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.