Instructors’ Training Courses

	Twenty seven instructors and senior students attended the Midlands seminar on 25 February in Tauranga.

At a loyal-to-Taekwon-Do hour on Saturday 10 February, five black belts from Dragons Spirit Papatoetoe made their way to the Meadowbank School for an Instructors’ Training Course. The first few minutes were spent catching up with old friends and new, and admiring recent renovations to the dojang, including floor-level Louvre windows to catch the summer breeze. The content of the course was technical, looking at the theory behind all those little details.

Training Secret of Taekwon-Do

1. To study the theory of power thoroughly.
2. To understand the purpose and method of each movement clearly.
3. To bring the movement of eyes, hands, feet and breath into a single coordinated action.
4. To choose the appropriate attacking tool for each vital spot.
5. To become familiar with the correct angle and distance for attack and defence.
6. Keep both the arms and legs bent slightly while the movement is in motion.
7. All movements must begin with a backward motion with very few exceptions. However, once the movement is in motion it should not be stopped before reaching the target.
8. To create a sine wave during the movement by utilizing the knee spring properly.
9. To exhale briefly at the moment of each blow except a connecting motion.

The above training secrets were used as the outline for the course. The main ones covered were sine wave (#8), bending (#6), backward motion (#7) and smooth movement (not stopping the action partway, #7). Hip twist also came up (part of the theory of power, #1).

During the seminar, attendees were divided into small groups to practise teaching students. Mr Bruce Harrison of Dragons Spirit Papatoetoe teaches the method of slow motion movements from Kwang-Gae tul to the rest of his group at the Auckland seminar.

Sine wave

What we call sine wave is the ‘down-up-down’ motion caused by bending the knees when moving and changing position. It is used to increase power by maximising speed and mass (kinetic energy = 1/2 mass x speed²). The first part is called the relaxation phase, where we bend our knees slightly and begin to rise into the ‘up’ position. This ‘down’ is only slight, just enough to relax the legs and get us moving. In the ‘up’ position we lift our body by straightening the supporting leg(s), but not completely (see bending, below). The next phase is accelerated motion in which we drop our bodyweight and accelerate the tool to the target.

Forward and backward stepping sine wave is usually fine, but we have to perform it a little differently when turning, maintaining the stance on the spot, changing stance on the spot, or transferring body weight from one foot to the other.

When we turn we need to get moving, so we do a small “down”. Once we’re moving we rise and turn at the same time, so our “up” and chamber occur simultaneously. From there we accelerate into the technique, dropping into the final “down”. Don’t stop at the chamber, and don’t wait till you’ve turned to do a little chicken-style head bob.

	Mr Mark Trotter 4th dan, Co-instructor of Impact Kingsland, travelled to Tauranga for the Midlands seminar.

If we stay on the spot in the same stance we still do a full sine wave. Walking stances have a straight rear leg so to do the first “down” you need to bend the back knee. Rising up onto the ball of that foot creates the “up”, and you body will tend to move or lean forward somewhat. This is natural, and is not something you should do deliberately or overemphasise. In fact, leaning forward too much will rob you of power because you’ll be moving in the opposite direction to your technique. An example of sine wave while maintaining a walking stance is in the first few movements of Do-San. For stances where both legs are bent (niunja, dwit bal, etc), it’s pretty straightforward: “down-up-down”, as in the first and second techniques in Won-Hyo.

Changing stances on the spot as in Won-Hyo movements 2-3 is similar. “Down” to relax and get going, “up” and lift the foot that’s moving, and “down” into the second stance, placing the moving foot. The second guburyo junbi sogi A in Won-Hyo is done the same way. “Down” to relax and get going, “up” and lift the rear leg, “down” and drop into the stance with the supporting leg, bringing the other foot up at the same time.

The first bending stance is performed while stepping the feet together. We need to get moving, so “down”, then we decide to put our weight on the other foot. So we put the right foot back down next to the left. Now our vertical movement has stopped, so we need to start a whole new sine wave: “down-up-down”. This means we bend the right leg a bit, then straighten it a bit (not totally) before dropping down and bending it into the final position. Another place where we do sine while stepping together is during the last two movements of Do-San.

	Attendees of the Auckland seminar: Sam Clark, Mark Banicevich, John Matsuoka, Brett Agnew, Matt Davey, Scott Clavis, Graeme Insull, John Harrison, Cara Harrison, Dave Butchers, Kane Raukura, Jon Sawden, Bruce Harrison, Bernice Ng, Gregory Thorn, Brendan Doogan, Desiree McNie, Richard Iotua. Seated are Master Paul McPhail and Mr Mahesh Bhana.

Bending

As you can see, there’s a whole lot of knee bending going on. In addition, we almost always bend the arms too. When our arms and legs are bent we move more easily, quicker, and safer. Safer because when we chamber for a punch, block, strike, etc, our elbows are generally bent downward, getting in the way of the opponent who might be faster than us. Try tapping your partner’s vital spots as they chamber for various techniques.

Backward

Another thing we do is move the tool backward slightly before accelerating to the target. Again, it’s for relaxation, and relaxation = speed = power. Try punching with a tense arm and see the difference! For a front punch the hand relaxes and drifts forward of the hip slightly, then is pulled back to the chamber and sent out at the target. For a side block the arms are pulled back and chambered before one goes to the hip and the other to the target. Don’t overdo it though, or you’ll expose your own vital spots!

