The 1959 version of Sam-Il was surprisingly different from the modern version.

Update: Thanks to  Ørjan Nilsen and Dr. George Vitale, I have obtained the full instructions for 1959 Hwa-Rang.

 In 1959 General Choi published his Taekwon-Do Teaching Manual. His earliest book, it contains instructions for five Ch'ang-Hon patterns plus 19 karate kata, including the three Taikyoku, five Heian, and three Tekki/Naihanchi kata.

No one has fully translated the 1959 book because it has a mix of Korean and Chinese characters. This was not unusual at the time, but as I understand it makes it difficult for modern Koreans to read. However, when I was researching the origins of the double arc-hand block, I noticed the pictures for Sam-Il looked different than the modern version. Curious about the instructions, I ran the instructions for Sam-Il -- as well as Hwa-Rang, Choong-Moo, and Ul-Ji -- through Google translate. I found some surprising things.

I know online translation tools may be inaccurate, but the text is substantiated by pictures in some cases. Here is what I found. 

Hwa-Rang and Ul-Ji are mostly the same

 

The movements for Hwa-Rang are mostly the same as today, but with some changes in stances and hand technique details. One change of note is the twin block set (moves 4-6), which are different in all three versions of Hwa-Rang! (1959, 1965, and 1983). In 1959, the movements are described as identical to Heian Nidan. In 1965, the second movement was changed. In 1983, the second movement was changed again and a slide was added in to the punch. The roundhouse kicks also appear to be aimed off at 90-degrees. In modern Hwa-Rang they are officially aimed at 45-degrees.

Ul-Ji is also mostly the same, although a couple front snap kicks were originally side piercing kicks in the 1959 version. Also, the palm upward blocks seems to not have been created yet. Step 38 of Ul-Ji is instead a "middle inward block" with the palm heel. 

 

In this section of Ul-Ji, a side piercing kick was originally used

 

1959 Choong-Moo

Choong-Moo has some noticeable changes

 

Choong-Moo has more noticeable changes, including:

There are no roundhouse kicks (aka turning kicks) in the pattern. It seems these were added in later. Roundhouse kicks do not appear in any karate kata, so the decision to put them into Hwa-Rang, the first TKD form, was intentional. It seems they were later added to Choong-Moo as well, but not in the original version. 

The supported middle spearhand thrust was originally an upset spearhand thrust. I've long suspected steps 22-23 of Choong-Moo represent a shoulder throw. An upset spearhand (palm faces up) may be use to reach under an opponent's armpit. But it seems this was changed to a more familiar movement.

Only one side kick before the turn into the X-knifehand block. Because of this, you end up with your right leg back in the 1959 version, whereas in modern Choong-Moo you perform two kicks and end up in a left back stance

No twin palm upward block After the X-knifehand block, you step forward into a rising block and that's the final movement. As with Ul-Ji, the palm upward block may not have been invented yet.

Sam-Il was significantly revised

 

That brings us to Sam-Il, which would have been more recently created along with Woo-Nam. Between 1959 and 1965 several changes were made, especially in the second half of the pattern. Listed all of them would be tedious, but here are some highlights.

Move 11 of Sam-Il (1959)

Step 5, the lunge punch, was in a "low stance" sliding forward. A low stance is just like a front stance but wider and low. The slide was dropped in later versions.

Step 11, the double arc-hand block, was originally a combined rising knifehand block and palm-heel strike.

It seems the double arc-hand block was not yet conceived as a distinct movement. The next few steps also differ: you step forward into a reverse palm heel strike instead of a reverse punch. (Yes, you strike with a left palm heel twice in a row). Then there isn't any turn into a twin low punch; instead you step forward again into the reverse-knifehand (ridgehand) guarding block.

This actually caused me to rethink this set. So move 12 was originally a palm-heel strike, not a reverse punch? Why? That movement is pretty rare in the ITF patterns. And the fact that you step forward into the reverse-knifehand block (which is actually described as a strike in 1959 with the rear hand guarding the chest) indicates it's probably not picking up the opponent's leg as I guessed.

Is this a strike or a block? The fact that its name has changed means it's probably neither.

