Black Belt Questions - Part B

Question 1

Name (in Korean and English) all the stances and describe how to form them in detail.

Answer 1

Attention stance (charyot sogi) - Heels together, toes apart (45 degrees each way), weight 50/50, hands flat and down your sides.

Parallel ready stance (narani junbi sogi) - Feet shoulder width apart from the little toes, weight 50/50, hands in front of you as closed fists.

Closed ready stance (moa junbi sogi A, B or C) - Feet and hands together. Weight 50/50. For ‘A’ the left hand covers the right hand and they are held at head height. For ‘B’ the hands are the same, but are held at naval height. For ‘C’, the hands are held in front of you at naval height and are flat, with the first three fingers on the left hand covering the first three fingers on the right hand.

Bending ready stance (goburyo junbi sogi) - Both legs are bent. The underside of your front foot faces the knee on your back leg. Your arms are typically held in a forearm guarding block.

L stance (niunja sogi) - Weight 70/30, with the larger amount of weight on your bent back leg. Feet are one and a half shoulder widths apart, measured between the footsword of the rear foot and toes of the front foot.

Fixed stance (gojung sogi) - As above, but the front foot is one and a half shoulder widths long, this time measured from the inner footsword of the rearfoot and the weight becomes 50/50.

Sitting stance (annun sogi) - Both feet face forwards and are one and a half shoulder widths wide, weight 50/50.

Diagonal stance (sasun sogi) - As above, but the heel of the front foot is now in line with the toes of the back foot.

Walking stance (gunnun sogi) - Feet are both pointing forwards and are one shoulder width wide and one and a half shoulder width in length. Keep the back leg straight and make sure both heels are on the floor. Weight is 50/50.

Low stance (nachuo sogi) - As above, but the front foot takes a further half a foot length longer.

Vertical stance (soo jik sogi) - Feet form a ‘T’ shape. Both legs are straight and the weight is 60/40 with the most weight on the back leg. This is one shoulder width between the inner footsword of the back foot and the toes of the front foot.

Rear foot stance (dwit bal sogi) - As above, but the front foot is raised on the ball of the foot and it’s now measured as one shoulder width between the footsword of the back foot and the toes of the front foot.

X stance (kyocha sogi) - The foot of the load bearing is flat on the floor. The foot of the other leg just touches the floor. This can be done with either foot in front, however typically we use our load bearing leg behind to brace (like with the backfist in number 8 of 2-step) or the load bearing leg is in front to allow the body to drop (like with the backfist in Yul Gok).

One leg stance (waebal sogi) - The reverse footsword is placed on the knee joint of the load bearing leg. This is primarily used to improve balance.

Other none-TAGB stances: Open stance (palja sogi), and Crouched stance (oguryo sogi).

Question 2

What is the difference between jumping and flying techniques?

Answer 2

Flying techniques are performed in the air (such as the side kick in Choong Moo), whereas jumping techniques are executed on landing (such as the backfist in Yul Gok).

Question 3

What is the blocking tool for a Golcha Makgi? (Hooking Block)

Answer 3

Sonbadak (the palm) leading to Bandal Son (arc hand) if grabbing.

Question 4

What is the blocking tool for a Digutja Makgi? (U-shape Block)

Answer 4

Sonkal Dung (reverse knife hand) leading to Bandal Son (arc hand) if grabbing.

Question 5

In the second move of Won Hyo, what is the purpose of the non-striking hand?

Answer 5

This hand is a reaction arm and could be used to grab an opponent.

Question 6

What is a Doo Palmok Makgi used for? (Double Forearm Block)

Answer 6

This is one of the most powerful blocks where both arms swing across the body and stop a heavy attack. The rear arm also acts as a guard to cover the middle section and can quickly be deployed to block a low section attack.

Question 7

What is the purpose of a Dollimyo Makgi? (Circular Block)

Answer 7

This could be to block a low section kick and then hook it to the side or to stop two attacks, one low section and one middle section.

Question 8

What were the three Kingdoms of Korea and which is the largest?

Answer 8

Koguryo (or Goguryeo, the largest), Baekje and Silla.

Question 9

When were the three Kingdoms unified?

Answer 9

In 668 AD, Silla unified the 3 Kingdoms of Korea.

Question 10

Describe how Sun Sonkut Tulgi (straight fingertip thrust) works?

Answer 10

The lower arm drops in a downward motion to deflect an attack such as a front punch. The upper arm then thrusts into the solar plexus (or other suitable soft target) to disable the opponent.

