I recently went to a tournment to compete and decided I was going to perform Poomse Keumgang in the forms competition. While I was warming up a 5th dan master (also one of the judges) came to correct me on of of my motions. The particular technice was the transition between the hinge punches juchum-seogi, kheun dolzteogwi (if that means anything to anyone) The correction he gave me was to make the 360 degree turn quickly, and when he demonstrated it to me he had a little hop. I've always felt that forms are an expression of oneself through a particular pattern. Keumgang to me is Unbreakable, uncompromising power. With the little hop thrown in on the turn I felt the form, at least for my representation of it was compromised. I of course thanked the 5th dan for the correction but I didn't do it in competition for the sole reason that I hadn't trained that way and I wanted my pattern to be the best I could do at it, with the change there wasn't enough prep time to become used to it. I mentioned to him I would look at it a little when I got home from the tourney. Now after a little thought about the pattern and the application of the motion, and of course how I feel it needs to be represented, I still think the jump is wrong, at least for me. My questions for the group is, how important is it to you to perform a pattern as an expression of yourself, rather than an execution of technique? In that particular form if you are familar with it, do you hop or stay on the ground? And finally, how do you feel about another master, who is not your instructor, trying to correct you? Dave (incedently I placed second in the forms portion)
I perform the Chung Hon set of hyungs so I cannot comment on that particular form. But I have judged forms tournaments and found that each school/master teaches their students differently. Some students are more "vocal" breath-wise , or incorporate more sine wave into their performance and yes, I do agree that "forms are an expression of oneself through a particular pattern." But sometimes that is not felt by certain judges. You did the proper thing by thanking the instructor. Like I said I am unfamilar with that specific form so I cannot say whether or not that was a blatant "mistake" or not but it has been my experience that each school interprets forms differently. In certain forms the master instructor may find certain "moves" that did not flow or have purpose .... and so he may change a certain technique..... or his own master instructor taught him the forms in a certain way.
Thanks for the reply Deb . . . I'll do a hunt and see if I can find a reliable link to a video of the form for download. I also did some checking through Kukkiwon, which is my governing body and the developers of these poomse, and I think I am closer to being correct (not totally mind you) than the correction I was given by the master. I do think you may be right though in saying he may have found a flaw in it, so he probably wants to pass down what has worked for him. I've tried it doing it his way and it just feels funny, so I think I'll stay with the way I'm doing it and keep polishing it. Who knows, maybe I'll find a flaw someday
As I was not there, it is hard to know what you mean by hop. I can only say that if the 360 degree turn is executed very quickly, then it is normal that the body would lose contact with the floor as there would be too much pressure on the knee without it. If the judge actually jumped, even only a few inches, then I would say it is incorrect. I hope you understand my attempt at explaining the difference between a physical limitation in the dynamics of kinetics and the purposefulness of jumping.
Thanks for your reply Bigfoot, and yes I do understand the differences in your explanation. Now my question would be, on the turn, could you just not pivot on the ball of your foot. Would this not alleviate the pressure on your knee causing the momentary loss of floor contact? How do you do your pivot? Curious in finding and exploring all the different ways. Thanks
Here's two samples of the form Kickchick. They should show you the difference between the turn I'm asking about. http://www.koreataekwondo.org/g_images/S-2.mpg http://www.fisks.com/tkd/BB_Poomse/More Taegueks/kumgang.mov
I havn't seen anyone jump. Do you stomp though? Kunga(how I say it) is a power pattern, a little to slow though IMO
Yup, same here. Unfortunately I can never look "Awesome" doing a pattern like Kunga. I can put a whole lot of power into it, and just go crazy like that, but I believe it's better suited for people with "stalkier" thicker builds. I thrive on patterns like Taibek( thats just how I say it)
when i do the form, i dont jump, i usually just glide across the floor (if that makes sense), i also personally stomp, but hey, everyone learns differently
If anyone is interested and reads danish, here is a link to a detailed written description with pictures http://www.taekwondo.dk/praktisk/download/pensum/p2.zip An alternative to the videos, the moves are all listed in korean though.
On the mountain block I do stomp. To my knowledge thats a low stomp to the side of the knee, so stomping on the ground would make sense. Anyway I do my turn like a skip as well, but I do it so quickly that you would not notice it much, and nor would I lose balanace by skipping too high or too far. Keep your poomse as self expression Artikon, as long as your technique is executed properly I wouldnt worry about different style of doing things like that. We all have different rythems in forms and thats what makes it unique and worth while competing. Other wise why bother to compete in form if we all are going to do it in the exact order, and style.