After the 360-degree spin, you land in a different movement. In modern Sam-Il you land in a knifehand guarding block, same as Choong-Moo. In 1959 Sam-Il you landed in a R. front stance high backfist strike with the left wrist under the right elbow.

The diagonal stance hand motions has changed, as well as the footwork

1959 version (left) and modern version (right) 

After the elbow strike, you step backwards a little to form the L. diagonal stance, and perform what looks like a modern angle punch with your left arm (though the text mentions the right rear elbow strike is primary). In the modern version, you step forward and perform a rear strike with your left elbow.

The last third of Sam-Il diverges from the modern version

Here the movements diverge. You perform many of the same ones as in modern Sam-Il, but in a different order. The one that perplexed me the most is the order of the covered punch and the back stance low block is switched.

1959 (top) vs 1965 version (bottom)

In the 1959 version, you perform the punch first, then step forward and perform a low block with the same arm, still keeping the reaction hand high near the armpit. In the modern version we perform the low block and then the punch without changing stance.

Both of these movements have unusual instructions for the secondary hand, but the applications for the 1959 and 1965 versions cannot be the same. 

 

Grasping your right wrist occurs a second time. Step 3, where you perform a right knifehand block and grab your right wrist with your left fingers, occurs a second time in 1959 Sam-Il but in a cat stance, with different following moves.  

No palm upward block. Finally, I have to note there is no palm upward block in 1959 Sam-Il either.

What About Woo-Nam?

 

Pattern Woo-Nam was abandoned by 1965, but most of its material was reworked into the first two-thirds of Choong-Jang. If you compare this performance of Woo-Nam to Choong-Jang, you'll see the sequences were also significantly revised. 

Conclusion

 

Why the revisions?

It's important to note that the sequences in TKD forms are not merely karate sequences reordered around. While sequences from karate kata are sampled, they are often altered, and most TKD sequences in the higher patterns are original. The creators of TKD patterns did think about the movements and what they might be used for, and some of the revisions reflect logical changes. To give a simple example, in 1965 Tong-Il's opening two moves you step back once. In modern Tong-Il you step back twice. This it to make the underlying application (escaping a double grab) more effective.

However, not all the the revisions were application focused. Two roundhouse kicks were added to Choong-Moo, but in my opinion they were not required to make the underlying applications work. It seems there was a desire to add roundhouse kicks to more patterns since it's a staple of sparring but not in any karate kata.

There was also some movement simplification going on. The combined knifehand rising block and palm strike in Sam-Il became a double arc-hand block, as did a combined rising block and middle block in Bassai. Similar-looking movements were merged together. This is part of the standard karate and TKD training method of practicing basic movements with many underlying applications, but it does remove some of the nuance inside patterns.

72: Se-Jong right horizontal fist to double arc-hand block

This set from Se-Jong has baffled me for a long time. I'm still not sure this is what's intended, but it is a use for all the movements.

The instruction to "extend the right fist horizontally" only appears in one other ITF form, Yul-Gok. Many schools perform this like a slow motion punch, but that's not the instruction. To "extend horizontally" is more like a hammerfist strike than a punch.

Given this, what if we use it to push out the opponent's head while grasping their left arm. From here, we can wrap around their head with the supporting arm of the front backfist strike, similar to the gif below.

Source: Kata for Self Defense Shotoryu Goshinjutsu

 

From here the "front backfist" actually becomes a downward elbow strike to the opponent's ribcage.

Walking back-and-left then becomes simply throwing the opponent by pushing down their head. But there is some head-twisting going on. After the downward elbow strike, reach under the opponent's head with your left palm. Then push their left face with your right palm. As you move from here to the twin palm pressing block position, you crank the opponent's head clockwise as you push down, throwing them to the floor.

This head-crank throw may fail if the opponent turns their body clockwise, so instead of falling they end up in front of you.

Therefore, I believe the application of the middle double-arc hand block [1] is simply pushing away the opponent's head to prevent them from tackling you. The key here is the weird orientation: your front stance is facing 45-degrees left, but your "block" actually faces forward, where your opponent's head is.

Taekwondo Time applying a middle double arc-hand block as a tackle defense

In fact, the 45-degree front stance might indicate that you are supposed to get 45-degrees off-line relative to your opponent to push them away from you.

