Pyung Ahn Hyung Series Part 3: Pyung Ahn Chudan (1), Funakoshi Version

Image Source: Karate Do
Kyohan
1935 edition

In my last part of the series I promised I would start looking more into the form(s) themselves, and If you have read Part One (click here to get there), or Part 2 (click here to go to part 2) you will allready know that Funakoshi changed the teaching order and why he did it. You will also know that all the Kwan that I have found documentation on the Pyungahn series has taught them in the Funakoshi order. So what I have done here is to read the 1922, 1935 and 1958 book of Funakoshi where he describes or demonstrates this form. I made a video performance based on the form, and then I used snapshots of that video to document the form here. So you will get both video, pictures and text in this post (a little something for everyone).
this part will focus on the first form in the Funakoshi teaching order; Pyungahn Chudan Hyung. In Okinawan Karate, or just about all Karate styles apart from Shotokan this would be Pinan Nidan (2), but for us and Shotokan it will be the first form.

Simple training drill for forms applications

Me and Ivar played around a little with forms applications after a regular training session was over. I got Synnøve to film us so this blog post will have both text, aaaaaand video to accompony it ;-) The applications in this drill consists of a haymaker defense using sonnal geodeuro makki (knife hand guarding block), limb control using han sonnal bakkat makki (outward knife hand block) and bakkat makki (outward block). A few minutes of playing and you get applications from different Poomsae in one short drill.

New Taegeuk Il (1) Jang video clip (Micro post)

I recently managed to pull off one of the video projects I have wanted to make for some time :-) A video where the solo performance of the form and the applications to the form is cross cutted back and forth so you see the clear link between the solo form and the practical application of the movement. I am super excited about this and hope that it is a video that will be shared by many :-) There are scores of martial artists out there that think that the taekwondo forms have no value, and the taegeuk series especially have faced a lot of opposition. I hope that this clip can show that perhaps people can get a little more out of it than what you usually see:-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH4qidojs_M&list=PLgcu8sdxIYE5aSbXehlLXnVv1oj1OEUdP&index=2&t=0s

Amazon affiliated links (a new way to support the blog)

If you check out the sidebar to the right of the blog now you will see that the adsense is now gone and instead I have put up a few products with amazon affiliated links. What that means is that if you follow the link and buy the product (or anything else for that matter) I will get a small commission for the purchase. Going through these links will therefore be one way of supporting my work and research. This also means that I have 100% control of what products I put up there, and I will only put up things that are relevant for my blog and that I know are good. Right now there's a link to Stuart Anslows Ho Sin Sul book (affiliated link), one for Kukkiwon Textbook (affiliated link) and one book by Iain Abernethy on arm locks (affiliated link). All of them will probably be a good read for people who follow the blog, and all of them are books that I own and enjoy myself. I will change these around thought, so depending on when you are reading this post you might find other products or books there, but it will always be:

1: relevant for the blogs overall content
2: always be something I myself own and use myself

If I use links within articles, blog posts, for instance a book review or something that is an affiliated link I will always put (affiliate link) after the link. The reason for this change is that adsense that I used to have did not really work for the blog as it constantly showed unrelated stuff (for me anyway) that was not interesting. It did not pay much either (since 2011 I made juuust enough money to buy one book :-) ). I hope that with these kinds of links the blog might revenue a little more than that so I can invest more into my own research, and I do hope that you, the readers do not find this alarming or negative :-) Do not hessitate to comment if there is anything you are wondering, I will answer any civilized question that you might have :-)

Pyung Ahn Hyung Series Part 2: Tidbits about the forms

In this part of the series I want to share a few tidbits that I missed in Part 1, such as the meaning

behind the name, a few musings from Iain Abernethy on the reason (or part of the reason) why Itosu chose the name he ended up with, debunk a myth about Hwang Kee and the forms series and possible more stuff as they enter my mind. In the upcomming posts in the series I will go into the forms themselves, but there were a few things that I thought I should tackle before starting looking at the forms themselves. So if I have awaken your curiousity, and you forgive my many spelling mistakes please click the read more button to see more :-)

