Tenets of Tae Kwon-DoThere are five basic tenets or principles that have been adopted from Korea's ancient warrior societies and these should serve as a guide for students of Tae Kwon-do both in the Dojang and in daily life. |
 |
 |
Courtesy (Ye Ui) Courtesy is a thoughtfulness and consideration of others. A courteous person exhibits humility, civility, and politeness. Tae Kwon-Do students should practice proper etiquette to: Promote a spirit of mutual concessions. Be polite to one another. Encourage the sense of justice. Distinguish instructor from student, and senior from junior. |
 |
Integrity (Yom Chi) Integrity is honesty, sincerity, knowing right from wrong, and possessing high ethics. It is an uncompromising adherence to a code of moral values and principles. Some examples of where integrity is lacking are: An instructor who teaches improper techniques to students because of a lack of knowledge or apathy. A student who cheats by "fixing" breaking materials before a demonstration. An instructor who camouflages bad techniques by having luxurious training facilities and giving false flattery to students. The student who requests rank from an instructor or attempts to purchase it, and the instructor who would give it. Students who gain rank for ego purposes or feelings of power. An instructor who teaches and promotes students for purely monetary gains. |
 |
Perseverance (In Nae) Perseverance is the steadfast pursuit of your goals in spite of any obstacles to reaching those goals . An old Oriental saying states "patience leads to virtue or merit." A serious student will learn to overcome difficulties by patience and steadfastness. Another old saying states "one can make a peaceful home by being patient for 100 times." Success most likely will come to the patient person. To achieve something, whether it is a higher rank or the perfection of a technique, one must set a goal and then persevere to reach it. |
 |
Self Control (Guk Gi) Self-control is the internal restraint of your emotions and reactions. It is extremely important both inside and outside the Dojang, whether in free-sparring or conducting personal affairs. A loss of self-control may prove disastrous to both the student and his or her opponent. Performing outside one's capability also demonstrates a lack of self-control. |
 |
Indomitable Spirit (Baekjul Boolgool) A serious student is always modest and honest. However, if confronted with an injustice, he or she will deal with the belligerence without any fear or hesitation, with an indomitable spirit. Indomitable spirit is demonstrated when a courageous person and his or her principles persevere, even when facing overwhelming odds. Courage is the spirit which enables us to face danger with confidence and resolution. It is a reserve of moral strength on which we may draw in time of emergency. A courageous person does not tolerate injustice. It takes courage to do what is right even when it is not the popular thing to do, to face our fears, and to continue when the way seems impossible. |
As a student of Tae Kwon Do I do solemnly pledge to abide by the rules and regulations of the Tae Kwon Do Association, to strive always to be modest, courteous and respectful to all members, in particular my seniors, to put the art into use only for self defence or in the defence of the weak and never to abuse my knowledge of the art.
Patterns are various fundamental movements most of which represent either attack or defence techniques, set to a fixed and logical sequence against an imaginery opponent.
We practise patterns to improve our Tae Kwon-Do techniques, to develop sparring techniques, to improve flexibility of movement, master body-shifting, develop muscles, balance and breath control. They also enable us to acquire techniques, which cannot be obtained from other forms of training.
The reason for there being 24 patterns in Tae Kwon-Do is because the founder Major General Choi Hong Hi, compared the life of man with a day in the life of the earth and believed that people should strive to bequeath a good spiritual legacy to coming generations and in doing so gain immortality. Therefore, if we can leave something behind for the welfare of mankind, it may be the most important thing to happen in our lives, as the founder says: "Here I leave Tae Kwon Do for mankind as a trace of a man of the late 20th Century. The 24 patterns represent 24 hours, one day or all of my life."
Interpretations of patterns. The name of the pattern, the number of movements, and the diagramatic symbol of each pattern symbolises heroic figures in Korean history or instances relating to historical events.
Interpretations of patterns are learnt so that you can draw some inspiration and guidance from the examples given of the tenets of Tae Kwon-Do.
The beginning student may ask; "Where does one obtain the power to create the devastating results attributed to Tae Kwon-Do?" This power is attributed to the utilisation of a person's full potential through the mathematical application of Tae Kwon-Do techniques. The average person uses only 10 to 20 percent of his potential. Anyone, regardless of size, age, or sex who can condition himself to use 100 percent of his potential can also perform the same destructive techniques. Though training will certainly result in a superb level of physical fitness, it will not necessarily result in the acquisition of extraordinary stamina or superhuman strength. More important, Tae Kwon-Do training will result in obtaining a high level of reaction force, concentration, equilibrium, breath control and speed; these are the factors that will result in a high degree of physical power.
