are things that forms cannot replace. For that reason, your instruction includes much more than just your forms. Your forms ought to be a strong focus on your training, but your training must be well-rounded.

And there is an itinerary depending on your experience. If you are just starting out, the more complex concepts are not there yet. But if you are an experienced practitioner, do not discount the value of the basics, which are everpresent in the forms, even in the advanced forms.

Basics Of What Forms Teach Us

So let’s go over what forms teach us. Let’s start with the basics: what are the terms we use when analyzing our forms?

There are several, and some are synonymous.

To inspect, disassemble, and analyze we use “bunhae“. Bunhae has an equivalent in Japanese, which uses the term “bunkai“, and both are spelled with the same Chinese characters. They are merely pronounced slightly differently, but mean the same: “take apart”, “disassemble”, and “analyze”. Some may also use “bunseok” which is synonymous with “bunhae“, although it is spelled with different Chinese letters. Also synonymous is “hae sul“. It’s common to use “bunhae” by itself, and to use “hae sul” both by itself and together with “poomsae“. For example, one might practice a class exercise called “Taeguek il jang hae sul”, which means analyzing Taeguek 1.

Application

To apply what you’ve learned, the Japanese use the term “oyo“. In Korean, the term to use would be “eunyong dongjak“. They mean the same, but are not spelled using the same characters in Chinese. Both are the opposite of bunkai / bunhae, in that you are given a movement in your form, you analyze how it can be used, then, you apply it.

In practice it works something like this: In your class, your instructor will use your form as an example, for instance, “Taeguek 1”, and extract several movements strung together, for instance the first two or three movements. He or she will then discuss how those movements might be interpreted. This is called bunhae. Many ideas might float around the class, so, the instructor will challenge the student to apply their ideas in one-step self-defense examples. This is called eunyong dongjak.

Poomsae

Your forms are variously called “poomsae“, “hyung“, or “tul“, and there are variations in spelling as well (eg, “hyeong“, “teul“). Don’t worry, they are all synonymous. They all relate to “forms” or “patterns”, which has the connotation of a pre-defined series of movements.

Why Do We Have Forms, While Other Styles Don’t?

You may wonder why we have forms at all; after all, other martial arts don’t have them. Boxing and wrestling, for example, don’t use them. MMA schools may borrow from Karate and/or Taekwondo, depending on their skills background, or they may not use them at all. Karate, Taekwondo, Kung Fu all use them extensively. So why are they used, and what are their purposes?

That’s where history and politics come into play.

Historically, forms are libraries to our styles. The form itself thus becomes the syllabus for what we are to learn. In Taekwondo, that can hardly be argued these days. Most of the fancy spinning kicks seen in sparring are not at all showcased in a single form, from 9th geup to 9th dan. And most of the techniques in our forms are either outright banned (spear hand, elbow strike, knee strike) or not typically practical for sport (mountain block, crane stances, scissor block).

Poomsae Purpose

So what gives? Why do we do these forms when we’re not allowed to perform them in sparring?

The answer lies in that there was a split in sparring many years ago. In Karate, for example, your sparring was the application of all these techniques. But as Taekwondo emerged as a sport, there evolved a set of techniques involving kicks, and the focus became the fancy kicks we see today. Few schools practice self-defense or forms analysis. For it is in self-defense that our forms apply – not at all in sport sparring. This contrasts with many Karate styles: sparring most certainly uses the techniques they use in their forms.

So let’s take a look at what our forms teach us.

Technique

It can hardly be argued that individual techniques aren’t showcased in your forms. In Taekwondo, though, the line can be blurry: all of the techniques your instructor has you practicing ad nauseum up and down the dojang floor are easily found in your forms. Punches, low blocks, front stances, etc are seen in nearly every single form. But the other way around isn’t so clearly seen: crane stances, scissor blocks, head smashes, eye pokes… how often do you practice these techniques outside of your form? For many schools, this would be rare, if ever. Better schools will pull a technique out of a form, analyze it, discuss it, practice it, and apply it. Nevertheless, technique is a huge showcase in forms.

Eyeline

Where you look, when you look, and your facial expressions are all contributors to other aspects of what forms teach us, especially technique, balance, moving, strategy, and getting up from a fall. How often do you hear an instructor to turn your head before you turn the body, or keep the chin up, etc. This all relates to the eyeline.

