changed into a combination of Chinese, Japanese, and Okinawan hand techniques mixed with Chinese, Japanese, Okinawan, and Taekkyon kicking techniques. This continued after the Korean War when a wave of nationalism and patriotism within Korea led to a “Koreanization” of Japanese karate. This “Koreanization” consisted of changing Japanese names to Korean alternatives. This is often seen in the naming of patterns such as: (Japanese → Korean) Heian → Pyong-An; Tekki → Chul-gi; Bassai → Pal-sek; Kanku Dai → Kong Sang Koon; Jitte → Ship-Soo; Empi → Yoon-bi; and many other examples. It is through the denial of the Japanese roots of Shotokan inherent within Taekwondo that the Taekkyon Derivation theory gained momentum, however flawed it may be.
The final step of the “Koreanization” of Shotokan was the creation of a set of techniques that were significantly different from those found in Shotokan. This was accomplished by the competition rule set found in today’s “Olympic-style” Taekwondo sparring. This system was actually opposed by the 1st generation masters who held to their link to Shotokan. The reason that the masters didn’t like the change was simply that the changes removed the self-defense aspect of their art, in essence making it a game of tag, much like the uniquely Korean Taekkyon. The rules of the new Korean Taekwondo were as follows: no strikes to the face; no strikes below the waist; no grabbing; mandatory body protection; a scoring system; and continuous fighting. The result of these changes was the elimination of all grappling and controlling techniques, effectively relegating the self-defense aspect of the art to the ability of the practitioner to keep an attacker at bay, primarily through kicking techniques.
The “Koreanization” of the art resulted in a few other changes to the philosophy of the art. For example, traditional Taekwondo uses an attack → block → counterattack methodology for self-defense. This was eliminated when Taekwondo adopted a sporting outlook as the new Taekwondo adopted an attack → counterattack. The adoption of the new attack → counterattack method eliminates the need for blocking, which eliminates a key period of defensive contact that allows for a transition into grappling techniques. Another difference between sport and traditional Taekwondo that lends itself to the premise of inherent grappling techniques in Taekwondo is a difference in mindset that’s exhibited between the two versions of the art.
The purpose of sport Taekwondo is to perform a technique correctly so that you are able to score more points than your opponent and thereby win the match. This philosophy greatly differs from that of traditional Taekwondo that adopts a mindset much more like its Japanese predecessors. The purpose of traditional Taekwondo is to perform a technique correctly so that you may disable or kill an opponent. The implementation of this purpose requires that grappling techniques be present in a style. It is true that striking techniques are able to disable or kill an attacker, but not nearly so quickly or efficiently as grappling techniques. Lastly, don’t forget that one of the early Kwans, the Oh Do Kwan, was a military body that needed efficient disabling and killing techniques on the battlefield. And the leader of the Oh Do Kwan, General Choi Hong Hi, was the head of the International Taekwondo Federation, essentially the governing body of Traditional Taekwondo.
Understanding Taekwondo Patterns
One of the unique characteristics of the martial arts is the practice of patterns. These patterns, hyung, tul, or poomse in Korean, kata in Japanese, quyen in Vietnamese, or taolu in Chinese, are a prearranged series of different defensive, counter, and offensive techniques performed in a precise, logical sequence with specific foot movements and stances in imaginary combat against a number of assailants. To the uninitiated, these patterns resemble a combination of shadowboxing, dancing, and gymnastics floor exercises. These patterns are thought to represent the martial traditions and techniques of a specific martial art. Performance of patterns results in stronger, faster, and more effective kicks, blocks, strikes, and stances; improved fighting techniques; defensive and offensive techniques for self-defense situations; increased endurance, both muscular and cardiovascular; increased rhythm and agility; and better kinesthetic awareness.
The art of Taekwondo is often characterized as a martial art that uses powerful, yet unrealistic kicking techniques for combat. While it is true that Taekwondo does possess an arsenal of flashy kicking techniques, that characterization is quite superficial. If you were to examine the patterns used by practitioners of Taekwondo, you would find certain movements that could be interpreted as grappling techniques. Lower belt patterns tend to have more fist movements and long range techniques that may be viewed as grabbing and entering techniques, whereas high belt patterns have more open hand and close range movements that represent grappling and infighting. All of the patterns utilize an action-reaction principle in their movements. This action-reaction movement greatly resembles off-balancing techniques utilized in arts like judo or jujutsu.
A Brief History of Patterns
In order to see that Taekwondo has grappling techniques embedded in its patterns, we must first examine the patterns of Shotokan Karate, the style that most agree has had the greatest influence on Taekwondo’s techniques and development.
During the 11th century, many Japanese warriors fled to Okinawa as a result of the devastation of the Taira-Minamoto wars. The warriors of the Minamoto clan believed that all movement was the same. Therefore practitioners of their art, Minamoto Bujitsu, believed that any type of combat, be it striking, grappling, or using weapons all relied on similar movements. Students of this style would be taught a combative movement. Once they had mastered that movement, they were shown how it relates to striking, grappling, or weapons usage. We see this same pretense today in Japanese Aikido and jujutsu, Filipino Kali, and Vietnamese Thanh Long where sword, stick, or knife techniques double as joint-locking and takedown techniques when the weapon is removed from the practitioner’s hands.
In 1377, the king of Okinawa pledged allegiance to China. The result of this union was a flood of Chinese custom and culture into the country of Okinawa. Specifically, there was the immigration of 36 Chinese families. This group of families included many experts in the Chinese art Kempo or “Fist Law.” The art of Kempo combined with the native Okinawan art Te to form today’s Okinawan Karate or Okinawa-te. Later, in 1429, King Sho Hashi began to trade with other countries, including Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, and China which resulted in the cities of Naha and Shuri becoming major trading centers. The opening of trade with these other countries resulted in the martial arts of these other countries becoming available to the people of Okinawa. These countries, had their own indigenous martial arts, but Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and China specifically had martial arts with extensive grappling in their repertoire. About 50 years later in 1477, King Sho Shin banned all private weapon ownership which acted as a driving force for the Okinawan people to greatly develop their empty-hand fighting skills. Finally, about 130 years later in 1609, the Satsuma clan invaded Okinawa at the behest of the Tokugawa shogunate. This invasion resulted in the an even greater advancement of the empty-hand fighting skills of the Okinawan people as their art became extremely violent, as its purpose was to quickly disable and kill an armed and possible armored attacker through the use of powerful striking techniques as well as bone breaking and joint disruption techniques. It is at this point in the history of the Japanese/Okinawan martial arts, most of the patterns that were taught were of Chinese origin. These patterns contained highly effective and brutal fighting techniques loaded with Chin-na or Chinese joint-locking techniques.
In 1868 however, this all changed. Japan moved from a feudalistic government to a democratic one that resulted in a few changes to the martial arts. The martial arts began to be taught as a way to promote the values of the past. This was done by using the martial arts to foster health, spirit, morality, and national identity, instead of the most efficient way to disable an opponent. Finally, a sportification of Japanese martial arts began. This switch to a more holistic, sporting martial art gained ground in 1908 when Itosu “Anko” Yasutsune was able to incorporate karate training into the physical education programs in all elementary schools on Okinawa. In order to do this however, a few changes needed to be made to the art. For these changes, he was often criticized for effectively watering down the combat efficacy of karate. He disguised the more dangerous techniques, i.e. grappling, and taught
