Balsaek - Bassai a peculiar movement discussion

There is a great upside to embracing your Kwan-roots fully, and that is the opening up in rich forms material and historical forms material that is no longer normally preserved in the mainstream Kukki-Taekwondo or modern ITF curricula. This post is not about proving one version right and another wrong. It is about tracing how one movement in Balsae/Bassai was described and performed across Japanese and Korean sources, and what that tells us about Kwan-era transmission.

One of the very oldest forms in the Oh Do Kwan repertoire is Balsaek Hyeong. It is also perhaps the oldest form I know and practice (along with Cheolgi / Tekki / Naihanchi and Ban Wol / Hangetsu / Seisan). 

"The Balsaek forms come in two versions, large and small. The distinctive feature of this form is that the blocking hand is quickly turned and transformed into another block, thereby shifting one from a disadvantageous position into an advantageous one. Its energy resembles the action of piercing through an enemy’s defensive fortifications, and from this comes the name “Balsaek.” - Choi Hong Hi 1959

It is a very interesting form, and among the forms that Anko Itosu drew from when he developed the Pyeongahn / Pinan / Heian Forms. We see the form echoed even into modern Taekwondo Poomsae. In Koryo Poomsae for instance you have right after a side kick, placing the foot down you do an upset low section spear hand thrust with one hand while the other one comes in front of the opposite shoulder in a long front stance. You then move the front foot back while pulling the "spearhand-thrusting-hand" back and up (to your hip in modern Koryo) while performing a low block. 

This short sequence originated quite possibly in Bassai Kata or Balsaek Hyeong, before being mined to be included in Pyeonghan 5. One of these two then served as inspiration or knowledge-well for the originator(s) of modern Koryo Poomsae when it comes to this short sequence. I am not claiming a direct documented borrowing here, only that the technical resemblance is suggestive when viewed against the background of the KTA forms committee.

Studying the older forms then actually give you another vantage point when looking at the modern forms, but that is not really what this post is about. This post is looking at the Korean way of doing this form when compared to what they might have learned in Japan. I am looking specifically at a movement which can be seen in a modern JKA-Shotokan context in the video below:

Most people interested in Kwan history, or trying to learn the older Taekwondo forms turn naturally to modern JKA-Shotokan because they believe that early Taekwondo = modern JKA-Shotokan Karate. I do hope that this is a myth that I will have gotten rid off eventually. Modern JKA-Shotokan is obviously linked and related to pre-JKA Shotokan, but they are not identical, and it is more and more different the longer back you go. My post on the knife hand guarding blocks and their chamber should challenge the notion of both JKA and pre-JKA being the same a lot, and give pause if you meet this notion in the wild.

The Technique / Movement in question: 

Anyhow, the technique appears in Balsaek Hyeong after a series of 3 knife hand guarding blocks going forward in back stance, and then one where you move one step back into back stance knife hand guarding block and then the key movement appear. In modern JKA-Shotokan as seen in the video above you have a circular almost knife hand block movement while the other hand is gently or nearly touching the wrist. 

To me, one very natural application is as a wristlock, where the hand has been grabbed by the opponent. One hand pins his grabbing hand to your wrist, while the other performs a wrist lock, setting him up for a kick while pulling in. 

To me this is a fairly obvious application, but there might be others I am not considering. But looking for applications online, I see many do variations on this wrist lock as a counter to the wrist being grabbed. Iain Abernethy, and a host of other people doing the same. So when I independently see it that way, and then I see others come up with the same, I do believe it is safe to say it is a good application. 

Now when I started going deep into my Kwan roots, through my connection with the Korean Oh Do Kwan, which still preserves older material in addition to recognizing modern Kukki-Taekwondo, I started looking into how I could best retain the material from the Kwan itself, and focus on that, seeing as the modern Poomsae is well taken care of by millions and millions of people but the older material is not so much practiced when you go back before the Changheon-ryu. Under guidance I have learned the Changheon-Ryu forms, and I have had to perform both Poomsae and a Changheon-Ryu form for each of my belt tests within the Oh Do Kwan (so not just Kukki-Taekwondo, while they certainly recognize Kukki-Taekwondo rank and material, the older Kwan material is still being held alive), and researching the 1959 book I have re-schooled my "Karate-derived" forms so that they are aligned with the Oh Do Kwan forms too. But we will get back to how it is done in Oh Do Kwan.  