According to Newton's Law, every force has as equal and opposite force. When an automobile crashes into a wall with the force of 2,000 pounds, the wall will return a force of 2,000 pounds; or forcing the end of the seesaw down with a ton of weight will provide an upward force of the same weight; if your opponent is rushing towards you at a high speed, by the slightest blow at his head, the force with which you strike his head would be that of his own onslaught plus that of your blow. The two forces combined; his, which is large, and yours, which is small is quite impressive. Another reaction force is your own. A punch with the right fist is aided by pulling back the left fist to the hip.
By applying the impact force onto the smallest target area, it will concentrate the force and therefore, increase its effect. For example, the force of water coming out of a water hose is greater if the orifice is smaller. Conversely, the weight of a man spread out on snow shoes makes hardly any impression on the snow. The blows in Tae Kwon-Do are often concentrated onto the edge of the open palm or to the crook of the fingers.In conclusion, concentration is done in two ways: one is to concentrate every muscle of the body, particularly the bigger muscles around the hip and abdomen (which theoretically are slower than the smaller muscles of other parts of the body) towards the appropriate tool to be used at the proper time; the second way is to concentrate such mobilized muscles onto the opponent's vital spot. This is the reason why the hip and abdomen are jerked slightly before the hands and feet in any action, whether it be attack or defence. Remember, jerking can be executed in two ways: laterally and vertically.
Balance is of utmost importance in any type of athletics. In Tae Kwon-Do, it deserves special consideration. By keeping the body always in equilibrium, that is, well balanced, a blow is more effective and deadly. Conversely, the unbalanced one is easily toppled. The stance should always be stable yet flexible, for both offensive and defensive movements. Equilibrium is classified into both dynamic and static stability. They are so closely inter-related that the maximum force can only be produced when the static stability is maintained through dynamic stability. To maintain good equilibrium, the centre of gravity of the stance must fall on a straight line midway between both legs when the body weight is distributed equally on both legs, or in the centre of the foot if it is necessary to concentrate the bulk of body weight on one foot. The centre of gravity can be adjusted according to body weight. Flexibility and knee spring are also important in maintaining balance for both a quick attack and instant recovery. One additional point; the heel of the rear foot should never be off the ground at the point of impact. This is not only necessary for good balance but also to produce maximum power at the point of impact.
Controlled breathing not only affects one's stamina and speed but can also condition a body to receive a blow and augment the power of a blow directed against an opponent. Through practice, breath stopped in the state of exhaling at the critical moment when a blow is landed against a pressure point on the body can prevent a loss of consciousness and stifling pain. A sharp exhaling of breath at the moment of impact and stopping the breath during the execution of a movement tenses the abdomen to concentrate maximum effort on the delivery of the motion, while a slow inhaling helps the preparation of the next movement. An important rule to remember; Never inhale while focusing a block or blow against an opponent. Not only will this impede movement but it will also result in a loss of power. Students should also practice disguised breathing to conceal any outward signs of fatigue. An experienced fighter will certainly press an attack when he realises his opponent is on the point of exhaustion. One breath is required for one movement with the exception of a continuous motion.
Mathematically, the maximum kinetic energy or force is obtained from maximum body weight and speed and it is all important that the body weight be increased during the execution of a blow. No doubt the maximum body weight is applied with the motion of turning the hip. The large abdominal muscles are twisted to provide additional body momentum. Thus the hip rotates in the same direction as that of the attacking or blocking tool. Another way of increasing body weight is the utilisation of a springing action of the knee joint. This is achieved by slightly raising the hip at the beginning of the motion and lowering the hip at the moment of impact to drop the body weight into the motion. In summary, it is necessary to point out that the principles of force outlined here hold just as true today in our modern scientific and nuclear age as they did centuries ago. I am sure that when you go through this art, both in theory and in practice, you will find that the scientific basis of the motions and the real power which comes out a small human body cannot fail to impress you.
Speed is the most essential factor of force or power. Scientifically, force equals mass multiplied by acceleration (F = MA) or (P = MV2). According to the theory of kinetic energy, every object increases its weight as well as speed in a downward movement. This very principle is applied to this particular art of self-defence. For this reason, at the moment of impact, the position of the hand normally becomes lower than the shoulder and the foot lower than the hip while the body is in the air. Reaction force, breathing control, equilibrium, concentration, and relaxation of the muscles cannot be ignored. However, these are the factors that contribute to the speed and all these factors, together with flexible and rhythmic movements, must be well co-ordinated to produce the maximum power in Tae Kwon-Do.