University of Leicester Taekwon-Do Club

KUKKIWON PATTERNS
(Poomsae)

SIGNIFICANCE OF POOMSAE

The poomsae is a series of movements for offense and defense techniques which can be practiced and trained, even without presence of an instructor, in accordance with the fixed patterns. Therefore, the poomsae has the merits, by its practice, to make the trainee enhance the Kyorugi techniques and applied techniques including special techniques which can hardly be practiced by the training of each separate basic movement alone.

The poomsae can be trained along the imaginary or drawn poomsae line, which marks the position of foot and the line direction to move along.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR TRAINING POOMSAE

The poomsae is a series of alternate attack and defense actions : therefore, there are frequent changes of actions and connections of techniques. One must pay attention to the movement of body, eyes, respiration, etc. The steps of paying attention are as follows:

A complete understanding of the significance of poomsae and the principles of its composition.
A perfect memorization of the poomsae line, movements and direction.
During the practice, the following must be taken into consideration:

The eyes
Movement of the center of balance
Low or high speed
Strong or weak force
Respiration

About Poomsae | About Taegeuk

TAEGEUK POOMSAE

The taegeuk Poomsae is the current pattern set mandated by Kukkiwon, and thus practiced by the majority of WTF style Taekwondo schools. It consists of 17 patterns, 8 for geup grades and 9 black belt patterns.

Kukkiwon has the following to say about the taegeuk poomsae:

“The Taegeuk poomsae was established on the basis of profound philosophy of Taegeuk to be trained by the Taekwondo beginner. Its poomsae line and seogi are based on the invariable basic though of Taekwondo. The monism of Taegeuk is the frame of this poomsae, each Kwae being reflected in a pattern of Taegeuk poomsae, which elucidates the Taekwondo spirit and the profoundness of Taekwondo techniques.”

TAEGEUK

Taegeuk is a symbol representing the principles of the cosmos creation and the norms of human life. The circumference of the Taegeuk mark symbolizes infinity and the two parts, red and blue, inside the circle symbolize yin(negative) and yang(positive), which look like rotating all the time. Therefore, Taegeuk is the light which is the unified core of the cosmos and human life and its boundlessness signifies energy and the source of life. The yin and yang represents the development of the cosmos and human life and the oneness of symmetrical halves, such as negative and positive, hardness and softness, and materials and anti-materials. The eight bar-signs (called kwae) outside the circle are so arranged to go along with the Taegeuk in an orderly system. One bar means the yang and two bars the yin, both representing the creation of harmonization with the basic principles of all cosmos phenomena. The Taegeuk, infinity and yin-yang are the three elements constituting the philosophical trinity as mentioned in the Samil Sinko, the Scripture of Korean race.