The Taeguek Cipher - Book Review

[Dan Anderson]

I think this is similar or related to the application I alluded to before, where the palm, not the fingers, is the impact surface.

For me the contact surface is the forearm. The fingers are for directional aim.

Yours,
Dan Anderson

 

[exile]

For me the contact surface is the forearm. The fingers are for directional aim.

Yours,
Dan Anderson

That's the thing I love about these movements... each one yields so many really powerful different moves, depending on context.

 

[YoungMan]

This is what we are talking about.. Im not sure about the forms you do, but most others with this movement teach it as you describe (albiet solar plexus as opposed to chest which is still a hard target to hit int he heat of conflict).. are you refering to the incorrect targetting (ie chest rather than solar plexus) or the whole application as a strike itself?

Thanks for the input,

Stuart

Not the technique itself, just how many people execute it. Too many people do it by aiming too high and striking the bone of the sternum. Their instructor apprently never caught that and corrected it. If I remember correctly, Hae Man Park specifically aimed for the abdomen when he did it.

 

[DMcHenry]

Personally, I never liked or understood the spearhand strike to the body - I prefer going higher and my main attack would be the vegas nerve in the neck if using the fingertips. Otherwise with slight modification, I can be striking the collar bone or side of the neck with the pinky side of the hand.

The only time I'd be directing the spearhand towards the body was if reaching to grab the dobak/clothing for a throw.

 

[YoungMan]

As it was demonstrated to me, you block an incoming kick with the palm block, then immediately attack the abdomen with the spearhand. The actions are almost simultaneous, although there is a small waist action between the block and strike.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I spent my weekend trying to find this book locally, but to no avail. Looks like I'll have to order.

Daniel

 

[StuartA]

I spent my weekend trying to find this book locally, but to no avail. Looks like I'll have to order.

Daniel

At the moment its only available via Lulu, soon it will be on Amazon, but its unlikely you`ll find it on book store shelves (maybe borders), though you could order it by the ISBN.

Publishers have deals with certain bookshops to push their sales etc. Simons books a solo effort so wouldnt be included in any of those deals.. hence why your unlikely to find it on the shelf.

Stuart

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I was at Barnes and Noble. Borders is my next local port of call. If not there, then I'll have to go via Lulu.

Daniel

 

[StuartA]

I was at Barnes and Noble. Borders is my next local port of call. If not there, then I'll have to go via Lulu.

Daniel

Take the ISBN.. you may be able to order it!

Stuart

 

[FearlessFreep]

Take the ISBN.. you may be able to order it!

Stuart

I ordered it from LuLu last week, scheduled to be here Friday

 

[FearlessFreep]

I ordered it from LuLu last week, scheduled to be here Friday

Got it yesterday. So far it's reading very well. I'm skipping around a bit. Some of the earlier background stuff about the backgrounds and origins of the forms is pretty interesting and confirms some things I'd sorta suspected on forms (I'd cut-paste some here if it was online..but it's been so long since I read a non-fiction book in paper that a few times I caught myself looking in the top right corner of the page for a "search" feature) Such things as using forms as drill for large groups of troops/students and the relative simplicity of teaching "block-punch-kick" to troops quickly; those mirrored my own emerging thoughts of the last year or so.

It also confirms some of my thoughts about the execution of the forms, at least looking through the first few motions of Il-Jang; the broad motions of the limbs and body are there but you really need to adjust some angles and timing and motions to glean out the wider usages. Things like Seq 1 from Il-Jang, turning a 'chamber down-block step-punch' into "defensive entry forward takedown" fits some things I've thought of often for the idea of "look at the general motions, the directions of the body and the weight movement and the limbs...now adjust them a bit and see what it can be"

All in all, nothing really earth-shattering to my thinking, but very reassuring because it seems to crystalize and solidify some of my general random musings with some good research and methodical study. So (and in keeping with some of my thoughts from my "Spreading My Wings" thread) it's helped move my own personal journey forward quite a few steps and on some solid ground...and gives me a basis for which perhaps I can approach my Sabumnim and help fellow students.

Thanks for the book

 

[Mark Lynn]

As it was demonstrated to me, you block an incoming kick with the palm block, then immediately attack the abdomen with the spearhand. The actions are almost simultaneous, although there is a small waist action between the block and strike.

I know the threads old but I just got done reading through it.

YoungMan
Do you step forward and parry and spear hand to the abdomen? Most sequences in the patterns I've seen have you stepping forward, parrying and then spear hand to the chest.

If the kick was a front kick and you parry it downward as you are moving in towards it what part of the leg are you blocking?

Mark