Part 1: The lost Ji Do Kwan Taegeuk Hyung (not the modern taegeuk poomsae)

 In my last post I walked you through a short history of the Ji Do Kwan and the issues we have when it comes to lineage, which is why I believe that we have lost all the original Ji Do Kwan Hyung as they were practised in the Kwan-era (in Ji Do Kwan's case 1946-1966 since they adopted Palgwae and then Taegeuk forms). The students focused very much on the practical applications of the basic techniques as used in sparring and the school became legendary for its fierce fighters. Later they joined the Korean Taekwondo movement fullheartedly in 1966, and got to have their own representatives in the poomse comitte who made the Taegeuk poomse series of 8 forms and the new Koryo poomse which replaced the older Koryo Hyung made by the orignal comitte. Why they left the rest of the Judanja poomse largely in peace I do not know. This focus on the sparring applications, and then the fullhearted joining of what was to become modern Kukki-Taekwondo unfortunatly came at a steep (in my opinion) price; The loss of the original Ji Do Kwan Hyung as practised in the Kwan-era. The school originally had instructors comming with dan ranks from Shotokan (most possibly), Shudokan Karate and Shito-Ryu Karate, or in other words their knowledgepool flowed from Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni and Toyama Kanken. All Karate legends, and this wide array of "knowledge rivers" is rather unique in Kwan terms. Therefore the loss of their forms is truly a tragedy. When going over some of the more obscure books in my collection I revisited Sihak Henry Cho's book called Better Karate for Boys". It is a short and simple book covering some stances and basic techniques and basic facts like what to expect from a class, how to fold your training uniform, how to tie your belt etc. One of the things that he also covered were three "Tae Keuk Hyung" or taegeuk hyung which is how we would have spelled it today. 

 

Last time I read through this part I looked at the illustrations for the first form and its description and came to the conclusion that it was the first Taikoyuki form (Taikoyuki is the Japanese reading of the characters for Tai Chi or Taegeuk in Chinese and Korean respectivly). This is a series of 3 forms made by either Gichin or his son Yoshitaka "Gigo" Funakoshi depending on who you will believe. No matter who of them invented them, Gichin Funakoshi liked them so much that he included them in his teaching, and he adviced advanced students to return to these basic forms again and again as this was the essense of Karate-Do. The first Taeguk Hyung as presented by Henry Cho is identical to the Shotokan version and so I believed it to be a word for word identical rendition of the Shotokan Taikouku Kata. I have never practised these so I went on my phone and looked at it on youtube to confirm and yes it was identical. I then read the comments and someone there complained that he had learned the other two in a different way with high blocks in the 2nd one etc. He had one answer to his comment that Shito-Ryu Karate practised those versions. This made me curious because when reading the book I had noticed that the 2nd form did make use of high block but I thought (wrongly) that that was the Shotokan version as well. I therefore checked the Shito Ryu version of the three forms and compared it to the book by Henry Cho and lo and behold they were not identical to the Shito Ryu version either. They were certainly much closer to Shito Ryu than Shotokan, but at the same time a little different. 

So I tried to find as many different styles who made use of these forms the main or biggest ones being Shotokan, Shito Ryu and Kyokushin. None of them matched perfectly with the book by Henry Cho. So I can only conclude that while the Shito Ryu version is the closest one, the forms as presented in the book is the way Ji Do Kwan in particular did these forms. 

This also rises a few questions, because if the Taegeuk Hyung (not to be confused with the modern poomsae) did conform closer to Shito Ryu than Shotokan; what does this mean for the rest of the forms they were practising? The few who try to recreate Ji Do Kwan by looking to Shotokan might in fact be looking toward the wrong source.... Also since the basic three beginning forms do not conform 100% to the Shito Ryu version, what other ways did the forms practised at Ji Do Kwan if indeed they were close to Shito Ryu differ from their source? 

Fun Fact: The reason why the first poomse that were being produced by the KTA forms comitte were being called Palgwae was that they allready had forms called taegeuk (the ones I will present in this series). They therefore used the name and term Palgwae (Meaning the 8 trigrams) because they did not want them to be confused with the other forms (the karate kata). In Kim Dae Shik's book on Taekwondo from 1971 he includes a list of "Official forms of the Korean Tae Kwon Do Association". This list in its entirety will form a future article in itself, but for this series I wanted to include the first 10 forms: Form 1 and 2 is listed as Tae Keuk Hyung 1 and Tae Keuk Hyung 2 before he continues his list with the 8 palgwae forms. So in 1971 before the introduction of the new Taegeuk series, the first two forms (in some shape we do not know exactly which versions they used) were still in the official curriculum. When the new Taegeuk poomsae series were introduced the year after, it is understandable that they dropped the first two tae keuk hyung (the karate kata) sharing the name from their list. It would look kinda strange with taegeuk 1 taegeuk 2 taegeuk 1 taegeuk 2 taegeuk 3 and so on on the list. 

