The tenets are the moral code of Taekwon-Do. They are not decoration alongside the techniques: General Choi placed them on the same level, because a strong student without character is a problem, not a result. They are recited at the start or end of class and asked about in gradings.
Respect, good manners and humility. It shows in concrete acts: bowing when entering and leaving the dojang, bowing to the instructor and to your partners before and after working with them, treating others as you would want to be treated, and never using rank to belittle anyone.
Being able to tell right from wrong and to feel ashamed when you are in the wrong. It includes not faking techniques you have not mastered, not chasing a grade you have not earned, and admitting a mistake before someone points it out.
Patience leads to virtue. The goals of Taekwon-Do are not reached in one season: they are earned by repeating the same movement a thousand times until it happens by itself, and by coming back to the dojang on the days you do not feel like it.
Control of body and temper. In sparring, losing your temper means losing control of the technique and is the fastest way to hurt someone; outside the dojang, it means living within your own limits and never looking for a fight.
Standing firm for what is right, however unfavourable the odds. It is neither recklessness nor pride: it is refusing to give in against a clearly superior opponent, and refusing to stay silent in the face of injustice just because silence is easier.
The colours are not arbitrary: they describe the student's growth like that of a plant. Colour-belt grades count down (from 10th Gup to 1st Gup) and black-belt grades count up (from I to IX Dan).
Innocence: the beginner who as yet has no knowledge of Taekwon-Do.
The earth, where the root takes hold: the foundations of technique are laid.
The plant growing: the student's skill begins to develop.
The heaven toward which the plant grows as training progresses.
Danger: the student now has enough ability to do harm and must exercise control.
The opposite of white: maturity and proficiency, and imperviousness to darkness and fear.
Where does the power of Taekwon-Do come from? General Choi answered: not from more muscle, but from using the body's full potential through the application of physical principles. The average person uses 10 to 20 % of it; anyone who trains to use 100 % can perform the same techniques, whatever their size, age or sex. These are the six factors that make it possible.
Every force has an equal and opposite one. If the opponent rushes at you, your blow adds his momentum to yours. And within your own body: the punching fist gains force because the other is pulled back to the hip at the same instant.
The same force over a smaller area does more damage, like water from a hose when you narrow the nozzle. That is why you strike with the knife-hand or the knuckles rather than the open hand, and why the force of the whole body must reach the target in a single instant.
A blow from a firm base is devastating; from an unstable one it never arrives. The centre of gravity must fall within the base, the heels stay down and the front knee bends. Balance is static, in the stances, and dynamic, kept while moving.
A sharp exhalation exactly at the moment of impact increases the force of the blow and tightens the abdomen to absorb one. Never inhale while executing a technique: being hit while breathing in leaves you far less able to take it. One technique, one breath.
Maximum force comes from maximum body weight times speed. To put the whole weight in, the hip rotates in the same direction as the technique and the body drops at the moment of impact, using gravity. This is the root of the sine wave.
This is the single most important factor. Force is mass times acceleration: a small stone thrown fast breaks the glass that a large one, gently dropped, does not even crack. The technique must therefore accelerate to the end and not slow down before reaching the target.
The six factors are not a list to memorise: they describe a single action. The body rises relaxed, turns the hip, drops and accelerates, and the breath stops sharply as the small, hard contact surface reaches the target with the body in balance. If one fails, the others cannot make up for it.
A tul is a fixed sequence of movements simulating combat against several imaginary opponents. It lets you practise techniques that would be dangerous or impossible to rehearse in free sparring, and it develops balance, coordination, breath control and concentration. Every tul has a name, a number of movements and a diagram, and all three mean something: the name honours a person or an event in Korean history, the number of movements often refers to a date or an age, and the diagram is the shape the feet trace on the floor.
There are 24 patterns, one for each hour of the day. General Choi put it this way: a human life, say a hundred years, is a single day compared with eternity, and we are merely travellers passing through. Leaving 24 patterns meant leaving his whole day to mankind.
One technique, one sine wave, one breath. This is the default: if the pattern says nothing, this is what you do.
Two techniques linked without stopping: two sine waves, one inhalation and two continuous exhalations, with no final sharpness.
Two techniques in a row, faster than normal, with half a sine wave (only the heel rises) and two distinct breaths.
Two techniques counted as one: a single sine wave and a single breath joining them and ending sharply.
One technique performed slowly, coordinating hands, feet, eyes and breath. It is there to demonstrate control and balance.
These four stances are all you need for Saju Jirugi, Saju Makgi, Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun and Do-San. In the diagram, the red footprint carries the greater share of the weight. Shoulder width is measured joint to joint and is the unit in which every stance is defined.
Feet parallel, one shoulder width apart, weight 50/50. In narani junbi sogi the fists sit about 30 cm from the body with the arms bent some 30°: this is the ready posture of Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun and Do-San.
One and a half shoulder widths long and one wide. Weight 50/50, front knee directly over the heel, front foot straight and rear foot turned out about 25°. It is the attacking stance par excellence: stable to the front and to the rear.
One and a half shoulder widths long. 70% of the weight rests on the rear foot, which points outward; the front foot turns in about 15° and the rear knee stays bent over the toes. A defensive stance: it lets you withdraw and kick with the front foot.
One and a half shoulder widths wide, feet parallel, knees bent over the toes, back straight and weight 50/50. It gives lateral stability and is where Do-San ends.
Every technique has a specific contact surface, and the name of the technique always tells you which. In red, the area that must reach the target.
The two large knuckles of the index and middle fingers. Close the fist starting with the little fingers, thumb folded over, and keep the back of the hand in line with the forearm.
The back of those same knuckles. Used in circular strikes; the movement comes from the elbow, not the shoulder.
The outer edge of the hand, from the little finger to the wrist. Fingers pressed together and straight, thumb bent inward, wrist firm.
The tips of the four fingers, pressed together and level. Arm, wrist and hand must form one straight line into the target.
The outer face of the forearm — the thumb side when the fist faces down. It is the tool for low, side and rising blocks.
The inner face of the forearm, on the little-finger side. It is the tool of the middle block that appears in the second half of Chon-Ji.
The pad beneath the toes. It is the tool for apcha busigi: the toes bend back and the ankle extends at the moment of impact.
Technique names are not memorised, they are read. They always follow the same order — stance · tool · section · action — so with these building blocks you can decode any movement in the sequences, even one you have never seen.
Gunnun so bakat palmok najunde maki = gunnun so (walking stance) + bakat palmok (outer forearm) + najunde (low section) + maki (block).
In the dojang the instructor counts with these numbers and expects the group's shout (kihap) on the tenth repetition.
Each entry gives the meaning, the structure in phases, the applications, the common mistakes and the movement-by-movement sequence, with the direction and stance of every one.
A content summary based on General Choi Hong Hi's Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do. The texts, diagrams and schematics are our own work and do not reproduce the illustrations in the book. For the full detail of every movement, refer to the original work and to your instructor.