62: Can you apply Moon-Moo?

In my study of the ITF patterns, I've mainly restricted myself to the original 20. This is partly because the original 20 already contain a lot of material, and partly because they are more closely based on karate kata and thus easier to find applications for online. But it's also because I find the "newer" forms (Eui-Am, Yong-Gae, Moon-Moo, So-San, and Juche) difficult to interpret.

Moon-Moo

Take Moon-Moo for instance. There are some sections where I can kind of see what's going on. In the past I've discussed how the two palm pressing blocks followed by the one legged stance may be an arm drag followed by a restraining position.

Application for steps 7-9 of Moon-Moo. Arm drag to control position (adding in a knee strike). Sources for bottom images: Karate Culture and Kinetic Dragon Kenpo

 Similarly, the stepping side kick followed by the high spinning hook kick ("reverse turning kick" in ITF lingo) may be interpreted as a kick to the knee -- collapsing the opponent's leg -- followed by a blow to the back of the head.

Right image from the Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do

Not super practical, but you can see what's going on.

But most of Moon-Moo is still confusing to me. The beginning especially. Why two kicks followed by a middle spearfinger strike? This is unfortunate because the beginning of a form usually determines the applications of the following sets. Does that mean there are no applications? No, not necessarily. I like to give forms the benefit of the doubt. However, the primary function of these "newer" patterns was not to convey practical applications but to incorporate Taekwon-Do's more advanced techniques, particularly kicking techniques.

Eui-Am

An application to steps 6-7 of Eui-Am from the Bubishi. Form performance by Joel Denis

Eui-Am was my least favorite form to practice. In particular I disliked the spinning kick that was aimed at 45-degrees, requiring you to stop the kick mid-way. The usual explanation for this is that it "trains balance". However if we look at other patterns, 45-degree kicks are usually aimed at the opponent's legs. 

If we allow some leeway in the pattern's footwork, as well as some creative interpretation, we can use the "punch" to force the opponent's arm behind them. As they recover from this shoulder lock, strike the back of their knee with the reverse turning kick, perhaps doing a throw. If the throw fails, end with the knifehand strike to the back of the head.

The images below are not quite exact, but give the general idea of the application.

Just imagine the knifehand strike aimed at the back of the head instead.

Again, perhaps it's not the most practical, but you can see what's going on.

Yon-Gae and So-San

I never learned Yon-Gae and So-San. Yon-Gae is interesting in that it contains the leopard fist strike (also called fore-knuckle punch). But why does it follow a circular (and the form specifies circular) low ridgehand block?

The only application I can think of is some sort of double lapel grab defense.

The basic idea. Bottom images from Fight Fast

This technique may open the opponent to a fore-knuckle strike (the next movement in the pattern) to their temple. The pattern's opening is similar to the opening of the karate kata Enpi/Empi, so look for applications to that as well.

And then you have the weirdness that is So-San.

The movement I was intrigued the most by was the twin outward knifehand strike followed by two kicks. In Choong-Jang, the true application of the twin knifehand (I believe) is pushing out the opponent's face while pulling their arm. If we apply that here, we can see that the turn into the roundhouse kick may be used as a sweep. Presumably, the side kick is used to the back of the opponent's far leg.

Form performance by Rudolf Kang

Again, perhaps you don't see this as the most practical. But it's a heck of a lot more practical than striking two opponent's at once and then throwing a kick to each of them. If that satisfies you, great. It does not satisfy me.

What about Juche?

I have covered a couple applications for Juche on this blog. See here and here. But most of Juche still seems mysterious and hard to interpret.

This strange movement from Juche is often interpreted as a double grab defense, though placing your elbows on top of the opponent's elbows or even grabbing their ears. Right image source: American Tang Soo Do Association Videos. Stuart Anslow (in his book) interprets the next two movements as an o uchi gari leg reap.

The bit of Juche I'd like to understand is the riding stance cross-cut following by the high elbow strike.

It's similar to a sequence in Taeguek 5, where I've stated previously my preferred application is a rear naked choke after getting behind the opponent.

I guess the set in Juche could in theory be the same, but it seems sub-optimal.

 

Conclusion

Do I think the newer patterns have applications? Yes, although I have not studied them in detail. 

Do I think they are as practical as the original 20? No, not really. But that's because one goal of these new patterns was to incorporate more challenging techniques.

As we have seen, the reverse turning kick (which does not appear in the original 20 patterns, although two reverse hooking kicks appear in Choi-Yong) may sometimes be used as just a kick, but may other times be used as a leg reap. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this dive into ITF Taekwon-Do's most complicated patterns.

62: Toi-Gye first mountain block alternatives

One common application for the mountain block / W-block, first found in Toi-Gye, is an outside-trip throw performed by sliding down the opponent's leg with the "stomp" motion. This is closest to what is called an o soto otoshi in Judo. In Toi-Gye the first W-block follows the "hands-on-waist" position, which may be used to pull in an opponent before the throw.

Source: Freestyle Judo

This throw is a common application for the W-block, and I use it for two other patterns (Sam-Il and Gae-Baek). However, there are a couple other ways to interpret these two movements from Toi-Gye. I will share one below.

Alternative: Thrown then Stomp

An alternative interpretation of these two movements is that the hands-on-waist position is the throw, and the first mountain block is a stomp of your downed opponent. 

