Is Taekwondo really a "kicking art"?

I was going through all the Kukkiwon Poomsae the other day and suddenly it hit me. I no longer compete activly in the WTF sanctioned events where kicks are just about the only way of getting points, so my training in Taekwondo (not including strength, stamina etc) is centered mainly around basics, poomsae, matchoe kyorugi and ho sin sul drills (this includes practical application of poomsae). What hit me is that we are always looked upon as a kicking art from both other martial arts and people outside the martial arts, but if we take away our competition format of fighting we are left with an art that is very much centered on the use of the arms.

An Historical View on Matchoe Kyorigi

In my last post I wrote about Matchoe Kyorigi and I touched upon something close to my heart and that is "context awareness" in Taekwondo. Machoe Kyorigi (Predetermined Sparring) are often viewed as old fashioned and or outdated combat training. In my view however this is putting Matchoe Kyorigi in a wrong context as I believe it was not originally meant to be used purely as combat training. I quoted a famous Shotokan Karate Master that:
"Matchoe Kyorigi is training to Harmonize with you opponent"

This is not a post on that theme, but rather how Matchoe Kyorigi was used and described in the early Taekwondo writings of Son Duk Sung and General Choi Hong Hi. I do not wish to be accused of "editing" Taekwondo history so it is in line with my view because frankly I can not do that as the old writings of Son Duk Sung and General Choi Hong Hi disagree with me.

Matchoe Kyorigi, Taekwondo`s forgotten art?

Taekwondo is often presented as a uniquely Korean ancient martial art with no ties to "foreign" Martial Arts. I actually believed that people today would know better, but just a few days ago I was faced with several individuals who eagerly defended "the 2000 years myth". It did not matter how much logic I presented so I gave up and said I would agree to disagree with them. I am getting older and wiser I think as a few years back I would probably not given in so easily.

One thing that does show that Taekwondo has been influenced by Karate however is something I have concentrated on in my classes lately as there is a grading for our students comming up and Machoe Kyorigi is one of the requirements for all grades (in different guises of course). Machoe Kyorigi is predetermined sparring divided in our system into:

• Sambon Kyorigi (3 Step Sparring)
• Hanbon Kyorigi Son Dongjak (1 Step Sparring Hand Techniques)
• Hanbon Kyorigi Bal Dongjak (1 Step Sparring Foot Techniques)
• Hanbon Kyorigi Eungyong Dongjak (1 Step Sparring combination* techniques)
• Dubon Kyorigi (2 Step Sparring)
• Mechigi (Throwing)
• Anja Kyorigi (Formal Sparring from seated position)

*Eungyong means "practical" but it is in this case often translated into our language as "combination" because the formal sparring uses one foot technique, hand technique and a self defense technique and mixes them together into the counter attacks in that kind of sparring.

Sparring = Free Sparring = Competition Sparring?

Look at the equation in the headline of this post. That equation without the question mark at the end of it seems to be the general view of sparring in just about all the Dojang I have ever visited (and I have been to quite a few). Even in Dojang that claims to teach "Traditional", "Real", "No-Nonsense" (insert something along those lines here) Taekwondo seems to be infected by this way of thinking. Before you click the "read more" link I feel I should give a "Ramble Alert":)

Chung Do Kwan Poomsae Training Tips

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Those of you who has read my blog for some time know that I love Taekwondo, to practise it, to teach it and to study it. Yes I do make a distinction of simply "Training" Taekwondo and to actually "Study" Taekwondo. This Blog is largely the result of me trying to put what I learn through my studdies into perspective and making sense of it all. After all Taekwondo is a far reaching term with very different meaning from student to student, instructor to instructor and from the lay persons out there. But all that is for another post in the future as this is a post on something entirely else.

Quote of the week

Back again after a looong holliday. First I had summer holliday and then crazytime at work:-) Sorry for not posting for a month now but at least you know why;)

This post is rather short I am afraid with only a small thoughtfull quote:

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times
-Bruce Lee

Contomplate this quote.

Head Turns in Poomsae

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Last weekend or so I was practising outside the Dojang with a few friends. One was a 1st Cup that wanted to freshen up his basics and forms, the other was a long time veteran of Taekwondo (by Norwegian standards) and then there was me. We started doing some dynamic stretching as part of our warm up rutine, followed by some gentle kicing excersises, some Dan Jun breathing excercises (they are also good for the "core") and then we started doing our forms. First we did Taegeuk Il (1) Jang to Sam (3) Jang, followed by my teachers own creation the so called TTU Poomsae 1-3. The veteran of Taekwondo had recently come back from a long time not practising Taekwondo and it did not take long before she asked us why we did not turn our heads before turning while performing our forms. She first thought that the 1st Cup had forgotten it but then she noticed that I did not do it either.