Tong Il

[mcmillintkd]

Tong Il is way above my present rank but I am doing research on it for a paper. It is surprising how much material there is on the lower forms but how little information there is on the later form although I don't think I should be surprised. Many people do the earlier forms and only a select do the last form. I am not researching how the form goes but rather about the form. The history of that form and perhaps anything that talks about the whole Chang Hon hyung set. Korean unification as it applies to TKD. There is surprisingly very little so any help would be good. Thanks.

[bushido_man96]

I have very little experience with Tong Il myself, but, something that you may look into is trying to compare some of the sequences of movements to those from other Karate forms, and see where the similarities (if any) lie. There are noticible similarities in some of the lower forms, and it may be so with this one, as well. It may help give you an idea of where it came from.

[DWx]

If you're looking at the history behind the form, i.e. the meaning of it: http://www.visiontkd.co.uk/patterns/patternhist2.htm#tong

As with most TKD history its to do with post WWII and Korean political history.

Not so sure about the history of the creation of the form. It was one of the original 20 that were created though and in most cases its listed as the last form in the set. You could try General Choi's memoirs? Don't know what's in there but it may give you an insight into the why the unification was so important to him.

For the Chang Hong set as a whole, TKDTutor is pretty good: http://tkdtutor.com/10Patterns/PatternHistory/PatternHistory03.htm

On the last page of the article he also links to photos which compare the Heian katas to some of the TKD forms.

[mcmillintkd]

I know the standard definition of Tong Il.

Tong Il denotes the unification of Korea which has been divided into two.

The diagram represents the homogenous race.

I have the definition of why there is 24 forms.

The Reason for 24 Patterns

The life of a human being, perhaps 100 years, can be considered as a

day when compared with eternity.Therefore, we mortals are no more than

simple travelers who pass by the eternal years of an eon in a day. It

is evident that no one can live more than a limited amount of time.

Nevertheless, most people foolishly enslave themselves to materialism

as if they could live for thousands of years. And some people strive

to bequeath a good spiritual legacy for coming generations, in this

way, gaining immortality. Obviously, the spirit is perpetual while

material is not; therefore, what we can do to leave behind something

for the welfare of mankind is, perhaps, the most important thing in

our lives.

Here I leave Taekwon-Do for mankind as a trace of man of the late 20th

century. The 24 patterns represent 24 hours, one day, or all my life.

The name of the pattern, the number of movements, and the diagrammatic

symbol of each pattern symbolizes either heroic figures in Korean

history or instances relating to historical events.

General Choi, Hong Hi

I have academic papers that I can use to support the concept of a

unified Korea. I have non-TKD related information about the Korean

homogenous race.

I have been told that the certain moves have meaning such as:

#1 = 1 Country

#2 = Divided

#3 Suddenly attacked

#38 = Breaking the 38th Parallel.

The different stamping moves denotes the frustration over the country

being divided.

I have been told by different GMs that Tong Il is:

1. The last form and to be considered the last form.

or

2. Tong Il is the summation of all of one's TKD training.

Several GMs and Masters have stated that by the time one reaches Tong

Il that the importance is not the Taekwon but rather the Do. One

should have the meanings of what TKD stands for and how one should

live (be living?).

The first of these puts Taekwon Do as a more physical with much more

practicality. The second seems to be more of an ethical understanding

of what Taekwon Do is (oh, my particular interests is ethics so I may

have clouded thinking there but I have this whole idea about

Aristotlean virtue ethics and Chang Hon Taekwon Do but I digress).

Do you know anything that I might add? Did General Choi ever talk

about Tong Il either from a practical point of view of how to perform

it? or just about the ramifications of what it stood for?

It Tong Il is indeed the totality of one's formal TKD training then is

there anything you would add to this idea? or anything that General

Choi talked about. I have access to most of the books (Master

Mitchell's, Mr. Anslow's, the encyclopedia ...et. al.). If there is

anything else that perhaps I should look into then let me know. I

have to admit that I went through the forum at Kidokwan .

I think at this point I am looking for anything that isn't in a book

or article (though please let me know of any books or articles that

you think I should read) but more of a personal reflection of Tong Il,

Chang Hon, or General Choi (in reference to Tong Il or Chang Hon).

Truth be told I would take any little of sliver of information at

this point.

I have an understanding of where this paper is going and I am down to

the crunch of writing it. However this is just the beginning of my

inquiry into this topic. I should be testing for my 2nd dan this

summer so perhaps this inquiry will take the next 20 years as I work

my way toward Tong Il.

[isshinryu5toforever]

I think you need to do some research in Eastern philosophy. Read the Tao De Jing, maybe the Analects of Confucius. This is the way they are referring to. As far as Tong-il, don't just take the meaning of the word.

Think about what it means to the people of Korea. They were forcibly split 60 years ago. Families have been fractured, tensions have always been mounting, and neither side wants to admit any wrong-doing or ill-will. They are both Korean in different ways. The "Han" spirit, the passion is all part of Tong-il. I don't know the form, and I haven't extensively studied TKD, but I was an East Asian Studies major, and I am a Korean currently living in Korea. As an adoptee, living here for the past year has shown me a lot of what it means to be Korean.

The word Tong-il means reunification, it means to put back together. I think you need to try to discuss the emotional properties tied to the word, and what it truly means to be put together. The idea that a country, or a person is fractured, and must be mended. Two opposing sides must be reconciled to reach an understanding. It's the nature of this country, as well as the nature of man.