What are the Reasons for WT's Poomsae Kicking Method?

[MadMartigan]

I have never trained WT style Taekwondo Poomsae, (having always done a pre-sine-wave form of the Chang-Hon forms). Having seen a bunch or Poomsae videos here and other places online, I noticed a consistent theme in the kicking method:

Whether the kick is a front, side, or turning kick, the trajectory starts low and takes a curved line towards its apex (usually straight up in a full split if possible). In my experience, this results in a loss of power in favour of a smoother asthetic. (Note: These 2 have great power... I just think they could have more).

By contrast (an ITF version of a Chang Hon form):

In the ITF video, the kick travels in a straight line towards the target from its chambered position. Whether the kick is snapped back or left extended (for control practice) this (in my opinion) allows for better power generation and a more realistic delivery.

A kick can be delivered at a full split with either method. I'm curious if someone can provide some context around 'why' the WT kicks this way during Poomsae. Is the reason strickly asthetic, or is there a functional component I'm missing?

 

[skribs]

In my experience, this results in a loss of power in favour of a smoother asthetic.

This is a very common theme in the WT forms, or in my opinion, most TKD forms in general.

The folks who are capable of this extreme flexibility are a rarer breed. Out of over a hundred black belts, I think a lobster could count on one hand how many of them were capable of kicks this high. They may be chambering the same as someone who would kick a "normal" head height instead of going for the perfect vertical kick.

With that said, there is something to say about the kick that hits, instead of the kick that has the most power. This is a concept you see in the ?-kick in MMA, it's also one you see with the way they kick in Karate, that all kicks come from a diagonal chamber. That diagonal chamber could be a "bad" front kick, a roundhouse kick, side kick, crescent kick, or hook kick. Those first three could be aimed at the body or head. They won't hit as hard as if you did a dedicated version of the kick, but they are more likely to hit in the first place.

Michael Jai White and Jesse Enkamp (both Karate guys) talk about that a lot in this video. The main focus of the video is the difference between effective for movies and effective for fighting, which is also valuable if you are running a demonstration team at your school. However, there's also a focus on the difference between proper form in a kick, and what is going to make a kick work.

This is the official Kukkiwon video for Pyongwon (the form being performed in the clip in the OP). His kicks are low body level, which I would consider a bit low. But, it's what you might expect from most older performers.

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This is a much older video, and you can see a higher front kick (although still lower than what I would consider "correct") and another back kick that is around the same height as my other clip.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

I saw the Whtie/Enkamp video yesterday, and found the front kick at 4:50 to be most interesting. In some ways, we are so conditioned to the "right" way of doing kicks, that the "wrong" way can't possibly be a kick!

In terms of the first WT poomsae , I find it interesting to see the sidekick with 2 ways of moving the hands - 1) at the waist and 2) one arm out, sort of like a down block.

For me, when trying to improve my side kick, I saw that Joe Rogan would move the hand like a down block, so I copied that. My high level Master commented that this was the "old" way.and he taught the "new"way (double hing, he called it). The old way I think really helps the coordination, so I like to practice that.

 

[skribs]

In terms of the first WT poomsae , I find it interesting to see the sidekick with 2 ways of moving the hands - 1) at the waist and 2) one arm out, sort of like a down block.

The one with the arm out is to prepare for the next technique, where that hand is the target of the elbow strike.

 

[Raistlin]

I noticed that the gentleman performing Choong Moo had an almost slow motion chamber before throwing his kicks. Obviously this is going to reduce the overall speed of the kick therefore reducing power. Is there a specific reason for this when performing ITF forms?