Balance

It’s easy to throw a punch from a forward stance. But what about a reverse punch from a back stance, or a spearhand from a crane stance? Haven’t you heard your instructor tell you to pivot on the ball of toes and not on the heels? This is all about balance. When throwing a technique, you want to remain centered and often rooted to the floor.

Breathing

We breathe all the time. Controlled breathing helps throw a technique, receive a technique, manage pain, and distract the opponent. Proper breathing allows us to throw a technique with the best possible aim, power, and effect. It need not be a mighty strike – often that’s not desired – but accuracy and efficacy is most important.

Moving

Whether we are moving forward, backward, turning 45, 90, 180, or 270 degrees, moving helps us in strategy and in technique. How we move is important: are we stomping, are we moving with the feet along a railroad track, or are we moving with a K-step?

Joint locks

Taekwondo is full of joint locks. Some of the strange movements you see that don’t quite fit into strikes or blocks are probably joint locks. Ever see examples of “cup and saucer” (fist held over fist)? This is showcased in Won Hyo hyung, Chung Moo hyung, Se Jong hyung, Keumgang poomsae, and others.

Pressure points

Pressure points are single nerve points about the body used to affect a reaction. It could be pain, release a grip, or release a weapon. Pressure points are struck, rubbed, or squeezed, and which one is performed depends on the pressure point. It could be argued that any strike is striking at a pressure point or vital area, but there are some techniques that can introduce further discussion, such as Gye Baek hyung with it’s exposed knuckle punch. Any knifehand and punch are also subjects that can use pressure points.

Vital areas

Vital areas are collections of nerves in a single general area, like the groin, solar plexus, neck, eyes, etc. They are similar to pressure points in that application requires intensive study and with the recognition that they may not always work. The opponent may be affected by drugs, alcohol, psychosis, injury, or experience, or their physique or attire, or your experience all play an important role in their efficacy. Always have a backup plan in case these don’t work. Nevertheless, many techniques – like the spear hand – can have applications here. Many of your punches and knife hand strikes use vital area targets.

Throws

Yes, Taekwondo has throws. Some spear hands and scissor blocks are nothing more than throws. This can be seen in Taeguek Sa Jang poomsae, Taebaek poomsae, Keumgang poomsae, Won hyo hyung, Chung Moo hyung, Choong Jang hyung, and many others.

Falls

This is seen less often in Taekwondo poomsae and hyung, and it is more commonly seen in many Japanese Karate styles. There is a case for ground techniques in Keumgang poomsae’s crane stance, but that’s not fall. There’s also a case for a kick from the ground position in Choong Jang hyung, but that’s also not a fall.

Getting up from a fall

Like falling, there are few examples of this being employed in poomsae or hyung. I will say that Choong Jang’s kick from the floor is an imperfect, if sole, example where getting up quickly is needed.

Pain management

Pain management is not a specific technique you’ll see in a particular form. Rather, it’s a way of life. You manage pain via your breathing and in some of your slow motions.

Bone breaking

Many of your strikes and blocks are all about bone breaking. Inside blocks and low blocks are examples of bone breaking.

Chokes

There are two kinds of chokes: blood and air. Which you use depends on context. Any of your headlocks are potentials for chokes. And headlocks are often represented in cup-and-saucer (fist over fist) techniques, such as in Keumgang poomsae, or Po Eun hyung.

Reversals

Reversals are a vague concept in Taekwondo, especially in schools who do not practice any grappling, but such can easily be adapted to nearly any grappling technique. One good example of a reversal in a form would be in Keumgang poomsae’s “little hinge block” (cup-and-saucer) where you step over, around, and land again in a cup-and-saucer again. This is an example of a headlock escape, and a reversal is not difficult to imagine after that.

Stances

Stance comes from a word that derives from a definition meaning “still”. I see schools having their students remain in a stance for long periods of time to develop muscles. I don’t get that – that’s not what stances are for. They’re very dynamic, and are used for the express purpose to move from one place or position to another. If you remain in a stance for more than a moment, you’re not doing something correctly. Nevertheless, every form has stances; the trick then is to know what your stances are doing: how are they helping aid the technique?

Strategy

Strategy as taught in forms is a long shot, hence last on my list. Your strategy is discovered through discussion on the form, rather than looking to a specific technique or movement within the form. In that regard, the exploration of your options during self-defense is where the learning and teaching happens.