Question 11

Name the various elbow techniques you know.

Answer 11

Ap palkup taerigi (front elbow strike) 
Wi palkup taerigi (upper elbow strike) 
Sang palkup taerigi (twin elbow strike)
Yop palkup tulgi (side elbow thrust) 
Dwit palkup tulgi (back elbow thrust) 
Sun palkup naeryo tulgi (straight elbow downward thrust)

Question 12

Name the various knife hand strikes you know.

Answer 12

Sonkal anuro taerigi (inward)
Sonkal bakuro taerigi (outward)
Naeryo sonkal taerigi (downward)
Sonkal ap taerigi (front)
Sonkal yop taerigi (side)

Question 13

Name the fingertip thrusts you know and their possible targets.

Answer 13

Opun sonkut tulgi (flat fingertip thrust), philtrum, eyes or throat
Sun sonkut tulgi (straight fingertip thrust), solar plexus
Dwi Jibun sonkut tulgi (upset fingertip thrust), groin

Question 14

Name the kicks you know and the associated parts of the foot.

Answer 14

Front kick, twisting kick and turning kick all use the ball of the foot (ap kumchi)
Side kick and reverse side kick use the footsword (balkal)
Downward kick, hooking kick, reverse hooking kick and reverse turning kick all use the heel (dwitchook)
Knee kick uses the knee (moorup)
45 kick uses the instep (baldung)

Other types of kicks
Stamping kick
Flying kick
Pressing kick
Vertical kick
Crescent kick
Checking kick
Back kick
Sweeping kick
Waving kick
Spot kick
Most of these can also be done as flying or jumping kicks

Question 15

What is the purpose of the hand that you strike when performing the elbow strike in Yul Gok?

Answer 15

This is a target to focus the attack.

Question 16

Why are the inner and outer forearms primarily used for blocking?

Answer 16

Due to the strength and close proximity of bone to the skin allowing for maximum impact.

Question 17

Describe the difference between angle punch, turning punch and crescent punch.

Answer 17

An angle punch finishes on the shoulder line.
A crescent punch finishes on the center line and travels high section in an arc.
A turning punch also finishes on the center line, but travels in a sharp curve and it’s only middle section.

Question 18

In an Upset Fingertip Thrust, why is the Palm facing upwards?

Answer 18

To prevent the fingers from collapsing.

Question 19

What is a pattern and why do we perform them?

Answer 19

A pattern consists of a combination of full power Taekwondo techniques performed in a logical order against one or more imaginary opponents, it’s designed to practice and perfect techniques some of which might not otherwise be used.

The name of the pattern, the number of movements, or the diagrammatic symbol of each pattern symbolises either heroic figures in Korean history or instances relating to historical events.

Pattern meanings also demonstrate the use of one or more tenets to give us inspiration to follow.

We practice patterns to improve our Taekwondo techniques, develop sparring techniques, improve flexibility, 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.

Question 20

In what year was General Choi born and what year did he die?

Answer 20

1918 and 2002 respectively.

Question 21

What formulae are relevant for the generation of power?

Answer 21

P = 1⁄2MV2 (power = ½ mass multiplied by velocity squared) and F=MA (force = mass x acceleration).
This formula means that whilst we may increase our power using more mass, if we increase our speed, the power added is an exponential growth.

Question 22

What is the hand position in Won Hyo symbolic of?

Answer 22

This has many possible interpretations including covering your offensive (right) hand with your defensive (left) hand. Alternatively the soft (left) against the hard which can have philosophical references such as yin and yang. There are also links to Buddhism, monks held their hands in a similar manner.

Question 23

What is the importance of the number ‘3’ in Korea/Eastern culture?

Answer 23

Three is an esteemed number. There were three classes (peasants, royalty, gods), three sides to the knot of your belt, 3x3=9 and there are nine black belts, and three also symbolises the earth, humans and heaven.

Question 24

Why is L stance used for the knife hand side strike in Dan Gun and sitting stance for the same technique in Do San?

Answer 24

In Dan Gun the L stance provides a short distance to step forwards into the next move (the punch) whereas for Do San, the next move is in the same direction of travel so the distance is shorter by moving foot-to-foot from a sitting stance.

Question 25

From what other martial arts is Taekwondo derived?

Answer 25

There are a lot of answers to this question but references to Tae Kyon (fought fighting), Soo Bak Gi (more hand oriented), Tae Soo Do and Karate should be considered.