I’m not seeking to have a debate over the superiority of Okinawan bunkai vs. Korean applications to the forms. It’s incredibly subjective and up to the personal preferences of the person relying on them. While one who prefers the Okinawan bunkai will claim, and I’ll agree, that they are extremely effective and are far more sophisticated. They often go on to say that the Korean applications are simple and represent an inferior understanding. However, one who relies on the Korean applications will state that by comparison they might seem simple, simple is not synonymous with ineffective. In fact, may SD experts claim that simplicity is a vital component to an effective SD routine. They will continue, saying that the Korean applications are much more inline with the philosophies of TKD and complement the other aspects of the art rather than introducing competing tactics and methods. It’s also incorrect to assume that there is no pressure point/nerve strikes and grappling within the Korean applications. There are a several pp/nerve strikes in Korean based TKD applications. Again, not nearly as many as in Okinawan bunkai and no where near as complex as with Okinawan kenpo, getting into Chinese medicine with various points along meridians and the so on, but they are there. The approach taken by the Korean applications is different by that taken by those who emphasize the Kyushu aspect of kata. For instance, a disciple of Oyota might say something like “pp don’t need to be struck hard in order to work. What is required is precision, contacting them in the exact location and at the correct angle, but I’m going to hit hard anyway in the chance that I miss or for what ever reason the point is obscured or ineffective at least I land a solid blow.” The TKD outlook is on the other end of the spectrum. TKD evolved as a power striking system. One reason why kicks are emphasized, kicks being among the most powerful strikes one can throw. There is an emphasis on doing structural damage and relying on the immediate physical reaction to the blow rather than a physiological one. This culminates with the belief that concussive shock to the brain via a powerful strike to the head region is the most reliable method for incapacitating an attacker. This is one of reasons why there are high kicks in TKD, there is the belief that kick deliver force far above the threshold needed to knock someone unconscious. When grabbed on the wrist a TKDist will typically hit their attacker hard in the wrist region, generally along the thumb joint location. The objective is to break the hold and knock the hand away, momentarily taking it out of the fight and exposing more vulnerable targets. It has the added benefit of possibly causing structural damage, fracturing the wrist or dislocating the thumb. Typically, they are not looking to inflict pain or set up a sophisticated pp knock out by precisely targeting a specific point on the wrist or arm. This type of thinking is one of the reasons why there are no leg kicks in TKD competitions. Besides the obvious reason of wanting to emphasize the systems aggressive high kicks, particularly to the head, TKD low kicks tend to be aimed directly towards the knees. Unlike other systems that include strikes to nerves on the leg in an attempt to cause pain or “deaden” the limb TKDist focus on the knee hoping to immediately affect the stability and balance of our adversary and possibly destroy the joint. Since there are no safe ways to hit the knees, low kick were taken out of competitions. By now it may seem that I’m contradicting my early statement but pp/nerve strikes are in the Korean application. For example, in my attempted application for Eunbi I briefly mention another application I wrote about where one delivers an upward rising knife hand to the side of the neck just under the jaw. The strike is directed towards the carotid sinus, a classic nerve strike. However, the main objective is to drive the attacker back allowing for more powerful follow up shots. If I’m lucky enough to hit the “sweet spot” and the attacker drops then great, I not going to complain that “I wish the fight went a little longer so I could get a few more shots in.” The outlook is different, the application focuses on event that all the strike does is drive the attacker back which is fine because it allows you to attack with more powerful strikes from a position you’re more comfortable with. The possible pp knockout is just the icing on the cake. This is the way that the kyusho are generally presented in the Tae Geuk applications. With regards to grappling, there are locks, traps and takedowns in the applications but again the approach is a bit different. The goal is not to actually dominate the fight with these techniques but rather use them to facilitate the typical TKD striking.
I was hoping with this discussion, that we could highlight the various methods for applying the forms rather than argue over which are best.
I briefly described my training in my earlier post but it seems that I was not clear enough. Please allow me to elaborate. I was taught and trained in the use of these applications. They were certainly pressure tested. Many of the BBs at my school were not originally my master’s students. They came, as BBs, from other schools complaining that the dojangs where they used to train had gone “soft”. They were drawn to my instructor because of his advance rank and reputation for hard SD oriented training. Most of them were former Military, like my instructor, and nearly all of them were current LEOs. For these men, TKD wasn’t mealy a hobby or a means to keep in shape but a combat system which they depended on to keep them alive when the only weapons available where their hands and feet. The training at the dojangs reflected this. As a consequence of our hard training I have been knocked unconscious, choked out and had my shoulder dislocated. Others in my school received similar injuries as well as gruesome bruises and broken bones. Blood was not an unfamiliar sight and I had to get a new dobahk due to staining on more then one occasion. Like you, my instructor held dans in Hapkido and Judo, other BBs had experience in deferent systems such as Boxing and Wrestling as well. My master often told us that “if your TKD only works against other TKDist than it’s useless.” He would often incorporate theses different arts into our training. His goal was not to expand our MA knowledge by making us proficient in other systems but rather to enhance our TKD, allowing us to develop an understanding of how to apply our TKD skill set against other methods and styles.
