The b
beginning student may
m ask; ""Where does one

obtain th evastating results

he power to creatte the de

attributed
d to Taekw
won-Do?" This pow
wer is attrib
buted to

the utiliza
ation of a person's
s full pote
ential thro
ough the

mathema
atical application off Taekwo n-Do tech
hniques.

The averrage perso

on uses only
o 10 to 20 percent of his

ss of size , age, or sex

potential.. Anyone, regardles s who

can condition him

mself to use 100
0 percentt of his

potential can alsso perform the ssame des

structive

technique
es.

Though trainin
ng will ce
ertainly re
esult in a superb

level of p
physical fittness, it will
w not neccessarily result in

the acq
quisition of exttraordinarry stamina or

superhum
man stren
ngth. Morre importa
ant, Taek
kwon-Do

training w h level of reaction

will result in obtaining a high

force, co
oncentratio
on, equilibrium, brreath control and

hese are the factorrs that wi ll result in

speed; th n a high

degree o
of physicall power.
"Pow erful enough to
upr oot mountains"

 
 
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REACTIO
ON FORC
CE (Bandong Ryo
ok)

Acco
ording to Newton's
N Law,
L everry force ha
as an equal and op posite forrce. When
n

an autom
mobile crasshes into a wall witth the forc
ce of 2,000
0 pounds,, the wall will
w return
n

ounds; or forcing th
a force of 2,000 po he end of seasaw
s down with a ton of weight
w willl

provide a
an upward t same weight; if your oppo
d force of the onent is ru
ushing tow
wards you
u

at a high speed, byy the sligh

htest blow
w at his he
ead, the fo
orce with w
which you strike hiss

head wou
uld be tha
at of his ow
wn onslau
ught plus that
t of you
ur blow.

The ttwo forcess combine

ed; his, wh
hich is larg
ge, and yo
ours, whicch is small are quite
e

impressivve. This, then, is the

t reactio
on force from
f the opponentt. Anotherr reaction
n

force is yyour own. A punch with

w the rig
ght fist is aided
a by pulling
p bacck the left fist to the
e

hip.

CONCE
ENTRATIO
ON (Jip Joong)
J

By applying th o the smallest targe

he impact force onto et area, it w
will concentrate the
e

d therefore, increas
force and se its effecct. For ex
xample, th
he force of water co
oming outt

of a wate
er hose iss greater if the orificce is sma
aller. Conv
versely, th
he weight of a man
n

spread out on sno

ow shoes makes
m ha
ardly any impression on the ssnow. The
e blows in
n

Taekwon
n-Do are often
o centrated onto the edge
conc e of th
he open pa
alm or to the crookk

of the fing
gers.

It is vvery imporrtant that you

y shoulld not unle
eash all yo
our streng
gth at the beginning
b g

but gradu
ually, and particularrly at the point of contact witth your op
pponent's body, the
e

force mu
ust be so concentrrated as tto give a knock-ou
ut blow. T
That is to
o say, the
e

 
 
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shorter th
he time fo
or the conc
centration
n, the grea
ater will be
e the pow
wer of the blow.
b The
e

utmost co obilize every musc le of the body

oncentration is required in o rder to mo b onto
o

the smalllest targett area sim

multaneoussly.

In co
onclusion, concentrration is d
done in tw
wo ways: One
O is to concentrrate everyy

muscle o
of the bod
dy, particu
ularly the bigger muscles
m arround the hip and abdomen
n

(which th
heoretically are slow
wer than tthe smalle
er muscles of otherr parts of the body))

towards the appro

opriate too
ol to be u
used at th
he proper time; the
e second way is to
o

concentra
ate such mobilized
d muscless onto th
he oppone
ent's vitall spot. Th
his is the
e

reason w
why the hip
p and abdomen are
e jerked sliightly befo
ore the ha nds and fe
eet in anyy

action, w b attack or defencce.

whether it be

Reme e execute d in two ways:

eber, jerkiing can be w laterrally and vvertically.

