This is dedicated to coaxing the personalities out of Traditional Taekwondo patterns
This is a list of the first 10 patterns used in Chang Hon Taekwondo. Our system is a 'traditional' Taekwondo martial art system - we don't do sine wave, and we have an equal emphasis of hand and leg techniques. The applications contained herein thus do not include sporting aspects of Taekwondo. Most TKD practitioners will find little similarity with our practice. This is preferential - no one is casting a value judgement on your martial art. Also, the set of patterns are used to transmit the particular experience of *our* own black belts. Meaning what works for us may not work for your Taekwondo school. We do like to listen to your opinions, of course, and we try to keep an open mind.
The historical development of most traditional martial arts is unverifiable, making certain aspects of the practice inaccessible to practitioners. But logic tells us that a martial art is created because someone decided that enough was enough. Self defence tactics were formed and explored, tested, rejected, and then expanded upon. Collaboration was good. Getting killed was not. So anything that would help you figure out how to better defend yourself is what you want to look out for. Let's keep this in mind while going through this forum. Let's be martial artists ... not martial artistes.
Colin Wee Executive Curator 5th Dan member is offline
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 696 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Chang Hon: Do-san « Thread Started on Mar 1, 2004, 5:12pm »
“Pen name of Ahn Ch'ang Ho, a Korean patriot who devoted his life to furthering education in Korea” (http://www.itatkd.com/pattern_dosan.html). Do-san was not only an educator, be was also involved in the “Korean Independence Movement … under Japanese occupation” (Breen 2001 p8). To this I believe that tactical considerations should look at the freedom of movement and fluidity within the framework of Do-san’s techniques. Very much like the principles driving Wing Chun, movements are done quickly smoothly, but all are framed within the Wing Chun practitioner’s shoulders. Breen says “Do-san … should flow, and float, almost as if the whole pattern were performed in continuous motion” (2001 p8).
The take away from Do-san is that there is an optimal amount of tension that needs to be present in your body, rather than being too tense and not able to move, nor being too relaxed that you don’t have enough power. It also alludes to an economy of motion that guides the fighter to strike within certain boundaries or parameters for maximal speed and effectiveness.
Colin Wee Executive Curator 5th Dan member is offline
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 696 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Do-san « Reply #1 on Nov 14, 2005, 8:30pm »
You get big bold strokes from Chon-ji and Dan-gun, and here comes Do-san to change what the momentum of the first two katas. The word I'd used to describe this Doh-san is 'neat'. The moves are neat, small and subtle. Now you're not trying to destroy the opponent by bludgeoning him to death. You're now dissecting him, performing some knifework using your hands. Take a look at the opening move in Step 1. The inside outer forearm middle block is small, concise. Yet it uses the whole body and seems to work on the inside of the attacker's guard rather than on the outside like what Chon-ji and Dan-gun seem to do.
Then there's the verticle spear to the throat (Step 6) which folds out into a 360 turn into a backfist using the other hand. I never thought much of this move until Sifu Cordeiro asked me why the spear hand aims into the center of the body. On research with GM Keith Yate's book, I then found out that it's applied to the neck level. I never questioned it until then, and now what I do is I explain that the strike is used on the eyes (more in line with the vertical nature of the spearhand), rather than on the throat.
The bunkai for the spear hand traditionally teaches a hip throw. Dr Clayton's Shotokan's Secrets show that it is a release or escape from an arm lock (which I was originally taught). Beyond this, I also like the move applied during one step sparring as an inside inverted elbow strike to the opponent's open forearm (as you turn out from the spear hand). The opponent's arm is sandwiched by the reverse hand, then into a spinning back fist to the nose. This complements the folds in Chun-ji which apply elbow strikes to the outside of the forearm.