Master McPhail discusses the finer details with attendees at the Midlands seminar.

Smooth

As your tool passes through the chamber it’s important to keep it moving smoothly. If you pause at the chamber you lose speed and give the bad guy a chance to see what’s coming. In other words the whole action from start to finish should be relaxed, smooth and fast – without stopping.

Hip twist

For the same reason you should use hip twist when the movement allows it. Forward and backward stepping are generally not good places to use it, because it takes longer and exposes you temporarily. Techniques such as blocks and strikes performed while turning can use the extra mass of hip twist to increase power nicely. Rising blocks while stepping forward have a slight hip twist action.

Motions

As well as the usual normal motion used in tul, we also use fast, slow, continuous and connecting motions.

• Fast: usually two techniques, 2/3 sine (“up-down”), one breath each. Fast motion kicks (Hwa-Rang and Choong-Moo, etc) have no sine wave at all. Fast motion in this case means stepping fast between the two kicks. These movements should epitomise the name “fast”.
• Slow: technique normally has full sine wave (“down-up-down”), and a single breath. No flat tyres please, the breath should be silent. The move should take about three normal counts. If you’re stepping into gunnun or nachuo sogi, keep your centre of gravity over the stationary leg as long as possible to avoid juddering. You’ll accelerate towards the end in such a move (eg, Joong-Gun #27), but it’s natural, don’t worry about it too much, and don’t jerk.
• Two continuous movements: two techniques, two full sine waves, two continuous breaths (no break between them). Simply perform the techniques as usual, but without pausing in between. Exhale throughout, tensing at the moment of impact for each move: “whhhWhwhhhWh”, eg, Dan-Gun movements 13 and 14.
• More than two continuous movements: full sine wave on the first move (“down-up-down”), and 2/3 on the following moves (“up-down”). So for Po-Eun you’ll move ‘down-up-down-up-down-up-down-up-down-up-down-up-down-up-down’! The techniques are performed without pause, and the breathing is as above, so for Po-Eun: “WhhhWhwhhhWhwhhhWhwhhhWhwhhhWhwhhhWhwhhhWh”. I believe this is a test of how well we understand relaxation and breath control!
• Connecting: two techniques, one sine wave (‘down-up-down’), and one breath. The first technique is performed at the ‘up’ point and the second at the last “down”, eg, Yul-Gok movements 13 and 14.

Step Sparring

The procedure and stepping for ilbo, ibo and sambo matsogi were also discussed. All forms of sparring are performed on the line AB, so the Examiner can see clearly.

	Master McPhail illustrates 3-step sparring with Cameron Casson of Tauranga: when one person is slightly taller than the other, the taller person uses L-stance and the shorter person uses walking stance.

Three-step sparring:

After bowing, the junior (the attacker) measures with their right foot about a foot width to the outside of the senior’s charyot sogi, steps back into a right walking stance forearm low block, and kihaps when ready. If the junior is going to use an L-stance, the junior measures in L-stance instead, very close to the partner’s foot. In either case the senior forms a parallel ready stance by moving the left foot and kihaps when they are ready. They then begin.

When both players are using walking stances the junior first steps to the outside of the senior’s front foot, then inside, and outside again. If using L-stances it is the opposite: inside, outside, inside. So far, so good. When one student is taller, however, they need to use a shorter stance (niunja sogi, dwit bal sogi, etc) while the smaller student uses a longer one (gunnun sogi, nachuo sogi, etc). The narrow stance always fits inside the wider one, for instance an L-stance would be inside, inside, inside a walking stance. Lost yet? Consider then, the difference in range of a high or low punch compared to a middle one. You’ll find that a middle one reaches further. To maintain range we need to measure closer to the opponent, with our feet overlapping further.

If all that makes sense to you, well done! With a little practice you’ll, get there and realise that 3-step sparring is an exercise in stances and stepping. The hands should move properly, but it is the stances and stepping that the Examiner is actually looking for.

Two-step sparring:

The junior (attacker) moves the right foot to a right L-stance guarding block and kihaps. The senior (defender) moves the left foot to a parallel ready stance. Keep techniques simple and concentrate on good stances, technique, power and focus.

One-step sparring:

Both the junior (attacker) and the senior (defender) start from parallel ready stances, the senior stepping out with the left foot, the junior with the right. Keep techniques simple and concentrate on good stances, technique, power and focus.

	Midlands seniors complete Hwa-Rang tul.

In summary

Overall the content didn’t contain too many surprises, which shows that the communication of knowledge through seminars such as this is working well. On that note, I must admit that I was a little surprised and disappointed that so few Instructors and Assistant Instructors were present. Of the twenty or so who came, five were from Papatoetoe, which means that the whole of the rest of the Auckland metro area was represented by only fifteen black belts. Come on guys, you can’t all have been busy. Our strength and success at home and overseas is well known and respected, and we have that because of our firm foundation in standards and structure. By continuing to learn and grow we can only improve on those successes. Many thanks to Master McPhail and Mr Bhana for the course, which I highly recommend.