Miles
Senior Master
Recap of March 29, 2010 Seminar w/Grand Master Park, Hae Man
Martial Arts Unlimited, Michigan's finest multi-discipline martial arts school was honored once again to host Grand Master Park who presented a Seminar to my students and some Taekwondo friends. As usual, it was an awesome learning experience.
GM Park started off with the Kibon poomsae-we only did 1 to 3 as he really wanted to get into the Taeguek series. Some schools do not teach these so that was all new material for them. It was a good starting point for GM Park to begin his discussion of the stance as a foundation for transmittal of power. He demonstrated that if your front stance is too wide, the power of the technique is not moving forward as it should. Our stances are standardized according to an individuals size. He demonstrated how ones foot length naturally dictates the length of ones stance: feet together (moa seogi) moves into natural stance (naranhi seogi) and then into horse stance (joo chum seogi). From moa seogi, placing a foot at the toe of the other foot creates tiger stance (beom seogi), moving one more foot length creates walking stance (ahp seogi), one more foot length with a shift in weight and a pivot of the back foot creates back stance (dwi seogi), (a pivot of the front foot too creates joo chum seogi), one more foot length forward and a front pivot of the back leg creates front stance (ahp kubi).
Once we got into the Taeguek series, GM Park changed the format which he has utilized in past seminars. In the past, wed perform the poomsae, and afterward hed mention a few points on techniques hed seen performed incorrectly and then wed move onto the next poomsae. This time however, after he pointed out corrections, he had us perform the poomsae again which for me helped reinforce the critique. I think it is great that even though GM Park has done seminars for many many years, hes still working on changing his presentation.
Some of the items GM Park mentioned as being important (besides the aforementioned stance discussion) were that there has to be proper focus of either the block or the strike-it cant be too high or low or off-center. Each technique has a standardized manner of being performed. You have to visualize what you are hitting with your attack or protecting with your block.
Another important concept is that your attacks should be striking at a 90 degree angle for maximum impact. So this may mean you have to alter your stance depending on whether the target is higher or lower.
Ones body should be turned 45 degrees beyond center when performing a block-this means if your block is ineffective, your trunk is still a few inches further from the attack. If your trunk is square and your block in ineffective, you can get hurt. However, when attacking with a punch for instance, your shoulders should be square.
Hand techniques are done with a twist and snap. Punches are not just flat jabs-to perform a proper punch the fist must travel straight to the target but the arm twists in a corkscrew motion which adds additional power. Similarly, blocks are not flat but they too must be performed with a twisting motion. All speed techniques must be done with a snap which means the arm must be totally relaxed until impact.
Grand Master Park took the black belts through Pyungwon. He pointed out important aspects of each poomsae after we had performed it for him and he made corrections. For example, on the first (right hand) palm heel strike in Keumgang, he said black belts do not need to retract that hand to the hip before striking. He pointed out that it made no sense to block someones attempted choke and then retract the strike before performing it. His explanations always make perfect sense.
Another technique that he touched on were the parries in Taebaek should be performed confidently and quickly. They are not blocks or grabs, you are slapping away a strike.
In Pyungwon, he wanted us to be sure that the upward elbow strikes were centered, not moving straight from our shoulders.
After the seminar, Grand Master Park presented participation certificates to the attendees and some photos were taken.
One of the neatest things about the event was that one of Grand Master Parks American students from 1965 was present. This gentleman contacted me via Facebook and said he trained with Grand Master Park in Seoul for several years. He was at my school when Grand Master Park and I arrived and he had some black and white photos of his group with Grand Master Park in Seoul. Grand Master Park at first didnt recognize him but as he looked at each face in the photos, he started remembering and then had total recall of the gentleman. This gentleman came from New Jersey just to say hello to his teacher and to reconnect. It was very heartwarming for me and just serves to remind me how many people we touch through our training. Certainly Grand Master Park has touched a number of folks given his important position in Taekwondo as well as his genuine humanity.
