What forms do you do?

Koshiki

Brown Belt
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
424
Reaction score
137
I know this has probably been done to death, but searching through the TKD posts, I couldn't find it. If i just missed it, I apologize profusely, and I hope that a moderator will trash this thread in it's infancy!

As some background, my TKD-ish school is influenced by several non-tkd things, and is also theoretically built upon TKD that hadn't been "de-Japanized". For whatever that's worth.

We do the following traditional forms;
Basic 1, 2, and 3 (Taikyoku/Kicho Hyung)
Basic 1, 2, and 3 with added front, side, and round kicks, respectively.
Pinan/Pyong Ahn 1-5 (we pronounce it so very well, as "Pion.")
Also, a version of Pinan 1 with a variety of added kicks.
Naihanchi 1-3 (We say Naiji, again, great pronunciation)
Bassai Sho and Dai
Sanchin
Tensho
Shushi No Kon Sho (mispronounced as, Shoshinakon)
Tsuken Shitahaku no Sai (We leave out the "no")

Also, we have a variety of school-specific empty hand and weapons forms created by the original instructor and co, and a couple of optional forms based on Kung-Fu forms, and some other forms such as jion are practiced by a few, but not standard.

I know we're pretty different from a lot of TKD, a lot karate-er, and we move more kung-fu-ier but I was wondering how much relevance this traditional Kata bears to other Martial Talk TKD-ers.
 

Dirty Dog

MT Senior Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
23,358
Reaction score
9,096
Location
Pueblo West, CO
Our Moo Duk Kwan school uses the six Kicho hyung, the 8 Palgwae poomsae, and the KKW Yudanja forms. The KKW taegeuk poomsae are optional. In addition to those, I also practice the Chang Hon tul.
 

andyjeffries

Senior Master
Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
2,019
Reaction score
340
Location
Stevenage, Herts, UK
As some background, my TKD-ish school is influenced by several non-tkd things, and is also theoretically built upon TKD that hadn't been "de-Japanized". For whatever that's worth.

I personally would say Taekwondo that hasn't be "de-Japanized" is Karate. That's the difference between Taekwondo and Karate, they removed a lot of the Japanese influence (in movement styles) and add Korean style.

I would however be interested in seeing a video of your school doing a pattern, so I could compare it with a Karate school doing the same pattern...

We do the following traditional forms;
Basic 1, 2, and 3 (Taikyoku/Kicho Hyung)
Basic 1, 2, and 3 with added front, side, and round kicks, respectively.
Pinan/Pyong Ahn 1-5 (we pronounce it so very well, as "Pion.")
Also, a version of Pinan 1 with a variety of added kicks.
Naihanchi 1-3 (We say Naiji, again, great pronunciation)
Bassai Sho and Dai
Sanchin
Tensho
Shushi No Kon Sho (mispronounced as, Shoshinakon)
Tsuken Shitahaku no Sai (We leave out the "no")

I know we're pretty different from a lot of TKD, a lot karate-er, and we move more kung-fu-ier but I was wondering how much relevance this traditional Kata bears to other Martial Talk TKD-ers.

I've never done any of these patterns...
 

sopraisso

Blue Belt
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
222
Reaction score
15
Location
Brazil
In the Kukkiwon school of my instructor (in Brazil) they practice standard KKW forms (Taegeuk poomsae for colored belts and the other set of poomsae for black belts). White belts practice two basic forms that I believe to have come from old ITF times: saju jirigi and saju ap chagi.

As I studied more taekwondo I decided myself to go back to karate forms as well, as they clearly have a deeper combative content instead of merely techniques strung together. So today my focus is in karate forms. While I practice a really long list of karate forms (due to preferences of my karate instructors), currently I dedicate myself specially to the Pinnan and Naihanchi, as just a few forms are quite enough when you study then in a deeper way. I could say that today the

Enviado de meu GT-I9300 usando Tapatalk 4
 

Gwai Lo Dan

3rd Black Belt
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
963
Reaction score
171
At the school where I last studied, the patterns up to 1st dan/poom were: Kibon (basic) poomsae, taegeuk 1-8, Basai.

