Black Belt Essay

Basic Hints for the White Belt Syllabus
By Arthur Atutahi II Dan


Forefist.

The Forefist is generally used for attacking the Philtrum, Ribs, Solar Plexus, Chest, Abdomen, Jaw, etc.

The main knuckles of the forefinger and middle finger are the punching parts.The top and the front of the fist should form a right angle so the punching parts can be closely contacted with the target.

The Wrist should not be bent when the fist is clenched. The forefist is occasionally used for a pressing block

How To Make A Clenched Fist

  1. Open the hand naturally.
  2. Roll the fingers tightly.
  3. Press the fingers into the palm, starting with the little finger at the same time bending the thumb toward the inside.
  4. Place the thumb on the forefinger and the middle finger pressing the forefinger properly.

If the fist is not made firmly and correctly and if there is even the minutest of air space, the fist will be as weak as untempered steel and as soft as cotton. The fist must be tightly clenched at the moment of impact.

KnifeHand

This is a very powerful attacking tool, especially against a side target, and is used for attacking the Skull, Neck Artery. Bridge Of The Nose, Temple, Philtrum. Clavicle, Shoulder and Floating Ribs.

The KnifeHand is also frequently used for blocking.

How To Make A Proper KnifeHand

Press four fingers together bending the middle finger and ring finger slightly inward leaving some space between the forefinger and thumb, so that most of the strength is concentrated on the striking part, the surface from the wrist to the main knuckle of the little finger.

An incorrect way of forming a Knifehand is by pressing the thumb against the forefinger.This will weaken both the knifehand and the fingertips. In both cases, the joint of the little finger should not be used by beginners due to its weakness.

Forearm

The forearm is used for blocking and is classified into outer, inner, back and under Forearm. One third of the arm, from the wrist to the elbow, is used.

Inner Forearm Block.

This is to defend against an attack to the middle section of the body. The blocking arm begins under the other with both palms facing downward. Both palms twist upward at the moment of the block.

Keep the body half-facing the opponent.

The blocking tool should be focused towards the centre of the shoulders.

The fist should be at shoulder height.

Purpose of the Low Block.

The purpose of this technique is to intercept an opponents attacking foot or hand directed against the low abdomen or points below.

The blocking tool, with rare exceptions, must make impact with the attackers foot or hand at the same level as the target area. The Low Block is performed with the Outer Forearm , KnifeHand, Reverse KinfeHand or Palm.

KnifeHand Low Block

The KnifeHand with a Walking Stance can perform both obverse and reverse or outward and inward blocks. Be sure to keep the body half facing the target at the moment of block.

Keep the distance between the palm and thigh about 15 centimeters.

The elbow is bent about 15 degrees outward.

Keep the body half facing the target.

Pull the other fist to the hip while blocking

ForeArm Low Block

This is performed mainly with Walking, Rear Foot, Fixed and L-Stance though occasionally with a sitting or X-Stance.

Only the outer forearm is used for this technique. The tibia of the kicking foot and the back of the punching fist toward the lower abdomen are the targets. The outer tibia or inner tibia can also be the target in the case of a sitting or X-Stance..

It can perform both obverse and reverse blocks in case of a Walking, Rear Foot or L-Stance but not an inward block except with an X-Stance or Sitting Stance.

Keep half facing the target at the moment of the block except with a Sitting or X-Stance.

The distance between the under forearm and the thigh is about 20 centimeters.

The forearm becomes parallel to the thigh.

The elbow is bent about 25 degrees outward.

Pull the other fist to the hip while blocking.

STANCES

Parallel Ready Stance

Spread the feet parallel to shoulder width. Keep the toes pointing toward the front. It can be either full facing or side facing.[One Shoulder Width]

Walking Stance

This is a strong stance for both attack and defence.

Move one foot to either the front or rear at a distance of one and a half shoulder widths between the big toes and a shoulder width from one centre of the instep to the other. Over one and a half shoulder width in distance makes the movement slow and weak against an attack from the side, and weak against an attack from the front or rear.

Bend the front leg until the knee cap forms a vertical line with the heel, extending the opposite leg fully.

Distribute the body weight evenly on both feet.

Keep the toes of the front foot pointing forward, the opposite foot 25 degrees outward. Over 25 degrees weakens the leg joint against an attack from the rear.

Tense the muscles of the feet with the feeling of pulling them toward each other.

When the right leg is bent, the stance is called a right walking stance and vice-versa. It can be either full facing or half facing both in attack and defence.

