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Patterns: The Devil Is In The Details - Part 2
by Stuart Anslow
Page 2/3
Elbow To Palm Strikes
These appear in many patterns, so warrant some attention. Most Front Elbow Strikes, if not all, ask for the student to strike their own palm. Over the years I have seen this performed in many ways, with the most common being a combination of the elbow striking the palm/hand, whilst at the same time the palm/hand is striking the elbow, resulting in a nice slapping sound. However, this is incorrect!
Yes, the hand (that is to be struck) has to be moved to the correct position, but once there it is stationary and the elbow should strike it. Often this is split second, but nether the less, it is the elbow that must strike the palm, not the other way around, or a combination of both.
However, the biggest correction that needs to be made is that many do not actually strike the palm at all, but use the fingers (or finger belly to be even more precise). If you strike the palm, as instructed, your fingers should be seen to extend further than the elbow, though many have everything in-line!
Ge-Baek Only Has A Single Flying Side Kick
This one is a bit of an oddity to me, as its quite clear in General Choi’s manuals that move 33 of Ge-Baek tul is a ground based Turning Kick, yet some perform it as a Flying Turning kick. I think what may have confused students is the step motion involved. You do not jump, but rather step your left foot about a shoulder width to the left hand side, just prior to executing the Turning Kick!
No Stamp In Ul-Ji
Speaking of oddities we have one for the higher grades now. Many, I have seen, perform move 5 of Ul-Ji (the Backhand Horizontal Strike) with a stamping motion as they turn into the accompanying sitting stance, however, there is no stamp. I admit, it feels like a stamp (possibly because of the stamps in sitting stance found within Kwang-Gae tul), but in actual fact, there is no stamp there at all, you simply turn into the technique!
Speaking of higher grade patterns, lets speak of pattern Juche. First of all we will concern ourselves with moves 12 and 24, the Mid-Air Strikes. Now the information should really be seen within the terminology, but still many miss it! The strike should be performed “mid air”, meaning we strike whilst up in the air and land simply holding it out. Many, many, many (that's quite a lot), jump up, spin and strike as they land... This is incorrect!
Juche’s Mid-Air Strikes