Now in the process of doing that I noticed quite a few differences between the Oh Do Kwan Balsaek and the JKA Bassai, one was this key movement. So I did what I usually do when faced with these situations. I hit the books (not literally). 

How did Funakoshi teach it? (1920s)

Funakoshi 1920s (the book itself says 1922, but I think that refers to the first edition, and not the one I have a translation of) Funakoshi does give us quite a few forms descriptions, luckily Bassai is one of them. He writes: 

"(18) Bring forward the shoulder slightly, maintain the legs' stance, while placing the right hand in front of the left hand to grab the opponent's hand (as in Figure 191).

(19) Raise the right leg to the height of the hands, and step forward while pulling in both hands to the front of the chest, with the left hand almost touching the right nipple."- Funakoshi 1920s

The photo quality reflects the time at which the book was published, but it does seem to be roughly the same as the modern JKA-Shotokan, as the performer who demonstrated the movement does say that the non-blocking hand does not touch the blocking hand. That being said the off-hand seems much less in contact with the front hand in the photo. 

All the versions have a pulling in with the hands while kicking with the back leg. 

 

How did Funakoshi teach it? (1935)

He writes much more in-depth in his 1935 version of Karate-Do Kyohan. This is from the Neptune translation. 

"(17) Your left foot stays as it is. Withdraw your right foot one step into a right leg kō-kutsu (back-leg-bent stance). Simultaneously, do a left hand shu-tō uke (hand-sword block). Your right hand positions in front of your chest. In other words, you do movement (16) and go back to (15).

(18) Your feet stay as they are. As you push out your right shoulder, your right hand moves (from under your left hand) to the front and blocks to the right. Your right elbow is bent slightly, and your left leg is in a zen-kutsu (front-leg-bent stance).

Note: For the movement of the right hand refer to picture (4)."

 

"(19) As soon as you bring your right foot up high like you see in picture (4) (this is not a kick), take a powerful fumi-komi (trample-step) to the front, like you see in picture (5). At the same time, clench your fists as you pull them with strength to the front of your chest. Make sure that the left fist comes below the right nipple.

Note: The idea is that in movement (18), you pull and grab the opponent's hand, and simultaneously in movement (19), your foot goes up to execute a powerful fumi-komi (trample-step) on your opponent's hipbone. Therefore, raise your right leg as high as possible, and move your hands and feet simultaneously."

In the translations of the earlier works of Funakoshi and in the photograps it does seem like the hands are roughly the same as in modern JKA-Shotokan, but further apart. Perhaps we are seeing some evolution where the original idea might have been simply to grab the opponents arm, pulling him in while trampling on his leg, which morphed into the modern movement with the wrist-lock application?

How did Funakoshi teach it? (1958)

Toward the end of his life, Funakoshi started writing another edition of Karate-Do Kyohan. Unfortunately he was not able to finish it, and so his students finished it for him and published it in 1958, one year after his death in 1957. I am sometime corrected harshly by Shotokan people when I quote Funakoshi from 1958, but I am quoting a book that was published in 1958, so that is the explanation for that. Anyhow, we do not know exactly how much of the text was Funakoshi's and how much was the students, nor do we know if changes and variations are the result of the students aligning the book with their JKA-Shotokan instead of representing what Funakoshi taught. Therefore when looking at what the Kwan-founders likely learned I lean more into the 1935 Karate Do Kyohan than I do this book. But it does serve as another data point to look at the same movement from a Shotokan Karate perspective. 

"18. Thrust the right shoulder forward, pass the right hand under the left arm, and extend it forward in a right arm block with a feeling of drawing the right leg toward the left.

 

19. Lift the right foot to the position shown in figure 41 and immediately thrust it forcefully downward toward the front while simultaneously clenching both fists and pulling them vigorously toward the chest, so that the left fist assumes a final position just below the right nipple.