Index of Poomsae Applications 2011-2018

I'm looking through my old posts on Poomsae Applications, and since I am already doing that I thought it might be convenient for readers to get a post that could function as an index where you could easily navigate from one form to the next, or look into all posts that centers on one form. There's a lot of posts not included here that falls within practical poomsae applications category (posts explaining the meaning of "Makki", "stances", how to find them etc), here I have only gathered posts that show one or more specific examples to Poomsae applications. I hope you guys enjoy, I know I did :-D Unfortunatly some video-links and pictures to the older posts have dissapeared, but I think everything is still understandable, and if not do not hessitate to send me a question, either comment, or PM me through facebook :-) (Apparently you can find me on something called google+ as well but I have no idea how to use it).

Pyung Ahn Hyung Series Part 1: History

I recently (at the time of writing) got back from a seminar with Iain Abernethy focusing on the
combative applications from the Heian/Pinan Kata (often called Pyung Ahn in Korean). A few years back I toyed with the idea of making a book demonstrating the differences between how the different Korean Kwan (schools or styles) performed their versions of the Pyung Ahn and Chulgi series. The reason for this is that I collected and studied all kinds of older texts from Mu Duk Kwan, Chung Do Kwan, Oh Do Kwan etc and I was getting a lot of different material that is not generally seen today in my personal "library". One of these things that I found fascinating was how the Hyung was very similar, yet they had their small differences accross the different schools. When I saw that Iain Abernethy was going to hold a seminar in the south east part of Norway I knew I had to attend that seminar. I have followed his work for probably more than a decade now, articles, books, youtube, podcasts, Iain is prolific and a great sharer of knowledge, and I find his stuff to be very interesting. Since he was going to focus on the Pinan/Heian series I thought I could brush off on the forms I had collected notes on, but never finished the project so that I came "prepared" to the seminar. Since I have been working on learning the solo performance of the series, revisiting my old notes and now learned a ton of applications on them from the most best known "applications guy"across styles I thought that perhaps some of my readers might be interested in learning a little more about them, and how the versions vary among different schools. I abandoned the book project because I never managed to find a version from all of the major Kwan, and I really thought that if I were to charge money in the form of a book, it really should contain versions from all the major Kwan and not just 2-4 Kwan.

Taegeuk Il Jang, Solo performance + Applications

I have made several videos on Taegeuk Il Jang over the last year, and as I have done in written form on this blog I have covered the form move for move throughout the complete Poomsae with practical applications :-) In this blog post I thought I could make a convenient way of gathering all this into one place. When I get a little more time I will try to make a "master post" where there are pictures, text, history, videos of performance and videos on applications in one place, but this short one will do in the meantime :-)

Chulgi i (2) Dan Hyung , Solo Performance and short commentary

Following up from my last blog post here is a clip of me performing another hybrid or personal version of Chulgi 2. These series of forms (there are 3 in the complete set) is in my view remarkable in that they most possibly represent three generations of great masters thoughts and ideas. The reason I say that is that lineages in Karate that goes back to "Tode" Sakugawa but does not go through "Bushi" Matsumura and Anko Itosu practise only the first in the series. This means that most likely Sakugawa invented or imported the form that was to become the first in the series. Again if we look to Karate lineages going through "Bushi" Matsumura (a student of Sakugawa), but not through Itosu, we see that these lineages usually practise the first two forms but not the last in the series, supporting a claim that the second form was invented as a commentary by Matsumura. The third form is practised by lineages going through both Sakugawa -> Matsumura -> Itosu making it likely that Itosu made the last one. So three forms containing the knowledge of three legendary masters and fighters. Some might it find it interesting that Othsuka, the founder of Wado-Ryu Karate who was a student of Gichin Funakoshi and Choki Motobu decided that the first form in the series was one of his absolute favorites, while the second and third one was dropped because in his view they were next to useless i I remember his words correctly. This explains why Wado-Ryu Karate only practise the first one, eventhough they come from an Itosu lineage.

