Grading FAQ

Think about this question yourself because nobody but you can answer it. Did you want to learn self-defence or some form of martial art? Had you heard of Taekwon-Do before and thought it sounded interesting, or did you just want to meet people and make new friends?

Again, only you can answer this. Whatever your answer, try to have a reason for your choice. Maybe it’s patterns because you like the way they represent someone or something in Korean history, or sparring because you like the physical or sports aspect. It could be self-defence or the way of life, the “Do”. Most people can answer this straight away, but it’s the why you should think about.

This is a question only you can answer. Think about it: it’s worth knowing for yourself, not just for the grading.

Have you trained hard? Do you know the material, both physical and theoretical? Do you have the correct mindset and attitude? It’s not easy to achieve the level of black belt; if it was, everyone would have one.

Think of the area you would most like to improve: a certain pattern, flexibility, a particular technique or a particular leg. Nobody does everything perfectly, so make sure you have a good answer and a reason for it.

Again, you must answer this yourself. Was your goal always just to get to black belt and then leave? Or, now that you have a black belt, do you want to go on and really learn Taekwon-Do?

Translated directly, “Tae” means jumping or flying, to kick or smash with the foot; “Kwon” means fist, to punch or destroy with the hand or fist; “Do” means an art or way. Taken together, Taekwon-Do is the way of the hand and foot: an art involving mental training and techniques of unarmed combat for self-defence as well as health. To summarise, Taekwon-Do is the way of the hand, the way of the foot, the way of the mind and the way of life.

The tenets of Taekwon-Do are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit. See The 5 Tenets for an explanation of each.

As a student of Taekwon-Do, I shall observe the tenets of Taekwon-Do, I shall respect the instructor and seniors, I shall never misuse Taekwon-Do, I shall be a champion of freedom and justice, I shall build a more peaceful world. See The Student Oath.

Always address your instructor as Mr., Ms. or Master and never by their first name. The Chief Instructor of Maynooth Taekwon-Do School is Mr. Gareth Curran, VI Degree. See Instructors for our full team.

The examiner for Maynooth Taekwon-Do School is Mr. Gareth Curran, VI Degree. Always refer to your examiner as Mr., Ms. or Master and never by their first name.

The founder of Taekwon-Do is General Choi Hong Hi, 9th Degree Grand Master.

Taekwon-Do was founded by General Choi Hong Hi on 11 April 1955.

ITF stands for International Taekwon-Do Federation, established on 22 March 1966.

Maynooth Taekwon-Do School is affiliated to the International Taekwon-Do Federation Headquarters in Korea (ITF HQ Korea).

There are 24 patterns to represent the 24 hours in a day. These 24 hours represent the entire life of General Choi Hong Hi, since his life is extremely short compared to eternity. See Patterns.

Taekwon-Do patterns represent great historic people or events in Korean history. When students perform these patterns, they try to emulate this greatness in every movement and technique.

You should know how many movements a pattern has and what its meaning is. Remember, you need to know all patterns up to your grade, not just the last one you studied.

All belt colours have a meaning. You must know the meaning of the belt colour you are grading for and all those preceding it. See Rank & coloured belts.

In the Orient, royalty wore clothing that was decorated to distinguish them from the common people. In the same way, the trim on the dobok of a black belt indicates seniority in grade.

In the Orient, 3 is the most esteemed number, with the lines of the Chinese character for three representing the heaven, mortals and the earth. Multiplying three by three gives nine, the highest single digit, representing the highest ranking belt. In summary:

• The number 3 is the most esteemed number in the Orient.
• The Chinese character for 3 is composed of three horizontal lines, representing the heaven, mortals and the earth.
• Multiplying 3 by 3 gives 9, the highest single-digit number, representing the highest ranking belt.
• If 9 is multiplied by any other single-digit number, the digits of the result add up to 9, again showing its significance.

Any technique performed should be known in Korean, particularly for higher grades, where the grading will be carried out in Korean. See Korean terminology.

Knowing the application of a technique is essential to performing it correctly.

Knowing what part of the body is used is essential to performing a technique correctly.

Knowing the height and line of a technique is essential to performing it correctly.

A technique performed on the inside of the opponent’s body; for example, the middle block performed in number 1 of three-step sparring.

A technique performed on the outside of the opponent’s body; for example, the middle block performed in number 2 of three-step sparring.

An inward technique moves towards the centre-line of the body.

An outward technique moves away from the centre-line of the body.

When performing techniques and patterns we always have an imaginary opponent. For this to be achieved efficiently, it is essential that the location of the opponent is known.

They are two different techniques with different targets, performed in different ways, against targets in different positions. Also, the back elbow is performed using a finger-belly.

The front elbow can be used on a number of targets. The upper elbow really only has one target, the point of the chin. They are also performed in different ways.

A block performed at the centre-line of the body.

To generate power. For some techniques normal linear motion is not sufficient to generate the required power, so circular motion is used instead.

Double arc hand with the palm is a pushing technique, and the power required is generated from the hip rather than by means of a sine-wave.

It is important to know the width and length of each stance, the most common distances being one shoulder width and one and a half shoulder widths. It is also important to know where these are measured from, e.g. outside of one foot to outside of the other, or big toe to big toe.

As with width and length, weight distribution is very important and should be known for each stance.

L-stance allows the front leg to be lifted easily with only a slight shift of weight to the back leg, useful for performing a very quick front kick with the front leg.

It is easy to step away by shifting all the weight to the front leg. Since this leg is already on the ball of the foot, the body can be pushed back.

One foot length.

A sine-wave is a mathematical function that, when plotted on a graph, displays a wave-like pattern. When performing techniques we move in this up-and-down wave motion to generate force and momentum, making attack and defence more effective. Remember: force = mass × acceleration, and momentum = mass × velocity.

Two movements performed on the same count with two distinct sine-waves and one controlled breath, slightly emphasised on each technique. Example: Dan-Gun movements 13 and 14 (outer forearm low block and rising block).

Two movements performed on the same count with only one sine-wave and one breath. Example: Yul-Gok movements 16–17 and 19–20 (hooking block and obverse punch).

Two movements performed on the same count with only a half sine-wave in between and two breaths. Example: Do-San movements 15–16 and 19–20, the two punches after the middle front snap kick.