THUNDER Thunder is produced when lightning discharges because the air rapidly expands due to the extreme heat of the lightning bolt. This rapid expansion creates a pressure wave that we hear as thunder.... The lightning bolt heats the air up to 30,000 degrees Celsius (54,000 °F), causing this pressure wave.
Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu, Nevit Dilmen

The solid and broken bars in the eight image tiles in the top navigation are called trigrams. The octagonal trigram pattern is a common symbol for the Chinese term Bagua. The pattern has eight (ba) areas (guas). "South" is always found at the top of the Bagua. Each trigram represents a particular natural phenomena: Sky ☰, Lake ☱, Fire ☲, Thunder ☳, Wind ☴, Water ☵, Mountain ☶, Earth ☷. If you click on a trigram, it will take you to the corresponding taekwondo form page. Each form has a trigram which I describe scientifically and call scigrams. The tangram animation in the middle of the trigram tiles is supposed to represent a kicking woman. A tangram is a puzzle which originated in China. It is created out of seven flat polygons that can be put together to form shapes.


The movements are listed here so that you can see the Korean translation for some of the techniques by hovering over the green and pink highlighted text.

parallel stance - naranhi sogi
left/right front stance, walking stance - oen /orun ap sogi
left/right forward stance The feet are wider apart than for the front stance - oen /orun ap kubi
ready stance - chunbi sogi
front kick - ap chagi
return - parot
middle punch - momtoong chirugi
back stance, backward stance twit kubi, dwit koobi
knifehand vertical strike or spearhand vertical thrust sonkkut sewo tchirugi
swallow shape neck strike chebi pum mok chigi
back fist high strike dung chumok eulgool ap chigi
knife-hand middle block sonnal momtong makki
outside block (from outside to inside) momtong pakkat makki
body block momtong makki
side kick yop chagi
inside block momtong anmakki
StanceMovementsPoom
ready stance  
back stance ,
forward stance
Turn 90° to the left. Left knifehand strike/spear thrust in back stance. Right knifehand strike/spear thrust while stepping forward on the right side.

When you execute the first knifehand strike/spear thrust, remember to begin by holding your arms at eye level on the right side while looking towards the left. You always look in the direction of the strike or block. Then you thrust your arms towards the left so that your left arm is crooked at the elbow and your right arm is at waist level. To execute the spear thrust, your left forearm pivots downward and your right arm thrusts forward on top of the left palm which is facing downward.

1, 2
back stance,
forward stance
Turn 180° to the right while executing right knifehand strike/spear thrust going into back stance. Left knifehand strike/spear thrust while stepping forward on the left side.3, 4
forward stance,
back stance
Turn 90° to the left while executing swallow shape neck strike (left hand is at the forehead). After the swallow shape neck strike, the right arm, which is already extended straight out in front of the chest, gets extended even more straight out in front of the left waist during the next kick. After the kick, the right fist goes to the right side of the waist. The left palm remains at the forehead during the kick and then is pulled to the left side of the waist after the kick. Right front kick with right foot remaining forward. Left middle punch, left side kick, right side kick, then right knife-hand middle block in back stance.5, 6,
7, 8
back stance,
back stance
Turn 270° to the left while executing left outside block into left back stance. Right front kick, then move back into right back stance while executing right outside block. (That is, you put your foot back to its origin after the kick.) The outside block is similar to the back fist block. Your arms are crossed as if you are hugging yourself and then you block from inside to outside. The back of your fist faces forward.9, 10
back stance,
back stance
Turn 180° to the right into right back stance while executing right outside block. Left front kick, then move back into left back stance while executing left inside block. 11, 12
forward stanceiTurn 90° to the left while executing swallow shape neck strike (left hand is at the forehead). Right front kick. Back fist high strike with right hand. 13, 14
walking stanceTurn 90° to the left while executing left body block into left forward stance. Right middle punch (Don't step forward.)15, 16
walking stanceTurn 180° to the right while executing right side block. Left middle punch. (Don't step forward.)17, 18
forward stanceTurn 90° to the left while executing left side block into left forward stance. Right middle punch. Left middle punch. Step forward. Execute right side block while stepping forward right side. Left middle punch. Right middle punch.19, 20
parallel stancereturnKuman



Learn just enough Hangeul to complete a crossword puzzle!

GO TO HANGEUL CROSSWORD PUZZLE



PDF documents with taekwondo vocabulary in English, Hangeul, and transliterated Hangeul to download. I had a native Korean proofread the original documents and he corrected the Hangeul in red pen.
TKD Vocabulary: Korean to English Vocabulary for Forms TKD Vocabulary: English to Korean

Lesson 4

Taegeuk Sa Jang, New Techniques

Punches, Strikes, Thrusts 치기, 지르기 chigi, chirugi
sonkkut sewo tchirugi 손끝 세워 지르기 knifehand vertical strike
chebi pum mok chigi 제비 폼 목 치기 swallow shape neck strike
dung chumok eulgool ap chigi 등 주먹 얼굴 앞 치기 back fist high strike
Block 막기 Makki
sonnal momtong makki 손날 몸통 막기 knife-hand middle block
momtong pakkat makki 몸통 바깥 막기 outside block (from outside to inside)
momtong makki 몸통 막기 body block
Kick 차기 Chagi
yop chagi 옆 차기 side kick