 

Following Movement 18, in which one has grasped the opponent’s hand, one now brings the right foot up to step forcefully down onto the opponent’s thigh. For this purpose, raise the right leg as high as possible while coordinating its motion with that of the arms."

We see the instuctions remain similar, but here the handposition in movement 18 is the same as in modern JKA-Shotokan Karate that we started with. The text might be telling us to do the same as before though, hands much more apart signifying a grab of the opponents arm, while the hand position in the photo shows the "wrist-lock-movement". 

Bassai into Balsaek, from Japan to Korea

It seems that when the form was transported from Japan to Korea it underwent a few changes, one being the movement we have seen here in this post so far, that being said, looking strictly at the photographs it does seem that modern JKA-Shotokan has evolved into a "wrist-lock-movement" rather than started out with it, but books having their limitations I will have to scour the archives to see if we can find an early enough performance in video format to really see if there has indeed been an evolution in Japan regarding the Shotokan at least. 

I do have some sources to represent Korean styles, so lets look a little on them. 

How did Hwang Kee teach it? (1958)

In the Tangsudo Textbook, published in 1958 Hwang Kee documents the 3 Gicho forms, the 5 Pyeongahn forms, the first Cheolgi form and Balsaek (He used his own names, but I am staying consistent in this post). Here is how this movement is documented in his 1958 textbook, keeping in mind that Mu Duk Kwan is a living school, Hwang wrote several books, and I only have this one. So if there is a discrepancy between this and how you learned if you are reading this from a Mu Duk Kwan perspective, please keep in mind that this is: 

A): a very specific snapshot in time (1958)

B): that I am not fluent in Korean and might have made a translation mistake. 

In the above photo we are seeing what I call the Korean trend, both hands covering high, almost looks like a flinch receiving technique, where you might grab the opponent after. It could certainly also be a grab, then lift up, unbalancing the opponent, putting his weight on to one of his legs, setting up the following kick. 

It is a very viable combative movement, totally in sync with the form sequence, but it is not like the modern JKA Shotokan movement. There is in short, not "wrist-lock-movement" here, and so the wrist lock defense against a wrist grab is not applicable in this version of the form. My thoughts above however should not make you think any less of the Korean version, if anything you lose a very specific application (a wrist lock) and gain a multitude of possibilities.

I should also make note that with the twisting of the body, which is consistent with all of Funakoshi's writings, Hwang seems to prefer to let the back foot come forward to make the twist more natural. 

Below is my translation keeping in mind that I am an amateur:

"From that position, turn the body, rotating the right side of the waist forward. Bend the left leg while lowering the body. Naturally draw the right foot in to the left foot, becoming as shown in the illustration above. Cross both knife-hands, then open and bring them together as shown above, defending the upper section. Right hand in front, right foot behind; the body faces sideways. (See Fig. 266.)" -Hwang 1958

His description of defending the upper section aligns with my "flinch cover" thinking, but this is my speculation and interpretation. It is often said that Hwang Kee learned his forms from books. And while there is certainly a strong possibility of that being the case to a certain degree, things like this does complicate it a little. If he had indeed learned from books you would expect him to give roughly the same instructions and follow the books of Funakoshi to the letter. Perhaps this represents him changing a movement to reflect his own interpretation. We will revisit that train of thought later on. For now let us take a short step forward in time to 1959 and another Korean.

How did Choi teach it? (1959)

Moving on to Oh Do Kwan (my Kwan) we have two books detailing this movement, one from 1959 and one from 1965. Thanks to the work of David on the "Foot Fist Way" blog we know that there was a change between the two versions. 

Due to the way the different books describes forms, I much prefer the 1959 book for the older "Karate derived" forms and I use the 1965 book as a guide to the Changheon-Ryu forms. I do find it interesting that the same forms (the "Karate-derived" ones especially, but also Changheon-ryu) change between 1959 and 1965 books. 

So how does Choi describe the movement in his 1959 book?

In the forms description Choi Hong Hi describes the movement thusly:

"Move 19: Without moving the feet, assume left front stance, while blocking the upper section with the right knife hand, simultaneously place the left hand beneath the right elbow.

