The importance of "Chambering"



Traditional Martial Artists often discuss "technique" and how to properly excecute them. Great deal

of thought and teaching goes into minute detail for each technique. One thing that I see less and less in Kukki TKD these days is the variance within how to do the techniques. Before the internet, and the large focus of Kukkiwon to standarize its techniques many masters did the techniques different from each other. Often the differences amounted to very little if any difference in actual application, making most changes aestetic instead of practical. In some cases though how to perform a technique will change the application or in worst case make the practical application of a technique impossible.

I have opted to demonstrate two techniques in Taekwondo in this post: Knife hand guarding block (Sonnal geoduro makki) and forward back fist strike (Deungjomeok ap chigi) to show how the chambers fit in with the actual application of a technique.

  



If you look below you will see two different chambers for the knife hand guarding block. One is the most common chamber in Taekwondo today, while the other is often known as a "Karate Chamber" these days. It should be noted however that both versions were taught in the old schools that later formed modern Taekwondo (at least in the Ji Do Kwan and as late as the early 70s). 



"Karate Chamber"

"Taekwondo Chamber"

Both Chambers
 finish like this



As you might imagine since both techniques end up in the same finishing position the practical application is somewhat similar. The crucial difference is that one is more suited for straight attacks and is very agressive in nature while the other is better suited for circular attacks and is more defensive in nature. Both will be effective for their correct context and both will finish off the attacker if done with sufficient force and accuracy (allthough no technique is perfect and invinsible so take that with a grain of salt). As we who practise Taekwondo today are likely more familiar with the "Taekwondo Chamber" I will start With this application first. Note that I have shared this exact one before a long long time ago but with drawings instead of pictures.



Practical application of the
Taekwondo Chamber





Above you can see the practical application of the Taekwondo Chamber. The attacker does a haymaker to the head. You step offline and into the opponents Space while warding off the attack with your chamber. This work well with the natural flinch response and the effects of adrenaline. You then trap the arm.

After trapping the arm imidiatly flow into a knife hand strike to the neck. There is no pause between the "block" and "strike". Just as in the basic technique the movement is one flowing motion which wards of the attack and counters in one move.

"Karate Chamber"

As for the Karate Chamber you defend yourself against a straight punch by deflecting it inward, and countering with a spear hand strike to the armpit. From here you trap the arm and do a knife hand strike to the neck.

As you will notice the first one is very "yealding" while the second is on the offensive at the get go. They both end up in the same finishing position though so their usage within the forms are actually quite similar despite how different the chambers looks. In this case we can say that both ways have merit and both are effective allthough they are different they both work well within their proper "context". When people start arguing about which way a technique should be performed and they are arguing from a pure block kick punch perspective (as in this block will block a lunging punch) I can not help but feel it is an empty discussion and a complete waste of time. In a block kick punch perspective it is only the end position that is actually being used and since in this case (and in many others) the end position is the same they dont differ in application in those discussions. It is only when we look deeper at the movement and how the complete movement can be of use we can have a constructive discussion on "which is better" of the different versions.  Allthough most often there is no really "this is better than that" when it comes to these discussions as demonstrated in the earlier example since both work well in their given context there are other ways of doing other techniques that do have in my opinion a "this is a better way to perform it than that way" answer. The next example I have chosen is the forward back fist fist strike.


Below you can see the "correct" Kukkiwon standard chamber for the technique. The backfist comes from underneath your armpit and continues on the inside of the pulling hand (dangkinun son).  I have seen many teach this incorrectly with the strike traveling on the outside of the pulling hand. It travels longer, get to accelerate longer and therefore is more powerful so what is my beef with chambering and striking on the outside of the pulling hand?

" Correct" chamber

End position

In this application to set it within a combative context I have applied it "within a combative setting" instead of isolating it as in a one step or similar place. In the picture below my punch has been blocked and evaded by my opponent.

Punch is blocked

From there I trap and pull his blocking arm as you can see from the picture below. Doing this I can unbalance him, I get to know where he is and where he is moving not only by sight alone but also feeling it through my connection.

recognice the Chamber for the backfist?

below is the actual delivery. You can step forward and use Your stance actively to crash into his "structure", which along with the strong pull and the forward momentum of your forward step makes this a lot more powerfull than merely chambering on the outside of the pulling arm. I kept my stance as is for clarity in the photo.

the backfist is delivered along with a strong pull

The problem I have with the chambering on the outside vs on the inside as the one I have demonstrated here is that if you look closely on the last picture you will note that chambering on the outside nullifies the application. You can not hit him with the back fist strike because his arm is in the way. If you exclude the pulling arm you get a slightly stronger basic technique but if you include it one will be useable and the other will be useless.


My experience is that the "official way" more often than not is useable, and the local variances are more often than not aestetic in nature and does little if anything to change the actual practical application of a technique. There are some variants however that simply does not work. Again in my own subjective experiences and study the Kukkiwon standard of techniques is a very good standard to follow even if you are not that interested in Poomsae as a performance sport. If you have a teacher that teaches you differently you should not imidiatly discard his way of doing it though. It is likely that he learned it that way and somewhere along the line of transmission of the technique there was a clear objective of doing it that way. If that is the case you should be able to analyze the technique pretty easily to see if it holds up for closer scrutiny.

I have questioned the Kukkiwon standard many times but through study and analisys I have found that that standard is actually pretty neat.

I hope to provide much more video content to this blog in the future. I have therefore set up a GoFundMe page on www.gofundme.com/traditionaltaekwondoramblings which I hope I can crowdfund a video editing software so I can make good quality videos for the blogs readers. If you want to contribute please visit the link to my GoFundMe page. Every donation helps :-)