terryl965 said:
What I'm saying is why do we have so many ways for the same Poomse?
This is an excellent question, Master Stoker! Ever since my early days in the ATA, I have seen forms, not only being performed differently between organizations, but also being changed periodically within one organization. The ATA, under the late Grandmaster H.U. Lee, used the Chang Hon forms that General Choi had created, and would constantly change the way all instructors were supposed to teach each form. On a yearly basis, stances would change, postures, target levels, and so on.
They may have been attempting to improve the forms, and refine techniques, but it appeared as though they were simply trying to make people stay current, or become out-dated. It was very confusing, and if an instructor was not "in the loop" of things, they were often teaching their students last years methods.
When the Kukkiwon (and WTF at the time) introduced the Taegeuk poomsae, they held a major seminar for all of the Korean Masters, and Grandmasters to attend so everyone could be doing things the same way. I attended many USTU Referee seminars where these Grandmasters, who had learned the forms from the original source, taught how to perform the forms, and judge them for Olympic competition. There was supposed to be a high degree of consistency for all - - but that is not the way things go.
What tends to happen is each Grandmaster goes back to his school, and either forgets what he was shown, or attempts to adjust the forms to fit his personal philosophy. If a stance, technique or target does not make sense to him, according to his life-time of studying, he will say, "this is how
I want you to do it." Pretty soon, there are hundreds of Grandmasters teaching the same form with their own personal interpretations and tweaks.
Many of them publish their own videos and DVDs. Each one containing variations that were not approved by the Kukkiwon, or these Grandmasters are too high rank, powerful and influential for anyone to verbally reprimand them for doing things their own way. You also will get thousands of lower ranking instructors who attend one seminar, purchase a video of forms, or read a book and try to teach the poomsae.
I have seen many mistakes in the "official" textbooks from incorrect photos, inaccurate explanation or description of the movements, to wrong terminology for certain techniques. How are people who don't know these forms well, know the language, or have access to prime sources supposed to get it right. It's not their fault.
Speaking of the U.S. Chung Do Kwan, here is a prime example of some differences among organizations. Sr. Grandmaster Sell, GM Brenda Sell, and their son Sr. Master Ron Sell, have produced videos on the Taegeuk forms. As it happens, they have their own preferences as to what is important in forms. Their forms are good, and they are excellent at performing, but one of the differences (besides terminology) is they usually kick very high.
However, when I was training as an Olympic Referee, we were told that the kicks in the Taegeuk forms were to be focused at the mid-section. If a competitor "showed off" their flexibility by kicking high, they lacked focus, and were doing the form incorrectly. We were told to score them lower for this. Now, this was in the 1990s, so I don't know what the consensus is these days.
Many of these things I do not see as "right" or "wrong" ways to perform the techniques or to do forms. They are just different preferences as to what is important. There are slight differences in measurement of stances, movements of the body between techniques, and where in the form you should Kihap.
In the end, what matters is that each judge should be open minded to these differences, and score in a fair, and consistent manner. Most times, you can see a student is doing stances or techniques poorly, or has a poor memory of the form, lacking confidence, concentration, and mental focus. Other times, they are just doing what their instructor taught them - - so it is not their fault.
I would like to see improvements with many instructors who are lacking of the training themselves, but I am sure that we will never get all of the Masters, and Grandmasters, who have been doing things their own unique way for decades because that is the way their Kwan has always done it, to change and conform to one standardized method. Should they, or is it a good thing that we have these differences?
CM D.J. Eisenhart