We use this application following the opening movement of Toi-Gye as a strike to the opponent's neck.

Inner-forearm block as a striking tool. Source: Traditional Taekwondo Ramblings

Having momentarily stunned our opponent, we put them into a headlock while pulling their arm, also called a chancellery. We turn 180-degrees CCW so that we are facing left, like in the form. From here we can perform a cross-buttocks or hip-wheel throw.

 

Source: Andy Allen demonstrating a cross-buttocks throw from Heian Sandan. Source Video

 

After this throw, you may stomp your downed opponent before disengaging. One example of this, a humerus stomp, is shown by Tom Hill in the gif below:

 

Humerus stomp after a cross buttocks throw. Source: Tom Hill's Karate Dojo

 

The arms of the W-block aren't doing anything in this case, except perhaps providing momentum for the stomp.

Alternative 2: Reverse headlock followed by knee strike

Yet another interpretation of the hands-on-waist position is a reverse headlock while pulling the opponent's right arm.

Right image source: Kata for Self Defense Shotoryu Goshinjutsu

You may be able to execute this after the reverse punch in the previous step.

From here, it's easy to see how you can use the leg lift for the W-block as a knee strike to the back of the oppoonent, perhaps followed by the W-block as a downward elbow strike or as an attack to the opponent's elbow.

There you go: three applications for the first mountain block in Toi-Gye. Is there one you prefer, or something else?

61: Yoo-Sin U-shaped punch, what's it for?

About a month ago, kickboxer Gabriel Varga caused a stir when he released his video five stupid things karate teaches you. One of these was the idea of punching with both fists at once, using the mountain punch (yama tsuki in Japanese) as an example.

In taekwondo, this movement only ever appears in pattern Yoo-Sin, where it's called a "U-shaped punch". But it's in multiple karate kata, most notably Bassai Dai.

Varga is correct that it's mechanically weak to punch with both fists at once; you can't apply hip torque the way you can with a single punch. However, most karateka in the bunkai community do not interpret this movement as punching with both fists as once, despite that being the "standard" interpretation.

(Left) In Karate-Do Kyohan, Ginchin Funakoshi shows the movement applied against a hair grab, an idea General Choi copied in the Encycopedia of Taekwon-Do. (Right) In the Bubishi, a similar hair grab defense is employed, but as a simultaneous throat and groin grab rather than double punch.

The "double punch" idea has its defenders. Ramsey Dewey pointed out that in sport taekwondo he used it to set up a kick to the head, and online I've read it works well as a push. 

Other interpretations is that it's only one hand that's doing the punching. Iain Abernethy for example interprets it as an overhand punch while the lower fist is pushing down the opponent's arm.

Iain's interpretation
Source: PracticalKataBunkai

A slight variation of this is Noah Legel's interpretation of an overhand punch while trying to pin the opponent's other hand. Later in the video, he also applies the lower arm as a block.

Source: Peaceful Warrior Martial Arts

Alternately, it could be the upper arm that is blocking while you are doing an upset punch to the ribs. This actually looks like an old-time bare-knuckle boxing technique

They look similar

Blocking high while punching low, blocking low while punching high, both make a little more sense than punching with both arms at once.

Grappling Interpretations

The movement has also been interpreted as grabbing the opponent with both fists, which leads into a throw. You could interpret the two U-shaped punches, performed together, as a throw utilizing the footwork as a sweep.

Source: Imagin' Arts

Other throwing interpretations involve more footwork, such as turning, which we do not do in Yoo-Sin.

Following the Angle Punch

Since in Yoo-Sin we perform the first U-shape block after an angle punch, we can combine the two movements into an application. One way to apply the angle punch is as a hammerlock or chicken wing lock, as shown in the image below.

From here, if the opponent resists, grab the back of their shirt. Use the lower arm of the U-shaped punch to pull the opponent's back shirt to your left and down while you execute the high punch to their jaw.

Angle "punch" to U-shape punch application.

Hopefully this post has given you some application ideas for the U-shape punch, beyond the "punching with both fists at once" interpretation.

60: Hansu supported arc-hand strike to one-legged stance

Let's do another Kukkiwon form application.

Hansu is a short but interesting poomsae. In the first diagonal sequence, four puzzling movements are performed. The first is perhaps the easiest to understand. You may use it as a parry while attacking the side of the opponent's jaw (this is why you are at a 45-degree angle), turning the opponent's head.

 

Demonstration as a bouncer/doorman technique.
Source: MMA Kabashi

Performance of Hansu on right by TaekwonWoo

Next is the twin upset punch, which we use as a takedown. Grab the opponent's ears from behind after turning their head with the jaw strike. Leap forward and pull them down forcefully, throwing the opponent. 

Throw Fails

If the throw fails, the form gives you two options.

The first is if the throw fails but the opponent's head is lowered. We proceed with a simple downward punch to the top of their head. Because we always want to strike through our target, not at our target, we end up punching through where our palm is placed (the palm representing the location of the opponent's head). This has the apperance of being a "target block", but I believe it represents a downward punch.

 

The second option is if the opponent's head is not lowered. We wrap our arm around their head and get a chin lock as we step backwards into the diamond block, restraining the opponent. 

"Diamond block" application. Sources: Kinetic Dragon Kenpo (middle), Returning Wave Systems (right)

For the final move, we can use the one-legged stance as a knee strike to the opponent's coccyx while we pull their head back.