Kibon poomsae was as shown here, although that is not the school where I studied.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

sopraisso

Blue Belt
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
222
Reaction score
15
Location
Brazil
In the Kukkiwon school of my instructor (in Brazil) they practice standard KKW forms (Taegeuk poomsae for colored belts and the other set of poomsae for black belts). White belts practice two basic forms that I believe to have come from old ITF times: saju jirigi and saju ap chagi.

As I studied more taekwondo I decided myself to go back to karate forms as well, as they clearly have a deeper combative content instead of merely techniques strung together. So today my focus is in karate forms. While I practice a really long list of karate forms (due to preferences of my karate instructors), currently I dedicate myself specially to the Pinnan and Naihanchi, as just a few forms are quite enough when you study then in a deeper way. I could say that today the

Enviado de meu GT-I9300 usando Tapatalk 4

Damn I accidently sent the message without finishing it. Wrote a big text after that as an edit, but the admin didn't let me send it because too much time passed after the original message (I had to stop for a while to take care of stuff). Tried to go backwards in the browser and text was lost! Lol! So well, that's the idea, maybe I write the other stuff again later.
 
OP
Koshiki

Koshiki

Brown Belt
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
424
Reaction score
137
I personally would say Taekwondo that hasn't be "de-Japanized" is Karate. That's the difference between Taekwondo and Karate, they removed a lot of the Japanese influence (in movement styles) and add Korean style.

I would however be interested in seeing a video of your school doing a pattern, so I could compare it with a Karate school doing the same pattern...

I would personally tend to agree with you, Taekwondo is a now a sport, the martial arts roots are properly Karate, or maybe Tang Soo Do, if you want to be Korean about it. We don't do any of the modern forms created "for taekwondo." We basically do the forms that taekwondo was based on, before it was taekwondo: Karate forms. My instructor, Jeff Wood, learned from Horace Silver, who was taught be a Korean instructor who's name I don't know. Horace silver would have been learning in the middle decades of the twentieth century. For what that's worth.

To clarify, it's Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo. I *believe* most Moo Duk Kwan schools do the Kicho Hyung, The Pyong Ahns, Naihanchis, and Bassai. Not sure about Sanchin and Tensho. What we don't do are the Poomse etc, the actual Korean forms.

I'll see if I can get someone to point a camera at a couple forms later, so you can compare them to Japanese Karate.
 

sopraisso

Blue Belt
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
222
Reaction score
15
Location
Brazil
At the school where I last studied, the patterns up to 1st dan/poom were: Kibon (basic) poomsae, taegeuk 1-8, Basai.

Kibon poomsae was as shown here, although that is not the school where I studied.

Essentially taikyoku form... Too bad the performer does that crazy thing with the head before every turn. I don't see one single reason that supports that practice (well, apart from trying to do things different and maybe esthetic purposes), I believe that the head turns come from misconceptions on the application of the forms.

By the way, I wish Brazillian Kukkiwon schools adopted something more like those taikyoku forms instead of saju jirigi and saju ap chagi I previously mentioned. It's much more consistent with the following Taegeuk poomsae that are learned in the next levels. Below you can see the main form practiced by white belts in Brazil:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
OP
Koshiki

Koshiki

Brown Belt
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
424
Reaction score
137
Essentially taikyoku form... Too bad the performer does that crazy thing with the head before every turn. I don't see one single reason that supports that practice (well, apart from trying to do things different and maybe esthetic purposes), I believe that the head turns come from misconceptions on the application of the forms.

My school also does the head snaps, though not as separate from the rest of the motion. The theory being, how do you know what block to throw if the attack is coming from behind you? For us, the head snaps, the arms prepare, the leg steps, and the body turns, more or less in one motion. Again, though, it's all idealized technique; you try to down block front stance and step forward straight punch in an actual altercation, we all know what happens! So, while I find his take on the head snap humourous looking, it makes more sense to me than blindly spinning and somehow knowing what technique is coming.

I like to train these forms with actual attackers throwing low kicks or grabs or what have you at the practitioner doing the form. If I see the person not looking first, I'll throw a head strike and a grin as they turn and block a low kick that never existed. I'd say it's all a matter of aesthetics, really. If you're fighting three guys and you continually turn away from them to fight their buddies, not amount of head-snapping is going to save you!