Martial Arts Unlimited, Michigan's finest multi-discipline martial arts school was honored once again to host Grand Master Park who presented a Seminar to my students and some Taekwondo friends. As usual, it was an awesome learning experience.
GM Park started off with the Kibon poomsae-we only did 1 to 3 as he really wanted to get into the Taeguek series. Some schools do not teach these so that was all new material for them. It was a good starting point for GM Park to begin his discussion of the stance as a foundation for transmittal of power. He demonstrated that if your front stance is too wide, the power of the technique is not moving forward as it should. Our stances are standardized according to an individuals size. He demonstrated how ones foot length naturally dictates the length of ones stance: feet together (moa seogi) moves into natural stance (naranhi seogi) and then into horse stance (joo chum seogi). From moa seogi, placing a foot at the toe of the other foot creates tiger stance (beom seogi), moving one more foot length creates walking stance (ahp seogi), one more foot length with a shift in weight and a pivot of the back foot creates back stance (dwi seogi), (a pivot of the front foot too creates joo chum seogi), one more foot length forward and a front pivot of the back leg creates front stance (ahp kubi).
Once we got into the Taeguek series, GM Park changed the format which he has utilized in past seminars. In the past, wed perform the poomsae, and afterward hed mention a few points on techniques hed seen performed incorrectly and then wed move onto the next poomsae. This time however, after he pointed out corrections, he had us perform the poomsae again which for me helped reinforce the critique. I think it is great that even though GM Park has done seminars for many many years, hes still working on changing his presentation.
Some of the items GM Park mentioned as being important (besides the aforementioned stance discussion) were that there has to be proper focus of either the block or the strike-it cant be too high or low or off-center. Each technique has a standardized manner of being performed. You have to visualize what you are hitting with your attack or protecting with your block.
Another important concept is that your attacks should be striking at a 90 degree angle for maximum impact. So this may mean you have to alter your stance depending on whether the target is higher or lower.
Ones body should be turned 45 degrees beyond center when performing a block-this means if your block is ineffective, your trunk is still a few inches further from the attack. If your trunk is square and your block in ineffective, you can get hurt. However, when attacking with a punch for instance, your shoulders should be square.
Hand techniques are done with a twist and snap. Punches are not just flat jabs-to perform a proper punch the fist must travel straight to the target but the arm twists in a corkscrew motion which adds additional power. Similarly, blocks are not flat but they too must be performed with a twisting motion. All speed techniques must be done with a snap which means the arm must be totally relaxed until impact.
Grand Master Park took the black belts through Pyungwon. He pointed out important aspects of each poomsae after we had performed it for him and he made corrections. For example, on the first (right hand) palm heel strike in Keumgang, he said black belts do not need to retract that hand to the hip before striking. He pointed out that it made no sense to block someones attempted choke and then retract the strike before performing it. His explanations always make perfect sense.
Another technique that he touched on were the parries in Taebaek should be performed confidently and quickly. They are not blocks or grabs, you are slapping away a strike.
In Pyungwon, he wanted us to be sure that the upward elbow strikes were centered, not moving straight from our shoulders.
After the seminar, Grand Master Park presented participation certificates to the attendees and some photos were taken.
One of the neatest things about the event was that one of Grand Master Parks American students from 1965 was present. This gentleman contacted me via Facebook and said he trained with Grand Master Park in Seoul for several years. He was at my school when Grand Master Park and I arrived and he had some black and white photos of his group with Grand Master Park in Seoul. Grand Master Park at first didnt recognize him but as he looked at each face in the photos, he started remembering and then had total recall of the gentleman. This gentleman came from New Jersey just to say hello to his teacher and to reconnect. It was very heartwarming for me and just serves to remind me how many people we touch through our training. Certainly Grand Master Park has touched a number of folks given his important position in Taekwondo as well as his genuine humanity.