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WTF vs Kukkiwon vs ITF

We are all brothers and sisters in Taekwondo. We may perform our forms differently, or chamber here instead of there. Some of us bounce up and down when we perform our Tul. But in practice, we do embrace very different ideologies – and misconceptions.

WTF?

One of the biggest misconceptions is “WTF style Taekwondo”. WTF once stood for World Taekwondo Federation, but the acronym is the same as urban usage for “what the f**k”. Only English speakers would understand – and use – this phrase (which coincidentally is used more and more in non-English speaking parts of the world). As a result, the WTF made the bold move to change their name from WTF to WT. In other words, they dropped the “F” in their name. In a strange twist, they are still a federation, so, technically they’re called World Taekwondo, but we often refer to them as the World Taekwondo federation, rather than the World Taekwondo Federation. The “federation” was changed from a pronoun to a noun and adjective. So they really haven’t done much when they changed their name. Some of us still use WTF, but technically, their real name is World Taekwondo, and we should be using WT to abbreviate.

Ok, so what is WT, then?

WT is a lot of things. One thing they are not is a style of Taekwondo. It is improper – however common – for someone to indicate that the style of Taekwondo they practice is WT or WTF.

Top Of The Hierarchy – WT

WT is name of a federated organization of Taekwondo organizations, which are themselves federated organizations of organizations. WT is a hierarchically organized system of organizations. A federation, by the way, is a loosely self-governed organization making up a collection of other organizations. At the top of the federation is WT. They govern all that is competition and Olympics. If your aspirations are to compete, the WT is where you will get your resources from.

But as we know, Taekwondo is all over the world, and it has a lot of members. So many members, that a single organization can’t easily manage the day-to-day business of handling them and then deal with competition and Olympics on top.

Next Down The Hierarchy – Regions

Individuals do not become members of WT per se – only organizations can do that. The WT is thus divided into five regions. These regions are themselves federations. The regions are: Pan America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceana.

The Pan America region includes North, Central, and South America; Europe and Africa comprise the Europe and Africa continents, respectively. Oceans is comprised of Australia and New Zealand. And Asia is comprised of the Asian countries including Russia.

Next Down The Hierarchy – Member States

But individuals aren’t members of WT regions, either. Members of WT regions are called member states. Member states are individual countries. Individual people become members of their member state country. As an American, I am part of the USA member state.

The countries that make up the Pan America region are: Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominique, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British), and Virgin Islands (US).

WT Responsibilities

Some of the responsibilities of WT (delegated to their regions, which delegate to the member countries) include certifying coaches and referees. This is a bit different than certifying instructors and black belt dan holders. I mention this for a reason, and it will be clear when I explain what Kukkiwon is all about.

WT handles everything about competition. This includes setting up rules, advertising, insuring, delegation of responsibilities, publicity. And coaching and refereeing. If you want to be a coach, you go through your member state country, apply to become a coach, do all that they tell you to do, pay all that they tell you to pay, and fill out all the paperwork they tell you to fill out. Then you become a coach, because the WT tells you that you are a coach. They’ll have done a background check, they’ll ensure that you have the proper credentials and so on. But that’s the route you’ll take to become a coach. They’ll even demand that you take coaching courses, and they provide that as well. It is similar with becoming a referee. You apply via the WT member state, fill out paper, train, pay, and you’re a referee.

It is assumed (and required) that when you become a coach or a referee, that one of your qualifications is that you are ranked. Depending on the job and level of coaching or refereeing, you might need to be several dans (or degrees). So where do you get your dan from?

Kukkiwon Responsibilities

Hint: You don’t get it from WT, you get it from Kukkiwon. Kukkiwon governs all things about the style, including the poomsae you perform, the qualifications to black belt dans, instructor certification, and education.

In that role, it is proper to refer to Kukkiwon as the “style”. The style of Taekwondo is guided by the forms you do, the focus on the techniques, the culture, and all aspects of the kicks and punches we do – but not about the competition. If you want to become an instructor, you apply through Kukkiwon. If you want to apply for a dan grade, you apply through an instructor, who will apply on your behalf through Kukkiwon. As Kukkiwon is the style (and organization namesake), they govern exactly what it is that makes up the style. The rules for becoming a 1st dan are stipulated by Kukkiwon, because that’s the job of the style. Your dan grade has nothing to do with competition, which is why WT remains hands off in that regard.

By now, you should start to see the difference between Kukkiwon and WT. I’ll need to break away from both organizations for a moment so that I can mention one more thing that separates them.

