I've always been baffled by the two side kicks followed by the turn into the x-knifehand checking block near the end of Choong-Moo. The movement doesn't work as a throw, but it can work as a stranglehold. [1]
Suppose we begin from outside the opponent's left arm and perform the first side kick to their left knee, aiming to push it to the ground.
As the opponent stands back up, turn clockwise and underhook their left arm with your left arm. Perform the second kick also to their knee (whichever knee is closest) to both break their balance and prevent them from turning towards you. Wrap your left arm all the way around their neck and grab your right bicep. Place your right hand on the opponent's head and squeeze your elbows in. This creates a head-and-arm strangle (also called an "arm triangle choke" or kata gatame [2])
Head and arm strangle, two views
The way strangles work is they block both of the opponent's carotid arteries, preventing blood flow to the brain. In this strangle, your left arm blocks the opponent's right carotid while their own shoulder blocks the left carotid. The reason I interpret this as a head-and-arm strangle as opposed to the rear naked choke (hadake jime) or single wing choke (kata ha jime) is because of the clockwise turn into the back stance, which places you on your opponent's side. However, if you opponent turns clockwise to elbow you, you may do a rear naked choke instead.
[1] Despite the image for Choong-Moo, there is no strict rule in ITF taekwon-do for which knifehand is in front for an x-knifehand block, but it is usually the front-leg knifehand, which looks more like the strangehold.
[2] This is technically a strangle, not a choke, since it blocks blood flow and not the trachea. But colloquially strangles and chokes are often called "blood chokes" and "air chokes" respectively.
Last time I covered the reverse crane stance in Ilyeo. This stance comes from the kata Chinte (meaning "strange hands"), but was utilized by early taekwondoin in both Se-Jong (ITF) and Ilyeo (Kukkiwon). The stances are the same, but the context and hand techniques are different. Ilyeo seems to use the stance as a leg hook, and includes a leap forwards to throw the opponent. But neither Chinte nor Se-Jong have a leap, and using it as a leg hook is unlikely given the context. So what's going on?
I think it's a crouch.
Consider the previous two movements: we perform a knee strike (one-leg stance) to get the opponent to bend over. Then we push down their head while raising their right shoulder with the palm pressing block. Finally, we perform a downward elbow strike to the back of their head (front backfist strikes typically code for downward elbows [1]).
By tucking your left foot behind your right knee, you can sink into the
strike merely by bending your right leg. You can crouch all the way to
one knee if you wish. The open palm striking the forearm maintains the underhook (not pictured), which keeps the opponent's head lowered.
This is an interesting case of the two styles of taekwondo taking an obscure movement from one kata and interpreting it differently.
[1] The technical instructions for this movement are to slap the right back forearm with the left palm, but it was later interpreted as a front backfist strike.
In past articles I've written that if you want to know a pattern's original intent, it's important to study earlier versions. The ITF patterns have changed in subtle ways between General Choi's 1965 book and his 1983 Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do; most of these changes have been compiled by Matt Gibb. But the kukki-taekwondo patterns appear to have changed as well. By happenstance I came across some changes to the 9th-dan poomsae Ilyeo. You can view a video of the form below:
The strange thing about Ilyeo is its asymmetry. Movements are repeated, but on the same side. The diamond block in right back stance (R.B.S.) is performed four times in total. The only symmetric set is the front kick followed by the flying side kick at the end of the pattern. This is strange since all the Kukkiwon patterns, except the Original Koryo, are symmetric.
Anyway, Ilyeo includes a weird stance called "reverse crane stance" (ogeum seogi). It comes from the kata Chinte and is also found in the ITF pattern Se-Jong. It is performed by raising one foot behind the knee of the standing leg.
I noticed that videos of Ilyeo differ in the hand motions during the stance. Some utilize a right spearhand thrust, others a left. Some use one and then the other -- since the stance occurs twice in the form -- but not always in the same order.
Confused as to which version is correct, I askedØrjan Nilsen of Traditional Taekwondo Ramblings to look up older versions of the pattern for me. He sent me the 1975 version (from Taekwondo Poomse by the World Taekwondo Federation) and the 1986 version (from Tae Kwon Do Textbook Vol III by Kim Jeong-Rok).
According to the 1986 version, for the first crane stance a left spearhand is used, while for the second a right spearhand is used. These instructions match the video above, although in some older videos the opposite is true.
But there's something different about the 1986 version: the fourth diamond block is in a left back stance (L.B.S.). You do a three-quarters turn into it after a left hand punch.
In this version of Ilyeo, the first front kick is performed with the left leg, whereas in the modern version the first front kick is with the right leg.
If you travel further back in time to the 1975 version, the text instructions are symmetric. At least, movements are performed equally on both sides (with the exception of move 1). So the diamond block is performed twice in R.B.S. and twice in L.B.S. In this version of the pattern, the spearhand is always performed on the side of the raised leg, but you perform once on either leg.
There is some ambiguity because the images in the 1975 book don't match the text instructions. Case in point: even though the text says that the second side kick should be with the right leg, in the image you see the left leg used.
Nonetheless, text instructions for a symmetric Ilyeo exist, and that makes sense given the other poomsae are symmetric. This begs the question: why was the poomsae changed? Why are the two spearhands mirrored when the stances are not? The original name of the pattern was Silla, after the ancient Korean kingdom. It was later changed to Ilyeo, a Buddhist term meaning "oneness". From the taekwondo wiki:
일여 (ilyeo) refers to the Buddhist concept of oneness of the mind and
body, the immaterial and material. The form therefore represents the
oneness of mind and body achieved through training, and thus it
represents the essence of martial arts. Stemming from Buddhism, the goal
of spiritual life is Ilyo, oneness or nirvana. Only in this state is
ego overcome. The ideal of taekwondo is Ilyo. It is a discipline in
which you concentrate your attention on every movement and in doing so,
shed all worldly thoughts and preconceptions.
Funakoshi's "Neck Ring"
throw
Perhaps the repetition in modern Ilyeo is intentional, like a Buddhist mantra. I personally prefer the symmetric version, however.
The Reverse Crane Stance
One of the applications of the supported spearhand is athrow where the head is hooked (spearhand) and the small of the opponent's back is pressed inwards (supporting hand). The leap forward in Ilyeo can aid this throw. So what is the use of the reverse crane stance?
In the case of the left spearhand, which appears to be the original version, you can perform a leg hook, called a "ko uchi gake" in Judo. It's an unusual throw for a taekwondo form, but then again the stance itself is unusual.
