Tae Kwon Do Lesson:
Pal-Gwe Yook-Chang
I put together this image from an old Tae Kwon Do book I have. It’s from the 70s and loaded with pictures. Some are hilarious, and I’m gonna save them for future posts and tumbles. But this is the 6th of the Pal-Gwe Forms (Formal Exercises) in Tae Kwon Do. It’s called Yook-Chang.
Every time you advance to a higher belt level you learn a new form and practice it daily. There are 8 Pal-Gwe Forms, so doing a backwards count-off from Black Belt puts this one at Red, no stripes… although, I could be wrong. It was a long time ago.
It was also HANDS DOWN my favorite form when I was learning as kid. And there was one clear reason for that… move number 7(2). I just loved that jump. Years before I was able to learn it, I would watch some of the older, more advanced students do it. There was this one guy named Juan that would practically take flight on that move.
Here’s what the book says about the Pal-Gwe Forms:
The Pal-Gwe Forms refer to a philosophy of universal being, which comprehends Truth as a constant within the phenomenon of an ever-changing cosmos. Inherent in the concept of “form,” in this context, is the awareness that the universe is infinite and unknowable, having no apparent ties binding it together– and yet some integrating force of cosmic cohesion keeps order: movement within perceptible patterns, energy within stillness, lines of force inscribed within circles of harmony, yielding an integral strength. The constancy of truth, and the truth of constant change, are both symbolized in the Pal-Gwe Forms.
- Richard Chun, Tae Kwon Do and Martial Arts Badass
Whoa… duuuuuuuude…
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Topics about Martial-arts » Archive » Tae Kwon Do Lesson:Pal-Gwe Yook-Chang on 30 Mar 2009 at 9:30 pm #
[...] who’s john cabrera? created an interesting post today on Tae Kwon Do Lesson:Pal-Gwe Yook-ChangHere’s a short outlineJohn Cabrera on 30 Mar 2009 I put together this image from an old Tae Kwon Do book I have. It’s from the 70s and loaded with pictures. Some are hilarious, and I’m gonna save them for future posts and tumbles. But this is the 6th of the Pal-Gwe Forms (Formal Exercises) in Tae Kwon Do. It’s called Yook-Chang. Every time you advance to a higher belt level you learn a new form and practice it daily. There are 8 Pal-Gwe Forms, so doing a backwards count-off from Black Belt puts this one at Red, no st [...]
Itzel on 30 Mar 2009 at 9:36 pm #
Um wow, this totally brings back memories, I also practiced Tae Kwon Do a long time ago, but because I wasn’t 18 yet, they couldn’t give me the black belt so they gave me a red/black belt (although it represented the same lol). And I was a fan of the Forms! when we had tournaments I always won 1st place in them, while my brother won the fighting ones hehe. But I guess my favorite thing ever was the flying kick, specially when we had to break the wood boards with the kick. It was awesome! <3 Tae Kwon Do
John Cabrera on 31 Mar 2009 at 1:59 pm #
Itz, well first of all, I too had one of those half red, half black belts. We called them junior black belts. They were the same thing as a black belt, they just distinguished age. For us, you had to be 16 to get the full black belt. Which I eventually got… then promptly quit.
Oh, yeah, flying side kicks where my all time favorites too. Especially when there was a board involved. Either that, or a really old soft saggy punching bag. There’s nothing like feeling that bag wrap around your leg when you kick it. Makes you feel like you’re stronger than you actually are.
Hated the stale sweaty smell of all the equipment. I got easily light headed, and frequently had to go get water. And yeah, I also did well at Tournaments in the Form category. I won a trophy that was bigger than me at the time. I was okay at the fighting stuff, only cause I was coordinated and fast… but I just didn’t have that attack instinct. Frankly, I used to get scared when we had to spar in class. I was the skinniest and littlest at a school that valued that fighting hunger. I always felt like prey.
I remember I once competed at a tournament and was sparring against one of our school’s best. He was a total fighting prodigy, I thought. Fast, strong, and fearless. Within the first 10 seconds of the fight, I roundhouse kicked him in the head and knocked him to the floor. I remember he was shocked that I did that. And then I heard a parent from the side yell at me, “Hey, he’s on our side remember!” I got really scared and guilty all of a sudden. The rest of the fight I didn’t attack, I just let him kick me around the ring. I came in third place.
I have mixed feelings about my years in Tae Kwon Do, actually.
glitterbubbles on 31 Mar 2009 at 8:07 pm #
hmm, I’m curious… I know next to nothing about martial arts, and Cody is really interested in them, every year for the past… oh, 3 or 4 years he asks to join a martial arts class, karate or tae kwon do, mainly. and every year I put it off because I just don’t know enough about them as sports, or in general.
do you (or any of the wise people reading your blog) have any suggestions? would you recommend it for an almost-eight-year-old?
he’s pretty coordinated and extremely active but he’s also, as you described yourself to be, small and slim for his age. would that be a disadvantage?
um, if this is inappropriate to be asking here, I totally understand! just wondered if you had any thoughts.
xo
glitterbubbles on 31 Mar 2009 at 8:13 pm #
*sigh* I totally distracted myself and left out the part where I actually comment on your blog. those pictures are fantastic! I’m having total flashbacks to that movie… oh, what was it called?? where they get that book about martial arts and he becomes this, like, superhero guy? do you know what I’m talking about? this is really going to bug me. I’m going to go spend a little time with Google and see if I can figure out what it is.
xo
Itzel on 31 Mar 2009 at 11:23 pm #
Haha and I, unlike you John, did quit before I could get the black belt. I just got tired of it cause I practiced it for years and years. And I’m right there with you in the fact that I didn’t have that attack instinct, to be honest I hated fighting, specially when my opponent kicked me in the head, you know with both the Axe and Turning kicks (lol I just googled the names, totally didn’t remember them), every time i got them my whole body just shivered. And that feeling was the reason I didn’t like to enter the Tournaments for fighting, and rather I preferred the Forms. But damn! never won a trophy that was bigger than me!
And the other thing I totally loved was breaking the boards with the hand knife (I think that’s what it’s called), but really, I just loved breaking boards. I can’t believe I did that when I was younger, it’s really weird thinking about that now. Also, my equipment didn’t smell that bad hehe, but we had to buy our own, so I was the only one using those things. And actually I sometimes miss it, specially cause I think it would help me now with the road rage I’ve developed thanks to the awful traffic where I live, lol.
Vanessa N. on 03 Apr 2009 at 10:29 am #
You may have always wanted a treehouse (which I did have for a little while), but I always wanted to take a martial arts class (which my parents never let me do, probably both for monetary reasons and worrying about the “violence” of it). Of course, I could still take a martial arts class and you could still build your treehouse!