That said, "Always look before you leap."

Out of curiosity, what specifically, are the misconceptions about the forms that you think lead to this practice of head-snapping?
 

sopraisso

Blue Belt
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
222
Reaction score
15
Location
Brazil
My school also does the head snaps, though not as separate from the rest of the motion. The theory being, how do you know what block to throw if the attack is coming from behind you? For us, the head snaps, the arms prepare, the leg steps, and the body turns, more or less in one motion. Again, though, it's all idealized technique; you try to down block front stance and step forward straight punch in an actual altercation, we all know what happens! So, while I find his take on the head snap humourous looking, it makes more sense to me than blindly spinning and somehow knowing what technique is coming.

I like to train these forms with actual attackers throwing low kicks or grabs or what have you at the practitioner doing the form. If I see the person not looking first, I'll throw a head strike and a grin as they turn and block a low kick that never existed. I'd say it's all a matter of aesthetics, really. If you're fighting three guys and you continually turn away from them to fight their buddies, not amount of head-snapping is going to save you!

That said, "Always look before you leap."

Out of curiosity, what specifically, are the misconceptions about the forms that you think lead to this practice of head-snapping?

There have been various threads lately in the forums about the meanings of karate/taekwondo forms and techniques, and many people have contributed to the enlightening of the subject. Unfortunetely, most taekwondo practitioners remain in complete obscurity about the meaning and proper application of the movements they learn, like "down block". Even when the movements are really what they seem to be (for example, when what is called a "block" is being really used to "block" a strike), in most of times that very kind of application is rarely teached correctly and so most people don't learn the technique the way it was really intended to be used. The problem goes worse when it comes to forms -- the understanding of their meanings goes even shallower. Have you ever, for example, wondered why you pull your opposite hand to the hip in most of the techniques you practice?

I'd suggest you to check a few posts I've written in recent threads so you'd have a little more context, like the following:

http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/sh...houghts-on-past-Threads?p=1594558#post1594558
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/sh...houghts-on-past-Threads?p=1594582#post1594582

One important thing in all of this is not only mere speculation. There are good writings on the subject by masters from the past (and more good writings are being translated to English). But the good knowledge has been almost lost among students that became instructors who didn't really understand how karate worked -- and some of those students became the founders and the first instructors of taekwondo.

So the problem with the head snaps is that they come from the mistaken interpretation of karate kata (and later of poomsae) that suggests your turn means you are turning to block an attack that comes from the side or behind. In the truth, the turns says that you should go to the side in relation to your opponent (like dodging) when performing the technique. So in reality the opponent is in front of you all the time. If that's the case, why should you snap the head first, to "see what's coming" (what is in an of itself kind of questionable for various reasons), if your opponent is already in front of you?

There is at least one good quote I know of from Kenwa Mabuni, founder of Shito-Ryu karate style on this subject and it is fair to show them:

The meaning of the directions in kata is not well understood, and frequently mistakes are made in the interpretation of kata movements. In extreme cases, it is sometimes heard that "this kata moves in 8 directions so it is designed for fighting 8 opponents" or some such nonsense.
Do not fall into the trap of thinking that just because a kata begins to the left that the opponent is always attacking from the left. There are two ways of looking at this:

(1) The kata is defending against an attack from the left.
(2) Angle to the left against a frontal attack.

Looking at interpretation (1), the opponent must always attack from the left, and while fighting that opponent, another opponent comes from behind so the defender turns to fight that opponent. This type of interpretation is highly unreasonable.
Looking at interpretation number (2) however, the Pinan kata show us that against an attack from the front we can evade either left or right to put ourselves in the most advantageous position to defend ourselves. (Kenwa Mabuni, Karate do Nyumon, 1938)

Furthermore, note that sometimes the turn could mean also that you are throwing your opponent (think of a few throws you know and see if any of them fit the kind of movement performed in a "blocking turn" in a form -- you might be pleasently surprised). It could mean, as well, that you are shifting your postition to apply some other kind of technique (like an arm bar where you end up next to or behind you opponent, for example). Also, remember that the 90º, 180º, 270º and so on turns don't really mean you have to turn exactly that much, but only that you have to move your body in the necessary way, and that could be simply a 30º or 40º turn, either for throws, dodges or other kind of application.

