Are you making this common mistake in Taegeuk 7 Jang????

Teaching yesterday (at the time of writing) was a blast! In the bulk of the session I focused on the

performance of Poomsae and drilled some applications from the Poomsae we were working on. This "jumping" from Poomsae to Poomsae let me introduce the possibilities within Poomsae and its relation to combat, combative principles, as well as some of my ideas on how to find applications for the students themselves. Among the things we drilled were the first 2 movements of Taegeuk 1 Jang against a wristhold, the end part of Taegeuk 2 Jang as a continuation on the same application, the parry-pass method from Taegeuk Sam Jang, the defensive entry into knife hand strike from Taegeuk Sa Jang as well as a variation striking drill from the first two moves, and variation demonstrating the "C-stepping" that some had learned many years ago, Taegeuk 5 Jang made us drill an armlock, hammerfist strike, sweep and hammerfist strike combo from the first two counts, 6 Jang had us drill how to recover if the drill from Taegeuk 5 Jang went wrong, and then we came to Taegeuk Chil Jang and one of the things I usually have to correct (unless the student in question learned it from me directly). This is what the post is about, and I think it will interest people who compete in Poomsae, and people who are interested in practical Applications alike.

 First lets take a look at the Poomsae in question using two of the best sources available at this time when it comes to video. First out is the Kukkiwon produced video which is meant to be a companion to the Kukkiwon Textbook (thats what they told me when I visited the Kukkiwon when the DVD`s came out anyway)

 

Look closesly at the transition between the last low X-Block (arae eutgeuro makki) and the outward back fist strike (deungjomeok bakkat chigi).

 

Then we have the DVD produced as a companion to Lee Kyu Hyung`s "What is Taekwondo Poomsae?"



 

Again look closely at the transition between the second low X-Block and the outward back fist strike. This is where an insane number of instructor, students and even high ranking masters fail. These two videos, my 9th Dan teacher, the teachers at Chosun University in Korea, as well as Kukkiwon masters teach the transition correctly, while most people get the low X-Block correct, they do not do any transition between them. This means that in their performance of the first backfist strike they chamber underneath the pulling hand, effectively making them chamber on the outside of the pulling hand. In Kukki Taekwondo, the rule of thumb is: If its a strike (chigi or jireugi) you chamber on the inside, if the move is a makki you chamber on the outside.

 

In performance sport poomsae this will give you a small deduction of points, and indeed most detailed books on poomsae performance will only give this reason for doing it "the correct" way, and it stops there. If you are like me and want to have a pragmatic reason for including this transition however, simply include the pulling hand in application and it becomes clear that you need to transition so that the strike does chamber on the inside of the pulling hand. If rour right hand grabs the opponents left hand and pull it toward the hip while striking an outward backfist strike you will note that the common but incorect way of doing the technique makes it impossible to do the strike to the opponents head. If however you do it in the correct way you will pull your opponent off balance and strike his head at the same time. Look at the illustrations below:

Fig 1:This is the second X-Block. Note the right hand is over left.

Fig 2: Without transition you effectively go under
or on the outside of the pulling hand for the strike.
The hands have the same position in relation to each
other as in Fig 1, the right hand is over the left hand.

Fig 3: The outward backfist strike itself.

Fig 4: "Correct performance, including
a transition between the X-block in Fig 1.
Here the left hand is on top, which is the opposite
to the ending position in Fig 1. Compare this to
the Chamber in Fig 2.

Fig 5: Again the outward backfist strike

To illustrate why this is important beyond "deduction of points" in a competition look at the pictures below:

Fig 6: Here we have the incorrect transition in use.
The right hand is over the left hand as in Fig 1 and Fig 2.

Fig 7: As you can see, once we incorporate the pulling hand, the incorrect way
of doing the form makes it impossible to get off an effective strike. The opponents
arm is simply in the way of the strike. The pulling hand actually makes an obstacle
for us instead of removing one and adding extra power to the strike.

Fig 8: Here we see the "correct perfomance" in use. The left hand is over the right hand.
The pulling hand is clearing the way for the strike.

Fig 9: Here we see the conclusion of the strike. The pulling hand clears a way for the strike
to get through, adds extra power and unbalances the opponent. It is also the way the Kukkiwon
Standard has established to be the "correct way" of performing the Poomsae.  

 

I`ll break down the Poomsae for you in a way you perhaps have not considered before, and I will start long before this technique, allthough I have allready made my point as far as the chamber and transition goes in a nearly future post so stay tuned :-)



from Traditional Taekwondo Ramblings http://ift.tt/2lnS2zX