Note: 1: A left knife hand middle block to the front may also be used.
2: The rear heel must remain in contact with the ground.
3: Drive the right shoulder forward."

"Move 20: Execute a middle section piercing kick with the right foot blade toward point C, while forcefully pulling both wrists back to the front of the chest.

Note: 1: Pull the left fist back so that it comes in front of the right side of the chest.
2: The backs of both hands should face upward.

3: Instead of middle section kick you can also kick low section." 

So we do see a similar emphasis on covering the high section, but instead of both hands being up covering, you here have the left hand placed underneath the right elbow. Other than that we see that the body is twisted (drive the right shoulder forward), and that it is right knife hand. What I find interesting is the variation given, that a left knife hand middle block to the front may also be used. Personally I am sticking with the movement as described and illustrated in my own practice. One reason being that this very movement was "given to me" at a self defense seminar as a defensive frame from which to work from. When the old form matches what I have learned as close quarter combat I am a happy guy.

I should add that the kick that Choi tells us to do is a side piercing kick, although he does not use the modern terminology. When I translate I tend to stay as close as I can to what the text is actually saying, but in 1959 when he tells us to kick with the foot blade, it means a side kick.  

Another point that is worth mentioning is the fact that Choi explicitly tells us that the rear heel has the stay grounded. We see from Hwang Kee that the back foot is pulled a little forward to facilitate the twisting, and we also see some leeway in the older Shotokan material. It does give us a little insight into the Oh Do Kwan styles emphasis on staying grounded when compared to other methods, but it also gives us a little insight into the nature of the front stance at this point of time. If it is too long, the twisting of the upper body would be severely impaired given that the back heel has to stay grounded if we are to follow the books instructions.

But what I find interesting is how both the Oh Do Kwan and the Mu Duk Kwan uses the movement as an "upper cover", when in all the Shotokan material both pre-JKA and post-JKA stays in the middle. The rest of the sequence remains, the pulling of the arms and the "big" kick, piercing or stamping. 

How did Choi teach it? (1965)

In the first ever Taekwondo book published using English language you have an explosion of Changheon-ryu forms, 20 in total, vs 5 in the 1959 book. Even so, we still see the inclusion of many "Karate-derived" forms. I mentioned before that the forms appearing in both books, while being the same often have some differences in execution. Balsaek, here documented under the Japanese pronunciation "Bat-Sai" we see a very different technique. The technique itself is not illustrated in the forms section, you need to look it up in the techniques section for the illustration of the technique which can be seen below:

As for how he describes it in the pattern section you can see that below: 

As you can see the way he explains forms in the 1965 book is very spartan, but he clearly tells us to use double arc-hand block to high section in the 1965 version, which is a different technique or movement, albeit similar if you squint your eyes, to the 1959 version. The very spartan instructions of the 1965 book is why I prefer the older versions, and since we do have the arc-hand block in Gae-Baek Hyeong I see no reason as to why I would have it in Balsaek Hyeong too, when I can have both movements included instead.

Interestingly enough, both movements do appear to be doing roughly the same job, defending and covering the upper section. The difference I see is that one is more flinch-based (the 1959 version), and possibly unbalancing the opponent by lifting up, while the other version is more training-response-based and unbalances the opponent by pulling around to the side and back. In Balsaek I prefer the 1959 version because the follow up comes straight ahead, while in Gae-Baek Hyeong you do turn in the direction of the pull and continue into a new sequence of techniques. Therefore I feel that one belongs in one form, while the other belongs in the other form. If that makes sense.

The common denominator so far is that the emphasis is high section, and the left hand in all the Korean versions so far has not matched the Shotokan material. We do have a third Korean source we can look at though.