Specifically regarding to "blocks", I would suggest you check this post:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/sh...locks-are-useless-right?p=1586484#post1586484

All of this has to do with the study of the meanings of forms, what in karate is called "bunkai". Unfortunately the taekwondo founders didn't go deeply into bunkai study (neither did most karate practitioners that learned in Japan in the same period). As taekwondo techniques came mostly from karate, there's no reason to think that they work in a different way -- specially when this different way taught in most TKD schools (and in most karate schools as well, actually) is not practical or effective at all in a real fight. Also note again that the misunderstanding didn't really begin in taekwondo -- it was carried from insufficient karate training, and most karate schools today suffer from the same problem.
 

MAist25

Blue Belt
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Messages
294
Reaction score
19
Location
Long Island, NY
I train at a Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan school and these are the forms we practice:

White Belt: Kicho Il Bo
Yellow Belt: Kicho Ee Bo, Kicho Sam Bo
Orange Belt: Palgwe Il Jang
Green Belt: Palgwe Ee Jang
Blue Belt: Palgwe Sam Jang
Purple Belt: Palgwe Sa Jang
Red Belt: Palgwe Oh Jang
Brown Belt: Palgwe Yuk Jang
High Brown Belt: Palgwe Chil Jang
Candidate: Palgwe Pal Jang
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Dan: Koryo, Original Koryo, Chul Gi Cho Dan,Bassai, Chinte
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Dan: Keumgang, Chul Gi Ee Dan, Tae Ji Hyul
3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Dan: Taebaek, Chul Gi Sam Dan, Sip Soo
4[SUP]th[/SUP] Dan: Pyongwon, Yeonbi, Jion
5[SUP]th[/SUP] Dan: Sipjin, Kong Sang Koon
6[SUP]th[/SUP] Dan: Jitae, Rohai
7[SUP]th[/SUP] Dan: Cheonkwon, O Ship Sa Bo
8[SUP]th[/SUP] Dan: Hansoo
9[SUP]th[/SUP] Dan: Ilyo
 
OP
Koshiki

Koshiki

Brown Belt
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
424
Reaction score
137
Excellent post, thank you so much for taking the time to write it. I love this forum!

Also, I didn't mean to imply that your thoughts were mere, "speculation", just to be clear. If I came across that way, I apologize instantly! (Not that you seem offended, just covering my bases!)

Even when the movements are really what they seem to be (for example, when what is called a "block" is being really used to "block" a strike), in most of times that very kind of application is rarely teached correctly and so most people don't learn the technique the way it was really intended to be used. The problem goes worse when it comes to forms -- the understanding of their meanings goes even shallower. Have you ever, for example, wondered why you pull your opposite hand to the hip in most of the techniques you practice?

We spend quite a bit of time at my school discussing bunkai. The highest rank in the school likes to go through forms and turn every technique into a takedown. We like to take a section of a given form and spend a class experimenting with as many ways as possible to utilize it. The turning down block at the beginning of Basic One/Kicho Il bo/Taikyoku Shodan could be a simple turning block to jam up a waist level round or front kick. It could be a clearing defense against a grab to the belt/waist. It could be a hammer strike against the head of an attacker attempting a double leg takedown, and the stance might in this case be interpreted as more of a sprawl. It could be a low groin strike to an attacker from the rear. With some manipulation it becomes a very clear armbar/break or takedown, with the chambered hand immobilizing the wrist. It could be a bear hug defense against an attacker from the right, breaking the hold with the downblock-ing arm, and elbow striking to the rear with the chambered hand. It could be an across the chest throw against an attacker 45 degrees to your left, with your front leg of your stance as the fulcrum behind their knees. I'm certain it could be many more things, and they are intensely fun to speculate about, experiment with, and train. The front leg of the stance can, in and of itself cause a huge disruption to the opponents footwork, which could be intensified by a more pushing application of the downblock.

So yes, we have wondered about the chambered hand, as well as many other things. One instructor's answer is rarely the same as another. However, for something like that first turning downblock, especially followed by the stepping punch, I tend to think that the explanation which requires the LEAST modification of the technique is jamming a kick, stopping a low grab or takedown, and following with a driving punch. Also, the forward stance, to me, indicates a desire to have stability and power in the direction one is facing. In the forward/front/hill stance I have generally encountered, the stance is considerably weaker from pressure to and from the sides or rear, and is exceptionally strong to the front.