Chulgi Chudan Hyung; historical background, performance and more

I have been practising Chulgi Chudan Hyung for a few years now, and it is still giving me all kinds of ideas and lessons in mechanics. The other day the schools opened up after a looooong summer and we could finally start up formal training again, and so I met up early to do some self training and I also used the oppertunity to shoot a little video of myself performing Chulgi, Taegeuk il jang and taegeuk i jang. Taegeuk Il jang I shot from different angles etc, and I intend to make a video where the performance is done, interjected with clips of applications. For this post however I am sharing what I can only call a hybrid or personal version of Chulgi Chudan Hyung.

MA-Nerd alert! Deep dive into the Horse Stance terminology

Most of what I write is from a purely Kukki-Taekwondo perspective as that is what I practise (a

traditional version of it, coloured by my teachers experiences). This post however will perhaps be an interesting read for any Korean Martial Arts practisioner as we all use horse stance no matter if you practise Taekwondo, Taekwon-Do, Tae Kwon Do (WTF/Kukki, Chang Hon/ITF or independent), Tang Su Do, Su Bahk Do, Gumdo, Gyungdang etc. It is one of those universal stances that seemingly every martial art makes heavy use of. In Norway we have a saying that goes "A loved child has many names" (Kjært barn har mange navn), and while the translation of the various Korean name for this stance is remarkably consistent as "Horse Stance" there are a number of different Korean terms used to refer to this stance. One exception that has a unique English name for the stance is ITF Taekwon-Do which translate their Korean term into "Sitting Stance". In this post I will look into several different Korean terms for the stance, re-translate them into English and give a little background. Some people complain that Korean masters all seem to have their own Korean term for this stance but I think that within the different organisations in the main we see that the Korean terms are used consistent. It is when we look at different martial arts or organisations we see different Korean terms being used for what is essentually the same stance.

Using gloves in training?

https://youtu.be/Zvg0LsN9Ohc

I will make this into an article on a later date, but after reading a few comments from some “hard core traditionalists” saying we should never use gloves in training because there’s no gloves on “the street” I thought I should give an alternative view from another “traditionalist» :-) 

Product Review; Elite Sports Gloves and Focus Mitts

Introduction and background:

I am very fond of "Traditions" and "The Old Ways", but I am also very fond of making use of modern equipment and sport science to augument my martial arts jurney. One thing that I think main stream taekwondo can do better is to include more impact work for adult students with a bigger focus on hand techniques than what we normally see today. In my personal training I have been using the heavy bag and Kwon Go/ Dallyon Joo or Makkiwara for a few years now, and the Dojang that I train with purchased focus mitts last year for training hand techniques on my recommendation. I train bare-fisted AND with gloves, I do not believe in doing just the one or the other. I bought myself a pair of boxing gloves a long time ago, and I have also used "taekwondo gloves", the kind the WTF (or just the WT these days) implemented a few years back. The problem with impact work as I see it in my own day to day training is:

1. Only training bare-fisted limits my training because of the impact. Sometimes if the training volume is large enough the usage of gloves is prefferable. It is not an "either-if" case, you need both if you train enough.
2. Taekwondo gloves are meant to protect your fingers in a competition bout. They shred easily and can not take the continued punishment that impact training with them provides. They are OK for occasional use, but they just do not hold up in my own experience. This is OK for impact training is not their function.
3. Boxing gloves does not allow you to truly make a fist. It also forgives you for not having correct aligment while punching. Using them in sparring also has a problem in that it is easier and more efficient to "hide behind the guard" than to use traditional taekwondo makki-techniques.

