Poomsae in General

[terryl965]

In your Poomsae do you personally devote enough time on each aspect of every single technique withen the poomsae?

What one single techniques seems to be highleghted in most all poomsae?

What are you reasoning to finding a path to be enlighted by your poomsae>

 

[Kacey]

In your Poomsae do you personally devote enough time on each aspect of every single technique withen the poomsae?

Well, I don't practice poomsae - but for tul, I don't think enough time exists to devote enough time to each aspect of every single technique - I have a day job that is not TKD.

What one single techniques seems to be highleghted in most all poomsae?

Every tul has a personality, manifested through a theme within the tul. As far as a single technique... hmm... I'll have to think about it. I can't think of a tul that I know that doesn't have punches; past the first 2 (Chon-ji and Dan-gun) I can't think of one that doesn't have kicks; they all have stances, ready positions... I'm not quite sure what you're asking for here.

What are you reasoning to finding a path to be enlighted by your poomsae>

Uh... I'm not sure what you mean by "finding a path to be enlightened by your poomsae [tul]". Could you please give a little more detail?

 

[terryl965]

I can't think of one that doesn't have kicks; they all have stances, ready positions... I'm not quite sure what you're asking for here.

Kacey one of my previous GM said withen every poomsae, tul or form, they all have one element that is the same byt not the same for every individual, now it has been years since I found my element which is true inner peace when I work poomsae. I was wondering if anybody else does this, I mean look at it form that view.

Uh... I'm not sure what you mean by "finding a path to be enlightened by your poomsae [tul]". Could you please give a little more detail?

As I stated above for me when working poomsae by myself I can find myself in a state of tranquility or enlightment, that cannot be broken umtil I wish it to be.

 

[foot2face]

In your Poomsae do you personally devote enough time on each aspect of every single technique withen the poomsae?

No, the techniques within the poomse are generally variations of the basics and we trained the basics separately. When training our forms we devoted our time to fluidity of movement, making sure that the transition from one technique to another was smooth and effortless. We broke the poomsae down into segments. i.e. segment 1) turn, block, kick, punch: segment 2) turn, block, kick, punch and so on. Our goal was to complete each segment in one fluid motion, treat it as one whole single movement rather than a bunch of individual techniques. We trained this way because we believed the segment to be the basis for the defensive applications of the poomsae. Combining the individual techniques into a segment and executing them in one fluid motion allowed us to counter specific techniques and tactics that were applied against us.

What one single techniques seems to be highleghted in most all poomsae?

I don’t know if any single technique is highlighted most in all the poomse. You see basics techniques repeated several times but one would expect to, they are fundamental after all. I believe the point to having all the different poomsae is not to highlight any particular technique but to cover a broad spectrum. If I had to choose one theme that is prevalent in the various poomsae it would be turning. Moving while attacking or while being attacked in order to gain a more advantageous position. All most every segment in the Tae Geuk poomse begins with a turn, demonstrating the importance footwork and the movement of position

 

[exile]

In your Poomsae do you personally devote enough time on each aspect of every single technique withen the poomsae?

I try to. My view of the poomsae/hyungs is that each of them comprises between four and six subsequences, each interpretable as at least one defensive scenario. Furthermore, each defensive scenario typically differs with respect to the initial attack in question. My first pass on a given poomsae (or kata, since we also train both bunkai and performance of Japanese kata in my school) is to decompose it into a set of subsequences each of which is a `minimal combat scenario'—an application of the basic Song Moo Kwan strategies which takes the defender from the initial attack to the effective destruction of the attacker via a potentially killing strike to the head/throat. Massive soft tissue damage is the outcome of full-force application of the techs which emerge from applying realistic analysis to these subsequences.

So let's take a concrete example: Palgwe Sa Jang.

The first two subsequences can be taken to represent mirror images. (This subsequence is actually taken over whole from Pinan Shodan's initial `minimal combat scenario').

(i) There is a simultaneous rising and inside-to-outside block corresponding to a trap of an attacker's arm, forcing a hyperextension of his shoulder, setting up a throw/takedown driven from your hip where you would, presumbably, finish him with a hard kick to the temple; that's how we analyze and practice it. A `backup' strike to crush the windpipe with a knifehand is built in, in case the takedown goes amiss. Either way, the attacker is in mortal peril if you do things right at this point.

(ii) The second sequence involves a trap of an attacker's initial grab or punch, with a knife hand strike to the throat, where the knifehand morphs via a muchimi adjustment into a shoulder grip where you push the stunned attacker's upper body down into the path of a `rotated' palm heel strike to the face.

(iii) The third scenario assumes an attacker's grip on your wrist, which you reverse, and then carry out a 360º twisting throw, with a hammerfist strike to the attacker's temple if he's still on his feet at the end of it...

That sort of thing.

What one single techniques seems to be highleghted in most all poomsae?

No one literal technique, but a single strategy: the earliest possible maximally damaging strike to the assailant's head, preferably the temple, carotid sinus or windpipe, where all of that board-breaking you've been practicing comes into play to create maximum soft-tissue damage. Typically, this involves techniques that force the attacker's upper body down low, into range of elbow attacks, knifehand or hammerfist strikes to exposed neck regions, or hard knee strikes to the attacker's abdomen to bring him to the ground, where kicks to his head complete the counterattack.

What are you reasoning to finding a path to be enlighted by your poomsae>

Basically, I'm guided here by the rules for bunkai analysis that have been proposed,explained and defended by Iain Abernethy and people like Lawrence Kane & Kris Wilder, Simon O'Neil, and Stuart Anslow, who consciously and deliberately follow IA. Simple (though sometimes non-obvious, from the standpoint of Itosu's deliberately deceptive repackaging of karate moves), brutal, effective.

I should also mention maybe that when I practice hyungs or kata, I am visualizing these application scenarios as I carry out the performance of the form.

 

[dancingalone]

In your Poomsae do you personally devote enough time on each aspect of every single technique withen the poomsae?

Patterns practice should vary over time. One might focus on being technically proficient for a few months then might spend time more on the boon hae later on.

I frequently concentrate on moving as a unified person when working patterns. It's not necessarily the way I would perform for a demo or for a kata tournament, but it's an aspect I think deserves more thought about.

 

[dancingalone]

Patterns practice should vary over time. One might focus on being technically proficient for a few months then might spend time more on the boon hae later on.

I frequently concentrate on moving as a unified person when working patterns. It's not necessarily the way I would perform for a demo or for a kata tournament, but it's an aspect I think deserves more thought about.

And true to thought my focus has shifted yet again. I've been interested recently in retro-adding some bouncer's tricks I learned into the patterns I know. Obviously I would not teach them as 'classical' applications, but it's a case of interpreting kata/hyung on a personal level vs. something set in stone.