Has anyone bought this? The book from Grand Master Rhee, I intend to wait for either the price to fall or for the one focused on 1st dan and above. One interesting side is that each week GM Rhee has been answering a question related to TaeKwon Do. Taken from FB Page FGMR FRIDAY ANSWER! FGMR FRIDAY ANSWER! So last week we had 2 questions regarding the ready posture in pattern Kwang Gae from Jon Mackey and John McNally. FGMR has decided to answer both in one go: 'In answer to the two questions regarding the ready posture and first movement in Kwang Gae Tul (parallel stance with heaven hand), our Founder General Choi Hong Hi never indicated to me that it symbolised "the breaking of oppression and the reunification of Korea in the circle". Having said that, I do remember him describing the situation akin to that of being handcuffed and then breaking the chain between each handcuff! He instructed that the first 90 degrees of movement should be performed at full power, making impact, whilst the remaining 270 degrees should be performed in slow motion (neurin dongjak). I believe that his intention therefore, was to use the movement as an exercise for the performer to learn and practice in the use of different speeds. As far as I am aware this is how General Choi taught this movement to be performed during his seminars. What you have suggested would make a nice analogy, but unfortunately our Founder is no longer here to confirm or deny that symbolism. Whilst I am still able, I will help in anyway I can, so I hope this answers your question sufficiently! To answer why the right hand is 'over' or 'covers' the left hand, we need to think about which hand we are showing. The majority of people are right handed and therefore have a stronger and more conditioned right hand. As a sign of humility, and so that others do not see the calluses on our right hand, that are built up over years of hard training, we cover it with our left hand! For example, in close ready stance C, we place the left hand on top of the right hand, therefore only the knuckles of the left hand should show. When we bring our hands up to perform the heaven hand posture, again we place the right hand behind the left hand, thus showing only the left hand. The reason is again, to encourage and remind us to be humble. One should never boast of being a martial artist. Or show off one's accomplishments.' Nice to have some credible information I think.
Yes, I bought a copy a couple of weeks ago. In my opinion it's fantastic - I'm only colour belt but already nuggets of information have come out that have helped the black belts in my school too, so I wouldn't necessarily wait for the next revision no matter what your grade. The surprising part from my point of view is how useful and interesting the book was - I was expecting it to be a bit of an afterthought compared to the DVD-ROM but I found it an extremely instructive read. Do note however that it's not a technical manual - more like FGMR discussing various points around a selection of core TKD subjects. In fact, the only bit so far that hasn't gripped me is the 3D patterns - which is the part I expected to be the main reason to purchase! I'm not sure why - I guess it still looks a bit artificial and I can't imagine going there to get tips on positioning and form rather than just ask my instructor. Saying that, if you don't have access to instructors or masters that trained / graded under FGMR then this might be more helpful or authoritative (assuming you want to know how he says it should be done). Oh, and the video's are great too - extremely helpful. There's also one where FGMR kicks the leg out from underneath a black belt that made me laugh, but I doubt that's meant to be a selling point