This means that I have been searching for an alternative, and when Ellen from Elite Sports approached me and asked if I was interested in doing a product review I felt that the planets had aligned and I could possibly look at new solution to my personal training problems, and do product review at the same time. We first had some correspondance on what she wanted, and I also had to make sure that I could give a 100% honest review or I would not do it. You are hopefully reading this so you can guess how this turned out :-)

Guest Post: How to Keep Adults Hooked on Your Taekwondo Class

Introduction by Ørjan: Josh Peacock is in my own opinion a great example of a Taekwondoin who does not only practise Taekwondo but also study it. I fist came into contact with him online several years ago when he co-authored some very interesting articles on the white dragon blog, and we have stayed in touch ever since. His blogs has all been featured under the "interesting blogs" list which you can see if you watch the desctop or full version of this blog on the right hand side and for good reason. A few years ago he wrote a lot on Poomsae applications which as you will know if you are a regular reader of this blog is something I am very interested in. The last two (or three?) years he has delved more into the teaching methods and training methods with a focus on developing real life skills (which I also find fascinating). Josh is one of the persons I seek out if I want to have my views challenged (in a positive constructive manner), and he has helped my own personal development and understanding of Taekwondo through our online discussions and his written articles. When he approached me and offered to do a guest post on my blog I jumped at the chance, and said yes imidiatly. I know I enjoyed reading this article and I am sure you as a reader will too :-) So read on if you'd like to see a little of what Josh is working on:

How to Keep Adults Hooked on Your Taekwondo Class

Adult Learning Requires a Different Approach

Taekwondo has a low rate of adult participation, relative to other combat sports like BJJ
and boxing. Taekwondo is most famous for benefiting children through a highly
structured class style, similar to the military. But does this approach cater to the unique
needs and motivations of adult learners?

My suggestion is no, and here’s why.

Mini Lecture: Mu Duk Kwan and Hwang Kee in TKD history

Recently I was involved in a short discussion on Hwang Kee and Mu Duk Kwan and it’s role in Taekwondo history. I think that in early history Hwang Kee is important through his students and that he through his students left a lasting legacy within the Kukkiwon-Tkd

https://youtu.be/25Rp-vEvP5E

What is the meaning of the term "Taekwondo"?

I videotaped myself nerding out on the term "Taekwondo". I found it a fitting next video as my last nerding out was on how to write taekwondo in Korean using Hangul (The Korean writing system), but while I went into some detail demonstraing how to write the term I never touched upon the mening of the term. Taekwondo is often translated as Tae = Foot, Kwon = Fist and Do = Art (or way), but this is a very simplified translation of the term. Choi Hong Hi who came up with the term in around 1955 wrote several books on Taekwondo and he did also give us a very clear and consice translation on what the term meant, and this should be something we all should learn straight from his own works. In this clip I have included a paraphrasing of his translation, and the exact quote from his 15 volume encyclopedias. I have gone into a little history on the term, as well as a few different interpretations around what the term means in a wider sense (combative strategy, philosophical and descriptive of the system of the whole). I hope you enjoy the clip and as always: Any like, share, comment and subscription is highly appreciated:-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubp3CM0C-5g&feature=youtu.be

Question of the day: What kind of topics would YOU like me to cover in a future "mini lecture" like this?

How to write taekwondo in Korean (태권도)

Many dojang has written tests in regard to their rank advancement and writing taekwondo in korean Hangul is a frequent task on these written tests. I’ve thought for a long time to make a post or video where I demonstrate how to do this, but I’ve never gotten around to it. The other day I had a few minutes to spare while waiting in my car and I thought “why wait?” and just went for it then and there :-)
https://youtu.be/nztWQP8htBM

Short discussion on grappling in poomsae + application from 5 Jang

I made this clip pretty much on a whim after one of the blogs readers commented that his daughters favorite taegeuk poomsae was oh jang. I filmed the application and then what was meant as a 30 second to 1 minute intro, but I started rambling and before I knew it I had made a very short discussion on the possibility of grappling within poomsae. So in the clip you get that discussion, you get two applications from the Kukkiwon Textbook explaining “blocks” as joint locks, and you get an application from taegeuk 5 jang. I hope you’ll find it to be high value content.