L-Stance.

This is widely used for defence, though used in attack as well. The front foot is readily available for kicking with a slight shift of body weight.

Move one foot to either the front or rear, to a distance of approximately one and a half times the shoulder width from the footsword of the rear foot to the toes of the front foot, forming almost a right angle. It is recommended that the toes of both feet point about 15 degrees inward, placing the front heel beyond the heel of the rear foot about 2.5 centimeters to gain better stability.

Bend the rear leg until the knee cap forms a vertical line with the toes, binding the front leg proportionally.

Keep the hip aligned with the inner knee joint.

The ratio of the body weight is about 70 percent on the rear leg and 30 percent on the front leg.

When the right leg is bent it is called a right L-Stance and vice-versa. It is always half facing, both for attack and defense.

Helpful Hints

I would like to pass on some helpful hints, to help you improve in your patterns, these hints are guide lines to an easy way of remembering your movements, direction, timing and techniques in your patterns.

Please take into consideration that, the hints I am about to give you, is one way of showing my students an easy way of learning. Lets start with Saju Makgi and Saju Jirugi.

Saju-Makgi

First of all lets start with the leg movements of this pattern.

Right leg always moves first, unless your Instructor has given you different Instructions.

You will find out throughout this whole pattern, right or left side, only one leg moves.

From the beginning of this pattern to the end, completing each side, you have performed a circle, right leg performs a left circle, and the left leg performs a right circle.

To stop yourself moving both feet when doing one side is very simple. By visualising a nail is driven into the foot which is your non moving leg, you can't move it forward, backwards or sideways, the only thing you can do is rotate the foot on the spot.

Secondly lets move on with the hand techniques.

In this pattern you always start the pattern moving backwards, so make the backward movement your first hint. When moving backwards you always do a KnifeHand Low Block, but when moving forward it changes, so every time you move forward you do an Inner ForeArm Block.

A lot of people have major problems when crossing the hands, so here is a hint that I believe you will find handy.

First of all make sure your hands are in the right place to start off with.

Do not perform the block when you step back, keep your hands together until the end of the movement.

Make sure both arms are to the right side of your body as you move forward, keep your hands together, don’t pull them apart.

As you move forward, take both arms to the left of the body.

Keep changing your arms side to side, every time you take a step.

When you start performing the blocks, you will find out that your hands are coming from the right place.

For the KnifeHand Low Block the blocking tool always comes from the inside. The blocking tool is on top of the other hand.

For the Inner ForeArm Block the blocking tool always comes from the outside. The blocking tool comes underneath the other arm.

Once you have a good understanding of the positions of your hands, you will get a good understanding of the exercise that I have given you.

 

Questionaire: Saju Makgi

  1. How many movements are there in Saju-Maki.
  2. How many types of stances are there in this pattern.
  3. Name the stances in both English and Korean.
  4. When doing one side of this pattern, how many times do you use this stance.
  5. How many types of blocks are there in this pattern.
  6. Name the blocks in both English and Korean.
  7. When doing one side of this pattern , how many times do you use each block.
  8. When starting the Right Hand Side of this pattern, which leg moves first, and what direction does the leg move.
  9. Which way does the body face when performing each block.

Saju-Jirugi.

The foot movements of this pattern are the same as for Saju-Makgi.

So let's start off with hints for hand techniques.

In this pattern you always start by moving forward, so whenever you are moving forward, you always do a forefist middle punch.

Whenever you are moving backwards it changes, so every time you move backwards you perform a Forearm Low Block.

When looking at the positions of the hands - this next hint is very important. The Forearm Low Block and Knifehand Low Block come from the same place. At the beginning of the movement, the blocking tool for each block comes from the inside.

When you do the first technique in this pattern which is a punch, it is straight forward. When doing the Right Hand Side of this pattern you will always punch with the right arm, if you do the Left Hand Side, you will always punch with your left arm, so this is something that is easy to remember.

The second technique of this pattern is the Forearm Low Block. You will always block to the same side of the body as the side of the pattern you are doing. So if you are doing the Right Hand Side of this pattern you always block to the right side of the body, for the Left Hand Side you block to the left side of the body.

The last hint for this pattern will be what the hands do, so on the Right Hand Side of this pattern, the first hand technique is the punch. Every time you move forward you do the punch with the right hand, and every time you turn in this pattern you do the Forearm Low Block, and this is performed with the left hand. The opposite of course for the Left Hand Side applies.