The Olympics

In order to be in the Olympics, each athlete joins (guess what?) a member state. The hierarchy of the Olympics is very similar to that of World Taekwondo – and that is no coincidence. One of the rules set by the Olympics is that they generally do not deal with governments, per se. They deal with non-government bodies that are responsible for athlete liaison, drug testing, qualifications, rules, and so forth.

The problem is that Kukkiwon is a government-run organization which falls under the South Korean Ministry of Sports. It would be improper for the Olympic committee to be working directly with a government organization. This creates challenges for many countries, particularly the more socialist ones where the state controls everything. So, the IOC sets rules so that each region handles the manner of implementing the rules for the Olympics, so long as things are otherwise equitable with the rest of the world. To that end, Kukkiwon is not allowed to engage in official capacity with the IOC. Certainly, South Korean citizens are in positions of power in the government, and the government runs Kukkiwon. It would be uncomfortable, I think, for a French person to be running a government organization in South Korea.

WT…

The World Taekwondo is where this is handled. In the World Taekwondo organization, there is no country requirement or country bias. Leaders are elected through a democratic process which transcends the country of the running members. In this way, anyone from any country can hold a position in the World Taekwondo organization (or in any of its regions’ hierarchies). Thus, the IOC works directly with the World Taekwondo federation in matters of competition and Olympics, and it is not doing so directly with the South Korean government. OK, so Kukkiwon headquarters is based in Seoul. It turns out, so is the World Taekwondo. (And for those who need a primer, Seoul is the capital of South Korea). Whoops!

Alright, so now you know what WT, WTF, and Kukkiwon is. What about ITF?

ITF

As it turns out, Kukkiwon is not the only style of Taekwondo out there. There’s another style called International Taekwondo Federation, abbreviated ITF.

Hierarchy

ITF is fraught with their own politics, as there are at least four ITF organizations, all claiming to be the official style. (Yes, ITF is both a style and the namesake of the organization). And part of the confusion people have originates from the fact that there is (or was) a World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and an International Taekwono Federation (ITF). WTF is not a style, whereas ITF is a style. Confused? Yeah, well so is everyone else. That, and the fact it’s easier to say and write WTF (and now WT) instead of Kukkiwon, which tends to be a mouthful to say. So, when you hear someone muttering about the WTF style, you know they really mean Kukkiwon.

Style or Organization?

ITF, then, is a style and an organization. Well, it’s “a style” and there are 4 “organizations” all claiming to be “the” official name and style. The four organizations are: ITF (headquartered in Pyongang, North Korea), ITF (headquartered in Benidorm, Spain), ITF (headquartered in Vienna, Austria), and ITF (headquartered in Sejong City, South Korea). Well, there is another tiny little outpost in Middlesex in the United Kingdom.

Vienna headquarters has a web domain “itf-tkd.org”.

Benedorm headquarters has a web domain “tkd-itf.org”, and redirects to “taekwondoitf.org”.

South Korea headquarters has a web domain of “itfofficial.org”.

Well, on it goes. There are a myriad ITF organizations, actually. But the one thing they all have in common is this: they practice the Chang Hon style of forms: the family of forms that General Choi, Hong-Hi, founder of ITF, himself invented. Collectively, they’re called the Chang Hon family of forms, but, some organizations (and indeed, schools) differ on how they perform them, and the difference is striking.

Terminology

Broadly speaking, those who refer to the Chang Hon family of forms as “tul”, sometimes spelled “teul”, (which is Korean, and means “pattern”, and this particular word derives from Chinese “taoulu”, which is what Kung Fu practitioners refer to their forms in China) perform their forms with a signature sine wave pattern. You’ll see them perform their movements in a deliberate up and down motion, with a strong hiss in their breath as the perform a movement – every movement. The other way the Chang Hon forms are called is “hyung” (sometimes spelled “hyeong”) which also means “pattern” in Korean. These schools tend to perform the same forms without the bouncing up and down.

Incidentally, the Kukkiwon/WT practitioners universally refer to their forms as “poomsae” (also means “pattern”), and they do NOT bounce up and down, either.

There you have it: poomsae, hyung, and tul. They all mean “form”, “shape”, or “pattern” – they’re synonymous.

Differences And Similarities
Chamber

Well, there are other differences and similarities, too. The tul folks will chamber their hands at the waist, just as the poomsae folks do. The hyung folks tend to chamber their fist at the chest.