Practical application from Taegeuk Sam (3) Jang

Here’s a quick video exploring the outward single knife hand block and middle section punch combination. I even threw in a quick application on pyungwon poomsae as a bonus:-) 
Click on the following link or look at it embedded below:

https://youtu.be/wzkCLgvLjDUh

As always any like, comment, subscription or share is very appreciated:-)

Flow drill for taekwondo hand techniques part 4

If you’re a regular reader you will undoubtedly have seen my flow drills posts in the last months. This is the fourth one dealing with a variation where each partner does a different attack than the other. In this specific example one does a haymaker and the other an elbow strike but you can vary this with any kind of attack, the example is just that; an example :-)





https://youtu.be/iiAKk69rDwk

If you have enjoyed these videos please consider supporting the blog and its YouTube channel by sharing the clip with a friend or two :-)

Part 3: Flow drills for Taekwondo hand techniques

We just start straight into part 3 :-)

Template 3; Ap Makki:

What on earth is an "Ap makki"? I just came up with the term myself:-P Here the attacker does a round elbow strike or dollyo palkeup chigi, which the defender then jams by shooting his arm straight ahead, before the elbow gets to terminal velocity (You'd be hardpressed to "block" a round elbow strike if you let it pick up much momentum). Again the other hand come up from underneath and parries it to the side, before the other hand pushes it inwards and you do your own elbow strike. So the uniqueness in this template is the elbow strike, and frontal contact point. If you click the read more you will see the youtube embedded clip:-)

Practical applications drill covering a whole Poomsae!

This is the first time I have made this public, but it is the first drill of its kind (as far as I know) where you apply a Poomsae from start to finish without overlooking any techniques, and you use all the sequences as is. I have many to thank for my jurney into Taekwondo applications, perhaps too many to mention, but a shoutout to Samir Bernardo who inspired me into making this drill, to Iain Abernethy who I have also taken inspiration from, to Stuart Anslow, Simon O'Neill, Colin Wee, Matthew Sylvester and many many more and of course my own instructors Master Cho and Master Oppedal :-) I have tried giving as much context as possible in the clip itself so it became pretty long, but if all you want to see is the drill itself you can skip to the end (about three minutes from the end). If you enjoyed the clip please consider subscribing to my channel if you have not already done so ;-), share the video etc. If you did NOT like it, please make your own version that you do like and share it with the world :-D

3 important things to know to find practical meaning in Poomsae

Here's a short video explaining and illustrating three important principles to get combative meaning in Poomsae. Of course this is a vast subject, but these three will get you started. The principles are: understand the pulling hand (you can  read up on dangkinun son on this blog, or see my mini lecture #2 for more information), "blocks" are not static "blocks" (again a quick search on this blog will give you page up and down with lots of information), and "there is only one opponent".

Any principles you would like to see covered in a similar format? Please comment or PM me if you do:-)

Mini lecture #2 Why do we pull our hand to our hip?[2018]

In this video you will get some of the reasons why we pull our hand to our hip in forms and basics, as well as why we chamber techniques, the role of blocks and much more. I again did this without any script, but I did a better job at editing this time (at least I think so) and I placed my camera so I did not have to hold it while filming so the presentation is way better than in the first lecture. I still have a far way to go both in editing skills and in presentation, but its a steep learning curve, and hopefully I will give an alternative to the text dominated content I have been providing so far.

What would YOU like to see in a future mini lecture? Please answer in a comment or PM :-)

My first video mini lecture; What is the difference between Hyeong, Tul and Poomsae?

This is my first ever video mini lecture. It clocks in at 16 minutes, it was unscripted, and I took it as a
fun challenge since I am way more comfortable to write English, than to speak it. It became very "Norwenglish" as a result, but I think it is understandable. If not I have texted the whole clip (so you can even see it without sound as long as you turn on the captions option on youtube). I am still a beginner when it comes to editing video, but I managed to cut out the most fumbling bits, and I managed to insert some illustrations to break up the monotomy of me talking and to give you something to view besides my ugly mug.