Having your right palm on the opponent's head like this sets up an application for the next three movements of Se-Jong, which I have covered previously.

[1] Note that this is the only use of a middle double arc-hand block in the original 20 patterns. Gae-Baek and Sam-Il utilize high section blocks. So-San tul also uses middle double arc-hand blocks, and follows with an inward knifehand strike, suggesting you may also be pushing the opponent's head. However, the pictures in the Encyclopedia are sometimes confusing because "middle" movements look like high section ones.

71. Where did the double arc-hand block come from?

Double arc-hand block from Gen Choi's 1965 book

It's common knowledge the movements in taekwondo patterns are based on karate kata. But TKD made changes to them. We can track some of these changes through General Choi's early books: his 1958 Taekwon-Do Teaching Manual, his 1965 book Taekwon-Do: The Korean Art of Self-Defense, and his later Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do.

Recently I was asked: what about the double arc-hand block in Gae-Baek? What movement is it based on? The student who contacted me had trained karate and had never encountered the movement in any karate kata.

Curious, I looked through Choi's 1965 book, which in addition to 20 ITF patterns contains instructions for 15 karate kata. According to Choi, the double arc-hand block appears in the 42-movement "Bat-Sai" kata, which among karateka is known as Passai or Bassai Dai. 

There is a section in Passai where you perform three knifehand guarding blocks moving forwards, then a fourth moving backwards. According to Choi, you then shift into a front stance double arc-hand block, followed by a unique movement where you pull both fists in front of your left chest.

One would assume Choi's version of the kata are the same as Shotokan karate, but I have compared some instructions and they often differ in minor ways. Was this because Choi learned a different version of the kata than modern Shotokan, because he wanted to harmonize them with the way ITF performed their techniques, or did he simply make mistakes in recording the movements? I have no way of knowing.

Regardless, I looked up performances of Passai or Bassai Dai. The closest version I could find to the double arc-hand block is from this Shotokan karate student performing Bassai Sho (a shorter, 27-movement version of the form).

Source video

From that angle, it looks kind of like the double-arc hand block, although notice the preparation step is different. The hands come up and touch, before traveling down. However, when you look at the movement in Bassai Dai (the longer version), the left hand touches the right forearm.

Source video

 

So it isn't pushing with both palms

Choi doesn't list the movement as appearing in any other kata, although it could have come from a kata not included in the 1965 book. Did Choi mislearn Bassai Dai or change the movement? It's unclear.

The double arc-hand block is used in three ITF patterns: Gae-Baek (twice), Sam-Il, and Se-Jong. The ITF commanders clearly played around with the movement and came up with some applications for it (and no, I'm not talking about catching a thrown pillow). Two sample applications for the first set in Gae-Baek are provided below

A basic application for moves 5-7 of Gae-Baek tul against a left-handed lapel grab. After two strikes, the right arm does a "wax off" motion while the left palm pushes away the opponent's arm to release the grab.

A more advanced application for the same set, utilizing a shoulder lock and checking the opponent's head. You may then use the one-legged stance (step 8) as a knee strike or drop takedown. Gif source: One-minute bunkai

Bonus Mystery: Boulder Push in World Taekwondo

WT does not have the double arc-hand block, but it does have a similar movement: the boulder push (bawi milgi) as found in poomsae Sipjin.

 

 

The difference here is that rather than the hands staying vertically level, they start at the hip and move upward. This is distinct from either the movement in Bassai Sho or ITF. 

Because the hands end up higher, this has a clear application as either a push from the opponent's side or a combined block with palm strike. It looks similar to fair lady works the shuffles in Yang-style Tai Chi.

But where did this movement come from? Some obscure karate kata, or it is actually a variation of ITF's double arc-hand block? (I'm convinced the WT patterns took a few ideas from the ITF ones). Without an official explanation, there's no way of knowing.

Either way, these are examples of how early taekwondoin played around with movements, came up with their own applications, and changed them. This is common in the history of martial art forms. Even in karate, one sees that more recent kata sample and alter sets from older kata. 

Update 1: Tang Soo Do version

Someone pointed out to me that the Tang Soo Do version of Bassai also uses the double arc-hand block. I looked up some performances and I see it in some versions of "Bassai So". The version below starts at the hip, like bawi milgi in Sipjin.

