So Dirty Dog was wrong about the the past at least. Saying that they often overlapped is an understatement.
Because it is not important that what you say is correct. It is important that everybody else is wrong. Apparently.
Why did some ITF black belts later do KKW as well? Supposing the training is fairly traditional, what point is there? I personally don't think like KKWs patterns at all, and would find it hard to see why anyone would prefer them over the Chang Hon ones. But leaving that aside, why make a switch at all?
Both great sets of patterns, both great martial arts in their own right. Why switch? Because there's always more to learn.
Personally, I think the Kukkiwon patterns are brilliant:
- The footwork of each floor pattern spells out either a trigram from the I Ching, or a Chinese character
- The poomsae tries to incorporate techniques that reflect the meaning of each trigram or character. My favorite example is the Low Cross Block in Taegeuk Chil Jang ("mountain"): stopping the kick, rather than deflecting it...yup, that's what a mountain would do, stop it! Unyielding.
- At the same time, the poomsae build upon each other nicely, incorporating new techniques at each level.
I have tons of respect for General Choi and the Chang Hon style, but personally I like the layers of meaning -- like movie easter eggs -- buried in the Kukkiwon forms. It's obvious that a ton of thought went into those forms.
Me too. On the topic of Chil Jang, high and narrow stances but with a low centre of gravity, and unyielding combinations like the backfist, target crescent, target elbow. No mercy! Also the symbolism of bojumeok, haneul, tang and saram. The whole form focuses on moving the CoG forward, back, up and down to deliver power from seemingly unstable positions that with practice are solid as rock. Love that form.
I don't like the way KKW patterns are executed. Further, the blocks don't look organic from such ridiciously high stances (not really a stance at all). The actual "choreography" of the patterns is less objectionable. Neither The ITF or KKWs patterns have anything to do with their sparring format. So they are pretty much tied in that negative respect.
The word 'ridiculously' is rather emotive, don't you think? You walk around in the same stance all day. It is the one you are very probably going to be in during a real life conflict situation. It also allows for a huge amount of power generation when dropping out of it into other stances. Sort of a built in bonus if you like.
If by 'organic' you mean natural, those blocks look and feel perfectly natural to me. Just like any other natural movement.
I'd recommend it, if you can do it without saying 'we do it better ' lol!
Only some people are capable of this kind of tolerance in my experience. They are the ones I try to keep around.
From what I've read, one reason high stances are emphasized in the first few Taegeuk forms is specifically to prepare the student for sparring earlier in their training. The predecessor forms (the Palgwae forms) used lower stances in their first few forms, which presumably were believed to not prepare students as well for sparring. It's a credible explanation too, since Ji Do Kwan was finally represented in the design of the Taegeuk forms (but Ji Do Kwan was not represented in the design of the Palgwae forms), and Ji Do Kwan was known for its outstanding sparring.
Taegeuk Poomsae - Taekwondo Wiki
I have heard that too, but I have also heard some other hypotheses.
Like using CoG drop and waist twist for power generation. Both of these occur together naturally with a low block between movements 4 and 5 of Taegeuk Il Jang, and again between 10 and 11 and again between 16 and 17. And many times in the patterns that follow with punches and other techniques. It is difficult to get the same power going apkubi-apkubi that you can get going apseogi-apkubi, especially with a 90 degree turn.
I've also heard that the higher stances were included to make the forms easier to learn for an audience with a wider range of abilities - the consistent use of apseogi means that beginners can concentrate more on their upper body motion coordination before having to throw in mixed stances.
The best theory IMO is that the three stances in the beginner forms and the transition between them are the basis of not only manipulating your own body weight, but also an opponent's. These stances are the ones used in self defence when controlling an opponent to the ground. So they are the ones to drill first.
.... not sure what that has to do with wooden blocks under your tires... or why you appear to have signed that as tez......but ok
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