A danced fight,
against shadows

A logical sequence of movements, mostly defenses and attacks, performed alone. It is one of the three pillars alongside basic techniques (kibon) and sparring (kyorugi), and a mandatory test at every grade examination. Golden rule: you finish where you started.

You don't swallow a form in one go: break it down, feel it, repeat it. A slow and accurate form is worth more than a fast and sloppy one.

1. Break it downLearn the form in small segments, then link them together.
2. Count, then flowFirst by the count, then the rhythm and continuity.
3. In slow motionPerform slowly to feel the exact placement of the feet.
4. Mirror and videoWatch yourself and film yourself to correct posture and timing.
5. RepeatRepetition and visualization anchor the form.

A beautiful poomsae is mechanics: power does not come from the arm, but from the ground, the hips and a sharp stop.

1. The hipsThe pivot is done on the ball of the foot; the hip is the engine of power.
2. The kinetic chainThe force rises from the feet to the hips, the trunk, the shoulder, the arm, the fist.
3. Accelerate then fixSlow at the start, explosive at the end: the technique freezes sharply (the kime).
4. BreathingThe breath accompanies the movement; you exhale on the strike.
5. BalanceStable and grounded stances: everything starts from a solid base.

A poomsae breathes: you alternate the slow and the powerful, the quick and the suspended. This is the wan-gup, the control of speed. In World Taekwondo, a form is scored out of 10.

Accuracy out of 4, presentation out of 6. Penalties from 0.1 to 0.3 (loss of balance, forgotten kihap, wrong movement).

The Taegeuk set expresses the harmony of eum and yang and the eight trigrams (palgwae) of the Book of Changes. Each form embodies a force of nature.

The black belt poomsae

Beneath the choreography, each movement keeps a combat meaning: the boon-hae (the Korean equivalent of bunkai). A block can also be a grab, an off-balancing, a strike or a lock.

The stances (seogi) are the skeleton of a form. Well set, they give balance; poorly set, everything collapses.

You pivot on the ball of the foot, the center of gravity low and stable, you enter each stance sharply, and you always return to the starting point.

Theory enlightens, the mat teaches. Start with the very first poomsae, Taegeuk Il Jang.