So it pays to remember that of the three different types of blocks in your White Belt Patterns, two are performed the same way, and one is different.

The hint is, when you do the two low blocks the blocking tool comes from the inside - the blocking tool is on top of the other hand.

The middle block which is Inner ForeArm Block, always comes from the outside - the blocking tool comes underneath the other arm.

Questionaire: Saju Jirugi.

  1. How many movements are there in Saju Jirugi.
  2. How many types of stances are there in this pattern.
  3. Name the stance in both English and Korean.
  4. When doing one side of this pattern, how many times do you use this stance.
  5. How many types of blocks are there in this pattern.
  6. Name the block in both English and Korean.
  7. When doing one side of this pattern, how many times do you use this block.
  8. What is the name of the hand technique, that is used as an attacking tool.
  9. When doing one side of this pattern, how many times do you use this hand attack.
  10. For the right hand side of this pattern, which leg moves first, and what direction does the leg move.
  11. Which way does the body face when performing each block.
  12. Which way does the body face when performing the hand attack.

Chonji Tul

Lets start with the foot movements of this pattern.

Just to remind you about the first steps in each pattern:

Saju Makgi-First Step Move Backwards.

Saju Jirugi-First Step Move Forward.

Chonji-Tul-First Step Move To The Left

The first step we take in this pattern I refer to as the 'little turn' . The next time you do this type of turn will be the Fifth movement, then the Ninth and the Thirteenth.

After the second movement in this pattern, you will do the 'big turn' , which is the Third movement. The next time you do this type of turn, will be the Seventh movement, then the Eleventh movement and the Fifthteenth.

Now what are you doing with your hands ?

Whenever you perform a 'turn' you do a block, the blocks are Forearm Low Block and Inner Forearm Block. When stepping forward you perform a punch, this is performed throughout the pattern.

You will find that all of the movements within this pattern are performed four times

The little turn is performed four times. The big turn, is performed four times.

Forearm Low Block then Inner Forearm Block, all done four times.

Questionaire: Chon-Ji.

  1. How many movements in Chon-Ji
  2. ow many types of stances are there in this pattern.
  3. Name the stances in both English and Korean.
  4. How many times do you use each stance in this pattern..
  5. How many types of blocks are there in this pattern.
  6. Name the blocks in both English and Korean.
  7. How many times do you use each block in this pattern.
  8. What is the name of the hand technique that is used as an attacking tool.
  9. How many times do you use this hand technique in this pattern.
  10. What side do you start when doing Chon-Ji.
  11. Which leg moves first in this pattern, and what direction does the leg move.
  12. Which way does the body face when performing each block.
  13. Which way does the body face when performing the hand attack.
  14. There are small and big turns in this pattern, how many of each turns are there in this pattern.

Extra Questions.

  1. Whatever leg you are using when moving, how high should the foot be off the ground?
  2. In your own words, how do you explain a Walking Stance and L-Stance.
  3. How do you know what side a Walking Stance and L-Stance is once it is performed.
  4. What is the angle of the back foot, when performing a Walking Stance.
  5. What is the angle of the feet, when performing a L-Stance.
  6. What is the weight distubution, for each stance.
  7. In your own words explain, the purpose of each stance.
  8. In your own words explain, how do you do a sine wave.
  9. When performing a KnifeHand Low Block, what part of the leg should the palm be in line with.
  10. How many centimeters is the palm away from the leg.
  11. In your own words , explain how you perform a proper knifehand.
  12. In your own words, explain why the thumb being tucked is so important..
  13. How many degrees is the arm bent outwards.
  14. What height do you bring your hands together before you do the block.
  15. What type of position should your hands be, when they have been brought together.
  16. What is the purpose of this block.
  17. When performing a ForeArm Low Block, what part of the arm should the thigh be in line with.
  18. How many centimeters is the thigh away from the arm.
  19. In your own words explain, the difference between a ForeArm Low Block and KnifeHand Low Block.
  20. In your own words explain, why it is important to keep the fist clenched through out the whole technique.
  21. How many degrees is the arm bent outwards.
  22. What height do you bring your hands together before you do the block.
  23. What type of position should your hands be, when they have been brought together.
  24. What is the purpose of this block.
  25. When performing a Inner ForeArm in white belt patterns, what height should the hands be.
  26. Once the technique has been performed, should the blocking tool be to the left, right or centre of the shoulder.
  27. What height do you bring your hands together before you do the block.
  28. What type of position should your hands be, when they have been brought together.
  29. What is the purpose of this block.