Kihap

The hyung and poomsae folks breathe more or less silently when performing their forms, except at particular spots in their respective form that call for a shout, or “kihap”. The tul folks loudly and forcefully hiss at each movement, but don’t generally issue a kihap in the performance of their forms.

Applications

The tul folks tend to be very scientific and exact with their movements, and do tend to include a great deal of self-defense in their curriculum. The poomsae folks have no idea what self-defense is, and how poomsae applies to self-defense (okay, that was sarcasm…) And the hyung crowd tend to balance sport and self-defense more or less equitably.

Note, these are stereotypes, and schools within each type will vary. I’ve seen tul schools chamber at the chest, and I’ve seen Kukkiwon schools hiss. I’ve seen hyung schools chamber at the hip and teach self-defense.

Books

The “bible” for each style is different. For the Kukkiwon folks, they’ll always refer to the official Taekwondo textbook which Kukkiwon re-releases every few years. The ITF folks always refer to General Choi’s Encyclopedia of Taekwondo, which never changes.

Culture

Poomsae schools are open for change, and strive to improve through change. In other words, they evolve. Hence, you’ll see new sets of forms and new techniques used in those forms, as well as noting some techniques have been subtracted out. ITF folks always practice with preservation of history and legacy in mind. Change is non-existent. You strive to do better by improving on the technique, not by throwing it out or adding in new ones.

Conclusion

IMHO, there’s no one way better than the other. I bemoan the changes to Kukkiwon, as it is truly becoming only a young man’s sport with all of its jumping and flipping. But I also bemoan the ITF because they could use some changes, but they won’t because of the reverence to Gen Choi. They tend to preserve from a historical context, so change is non-existent.

One thing that is interesting to me is that in their respective tomes, there is virtually no mention of self-defense. The forms were not built from the perspective of self-defense, the way Karate’s forms were. For some reason, either the Japanese did not teach the Koreans the meaning of the forms, or the Koreans didn’t understand the applicability, or they rejected the idea altogether in an attempt to create their own style separate from the Japanese. There are debates on this topic as well, and so I won’t weigh in here, except to say that this is debated.

I did say that the tomes have “no mention of self-defense”. That’s not entirely true. Reading both tomes, you will come across one or two applications for each form’s most prominent or odd movement, and then there is a brief explanation of how it can be used for self-defense. The descriptions are laughable – so much so that it appears to be somewhat of an afterthought, rather than a purpose of the movement considered when the forms were made up. I completely reject nearly all of the self-defense principles, in both books, and I’ll go through them in greater deal in other blog posts, so you can agree with me or disagree.

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What’s Wrong with Kukkiwon-Style Taekwondo Forms?

Forms – “kata” in Japanese; “taoulu” in Chinese; and “poomsae”, “hyung”, and “tul” in Korean – are supposed to be the spirit of the martial art.  The “art” in martial arts is a double-entendre, and some folks truly put the “art” into martial arts. 

Forms are supposed to have more than artistic meaning.  In fact, they’re supposed to have anything BUT an artistic meaning.  Done properly, the performer (aka, “artist”) should convey the meaning or application of the form, or its parts.  In other words, it’s about interpretation.  (Remind me again, how is this any different from a typical artist’s job??)  Through forms, the martial artist should really be putting the “martial” in martial arts.

History

Taekwondo’s history is cloudy and fiercely debated.  The system of hand and foot techniques and its poomsae are unequivocally new.  The system was named Taekwondo in 1955, a mere 60-odd years ago.  But its techniques are very old – and not necessarily Korean (or Chinese or Japanese or any culture).  Now, the essence of Kukkiwon Taekwondo evolves (some say devolves?) toward competition, but one cannot escape the disconnect between sparring and poomsae.

Although today we practice the Taeguek family of forms, they do replace an older under-belt set of forms called Palgwe, which loosely resemble Shotokan Karate kata (a Japanese term that we in Taekwondo use for poomsae).  Considering that many of the founders of the original kwans which now form Kukkiwon Taekwondo had influences from Shotokan, this isn’t exactly surprising.  The older Shotokan kata are unequivocally built with self-defense techniques in mind.  According to Kukkiwon’s textbook and website, the Taeguek family of forms more closely represent sparring (!)

