Following from the last months quote on Taekwondo history this months quote is also grounded in Taekwondo history. Many readers of this blog will know the origin of modern Taekwondo lies not only within Korea but also within Okinawa, Japan and China. What many people do not know is that Choi Hong Hi founder of the Oh Do Kwan and the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) included Karate Kata in his teachings at least untill 1965. That year he published "Taekwon-do the art of self defense" and included 15 different Karate Kata in the book along with the first 20 forms he developed for his own school. The Karate Kata were treated and documented with the same depth as his own creations in this book which I also find interesting. I do not know how long after 1965 the Karate Kata were considered part of Taekwondo, but in his next 1970s book they were no longer there, and the Korean Taekwondo Association would present the Palgwe forms to replace the Karate Kata in 1967. To show how highly the Karate Kata were regarded in Taekwondo at this time you can see the quote below by Choi Hong Hi on the Heian Kata:
Hei-an means safety and peacefulness.
This name is obtained from the fact that anyone
who has mastered this type is able to protect himself
or herself easily in any unforseen situation.
-Choi Hong Hi; Founder of Oh Do Kwan
The Heian forms were most often called Pyungahn in the Korean schools. They are known as "Pinan" in Okinawan Karate and most Karate styles, but Gichin Funakoshi renamed them "Heian". One of the forms along with some combative interpretations can be seen in the clip below:
Recently (time is subjective) I started a Taekwondo "study group" and one of the first posts I shared on it was my post Myths: All blocks are blocks! (Not) and more . The example in that post consists of Hecho Santeul Makki or Spreading Mountain Block. Two other members of that Group shared videos of how they approach their systems Mountain Blocks. While their examples ends up in the same
ending position they do not show the Hecho Santeul Makki from Pyungwon Poomsae but rather the "regular" Santeul Makki that can be seen in Keumgang Poomsae. I thought it would make a great post to gather all the information on that technique from this blog that have been published earlier coupled with the new material that was kindly shared by my study buddies:-) The video that features Colin from Traditional Taekwondo Techniques blog was put together especially for the study Group which explains the names being mentioned in the beginning of the Clip as well as the youtube label:-)
This interview was first published in Totally Taekwondo Magazine early January. As it came to dominate the first page of that issue I waited until the next issue was out before posting it here. I think that the Readers of this blog will really enjoy it as it touches on many Things that I have written about before (a little history, training Methods, drilling, and a Whole lot more). Simon manages to say stuff in a few sentences that I need a Whole or series of blog posts to get accross, so as I said before I really think you will enjoy it, I know I did, and that I learned a lot from doing the interview. The bold text is mine and the questions I asked him while the regular text that is not bold is Simons replies.
Simon O`Neill has shared yet another Clip from his brilliant Taegeuk Cipher DVD where he explains self defense and fighting applications derived from the Taegeuk form series. I have confessed that I love his work and especially admire the coherent way in which all his applications fit together as a logical syllabus. I hope to acchieve the same level of coherentness myself one day. An interview with Simon O`Neill is scheduled for release on this blog the 5th of March (Previously published in the Totally Taekwondo Magazine)
In this sequence he demonstrates the "knife hand block" from back stance moving into long front walking stance and "middle section punch" from a more strikingbased viewpoint. The "blocking movement" might seem a bit off if you are used to the "Kukkiwon standard" but it is wholly inline with the older Kwan (the schools that together made Taekwondo) method of moving.
The most basic application is a simple block punch combo and as far as block punch combos go this one is not that bad, yet it can still be used in more sophisticated ways as shown below
If you like Simon`s work, or you want to buy the DVDs or his book please visit http://palkwon.com/en/index.html and if you want to show your support you can visit the Taegeuk Cipher Facebook page and "Like" here: https://www.facebook.com/taegeukcipher?fref=ts
both will help his promotion of the Taegeuk Cipher works (book and DVD series).