How did Son Duk Sung teach it? (1968)

In this post I have followed the chronology of my sources, which is why you have Funakoshi 1920s, 1935, 1958, then Hwang Kee 1958, then Choi Hong Hi 1959, 1965 and now Son Duk Sung 1968. When it comes to the establishment of the Kwan (schools) these people represent (Mu Duk Kwan, Oh Do Kwan and Chung Do Kwan respectively) the chronology might have been different. There are serious discussions in Korea on which Kwan came to be established first, and it is not easy to sort through the political narratives, because several Kwan wants to be the first one. In Oh Do Kwan's case it is fairly simple, it was established in 1954, but the race between Mu Duk Kwan and Chung Do Kwan is a close one. 

I will retell a journal article by Kim published in 2025 which goes into great detail about the Cung Do Kwan founding in another post, but in any way it is widely accepted that Hwang Kee trained with people from the Chung Do Kwan in the early days of Mu Duk Kwan. It is very possible that several of the "Karate forms" that did not appear in the earliest years of Mu Duk Kwan, but is firmly in place by 1949 as they are included in his first book, might have been at least in part, learned through Chung Do Kwan sources. 

The Chung Do Kwan link into Oh Do Kwan is both strong and obvious given that Nam Tae Hi, as well as other early instructors in the Oh Do Kwan came originally from the Chung Do Kwan. There is a reason why I am highlighting the Chung Do Kwan link between these schools, please be patient O:-)

"For position 19, there is no movement in the positions of the feet. The right open hand is almost in a rising-block position with the left open hand, fingers pointing directly up about three inches below the middle of the right forearm.

From position 19, a right side kick is made in the original direction of motion while both hands clutch as if grabbing the opponent's clothing and then they are pulled in toward the body as if pulling the opponent onto the side kick." 

Son Duk Sung also includes a photo illustration of the application here:

Son Duk Sung being a very early student at the Chung Do Kwan, and the second headmaster of the school, makes this application and description an old authority in a Korean sense, even if the book itself is newer. The contrast between the two schools is the grounded emphasis in the Oh Do Kwan ves the heel looks very lifted in the Chung Do Kwan version. Also while Son describes the movement as one hand being almost in a high section rising block, it does not look like the formal end position of that technique. In the Oh Do Kwan version on the other hand it looks more like a normal rising high section block with the knife hand. 

The Korean "Connective Tissue"

So what does all of this mean? Am I obsessing over details? 

I have no idea, but the nerd in me find it very interesting to be able to train a form in 2026, comparing movements and documentation from a 100 years ago and up until present day. The Mu Duk Kwan, the Oh Do Kwan and the Chung Do Kwan all seems to have been handing down a version of this movement that focuses on covering the upper section with both hands involved, some slight variations, but at the same time similar enough to be noticed, and different enought to be distinct from that of Shotokan material. Again showcasing my ongoing thesis that if you want to practice Kwan-era Taekwondo, you need to look at Kwan-era material and not just train modern JKA-Shotokan and believe it is identical to early Taekwondo. 

I gave it away earlier but the link that connects all of the Korean versions together is the Chung Do Kwan. Among the earliest Kwan founded in Korea, possibly the first, being a widely accepted possible source of training of Hwang Kee, as well as providing instructors to Oh Do Kwan, the Chung Do Kwan might have been the source of this variant, which then spread to Oh Do Kwan, and was adopted, and slightly adapted by Hwang in his Mu Duk Kwan. 

It would be interesting to look at how the movement has been documented in other sources. I am unsure if the form appears in the Pasakwonbeop book with its Kang Duk Won connection, or the Taesudo Textbook with its Han Mu Kwan connection, but if it does appear it would be fun to compare and see if they too are similar. It does appear in Choi Seok Nam´s 1955 book, but that one also has a clear Chung Do Kwan connection, so I have not looked very hard at it yet. 

Conclusion

So we have seen how one form came from Okinawa to Japan, how the movement within this form evolved in Japan over time, and how the form was then transported to Korea and how the movement might have been adapted by the Korean schools there as well (it clearly was changed in the Oh Do Kwan between 1959 and 1965). While the modern JKA-Shotokan movement lends itself very well into one specific application (I am sure there are others as well), the Korean one(s) is also combatively valid and interesting in their own right. I am not arguing one is better than the other, rather that they are both good and both a part of a longer tradition being handed down over a very long period of time.