Of course, that said, I am now simply burning with curiosity to know what interpretations you had in mind for the "downblock" and chambered hand!

I'd suggest you to check a few posts I've written in recent threads so you'd have a little more context, like the following:

Wow. I officially qualify myself as a "lurker" when I realize I have already read through two of the three threads (the first two). To my credit I DID actually jump in on the thread about blocking a few days ago, so I haven't JUST been lurking. I've been stumbling across this site for years. Love it. I have to say, too, that reading the first two threads previously, and revisiting them now, as well as the last one, I greatly enjoy the input you (and others) have expounded upon.

So the problem with the head snaps is that they come from the mistaken interpretation of karate kata (and later of poomsae) that suggests your turn means you are turning to block an attack that comes from the side or behind. In the truth, the turns says that you should go to the side in relation to your opponent (like dodging) when performing the technique. So in reality the opponent is in front of you all the time. If that's the case, why should you snap the head first, to "see what's coming" (what is in an of itself kind of questionable for various reasons), if your opponent is already in front of you?

I take a little bit of issue here... I can't speak as to what Funakoshi was really envisioning with the Taikyoku kata. I'm not entirely certain that he had envisioned them so much as perfectly applicable self-defense, either. For all I know, he was mainly thinking about introducing an training stances and techniques. You seem MUCH more well versed in Karate history than I, and I would guess that you DO know.

Here's what I take issue to; that Funakoshi's intent must be the only interpretation. That may not be what you meant, but that's how I am understanding you, currently. I love tradition, but when it comes to Martial Arts, I love experimentation and testing more. So, when someone tells me, "here is the original way, the true way, the legitimate way," I may believe, them, but I don't accept that because that is how it WAS done, that that is how it SHOULD be done. It depends greatly on whether or not your focus is on maintaining a traditional art, or continuing the millennia of development and adaptation of the art.

That said, I am deeply interested in what you have to teach us about what Funakoshi and other early 20th century practitioners envisioned with these forms. I admit that I am having a great deal of difficulty mentally, in understanding how technique one of Taikyoku Shodan is a dodge from an attack to the front. Also, when I have seen this form Shotokan style, the may not head snap, but they still face 90 degrees. I understand what you have said about the plasticity of the angles in application versus tradition, but, shouldn't the direction of your vision generally be towards your attacker? I'm not trying to be a pedant here, just explaining my confusion. Help me out, I'm stuck, and it's going to drive me crazy trying to see that first move as a dodge from a forward attacker!

Again, thanks for the input!
 
OP
Koshiki

Koshiki

Brown Belt
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
424
Reaction score
137
Oh, also, thank you to everyone who has posted on the original topic of "What forms do you do?" before I got myself hopelessly sidetracked. Woops. Threadjacked my own thread!
 

Kung Fu Wang

Sr. Grandmaster
MT Mentor
Joined
Sep 26, 2012
Messages
14,041
Reaction score
4,488
Location
Austin, Tx/Shell Beach, Ca
Oh, also, thank you to everyone who has posted on the original topic of "What forms do you do?" before I got myself hopelessly sidetracked. Woops. Threadjacked my own thread!

Let me side track it a little bit. :) IMO, forms is designed for teaching and learning only. It's not designed for training. You should train solo drills or combo drills but not forms.
 
Last edited:
OP
Koshiki

Koshiki

Brown Belt
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
424
Reaction score
137
Let me side track it a little bit. :) IMO, forms is designed for teaching and learning only. It's not designed for training. You should train solo drills or combo drills but not forms.

The various denotations and connotations of "training" is something for a different thread. Under any relevant standard English definition, training refers to practice, study, the process by which one learns skills, or the way in which one prepares for an event or goal.

Thereby, if you are going to practice forms, or practice WITH forms, or use forms as drills, then, unavoidably, you are using forms to "train."

Any other usage of "training" is a personal definition, really.

So, the question is, what forms do the taekwondo schools of MT-ers do?

-Cheers.
 