Take a look at the next sequences (Step 13-16). I was taught that this double shuto was to knock a person's shoulder grab off. But when I tried to do this, I had to make sure that the opponent wasn't already grabbing me. If he did, the double shuto was unable to work. So I modified the delivery. The double knife hand block I now interpret as a fold-strike on top of the forearms grabbing you. You fold your arms for the shuto over and above his arms. Then you drop your entire body like a pile driver, sending your weight drop into his arms. This force goes right up his arms and into his neck, stunning the heck out of him. You then do the shuto but use it to grab onto his gi. If you want, you can do the headbutt here - it's optional, but yes, do the kick now. The opponent will be bent over. Shove hard with your two hands, letting go of only your left hand. THe right will control the guy nicely. The opponent will pivot, and will open himself up to double punches to the side of his head or ribs. This sequence is very akin to what I do in sparring and the control you get over the opponent is excellent.
As a background, I require beginners to go through controlled sparring (as I mentioned when talking about Chon-ji and Dan-gun) - they can only throw two types of strikes: a jab, lunging punch and a snap punch. Coverage is fine, but the three strikes are all they can use to commit an attack on the opponent. Anyway, for the reverse punch, I tend to link it to the double punch in Doh-san (Step 15-16). While this is not a perfect demo of a snapping punch, it comes closer to the reverse punch than anywhere else. I've not seen the reverse punch in any of the first 10 katas of Chang Hon.
Step 20-21: Our school does something really interesting before doing the upblock. We punch downwards to protect the groin. How about that? That's perfect for the kind of sparring we do. Intermediate belts - you need to protect both your head and your groin! Aside from that type of application, the punch downwards could also be a strike towards an opponent falling in front of you, e.g. after a sweep. This kind of punch will be done a little further away from the groin area, but the variation between both strikes is but a handspan or so.
The last shuto (Step 23-24) is a bit of a throw in, I think. A horizontal strike to the ribs using your body for penetrating power. Maybe the horse stance is the tool here? Horse stance to strike the legs of the enemy while you distract him with the big bold shuto?
Colin Wee Executive Curator 5th Dan member is offline
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 696 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Do-san « Reply #4 on Nov 25, 2005, 4:11pm »
Quote:
The opponent will be bent over. Shove hard with your two hands, letting go of only your left hand. THe right will control the guy nicely. The opponent will pivot, and will open himself up to double punches to the side of his head or ribs. This sequence is very akin to what I do in sparring and the control you get over the opponent is excellent.
In an age where we see the effects of handlocks and throws, one might hesitate to grab the opponent. But why? I was taught that if you grab the opponent with one hand, you must be striking him with the other. You don't grab and leave it there. In fact you can release and strike the opponent with the same hand, then regrab as necessary. Controlling the opponent allows you to use him as a shield (for multiple persons sparring), and allows you to deliver much harder blows. But this grabbing is not just holding the opponent there, you can bend the opponent over, change his position, and prevent him from retaliating by shifting his shoulders.
Colin Wee Executive Curator 5th Dan member is offline
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 696 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Do-san « Reply #5 on Nov 27, 2005, 8:59pm »
Quote:
The double knife hand block I now interpret as a fold-strike on top of the forearms grabbing you. You fold your arms for the shuto over and above his arms. Then you drop your entire body like a pile driver, sending your weight drop into his arms. This force goes right up his arms and into his neck, stunning the heck out of him.
Re: Power generation. Chon-ji and Dan-gun both stressed a concept very important to Taekwondo - that linear forward momentum creates a huge amount of exponential power. But here we see something that is very different from the first two kata. Dropping "your entire body like a pile driver" doesn't sound much like linear motion, but it does create the kind of power required to do major damage on an opponent. This energy is the marriage of body weight with gravity - all at once. It augments any technique applied downward: the lower block, shuto, a punch, etc. Using this new understanding, revisiting Chon-ji and Dan-gun allows you to do individual techniques with much more force on targets that come quite close to you, which you need to strike downwards to create a desired effect.