Yet in studying Kukkiwon Taekwondo forms, one notes a significant lack of “application”, whether to sparring or to self-defense.  Not that there isn’t any, at least for self-defense.  But it’s not described in the official website, or in the official textbook.  And it’s not even described in non-official books.  It’s like… nobody is even talking about it. What’s more, most of the techniques used in poomsae are useless or illegal in sparring. And what we do in sparring is not at all represented in poomsae. Kukkiwon has a lot of explaining to do to make the connection between poomsae and sparring. I do not see it at all.

Application and Analysis

When we study Kukkiwon Taekwondo forms, particularly Taeguek and the 9 yudanja black belt forms, we are told of “application of techniques”.  This is mentioned in both the Kukkiwon-approved textbook, and on Kukkiwon’s website.  There isn’t anything that covers all of each form’s application – a significant omission in my opinion.  It turns out one can learn to perform all eight of the Taeguek forms in just a couple of weeks and be reasonably proficient in demonstrating them, so it stands to reason that Kukkiwon Poomsae are meant to be interpreted as they are: what you see is what you get, or as we say in computer parlance, WYSIWYG.  Indeed, that is often how they are taught and tested:  If you can remember the form and do the techniques within them properly, you pass.  I’ve been studying Taekwondo for 40 years now, and no school, competition, or seminar has ever discussed application.

It seems to me that the powers that decided to put the forms together either had no idea of the application behind the concept of poomsae, or they dismissed the idea altogether as being “too Japanese”. In the former case, having no idea, it means their instruction was lacking. Considering that the Japanese did not have a very high regard for the Koreans during their occupation, this is plausible. In both the former and latter cases, it should be noted that the Chinese did have a concept of bunkai and oyo, so it stands to reason that dismissing the idea of application and analysis as being too Japanese makes this argument less plausible.

Whatever the case, the fact that there is not a section in the Kukkiwon site or textbook dedicated to application or analysis proves that bunhae is not important to the Koreans.  Whether application was a foundation for the forms, or was an afterthought, that is another matter, and is often debated.  Nevertheless,  there is lots still missing.  It turns out that one way to figure out the application of a form’s techniques is to dissect the form, and then apply some imagination as to how it can be used.  The Japanese do this using a process they call “bunkai” and “oyo“.  Perhaps, that was intended for Kukkiwon forms?

Perhaps Japanese influence on the Korean founders of Taekwondo was not so great that the Koreans had an acute understanding of kata in the same way their Japanese instructors did, and that either the Japanese instructors did not regard their Korean students very highly, or their students did not understand, or their students did not stick around long enough to be taught.  It’s anyone’s guess, and there are many theories.  And anyway, one can also argue that the Japanese themselves didn’t have as good an understanding of application, or bunkai, as the Okinawans did.

One principle about Japanese kata is that they have numerous hidden, or alternative, techniques.  In Japanese, the WYSIWYG part of the applications are the omote bunkai – the obvious bunkai.  A punch is a punch.  The other bunkai is the ura bunkai – the stuff they don’t teach you much about.  These are the alternative – sometimes called “hidden” – applications.  These are techniques that could be used in different ways.  A “low block”, for instance, can be a throw (koshinage – a kind of hip throw).  This explains why some techniques – like the low block – are nearly always executed in a front stance.  It isn’t that this technique can’t be done from other stances, but in order for a koshinage to work properly, it requires a good solid foundation.  When this technique needs to be employed as a low block, then of course it can be used in any stance.  So it takes years to master even the basic forms, just to understand the nuances of each technique and its many applications.

Actually, I don’t really like the phrase “hidden technique”, despite its widespread use; nor do I hold belief that they are hidden due to some political infrastructure prohibiting use of some techniques.  In my opinion, techniques can be used in many ways, of course, but the easy path is sufficient for the beginner: this is a block, this is a strike, this is a kick.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Perhaps, the Korean masters thought the same.  Truthfully, no Korean master I have ever trained with seemed to care about such details, and so perhaps this is how I inherited my feelings on the subject.

It would seem that the Korean founders applied no such concept to their forms.  Low blocks, for instance, are nearly always performed in a front stance, and the front stance’s narrow girth clearly does not allow for proper foundation for a throw.  So a low block is really just that: a block to a low strike.

And if you read the Kukkiwon textbook or the website, a low block is just that: a low block.  This is odd: blocking in self-defense is taboo.  Blocking necessarily requires the attacker-strength-vs-defender-strength scenario.  If the Taekwondo practitioner is stronger, then the block can win.  Otherwise, the block loses.  Blocking should be a last resort – and last resort techniques are definitely not something beginners should be taught, or they’ll turn out to be the first resort techniques used.

