Yes, you can use hand strikes in ITF Free Sparring. Basically, any attacking tool on the hand that is covered by your sparring equipment may be used. That means punching with the forefist (straight punches, upset punches, crescent punches, upward punches, etc.), striking with the back fist, striking with the knife-hand, striking with the reverse knife-hand, etc. may all be used. Additionally, any vital spot on the torso, neck, or front of the head may be attacked. Pax, Chris
Something that hasn't been mentioned is that the first few ITF forms are all based off of movement patterns from the Pinan/Heian forms from karate. I learned a few Pinans and the similarities to a few mix-and-match parts from ITF forms was astonishing.
I'd like to limit the discussion on this thread to the OT please folks. We stickied it as a resource so I'd like to keep it succinct. If you want to take the discussion in other directions then please do, but can you please do it in another thread Mitch
A small update to the list: Sgt. Park Won Ha helped Gen. Choi with Sam-Il, sometime prior to or around 1958/1959. Stuart
FWIW Han Cha Kyo's progeny relate that he was an originator of Hwa Rang. I asked Gen Choi's son about this in Jammaica, circa 1998 or so because Han was one of his instructors. He confirmed it and Nam confirmed Han's involvement in it as well. In discussions with Mike Cormack, General Choi's son-was-in-Law in 1990 he related how General Choi was formulating Ju Che in Canada. TKD Student - Do I know you?
Yes this is great info! Gen. Choi grabbed a hold of Col. Nam when he was a young Lt. on JeJu Isalnd. Gen. Choi had him transferred to the new 29th Infantry "Fist" Division he was assigned to form in 1953. From there Sgt. Han Cha Kyo joined them. There is no doubt that Sgt. Han was Col. Nam's student & that they had a very close relationship. So it can be safely assumed that both were involved. It is further complicated as military protocols simply did not allow an enlisted soldier to direct a commissioned officer. As such, Lt. Nam most likely not have been the one on the floor being directed by a non-comm. We also have to take into account the tendency of human nature to highlight or inflate accounts. But you seem to have backed up assertions by both Col. Nam himself & Gen. Choi's son. Now he would have been only a very young toddler at the time, as he was born on JeJu Island only a couple of years before they created HwaRang Tul (Hyung). It also appears that the 1st ROK president (Rhee) was engaged in a program to reinvigorate Korean culture. As a result it has been reported that a Colonel in the ROK Army did research on the history of HwaRang. So I wonder what impact if any, did that have on HwaRang being the 1st pattern devised!?!?!?!? It seems all the Tuls were devised by Gen. Choi, even JuChe. I would imagine that when he was laying it out, he would have GM Park Jung Tae work out the movements, along with the 1st classes of the NK instructors he trained. Thanks