Here's a question that's been posed in the Comments section on the taekwondo wiki...
Why doesn't Taegeuk Pal Jang have a kihap at the end??
The same reason Yuk Jang doesn't: it is earlier in the form.
I think a broader version of the question is: what's the logic behind where kihaps appear in the Taegeuk series of forms? Anybody have any ideas?
The kihap appears where a particular focus is required for the movement. In the earlier forms, this is at the end, introducing the idea of the kihap to denote something, in this case the end. In the later forms, kihaps appear where the movement is strenuous or requires special focus.
For Yuk Jang, it is on the Dollyochagi, which is out of apkubi, is specified as high section and is followed by a turn out. This is very unusual and is a defining movement in the form. To me, this is telling the practitioner 'focus your attention here, this movement requires concentration and a lot of practice'.
The same is true of doobal dangsong apchagi in Pal Jang. It is strenuous, takes practice, and is arguably the movement that defines the form.
If I follow this line of reasoning into the black belt poomsae, the kihaps still carry a message.
Koryo: agwisonchigi x 2. Form defining movement (along with the side kicks). Sharp edged striking surfaces are repeating theme in the form, often in combinations, sharp like the scholar it represents and projected forward like the spirit of the men of the Koryo dynasty. The two kihaps are on single aggressive motions, almost as if to say 'keep it simple. This works.'
Keumgang: Santeul Makki x 2. Along with Keumgang Makki, a form defining movement which contains the ponderosity of the forms meaning in the low heavy stance and mountain peaks represented by the head and hands. This posture also carries symbolic relevance from a Buddhist perspective, relating to emptiness and detachment, which supports the meaning 'too strong to be broken'. I also wonder if the meaning of Keumgang 'diamond' hints toward the Diamond Sutra.
Taebaek: momtong chireugi x 2. Both the punches with the kihaps and the appearance of double punch combinations in this form tell the practitioner in this form, the last of the 'body' poomsae, that the middle punch is a staple in our repertoire. But not just that, but also where they appear in the line of the poomsae when viewed from above. The meaning of Taebaek, bright mountain, relates to the story of the creation of the Korean race, and Hwanin, Hwanung, Dan Gun and the Bear, Tiger, Mugwort story (you can google it if you don't already know it). The story relates to the grandson of heaven on n earth, the link between Heaven and Earth, the physical world and the metaphysical; metaphorically, the link between the mind and the body. The line of the poomsae is like the Taegeuk series but with no horizontal middle line in the Gwae. The kihaps appear when we get to heaven (the top line) and when we get back to earth (the bottom line). Considering that the pattern is the last of the 3 'body' i.e. Physically focussed patterns, and the next pattern is Pyongwon, the first of the 'mind' i.e. Heaven patterns, AND that the student should have built a connection between body and mind by this stage, it makes sense for the kihaps to appear at each end of the line between heaven and earth. Oddly enough, those middle punches are also between the high section and the low section, heaven and earth.
I could go on, but I suspect I might be the only person on the planet with an appetite for this sort of thing.