Whether the Korean founders weren’t exposed to the concept of bunkai, or they didn’t understand, or maybe they just didn’t care, it’s hard to tell.  Okinawan and Japanese martial art masters of the day were notorious for closely guarding their philosophies and teachings, and so it’s not unreasonable to think they did not want to expose these ideas to any but their most trusted students.  For many Korean students of Karate who would later become founders of the various “kwans”, there is no evidence that this ever happened.  Even many who published memoirs or autobiographies simply stated they “trained under Ginchin Funakoshi”, etc, but never really elaborated on what that really meant.  Nevertheless, the forms are taught today in WYSIWYG format – what-you-see-is-what-you-get.  No hidden techniques.  Not even the Kukkiwon textbook (or the website, which borrows from the textbook) explains anything about hidden or alternative techniques.  There are brief explanations about the more mundane aspects of each form; however, a great many techniques – actually, a majority – are left out.  The intended purpose could have been meant as an exercise for the student to apply his or her own application.  But this just doesn’t seem likely.

In order to study further whether or not there are any hidden (or rather, “alternative”) techniques, one can refer back to history, and from there we start with the Palgwe forms, which are derived from Japanese kata.  From there, we can look to actual Japanese kata.  The Japanese have numerous books on the subject, and there are often debates, discussions, and seminars just on the very concept of bunkai.

Taekwondo has no modern concept of bunkai, more appropriately called “bunhae” in Korean.  Bunhae is only a recent concept – after the fact.  One must still look to the Japanese to find the hidden techniques and then retrofit the hidden techniques to each form’s techniques.

So let’s attempt to apply our own bunhae to poomsae.  Bunhae is the analysis of a form.  We examine the possible applications to discover how the techniques can be used in different ways.  It is thus we discover the “hidden” or alternative techniques.

First, let’s establish some ground rules.

Number one, what we do in the ring is not recommended on the street: some techniques, like high or jumping kicks, can get you killed.  Number two, what we do on the street in self-defense is not recommended in the ring: some techniques, like throat strikes, can kill.  At the least, they are generally illegal techniques with no or negative point value.  So, I would submit that the forms’ applications were modified to represent sparring applications is utter nonsense.  I know, I’m only a lowly 4th degree in Kukkiwon Taekwondo.  And the 9th degree doctorates who gathered to produce what is now the website and textbook collectively established what I label as “nonsense” makes me appear pretentious.  I get it.  Maybe I am.  But hear me out first.

Rule two: There are no such things as multiple opponents.  Perform your forms with the notion you are aware of multiple opponents – this affects your eyeline and attitude – but don’t perform them and explain them in the context of multiple opponents.  Multiple opponents do not take their time to attack you.  Don’t assume this is the case in your forms.

Rule three: The forms are guidelines for your self-defense.  Hand position changes with events that occur in real-time.  Eyeline, duration of technique, directionality, and even sequence of technique are not necessarily written in stone.  The forms are not absolute.  Practice them as if they are, and be rigid in their performance, but don’t be so rigid in their application.  Think outside the box.  For this reason, it is necessary to practice the forms with no more amount of practice dedicated to the analysis of the forms.  Otherwise, your execution of techniques in actual self-defense will be done according to the rigidity of your training – and that wasn’t meant to be.

That’s it.  For now.  Three simple rules.  There are others we can cover along the way, but these I value above all others.  I didn’t make them up, this is simple common sense.

It not exactly a secret that Kukkiwon Taekwondo is all about sparring.  There is a disconnect between forms and sparring.  Just where are the sparring techniques in the forms?  The fancy kicks, like the tornado roundhouse, or the jumping reverse side kick?  What about the front leg kicks?  What about the reverse side kick or even the basic axe kick?  Or Taekwondo’s signature spin kick?  Or even the lowly roundhouse kick?  How about the stepping motions – like the slides, lateral steps, hops, and switch stances?  Why isn’t there any concept of timing in the forms (technically, timing is left for the practitioner’s own style.  But it seems rare for sparring-style timing to be applied to poomsae; just look at any champion-grade poomsae competition, and you’ll note an odd similarity between all of the competitors in this regard, and none apply any sort of sparring concept to their style.)  It turns out, there just isn’t any of this.