Colin Wee Executive Curator 5th Dan member is offline
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 696 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Chang Hon: Do-san « Reply #6 on Mar 2, 2006, 11:01am »
A drill that we practice drawn from movements that can be found in Doh-san helps improve timing and defence against head high strikes or fast jabs. You start in figting position with right side forward and hands up. Partner delivers a same side (with his left hand) jab to your nose. Block by dropping your hand and raising your elbow up in a circular fashion (step 6 but applied w/out the turn). This deflects the strike along your forearm. No need to push too far outside of your body - work on the centreline. Next your partner does a jab with his right hand, now from having your elbow up, you swing your elbow back down and parry the strike with your palm heel and wrist (as in Step 3). Drill can continue without interruption with partner sending strikes at your nose. You will notice better control if you use your back hand (in this case your left hand) to help guide and control same side strikes and to act as coverage for cross body strikes. But otherwise, keep your centre of gravity forward and make sure to breathe out with each strike/deflection.
May 1 2006: Last night we talked about why we kept the striking hand close to the centreline and how we're only deflecting it so far. This is so that the opponent's power is still coming at us and we can use such power to strike him at the same time. Keeping the striking hand close to the centreline also allows us to deal with multiple strikes. If we're moving the striking hand too far out, it's hard to deal with the next strike coming in. It also became apparent to the opponent that if we're moving the striking hand way out, there seems to be more 'control' of the opponent's arm. This is the case, and we're not saying that we shouldn't do this. The priority however is to strike the opponent with his COG coming at you. Once done, then if you want to move his hand out of the way and control his striking arm, go right ahead. It is part of our fighting strategy to look at control and redirection as well.
Colin Wee Executive Curator 5th Dan member is offline
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Male Posts: 696 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Chang Hon: Do-san « Reply #8 on Mar 28, 2006, 10:17pm »
Quote:
A drill that we practice drawn from movements that can be found in Doh-san helps improve timing and defence against head high strikes or fast jabs. You start in figting position with right side forward and hands up. Partner delivers a same side (with his left hand) jab to your nose. Block by dropping your hand and raising your elbow up in a circular fashion (step 6 but applied w/out the turn). This deflects the strike along your forearm. No need to push too far outside of your body - work on the centreline. Next your partner does a jab with his right hand, now from having your elbow up, you swing your elbow back down and parry the strike with your palm heel and wrist (as in Step 3). Drill can continue without interruption with partner sending strikes at your nose. You will notice better control if you use your back hand (in this case your left hand) to help guide and control same side strikes and to act as coverage for cross body strikes. But otherwise, keep your centre of gravity forward and make sure to breathe out with each strike/deflection.
We did 'SD' moves using this drill and aiki moves tonight, off an opponent grabbing lapel and sending a haymaker to the jaw. We did iriminage, ikkyo, nikkyo, sankyo, and sayunage (pressure on grabbing arm first).
Taekwondo (also spelled Tae Kwon Do or Taekwon-Do) is the most popular of the Korean martial arts and is the Korean national sport. It is also one of the world's most commonly practiced sports. The World Taekwondo Federation's style of Taekwondo is currently an Olympic sport.
In Korean, derived from hanja, Tae means "to kick or destroy with the foot"; Kwon means "to punch with the fist"; and Do means "way" or "art". Hence, Taekwondo is loosely translated as "the art of kicking and punching" or "the way of the foot and the fist." Taekwondo's popularity has resulted in the divergent evolution of the art. As with many other martial arts, Taekwondo is a combination of combat technique, sport, exercise, entertainment, and philosophy.
Although there are great doctrinal and technical differences among Taekwondo styles, the art in general emphasizes kicks thrown from a mobile stance, using the leg's greater reach and power to disable the opponent from a distance. In sparring, roundhouse, front, ax and side kicks are most often used; advanced kicks include jump, spin, skip, and drop kicks, often in combination. Taekwondo training includes a comprehensive system of hand strikes and blocks, but generally does not emphasize grappling or close-in combat.
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