Dirty Dog

MT Senior Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
23,358
Reaction score
9,096
Location
Pueblo West, CO
In the Kukkiwon school of my instructor (in Brazil) they practice standard KKW forms (Taegeuk poomsae for colored belts and the other set of poomsae for black belts). White belts practice two basic forms that I believe to have come from old ITF times: saju jirigi and saju ap chagi.

I've never considered the 4-direction punch/kick to be an actual hyung/poomsae/tul. You're the first person I think I've ever seen refer to them as forms, as a matter of fact.

ITo clarify, it's Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo. I *believe* most Moo Duk Kwan schools do the Kicho Hyung, The Pyong Ahns, Naihanchis, and Bassai. Not sure about Sanchin and Tensho. What we don't do are the Poomse etc, the actual Korean forms.

I think you'll find that the majority of MDK schools practicing the Pyong Ahn forms are derived from the Tang Soo Do branch, rather than the TKD.
 
OP
Koshiki

Koshiki

Brown Belt
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
424
Reaction score
137
I think you'll find that the majority of MDK schools practicing the Pyong Ahn forms are derived from the Tang Soo Do branch, rather than the TKD.

I think you're right. That's basically why I asked this question; none of the TKD schools *I* know do the same forms, and when I've searched the interwebs, I always end up at Tang Soo Do lists. Sometimes when people ask what style we do, describe it as Tang Soo Do based, rather than Taekwondo based. I don't know...
 

miguksaram

Master of Arts
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Messages
1,971
Reaction score
32
Location
Aurora, IL
We do the following traditional forms;
Basic 1, 2, and 3 (Taikyoku/Kicho Hyung)
Basic 1, 2, and 3 with added front, side, and round kicks, respectively.
Pinan/Pyong Ahn 1-5 (we pronounce it so very well, as "Pion.")
Also, a version of Pinan 1 with a variety of added kicks.
Naihanchi 1-3 (We say Naiji, again, great pronunciation)
Bassai Sho and Dai
Sanchin
Tensho
Shushi No Kon Sho (mispronounced as, Shoshinakon)
Tsuken Shitahaku no Sai (We leave out the "no")

Also, we have a variety of school-specific empty hand and weapons forms created by the original instructor and co, and a couple of optional forms based on Kung-Fu forms, and some other forms such as jion are practiced by a few, but not standard.

I know we're pretty different from a lot of TKD, a lot karate-er, and we move more kung-fu-ier but I was wondering how much relevance this traditional Kata bears to other Martial Talk TKD-ers.
Sounds a lot like you just do Shotokan.
We do the following:

Taikyoko 1-3
Taeguk 1-8
Taichi Gedan
Wansu
Gyakusei
Anaku
Empisho
Basadai
Seionchin
Sanchin
Taichi Neko
Dahnan Sho
Go Pei Sho
Kankusho
Weapons forms: Tsuisho (bo), Shushi No Kon sho (bo), Bo/Sai/Kama/Nunchaku/Tonfa theory (basically applying weapon work to our empty hand forms), Hwarang O'gae (sword)
 
OP
Koshiki

Koshiki

Brown Belt
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
424
Reaction score
137
Sounds a lot like you just do Shotokan.

It does sound that way, doesn't it? We certainly have more kata material in common with Shotokan than with most Taekwondo. One of my three primary instructors in the school was from a Shotokan background; he used to comment on the similarities, and say that they were quite, "Tao-ized." (Tao being our school name.)

That said, the forms are not very Shotokan-y when we do them, at least based on my sparse knowledge from Shotokan stylists in person, and from looking stuff up on the you-tubez. If I had to make a guess, I would say that the base style was likely almost entirely Karate of some sort, that the Korean instructors began calling Taekwondo out of national pride. (Of course, I guess that rings true for ALL taekwondo, at one point.)

I don't know. I know that I can't say that I study MDK TKD, or MDK TSD, or any form of Karate and have people think of exactly what our style is. To be clear, too, I don't think my instructor has ever said, "This is Taekwondo." That's just his primary training. I try to tell people it's TKD-ish, or TKD based, but really... I just don't know. I'm going to start calling it Shihan Jeff Wood-do...
 

Latest Discussions

Top