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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.
- With our “chambered” (left) hand, we bring it underneath the right elbow or arm pit.
- Turn the head to the right, so that we can see eastward.
- 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).
- As you turn to the right and face east, step in to a walking stance.
- As you step down into the walking stance, bring the right hand down into a low block.
- 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:
- From the position you are in, facing west, your right hand is extended for the punch
- As you face west, remember that is the 12:00 position you are facing, and, your right foot is at 2:00 position.
- Your goal is to turn and face the 6:00 position (east), with your foot landing at the 8:00 position.
- 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.
- When the right foot lands at 8:00 position, your right shoulder is now forward toward east.
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).- 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.
- From the position you are in, facing west, your right hand is extended for the punch
- As you face west, remember that is the 12:00 position you are facing, and, your right foot is at 2:00 position.
- Your goal is to turn and face the 6:00 position (east), with your foot landing at the 8:00 position.
- 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.
- When the right foot lands at 8:00 position, your left shoulder is now forward toward west.
- 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).
- 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!