Hyung, Poomse, Forms, Kata

Hyung, often known as kata in japanese styles, is a prearranged series of movements. The style of hyung (also called poomse) our Taekwondo instructors teach is often referred to as ITF style; they are the original Chang hun (blue cottage) forms created by or under the direction of General Choi Hong Hi. Some refer to them simply as the ChonJi style, which is the name of the first form.

Some of the many benefits to hyung are:
- effective fighting techniques are passed through the generations unchanged
- helps to unify mind and body
- teaches coordination and footwork

Often the most useless looking movements in forms hold the most devastating applications. But you must know the application and visualize your opponent to gain any real fighting knowledge. Simply performing the movements does not in itself yield any fighting knowledge. Similarly, you could read a great work of literature and end it thinking "jeez- that guy was really obsessed with a white whale." Why not read it a hundred times at the same level of depth? Still no benefit. Could you write your own literary work afterwards? Probably not. As with anything else, understanding hyung takes real effort; otherwise you are just wasting time.

A list of the traditional TaeKwonDo forms being taught, along with their alternate spellings:

White to Black Belt: ChonJi (Chon Ji) Dan Gun (Tan Gun) Do San (To San) Won Hyo Yul Gok (Yool kok) Choon Gun (chun Gun, Choon Goon) Toi Gye (Toi Gae) Hwarang (Hwa Rang) Chung mu (Choong Moo)

At First Dan Black Belt: Kwan Gae (Gwang Gae) Po Eun Gae Baek (Ge Baek) At Second Dan Black Belt: Kodang (and/or Juche, depending...) Eui Am Choon Jang Advanced Ranks: Sam Il Yoo-Sin Choi Yong Yon Gae Ul-Ji Moon-Moo So-San Se Jong Tong Il

There are a total of 24 forms taught, one to represent each hour of the day. We also practice 3 weapons forms (staff, nunchaku, knife) that Nam Kim learned in the Korean Army. Many Sakidokwan instructors also teach forms from other styles of Taekwondo, as well as Kenpo, Kajukembo, Kung Fu, Karate.

Sequence A step-by-step guide (see each individual section)	The Complete Taekwondo Hyung Grandmaster He Il Cho's excellent reference. Buy the book.
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