Note, for example, in Kukkiwon Taekwondo, that all of the stances are compressed.  The forward stance requires 2 foot lengths apart between heel to toe, and the insides of the feet should touch a straight line.  (The newer guidelines suggest a knee-covers-toe algorithm, which is much better and allows taller folks to compete properly.  The problem is that the new guidelines allow to perform techniques the old way, and new judges in competition are keen to this and will deduct points.  Looks like they giveth and taketh away?)  If I do this technique (the 2 foot length way) in this manner, I feel like I’m standing on a surf board.  Ok, this is reminiscent of Chinese Kung Fu styles, another influence on the original Kwan founders.  But this is a recent change, not something inherited from old-school.  I am unsure whether the Chinese had any particular measurement for the foot distance.  At any rate, this isn’t exactly a position I want to be in when defending myself.  The Chinese have their reasons and their own bunkai for this, but it doesn’t seem to manifest in Korean-style Kukkiwon Taekwondo.  In fact, shorter people tend to exhibit better balance than taller folks, since taller folks’ centers of gravity are disproportionatly higher than shorter folks’.  It used to be that the forward stance was as wide as the shoulders; now, it’s a third of the width.  It used to be that the forward stance’s stride was such that the bent knee just covered the toes from eyseight, while the back knee remained locked.  In this manner, the old way gave extraordinary stability, but at the expense of not being able to move as quickly.

Part of the reason this was done can be found in the Taekwondo textbook authorized by Kukkiwon.  It is a deliberate move to sacrifice balance and stability for speed of movement – ostensibly for sparring.  They don’t stipulate for sparring or self-defense, but if we apply bunhae to the patterns, we see why these compressed stances can only apply to sparring.

But then, why use the odd techniques that are not applicable to sparring, like the stances previously mentioned, or the knife or mountain blocks?  Or backfist?

Connection to self-defense

Conversely, why do we have mountain blocks in poomsae?  Why do we have crane, tiger, cat, and horse stances?  (Oddly, these are the only techniques, except one other, named after an animal – a strange anomaly whereby an eastern ideology (applying names of animals to martial techniques) is used uniquely in the west; the Koreans give names to these techniques that are what they are and not after animals)  These are not used in sparring at all.  In fact, given the curriculum of current Taekwondo techniques, I can’t fathom their use in self-defense, either, as we’ll see in a moment.  Knifehand blocks?  They are not strong enough to block a kick, and their intended purpose is to grab – the very thing not allowed in sparring.  We chamber punches either to counter the punch with the other hand (ostensibly for more power), and also for a pull (which is illegal in sparring), yet why are they in forms for an art style meant for sparring?  Why do we punch at all, if punches are rarely scored?

It seems clear to me that when they changed the forms and moved toward a sparring-centric curriculum, that they didn’t have a plan in place for forms.  And it doesn’t seem that the policy responsible for the changes even gave a hoot about the hidden techniques.  At the very least, one wonders why Kukkiwon Taekwondo dropped the self-defense aspect of its curriculum and kept for the forms.  If they had kept the self-defense (which, by the way, is not officially part of any dan grading!), or instead, they had more sparring-centric poomsae, then things would make a little more sense.

Sparring strategy relies heavily on rhythm, stamina, and technique.  Self defense strategy relies on simplicity and ending the situation quickly.  Very different ideologies, and the forms embrace only the self-defense strategy.  This is unusual, given the lack of self-defense curriculum.

The forms are only 25 movements long, on average.  This is in line with the idea that self-defense should end quickly, lest the encounter evolve into a fight.  Yet, sparring is supposed to last longer than a few minutes, and it’s not unusual for a single round to use over a hundred techniques.

One can learn any Taeguek or Palgwe forms in their gross movements in under an hour – enough time to go home, lock it into the brain, and show up for the next class to polish it up.  For many schools, once the student demonstrates the form without making a technical mistake, they’re ready to test.  So it is common to see students who are adept at performing forms can easily bounce from belt to belt very quickly.

Perhaps, if more emphasis on bunhae were required, or there were more movements, or the forms had to be done with pristine perfection, then maybe we wouldn’t see students testing every 3 months.  Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for a student to not only demonstrate the form, but to verbally assess the application – bunhae – of the form.

In the end, perhaps there isn’t anything “wrong” with Kukkiwon forms.  I don’t agree they they’re sparring-centric, as Kukkiwon suggests.  I do think that in some cases, the movements don’t always make a lot of sense.  This will be the basis of other blog posts.