Video tutorial for the first Tae Keuk Hyung (Shotokan video used as is identical with Ji Do Kwan version)

The first form as documented by Sihak Henry Cho fits the Shotokan version so closely (they being identical) that I thought I would save myself the work of making illustrations, video etc and just post the Shotokan version of their form number 1 below. The way Ji Do Kwan performed their low block was the same as in Shotokan (I checked another of Sihak Henry Cho's books to confirm this). The middle section punch is performed as in Shotokan. So if this video used Korean words it could just as well be for all intents and purposes Tae Keuk Hyung 1 from the Ji Do Kwan. 

 The Kihap points are the same as prescribed in the Korean Ji Do Kwan version. The performance lines of the three forms are identical and it is an inverted "H-shape". There are two stances in the form; the ready stance of Chumbi Seogi, and the long front walking stance or the ap koobi seogi. There are likewise only two techniques in this form; the low block or arae makki, and the middle section punch or momtong jireugi. To the sides the combinations are low block-walk forward-middle punch. Forward and back in the center line its one low block, and then three middle punches walking forward for each technique and Kihap to the end. 

It is a very basic form, and variations are still practised in Shotokan, Shito Ryu and Kyokushin Karate, as well as in many Tang Su Do schools and Su Bahk Do schools under the name Kicho Hyung. Another Korean name for them are Gibon Hyung 1-3. Kicho and Gibon means fundemental and basic. 

The instructions from Better Karate for boys page 52-54:

1. Starting position for Tae Keuk Hyung (identical to Shotokan Yoi but in modern times Gibon Chumbi Seogi can be used)
2. Step to the left in forward stance (ap koobi) and perform low block (arae makki)
3. Step forward with the right foot and execute middle target punch
4. Turning through the right side on the right foot, make a low block inthe opposite direction.
5. Step forward on the left foot and make a middle target punch.
6. Moving the left foot a half turn through the left side, perform a low block.
7. Stepping forward three times, execute three middle target punches with the right, left and right hands. On that last punch, make a "kee-up".
8. Turn through your rear, moving the left foot to the right, and execute a low block. You are now at a right angle to your previous position. 
9. Step forward on your right foot with a middle target punch.
10. Turning on your right side with the right foot, execute a low block in the opposite direction. 
11. Step forward on the left foot, perform a middle target punch.
12. Moving the left foot a half turn through the left side, perform a low block.
13. Step forward three times, execute middle target punches with the right, left and right hands. On the last punch, make a "kee-up".
14. Turn through your rear, moving the left foot to the right, and execute a low block
15. Step forward on the right foot and make a middle target punch
16. Turning on your right side with the right foot, execute a low block in the opposite direction.
17. Step forward on the left foot, perform a middle target punch.
18. Turning on your left side with the left foot, come back to your original starting position.

I personally will not be practising these after I am finished with this series, as I am currently going in an Oh Do Kwan direction which does not make use of these three and I have more than enough with the Chang Hon Ryu, supplemented by Taegeuk and Judanja Poomsae. As a side note Choi Hong Hi did include them in his 1959 book but later dropped the three forms in his 1965 book while retaining the other Karate Kata. 

I find the three forms interesting though, and if I was still pursuing the Ji Do Kwan roots I would include them in my training simply because these are the three Hyung that defintitly were practised in the Ji Do Kwan in this manner and version. I do hope that people within the Ji Do Kwan comunity pick these three forms up (when I am finished with this series so all three are available) because if you are fronting that you are Ji Do Kwan I think having something that ties you directly back to the school is prudent. It is too easy in my mind to say I am Ji Do Kwan and then not teach any of the Ji Do Kwan philosophy, creed or forms. These three forms are however a fundemental part of the Ji Do Kwan original curriculum (which is why they were preserved in the book) and they are a direct physical link back to the Kwan. You can still practise the Taegeuk and Judanja poomsae, and then have these three included in your training as supplemental heritage forms. 

I hope you find this interesting, and I also hope you understand how special it is that people interested in Ji Do Kwan now get the chance to train actual Ji Do Kwan forms again :-) I call these a treasure, and I am happy to give them away to the Ji Do Kwan comunity instead of hoarding the knowledge for myself. 

Click here to go directly to part 2 which goes into detail on the second form