Taekwondo
What is Tae Kwon Do?
"The way of foot and fist fighting."
Training in Tae Kwon Do involves learning kicking, punching and
blocking in various combinations and of course foot work. Many Taekwondo schools
focus more on the kicking than on handstrikes, however do not let this fool you. Taekwondo is a self defense style with many students being as capable with their hands at close range as they are with their feet at a distance. Taekwondo students are taught to use their skills for defense only; however we are always mindful that a good defense comes from a good offense. One of the better known aspects of Taekwondo training is the type of condition you get in when you start training.
History of Taekwondo
.
Under repair
Buddhist Monk Influance
Won Quang,
a Buddhist monk, was given credit for the 5 principles of Taekwondo.
These principles became the guiding light of the Hwarang warriors and all Taekwondo students and
masters.
It is said that Won Quang was a surviving monk from the burning of the Shaolin Temple who, unlike his brothers, decided not to be a founding member of the Triad Society, and instead decided to travel and share his knowledge and teachings. After finding a home in what is now known as North Korea he set up a Zen Buddhist Temple and started teaching Shaolin Kungfu which perhaps explains the similarities in many of the techniques.
5 Principles of the Hrawang Warriors
Loyalty
Duty
Trustworthiness
Valor
Justice
Hwarang Do
"the way of the flowering manhood"
Hwarang Ae O Gae / 5 Principles of Hwarang Code
1. Sa Koon Yi Choony
Loyalty to the King
2. Sa Chin Yi Hyo
Fidelity, Respect and obedience to parents and elders
3. Kyo Woo Yi Chin
Trustworthiness amounts friends and living up to personal honor
4. Im Jeon Moo Tae
Courage in Battle. Distinguish the reckless form the risky. Noting is
gained if you avoid all risk; however less is gained if you completely
disregard the odds. 20 to 40 are risky, while 4-20 is reckless.
5. Sal Saeng Yoo Taek
Do not take a life unjustly. Use your skills as required by your
greatest judgment. Once danger is clear and your life of the life of
someone in your charge is in danger you must do what is necessary to
survive.
Focus on Taekwondo Training
3 Ways of Unification
1. Mind
Intellectual facility Makes information visible Know the techniques and how they are used
2. Body
Strengthen the Muscles and increase flexibility Cardio training is a must. Keep your body in good health through diet, exercise, sleep and life style.
3. Spirit
Your heart The home of your indomitable spirit Your spirit is what pushes you when your mind and or body are ready to quit. It helps you to practice or test on your 8th hour, gives you the strength and endurance to keep going for those last minutes in class or on the treadmill. When these aspects are combined you will accomplish what you once thought were impossible
5 Benefits of TKD
Health and Fitness
Flexibility
Self Defense
Awarness
Self Discipline
Sport or Art
I would like to speak on this topic for a moment. Many people today watch the Olympics and say that Taekwondo is only a sport and is not effective as a way of self defense. This point of view can not be futher from the truth. It is true that Taekwondo is focused more on foot techniques then hand techniques but that is because the first line of defense is persons legs. A persons legs are longer then a persons arms so to stop a attacker using the feet while a person is approaching you is a wise idea. With good fortune you will be able knock the wind out of the person, cause enough damage for the person to not want to continue the fight, or perhaps even knock the person out with a well placed head strike. However if a person breaks the first line of defense and moves within a foot of a Taekwondo student that student will then resort to hand strikes as kicking will not be effective. Should that line of defense be broken the knees and elbows will be used then finally grappling, joint locks and chokes will be applied. It is important to know that going to the ground in a street fight should be avoided at all costs because you have no clue what is on the ground or what other people will do as you are on the ground beating up thier friend. Grappling and styles of Jujitsu may look great in the UFC but in street conflicts with less rules then even the UFC this may not be your bet idea. In Olympic style Taekwondo we have tightly regarded rules and we get points for flashy powerful kicks and points for handstrikes are possible, however they are unlikely. Just because we do flash moves in competitions do not make the mistake of thinking we would only do that in self defense situations.
Tenets of Taekwondo
5 Tenets
Courtesy (Ye Ui)
Integrity (Yom Chi)
Perseverance (In Nae)
Self-control (Guk-Gi)
Indomitable Spirit (Baekjul Boolgool)
These 5 tenets of Taekwondo can be found on the walls of almost all WTF assoicated dojans, however more importantly these tenets are found in the hearts and minds of all Taekwondo students. These tenets are not just something for us to scream out in class, but they are guiding words for us to use in all aspects of our lives. The only time Taekwondo students lose track of one or more of these tenets is usually when we are asked to repeat at the end of a high stressed test. For some reason the mind goes blank for some of us and pushups are soon to follow. Thankfully our teachers and judges know that we do know them but test stress can cause a mind blank. After all the Grand Masters, Masters and so forth have tested and perhaps even blanked them on thier own tests as they were/are being promoted..
10 Commandments of Taekwondo
The 10 Commandments of Taekwondo
1. Be loyal to your country.
2. Be a good son/daughter to your parents.
3. Be loyal to your spouse.
4. Be on good terms with your brothers and sisters.
5. Be loyal to your friends.
6. Be respectful to your elders.
7. Respect and trust your teachers.
8. Us good judgment before killing any living things.
9. Never retreat in battle
10. Always finish what you start.
I found these commandments in a couple of WTF books and I thought to include them on this webpage. The commandments are a mixture of the Hwarang principles and the 5 tents of Taekwondo. Personally I like them and if I become a head instructer one day at a branch I will write out the commandments and post them in the dojan and perhaps print off a small copy of them for students to put in thier wallets just incase the feel lost and need direction on something.
Promotional Testing
Most Taekwondo break promotional testing into 4 catogories. The first is Techniques. Students need to master certian foot, and hand techniques as well as foot work and blocking techniques. The second part is a sparring session. Doing techniques in nice stright lines with no one in front of you is always easy, however in the sparring section we really get to see what we know. The sparring session can last from a few minutes up to 20 or more minutes. For some ranks you will only need to fight one person and others you may need to fight more then one attacker. The 3rd aspect of testing is demostrating poomse or forms. Poomse is a set cycle of movement, stances and strikes that a student needs to learn. Poomse are excellent for teaching students combinatons and are used to help students to understand how strikes, blocks, kicks, foot work and stances work togather. Many schools use the Taeguek cyle of poomse for the colored belts however some schools also do the Palgwe cyle with or instead of the Taeguek cycle of poomse. The Taeguek poomse direction and videos will be posted to give the reader a idea of what poomse is and how it is used. The 4th aspect of training is a demostration of technique and strength also known as breaking. Students break boards using a varity of techniques to show proper technique, strength as well as the power of thier own will. Breaking can be as simple as a side kick breaking one board, to a student breaking several boards using several kicks to a jumping spinning back kick breaking several boards.
Rank System
10th kup white
9th kup white/yellow stripe
8th kup yellow
7th kup yellow/green stripe
6th kup green
5th kup green/blue stripe
4th kup blue
3th kup blue/red stripe
2nd kup red
1st kup red black stripe
1st Dan black
2nd Dan
3rd Dan
4th Dan Jr. Master
5th Dan Master
6th Dan
7th Dan
8th Dan
9th Dan
10th Dan Grand Master/ Own your own studio
Colors can change from Dojan to dojan