Countless notes have been written and much has been theorized about the unique biomechanics designed by General Choi Hong Hi. There is usually great emphasis placed on hand positioning and postures to be assumed in the execution of the patterns he designed. In most cases, such emphasis on detail often results in performers executing movements in a stiffness way and lacking naturalness, thus without practical application of the movements they so meticulously developed.

Among the many factors typically conveyed in a seminar, there is always an omission considered minor detail: precisely returning to the starting point in the execution of the patterns. I have previously written about this omission, even in competitions. Judges are trained to observe and deduct from the overall score awarded to each competitor the deficiencies they detect in the execution of the pattern they choose and the one assigned to them. However, they are not trained to apply deductions for competitors who do not return precisely to their starting point.

Is this a minor detail and thus disregarded? Clearly, it is treated as such, but no, it is not a minor detail. A significant percentage of technical corrections made in foot and hand positions, correct facing, use of angles, and rotations are intimately linked to this seemingly minor detail. Have you tried to adhere to this detail? If you did it, you have likely discouragingly noticed how often you have to recognize your shortcomings. To my surprise some high-ranking black belts often ask me if all patterns begin and end in the same place or only some applies to this rule. When I confirm that all patterns indeed start and finish in the exact same place, it prompts them to review their practices, often without achieving satisfactory results.

I can still hear General Choi’s voice insisting on this matter and his emphatic «almost» when this was not fulfilled. If you stand on positions that do not meet the established parameters, your balance will be precarious, and the power in your hands will inevitably be diminished. This means that the strength and effectiveness of your hands largely depend on your feet. Do you feel unstable when rotating? Unless you have consumed alcohol before performing the pattern, some aspect of your feet positioning is likely not correctly executed for this to happen, especially after having performed that rotation many times.

When everybody tears their clothes proclaiming left and right that they teach General Choi Hong Hi’s Taekwon-Do and then walk in a different way than the one established by him, I wonder how they are going to develop and teach his Taekwon-Do if they walk differently than proposed.

When you teach a beginner to move sideways, do you teach them on which part of the foot should rotate, or do you let them do it as they see fit? In Saju Jirugui and Saju Maki, you must teach this detail, which includes learning and incorporating vertical and horizontal sinusoidal motion. If they learn it there, they will have learned it for all other patterns. If you overlook this important step in your teaching, you leave the development of the student’s movements, rotations, and stability to chance. If you want to be effective with your hands, review the use of your feet.

SGM Ricardo Desimone 

To be aware read again the previous notes

Diverse professions have allowed humans to evolve technologically, emotionally, and intellectually. Time has been the factor that enabled this evolution. In every learning system, the maturation of information is imperative; otherwise, it cannot be incorporated or applied—in other words, growth does not occur.

In the art we are discussing, this factor has been essential in establishing the grading scale, whether it is for beginners or colored belt ranks (Gups) or advanced students (Dan) or black belts. The issue is neither arbitrary nor whimsical; this means that a certain waiting period (of practice, not just calendars) is required for the advancement or evolution of Gups and years for the promotion of Dan ranks. Experience in the field corroborates the accuracy of the system because the difference is noticeable even within the same level; a new grade is different from that same grade but older. It might seem that both are the same; however, seeing them in action and facing the same obstacles, the way they resolve them confirms the value of seniority. This is true for both beginner grades (Gups) and advanced belt grades (Dan). The same applies to instructors; the parameters do not change. Understanding this process is imperative to avoid being devoured by impatience and knocking on the door of promotions prematurely. Nowadays, one doesn’t need to knock too hard because the economic needs of some quickly satisfy impatience. In this dark process, resulting from fragmentation, many values are inevitably lost, integrity among them.

It is known that Taekwon-Do is a psychophysical activity that must adhere to rules and protocols. When this is not considered, the imbalance is both psychic and physical. When we repeat a movement tirelessly, we seek to incorporate it into instinct, into reflexes, in other words, to be able to use it when defensive necessity arises. Those who do not follow the pre-established protocol rules and do not respect the timelines are doing the same thing, incorporating that way of proceeding as a reflex action.

The passage of time allows us to see that no matter how much we advance in the mad race to the top, we will always be in the place that the time invested grants us. The rest are administrative tricks to deceive and economically advantage others. No matter how many grades one achieves, they are useless if they did not follow the required process, as we will have the grade but not the capacity and experience it demands.

Are we prepared to accept the inexorable passage of time, the existential human evolution? Are we prepared to understand that evolutionarily we are born, grow, decline, and die?

What has been said relates to the intellect and the body, whose relationship is inversely proportional. When the body allows us to do things, our intellect accompanies it vehemently but without much knowledge. With time, when our intellect reasons what needs to be done, our body accompanies it as it can or sometimes not. The psychophysical process described has always been present in the activity of Taekwon-Do. Many great competitors know what I am talking about.

Maintaining physical decorum is an obligation. It is necessary to evaluate our athletic relevance in time so that time does not play tricks on us. Always remember that the great champion in all categories has always been Chronos. It is not advisable to think in an acrobatic way of self-defense because that means not having implicit what has been said.

Senior Grand Master Ricardo Desimone

To be aware read again the previous notes