I talk about the history, the meanings, translations, reasons why the different organisations uses different terms and much more in this clip. Did you know that we have two different terms Poomse and Poomsae? Do you know the difference between them and what they mean? Do you know when they changed from Poomse to Poomsae and why? Do you know when Choi Hong Hi changed from Hyeong to Tul? That and a whole lot more is in the clip:-) If you enjoy it, and want to see more please subscribe to my youtube channel, and or share the clip with any taekwondo nerd that you know:-)

Gawi Makki Revisited (Scissors block)

In 2015 I wrote a post on Gawi Makki or Scissors block which you can read here where I outlined a

Author halfheartedly demonstrating
the Gawi Makki in the video clip

few applications on the Gawi Makki. Then as now many people come to the blog searching for combative meaning to seemingless uncombative movements of Poomsae and traditional taekwondo. One concept that I have taken onboard in my own study and practise is the "Parry-Pass" concept of receiving and redirecting the opponents limbs to keep control and create openings instead of waiting for the opponent to give me one. In 2015 I had yet to integrate this concept in a big way, so I did not include my take on Taegeuk Chil Jang's Gawi makki VS Taebaek Poomsae's Gawi Makki. I simply viewed the double Gawi Makki as a way of demonstrating that it works either way (which is up and which is down, and which foot is forward in Taegeuk Chil Jang, and when it is revisited in Taebaek it is simply demonstrated as one example since all variations were covered in Taegeuk Chil Jang.

Part 2: Flow drills for Taekwondo hand techniques

In my previous post (part 1) I wrote about flow drills, and presented the first template. This time I
will present the second one I use, which follows the same 3 point template but this time things have changed a little:-) I did not get to video more so you get this series in more parts than I would have liked, but then again I could wait until I had the rest of the videos I need to complete the post (about 6 more) and not give you any content in the meantime. Something is better than nothing so here goes template number 2:

Part 1: Flow drills for Taekwondo hand techniques

Taekwondo is not exactly renowned for its hand techniques which I have always felt was a little odd.

Not odd becuase we do normally stress leg techniques over hand techniques, but odd because we have just about every hand technique that you would find in any Karate style. Again, many have a superficial knowledge about Taekwondo, and it does not help that:

1. Many hand techniques never appear in Poomsae
2. Many who practise Taekwondo to later convert to other styles only learn rudementary or basic Taekwondo.

Now every strike you would find in Karate, most of the common strikes in Chinese Martial Arts and in Boxing are all present within Taekwondo. Hand Techniques of Taekwondo for actual fighting does a very good job documenting these strikes, allthough the author does it primarily form a "non-attached" striking viewpoint or "boxing style" strikes. I come from the opposite side of the spectrum as I usually like to be "attached" i.e. using my other hand active so I do not have what Choki Motobu called "dead hand" or inactive hand. Most students of Taekwondo will spar using the competition rulesets so for Kukki-TKD people they will go sparring much like the WT competition style fights go. Lots and lots of emphasis on kicking, long distance, and handtechniques are scarce or non-existant. If they do drill their hand techniques with a partner it is usually in a ritualised manner of formal sparring; one, two or three step sparring.

Micro Post: 3 Applications for high block from Master Henrik

Master Henrik from Sangrok Taekwondo in Norway has yet again made a well produced clip on practical applications for traditional techniques. This time he is focusing on the high section block or Eulgeul Makki in Korean.

Video of a Taegeuk Sa Jang application

I have often promised to make videos, but I have never really gotten around to actually do it:-P Last
night we did some pictures for my latest article for totally taekwondo magazine (joint locks and terminology), and when we were finished (55 seconds later) I thought, why not shoot a few seconds of footage and make "something" rather than "nothing" :-) The result was that we filmed two flow drills, and a few seconds of drilling a variation application from Taegeuk Sa Jang.

