Makki (막기) is often translated as "Block" in most Taekwondo Textbooks but if you care so much about Taekwondo that you actually look it up in a dictionary you will find that it can be "prevent" or
"avoid" not a single "block" in sight... The word Makki is a conjugated word from the word "Makda". If you look up the unconjugated verb "Makda" (막다) you get all sorts of meanings:
I rutinely search google and youtube for "Taekwondo Poomsae Application", "Taekwondo Forms Application" etc to see if I can get some new ideas. Well more often than not the only thing I get from Google is my own stuff on this blog (so please if you are into researching your Taekwondo forms dont be shy, share with the world:-) ) and there is little activity on youtube as well. The little Taekwondo applications you will find there is most often of ITF/Chang Hon Ryu Taekwondo and not the Kukkiwon Taekwondo that I am researching. I was therefore pleasently suprised when I came over a new clip (one day old at the time of writing) that promised practical applications to Taekwondo forms (Kukkiwon forms).
Image source: Taekwondo; Secrets of Korean Karate Published in 1968
This is one question I often hear or read. Many a prospective student of the Martial Arts ask these questions since arts like Muy Thai and MMA often display these techniques in a devestating way. The other day at work I overheard a few customers in their late teens discussing wich Martial Art they should start to practise. Taekwondo was one of the first arts that was proposed but it was quickly turned down by the fact that it is only leg fencing and it does not contain any close range weapons like knees and elbow strikes.
The guy who came out with this fact? 2nd Dan hoder of ITF Taekwondo! I did not step in or say anything since it would be out of my place to do so, but I could not help but wonder what kind of Dojang he belonged to.. I have no expertise in the subject of ITF Taekwondo as I have never formally trained in it, but I did believe the organisation was somewhat better to keep the "Martial Ways" of old than the Kukkiwon wich has been so dominated by the WTF (a pure sporting organisation).
In my last two posts I wrote a little more indepth about"Chumbi Seogi" and "Kihap" as well as their role in Taekwondo. This time I wanted to shed some light over the role of Chumbi Seogi and Kihap in Matchoe Kyorugi (in our Dojang at least).
When you do one, two, three step sparring you do a lot of Kihap, as well as Chumbi Seogi. Even though it is considered an external hard excercise it does contain a lot of inner soft training as well. The Kihap and Chumbi Seogi as Ki excersises have been dealt with (albeit shortly) in my last two previous posts so I will not repeat myself to much in this one as both Kihap and Chumbi Seogi does have a few extra roles in Matchoe Kyorugi.
Beginner students are the best! They ask great questions and sometimes I find myself learning more about Taekwondo teaching it than studying it. Last week I was asked about information on the "Kihap" that we frequently do during training. Apparently he had googled "Kihap" to learn more about the subject but google had turned out to be very silent about the matter for some reason. There were a few simple wiki answers and yahoo answers and an occasional thread on a discussion forum but there was very little indepth writing about Kihap, its place in Taekwondo etc. This topic fits in nicely here on the blog as last post I discussed Chumbi Seogi as a Kigong (excercise to practise Ki).
As an instructor I usually teach beginners first the "attention stance" or "Charyot Seogi", then the bow, followed by "Chumbi Seogi" (ready stance) followed by Juchum Seogi (horse stance) and low block (Arae Makki). Other teachers teach in a different order, but I feel this order shows of much of Traditional Taekwondo Philosophy. But I am digressing (allready!) and to get us back on track; the point is that Chumbi Seogi or ready stance is one of the first things beginners learn in Traditional Taekwondo Dojang no matter wich "style" of Taekwondo you belong to. The instruction varies from "Copy my movement and look serious" instruction, to a more detailed one where the instructors shows the student all the movement details (how wide the stance is, where the toes point, the weight ratio of each leg, etc etc) and if he is lucky (the student that is) he is also taught to breathe along the movements. Unfortunatly this is where it starts and stops for most Taekwondoin, they perfect the movement but it is somehow "shallow" and it is only done because of "Tradition". Note this article discusses "Gibon Chumbi Seogi" from now on refered to as Chumbi Seogi. Below you will see a clip from how Kukkiwon wanted it performed in 1995. Today the hands are opened completly and then made into fists as they come to the solar plexus. 97% the same as this clip demonstrates:-) Look at 0:11 seconds into the clip.
Happy new year everyone. I trust you all had a nice celebration and that we are all happy that the world did not end just before Christmas??:-)
Before I start looking back at 2012 I think it is prudent to look forward and ask: What would you like to read about in 2013? Is there anything you think would make a great blog post theme? Would you like more "how to?" posts? more history? more Kyorugi? more applications from the forms? Or something completly else like philosophy? Ki? Taegeuk? Meditation? If you are following my blog and you have an opionion or ideas please submit a comment:-) (You do not have to give any names if you do not want to)
The new year is finally upon us and I thought it would be great to just write a little about how the blog did in 2012.
"avoid" not a single "block" in sight... The word Makki is a conjugated word from the word "Makda". If you look up the unconjugated verb "Makda" (막다) you get all sorts of meanings:
