TKD patterns

[taebot]

Thanks John G.

[John G]

Taebot are you refering to the American TaeKwonDo chongi forms or to the ITF Chon gi tul pattern?

 

Please excuse my ignorance.

 

Respectfully,

[SBN Doug]

Well I won't be doing Moon Moo until I reach 4th dan! I have seen it and it looks just as difficult to master as the form I am currently doing which is Yoo Sin (with 68 movements ... Moon Moo having 61)

Before I reply, what (in TKD) do you define as a "movement"?

[John G]

KSN Doug,

 

Connected moves; i.e a kick followed by a strike followed by a block in general could be defined as 3 movements.

[KickChick]

In TKD you learn the form and memorize the sequence of "movements" and correct performance of each move. Once a suitable "standard" is reached and the student feels comfortable with the pattern they are encouraged to examine it. When performing a pattern as a whole then single techniques become combinations and within patterns it can be found that techniques are used for other purposes within a combination than they may be used on their own (such as you are referring to taebot). A student can spend many years performing a pattern and still find new aspects of it to study. Such as in Do San the final "movement" being a knifehand which can be used as a takedown.

 

Most schools instruct in this manner and others do not ... there are multiple interpretations to TKD forms depending on what style ... so you cannot consider me wrong.

 

But all in all Chon gi still (IMO ... although you believe I am wrong, I respectfully refrain) is a very simple patterns and those that follow progress in difficulty as the students ability increases and generally forms the basis of grading and instruction criteria.

[SBN Doug]

KSN Doug,

 

Connected moves; i.e a kick followed by a strike followed by a block in general could be defined as 3 movements.

 

O.k., well that's basically the same for us. Since it is, I can throw out that we've got a couple that are over 100 movements. Now I feel better about how sore my legs are after I finish.

[ZeRo]

i have to agree kickchick, chon ji is my least favourite pattern, it is very simple and kinda boring to do. can you explain taebot how it has joint locks and sweeps in it?

 

(im just looking forward to being taught dan gun!)

[John G]

ZeRo, if you get the opportunity have someone tape the way you do chon ji, do the same when you’re a blue belt and again when you go for your second Dan black belt grading. Take a look at those tapes then look how a fourth Dan and seventh Dan (master) performs chon ji.

 

What you will see is a vast difference between the way you perform chon ji now and how you perform chon ji when you’re a black belt, and again when you’re a master.

 

When Master Choi Jung Hwa stated "If you knew Chon ji through and through, you will know everything there is to know about Taekwon-do". Or in other words; if you can perform Chon ji perfectly you will know everything there is to know about Taekwon-do.

 

What I think he meant, was by the time you can perform Chon ji perfectly, you will have already become a Grandmaster of Taekwon-do.

 

Don’t you just hate Korean logic?

 

I had a look at my white, blue and black belt grading’s the other day, had to have a laugh. Did I really look that dorky and awkward?

 

Chon ji has improved, but I want to be like my master, I want to know how to generate the power with effortless effort and have that look of intent as he does when he performs Chon ji. I want to be able to perform Chon ji perfectly.

 

Then I’ll move onto Dan-Gun.

[taebot]

But all in all Chon gi still (IMO ... although you believe I am wrong, I respectfully refrain) is a very simple patterns and those that follow progress in difficulty as the students ability increases and generally forms the basis of grading and instruction criteria.

 

I see that you are very smart, but I want to challenge you on the idea of simplicity. That's the genious of it. You dismiss the lesson as too simple until you are ready for it.

 

The white belt DOES see block punch, block punch, block punch...

 

The black belt instructor sees "the basis of grading and instruction criteria."

 

The martial artists sees a mantra, a moving mandela, a transmission not of block punch, but self actualization.

 

Once a month, I go to a weapons class where I train with a pair of Professors. We were in a discussion of bunkai and they presented the standard explanation. I, being the wall-flower that I am, stated that I had problems with that and that I saw the move in such and such a manner...

 

Professor asks me, "What rank are you?"

 

I suspected, as usual, that I was going to be told to shut up (without words).

 

I answered that I held xyz rank with our mutual head instructor for the system.

 

"Well, if you're not coming up with some of this stuff on your own by now, then you're doing something wrong."

 

So, I stand, ready, my valise, we, REAL men, don't call them purses, clutched in both hands in front of me as I await the bus. From the left corner of my eye comes movement and my right hand goes to my groin, my left to my head as my elbows come together protecting my centerline as I turn to meet my attacker, my left foot half-moon stepping in, my knee striking the inner thigh of my attacker disrupting his balance as my left hand arcs downward grabbing into the soft flesh of the inner thigh in a death grip as I step, again, thigh-to-thigh as Santiago would call it, and stepping behind the other foot of my attacker, I have the choice of pushing my opponent for distance or slamming him to the ground. I choose the latter.

 

Now did I once mention block-punch?

 

I practice chongi everyday.

 

For REAL.

 

[taebot]

... and I am rarely satisfied with my performance.

 

But one day!

 

one day...