Micro Post; 3 Applications on outward block from master Henrik

Master Henrik from Sangrok Taekwondo Norway has yet again published a clip on taekwondo applications. This time it's the outward block, or bakkat makki that is in focus. He presents 3 different applications to this technique in a well produced clip. Again it' his father who assists in the clip:-)

500 000 views :-) Thank you everyone :-)

Micro Post: Interview on the new competition poomsae with USA Poomsae Coach

I really enjoyed this interview. I'e been asked about the topic on the new poomsae many times, and since they are for competition and my entire focus these days are Taekwondo as a martial art (as opposed to martial sport) they are not really relevant for me. I'e also dismissed them as "fluff" without much if any real "martial content". I do try to keep an open mind (even if that does not come through my in my writings) so I clicked this interview not really knowing what someone whose focus is sport thinks about them. He does raise many good points, and I'll try to find the complete interview (this ones 8 minutes long, and it cuts just as they are starting to talk about the evolution of sport sparring. I hope you enjoy as well :-)

Micro Post: 3 Applications for inward block from master Henrik

In the video below you can see the Norwegian Taekwondo master Henrik Hunstad explaining and demonstrating 3 different applications for momtong an Makki or inward block. Enjoy:

Self defense applications from Taegeuk Oh Jang

Author performing the elbow strike

I have written before about Taegeuk Oh Jang, including one post where I dealt with the opening movements, and another post detailing the side kicks and elbow strikes. I will write about elbows in this article as well, but I will focus on
the round elbow strikes that follows from the single knife hand block, instead of the side kick, targeted elbow strike combination I have written about before. If you read this article and the other two I've mentioned, you will have unlocked about half of the form :-) I might do a indepth article in the future where I take Oh Jang apart move by move just as I did with Taegeuk Il Jang, but for the time being you get a piece meal (but hey it is free:-)  )

4 great quotes from Gm Richard Chun

The Taekwondo world lost one of its bright lights at the end of the last year when Richard Chun
passed away. I never trained with him, never spoke nor discussed online with him, yet he has influenced my Taekwondo through his books. I first got his "Advancing in Taekwondo" book on Kindle a few years ago, read it from cover to cover (so to speak) and I was amazed that Richard Chun wrote from the perspecive of Taekwondo as a traditional holistic martial art, and how close his views were aligned to my own teachers words and teachings. As regular readers will know my own teacher comes from a Ji Do Kwan lineage, while Richard Chun comes from a Mu Duk Kwan lineage. While they might originally hail from different schools, traditional Taekwondo as a martial art seems to be suprisingly consistent accross the different Kwan as I see no contradictions between these two men. I loved the "Advancing in Taekwondo" so much and many practisioners I highly respect had allready recommended his older book "Tae Kwon Do, The Korean Martial Art" from 1976 that I had to get it. That book is in my own opinion an even better look at Taekwondo than the modern Kukkiwon Textbook when it comes to getting to understand the theory behind the martial art. The Kukkiwon Textbook is almost a sporting book in comparison, and where the Kukkiwon Textbook fails to deliver any Ho Sin Sul (Self defense) Richard Chun delivers on everything from Break Falling, throws, sweeps, release techniques and even some ground fighting (self defense when you are on the ground).

When I read that he had passed away I thought that I should try to honor him in some way, so I read through his books, picked out some quotes that has jumped out on me and posted some pictures with the quotes on the facebook page of this blog. In this post I thought I could share these quotes again, but with a little commentary on each. Before we begin however I would like to give my condolences to his students and family.

2017 in retrospect and where do we go from here

Every January I write a post while sitting down, looking through the blog-year and gathering a few thoughts on the year to come. It`s become a real new year tradition for me, and it is one that I look forward to when the end of the year gets near. 2017 has been perhaps the busiest year that I can remember on all fronts. As a result a hobby based thing like this blog has been put on the backburner.

It is easy to post something short and interesting on the facebook fan page of the blog so I have been providing content, but it has not been a very productive year when it comes to writing articles for the blog itself. The recent loss of net neutrality in the US might also affect this blog negatively as well in the future, but I have not seen anything that threatens it in the imidiate future yet, so fingers crossed that I can keep blogging for free, because once I have to pay to do it I will either have to charge people for its content or quit blogging altogether (and I am leaning toward the latter actually if it comes to that). So here comes the anual lists and overview: