Let's remove the Shaolin Temple and Bodhidharma from Taekwondo history

Every so often I see the Shaolin temple and Bodhidharma

mentioned in Taekwondo history. I once held a lecture on taekwondo history where I was approached after it was finished and told that the lecture was good, but I had completly neglected to mention how martial arts were invented in China in the Shaolin temple by Bodhidharma and then spread to the rest of Asia. I could not take that critisism seriously but kept a straight face and told him politely that I did not subscribe to that myth, and quickly departed. I was recently reminded of this tie in with Taekwondo history when I was asked to consult on a taekwondo organisations history on their web page. The first draft contained the Bodhidharma myth in it, and I adviced it to be removed which it was. I therefore thought that a post tackling how the Shaolin/Bodhidharma myth has no place in Taekwondo (and should not even be considered "canon" in Chinese martial arts) could be useful for some. Before starting the actual post however I have to credit the book "Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals; A Historical Survey" written by Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo which has shaped much of my thinking on this subject and especially page 69-72. The author credits Chinese Martial Arts Historian Tang Hao and Stanley E. Henning. I found and read a few articles by Henning in preperation to this post but in the end I found page 69-72 in the aforementioned book to be a great sumary and I did not find much written by Tang Hao. 

Why does "ITF" forms feel so much more "advanced"?

This last year I have done a deep dive and really focused on

learning all ITF forms up to and including Gae-Baek Hyung. I say "ITF forms" but I should probably call them either Oh Do Kwan (that is where my "project" took me) or Chang Hon forms. I do not do Sine Wave (and I do not think I will ever do that), and the forms I have been learning is far too outdated to be called ITF forms, as the ITF have done a lot of changes. The standard I am keeping as close as possible to is the 1965 book by Choi Hong Hi. After that book was published a lot of things were changed, and over time Sine Wave which was possibly the biggest change was implemented in the 1980s. After he died the ITF splintered into an insane number of different ITFs and they in turn made their own changes. I am going off a tangent here:-P What I wanted to write about was the feeling I had when learning these forms when I had a firm Taegeuk and Judanja/Black Belt Poomsae background. I talked with a fellow Taekwondoin (Taekwondo person) about the feeling I had when learning the forms that every single one after Chon-Ji Hyung felt like learning a black belt poomsae. 

Kyeongdang Yedo 24 Se part 2; Point Sword Posture

Way back in March 2024 we looked at the first posture, the Keonjeongse (Lifting the cauldron posture), we looked at two different translations, one by Jack Chen who translated the source material for the Yedo chapter in Muyedobotongji, and one from Sang H. Kim's translation of the Muyedobotongji. I shared the illustration from both sources, and a video of how it was performed and practised in modern Kyeongdang (in the group I work with). In addition to this I shared a few thoughts on application in text only. This is also pretty much what we will be doing with the second "posture" in the system, and that is the "Jumkumse" as it is transcribed in Sang H. Kim's work. The "Jum" part of the name means "period", or "dot" in Korean, the "Kum" part of the name is Geom, Keum, Kum meaning "sword" and the "Se" part can loosely be translated as "posture. Together we get the loose translation of "Point sword posture", but the translation I was first given was inspecting the sword posture, as the initial posture seems like your holding the sword in a manner that you might take to inspect a sword. 

Let's make 2025 the year you crush your fitness goals

It’s the beginning of a glorious new year and many have probably set themselves a few fitness goals and seeing as this post will be published at the very end of January I wouldn’t be surprised if many have started training and then took a deep dive off the fitness wagon. It happens to most people in January everyone flocks to the Doran’s and training studios and once February show up they are relegated to support members. In this post we will look at a good number of tips on how you can make 2025 count and how you can get really fit this year :) Click the read more to read on :-)

Morning stretching routine full body 15 minutes (video is Timelapse 2 minutes)

 I am working on a morning routine video for my Patreon members on Patreon dot com /traditionaltaekwondoramblings . 

This is a routine of standing exercises which is highly suitable in any training environment (sitting exercises are better for indoor training) and it loosens up and readies the body from the ankles up to the head and everything in between. It’s a great routine for starting out your day, it really opens up all kinks and soothes old injuries. It’s also a great way to start out your training session as it wakes up all limbs and joints, and it’s great if you are struggling with the motivation to start a session. You start with your ankles which is easy, and then you do your wrists, then your neck and now that the ball is rolling you are doing kicks, punches forms etc before you know what happened 😛

It will be published in a few days time. This is a Timelapse of that footage where the full routine takes about 15 minutes in real life but you get the idea from here in only 2 minutes. On the Patreon version it will be a follow along where I say what we’re doing and count so it’s a follow along one.

Join my first very own Dojang (kinda)

 https://www.patreon.com/posts/106252502?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

I recently started a Patreon site dipping my toes into that pool. I’m planning on doing a little more in depth content there where I can justify the time spent on the work done😇 Right now I have shared a few videos that I’ve already made so people can see where I’m going with this, and over time I’m planning on having follow along solo training sessions, tutorial training sessions with different Poomsae and Hyung, tutorials on basic techniques, discussions on history philosophy and background on taekwondo etc. 

I’m thinking it could be a dojang away from the dojang for people 🙂 I have many ideas, but I’m wondering where to start, so I posted a poll to see what people want (if anything). So if you want to check it out and vote I’d very much appreciate it (no matter if you become one of my patrons or not, I’ll appreciate all votes and comments over there 🙏🙇‍♂️🫡 ) 

It’s kinda like my first very own dojang 🥳😂

Tan-Gun Hyung

 This is the second form taught in the Ch'ang Hon Hyung series. It is called Tan-Gun Hyung or Tan-Gun Tul in modern ITF and ITF-derived schools. In his 1965 book on Taekwondo, Choi Hong Hi writes this on Tan-Gun Hyung: "Tan-Gun is named after the holy Tan-Gun, the legendary founder of Korea in the year of 2334 B.C." And that is really all the background you get on this character. I only recently learned this form in my exploration and re-connection with my Oh Do Kwan roots (I have one teacher with Ji Do Kwan roots and one with Oh Do Kwan roots), but I was taught the story of Tan-Gun early on in my Taekwondo study. There are different versions but here follows the story as I was taught by my teacher:

"Once upon a time, a long long time ago, the Creator of Heaven and Earth got a son. The child grew up to be a handsome young man who was proned to be bored. When he got bored he searched out and amused himself by observing the wild animals. One time he chose a tiger and a bear and decided to put them to a test, but he also promised that if they passed they would become human. The test was that they would live in complete darkness in twenty days. The Tiger quickly became restless and left, but the Bear was patient and stuck to it for all 20 days. When the trial was over the Bear became a beutiful woman. She was so beutiful in fact that the Creators son layed with her, and together they got a son who they called Tan-Gun. He became a human and lived among humans and he founded the earliest Korean dynasty and society. "

As I said there are multiple different versions, but the gist of it remains the same. Tan-Gun is said to have established the earliest laws as well as religion as he is said to have made the first alter at Mari San, and it is also said he ruled with wisdom for twelve hundred years. 

The form itself is interesting as it really focuses on high section punches. One reason for the focus on high section punches is suposedly to symbolise Tan-Gun climbing a mountain. As the Kukki Taekwondo Poomsae deliver 90% of all punches to the midsection I find it very refreshing to keep all punches high :-) below you can see me trying to do the form