Source video

Mystery solved it seems: it came from a Korean version of Bassai. However, not all Tang Soo Do performances I found use this movement (it may only be the Moo Duk Kwan descended ones), and I don't see it in performances of "Bassai Dae." Still, this suggests there was a version of Bassai in the early kwans that used a double arc-hand block.

Finally, if you look up non-Shotokan performances of Bassai (e.g. Wado-Ryu, Shito-Ryu), you see hand movements that are distinct from either Shotokan or Korean styles. It seems there were many variants of Bassai going around and no consensus on what the movement after the four knifehand blocks was. 

Update 2: Choi's 1959 book

The mystery gets stranger. The advent of AI translation tools has made reading Choi's 1959 possible. (It is a mix of both Korean and Chinese characters, which makes it difficult for modern Koreans to translate). Gae-Baek was not created by the time of the 1959 book, but Sam-Il was, and instructions for Bassai are there as well.

Neither has the double arc-hand block. In Bassai, the instructions are to "perform a high block with a right knife-hand while placing your left hand under your right elbow." There is even a picture showing this.

However the text instructions also includes a note from Choi

Alternatively, you can block the mid-section forward with a left knife-hand.

If this is the case, then there were alternative versions of Bassai going around, and this alternative Choi gives looks more like the double arc-hand block. So it's still correct to say the block may have come from a version of Bassai. (There are also other movements where Choi notes alternatives, showing he was familiar with multiple versions of Bassai and other kata).

But what about Sam-Il? The instructions for step 11 of Sam-Il are a combined knifehand rising block and palm strike! Again, there is a picture.

Both of these movements were turned into a double arc-hand block by the time of the Choi's 1965 book. What does this mean? It means the double arc-hand block is, in fact, a simplified movement. It transformed similar-looking techniques into a single technique with multiple applications.

This isn't too surprising: it's how the basic karate movements were made in the first place. The low block (gedan barai) is a low parry-pass, hammerfist to the groin, throw, and arm-lock all in one movement. 

70: Yoo-Sin closed ready stance C

Source: Liam Broderick Taekwondo

There is a mysterious section in Yoo-Sin where we perform a closed ready stance C mid-form. The following 45-degree upset punch is also mysterious.

Noah Legel of Illinois Practical Karate turned me on to applying this ready stance as a gooseneck wrist lock, which he does at the end of kata Naihanchi.

This lock also appears in the Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do as one of three police control techniques

So it's not unreasonable for it to appear somewhere in the ITF curriculum. Gen Choi did say the self-defense techniques were applications of the basic exercises and the patterns. So how might we get into this gooseneck wrist lock?

Ridgehand Side Block

We use the 180-degree turn into the side block to get behind the opponent. We use the "block" to lock the opponent's elbow, pushing out the back of their shoulder as we turn.

This is a common application for the inner-forearm block, as found in Yul-Gok tul for example.

 

But why do this with an open-hand in Yoo-Sin? To set up the gooseneck lock. 

Closed Ready Stance C

We may use the ridgehand is to use our palm to chop into our opponent's elbow as we pull their forearm forward. We need to place their elbow on our ribs so they cannot escape the lock. Then we compress their wrist with both palms, as seen in the pictures below:

 

Standard gooseneck lock setup. Source: Submissions 101

 

I chose this example because we are locking the opponent's left arm, but our arms would be switched. We would begin grasping with our right fist and chopping with our left palm.

Twin upset punch

That leaves the mystery of the 45-degree twin upset punch, but you can see how from this position it may make a little more sense. Rather than striking with both fists at once, your right fist maintains the wrist lock while your left fist strikes the opponent's left kidney. Or it could be your left fist maintaining the lock and your right fist punching.

 

One example of moving the gooseneck lock behind the body. Source: officer.com

 

Striking the kidney

Kidney punches are illegal in both boxing and MMA, not because of their reliability as KO strikes, but for their potential to cause long term damage. I have read, however, that being punched in the kidney feels like a sucker punch and can knock the wind out of you, since the area is not well protected by muscle.

 

There is again, a difference between the form and these images. We also perform a knee strike with our right leg. Presumably, this gives us space to move the opponent's arm behind their back, so may then punch them.