EQUILIBRIUM (Ky
yun Hyung)

Balance is of utmost importancce in any type of athletics.

a won-Do, itt
In Taekw

he body always in e
deservess special cconsideration. By kkeeping th equilibrium
m, that is,,

well balanced, a blow is more effectivve and dea

adly. Conversely, th
he unbala
anced one
e

is easily ttoppled. The

T stance should a
always be
e stable ye
et flexiblee, for both offensive
e

and defensive movvements.

Equillibrium is classified
d into bo
oth dynam
mic and static
s stab
bility. The
ey are so
o

closely in
nter-relate
ed that the
e maximum force can
c only be
b producced when the staticc

stability iss maintain

ned throug
gh dynam
mic stability
y.

To m
maintain go
ood equilibrium, the
e center of
o gravity of the sta
ance mustt fall on a

straight liine midwa

ay betwee egs when the body weight is distribute
en both le ed equallyy
 
 
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on both legs, or in
n the cente
er of the ffoot if it is necessary to conccentrate th
he bulk off

body weiight on on
ne foot. The
T centerr of gravitty can be adjusted according
g to bodyy

weight. F
Flexibility and
a knee spring are
e also imp
portant in maintainin
ng balanc
ce for both
h

a quick a
attack and
d instant recovery.
r One additional point; the he
eel of the rear foott

should ne
ever be off the grou e point of impact. This is not only nece
und at the essary forr

good bala
ance but also
a to pro
oduce ma ower at the point off impact.
aximum po

BREATH
H CONTRO
OL (Hokup
pJojvl)

Contrrolled bre
eathing no
ot only afffects one
e's stamin
na and sp
peed but can also
o

condition
n a body to
o receive a blow and
d augmen
nt the pow
wer of a blo
ow directe
ed againstt

an oppon
nent. Thro
ough practtice, breatth stopped
d in the sttate of exh
haling at the criticall

moment when a blow is landed again

nst a pres
ssure poin
nt on the b
body can prevent a

loss of co
onsciousn
ness and stifle pain
n. A sharp
p exhaling
g of breath
h at the moment
m off

and stopping the breath

impact a b du ring the execution
e of a mo
ovement tense
t the
e

abdomen
n to conce
entrate ma
aximum e ffort on th
he delivery
y of the m
motion, while a slow
w

inhaling h
helps the preparatio
on of the n
next move
ement. An
n importan
nt rule to remember
r r:

Never inh
hale while
e focusing
g a block o
or blow against an opponennt. Not onlly will thiss

impede m
movementt but it will also resu
ult in a los
ss of powe
er.

Stude
ents should also practice dissguised brreathing to
o conceal any outw
ward signss

of fatigue
e. An expe
erienced fighter
f y press an attack wh
willl certainly hen he re
ealizes hiss

opponentt is on the
e point of exhaustio
e on.

One breath is required for one m

movemen
nt with the
e exceptio
on of a co
ontinuouss

motion.
 
 
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MASS
S (Zilyan g)

Math
hematically, the max
ximum kin
netic enerrgy or force is obtain
ned from maximum
m m

body weight and speed an

nd it is all importan
nt that the
e body we
eight be increased
i d

during the executio

on of a bllow. No d oubt the maximum
m body we
eight is applied with
h

the motio ning the hip. The la

on by turn arge abdo
ominal mu
uscles are
e twisted to
t provide
e

additiona
al body mo
omentum.. Thus the
e hip rotate
es in the same
s dire
ection as that
t of the
e

attacking
g or blockin
ng tool as
s in figure F. Anothe
er way of increasing
g body weight is the
e

utilization
n of a spriinging acttion of the
e knee join
nt. This is
s achieved
d by slighttly raising
g

the hip att the beginning of the

t motion
n and lowe
ering the hip at the
e moment of impactt

to drop th
he body weight
w into
o the motio
on as in figure G.

In su
ummarizin ecessary tto point out that the
ng, it is ne e principle
es of force
e outlined
d

here hold
d just as true today in our m
modern scientific and
a nuclea
ar age as
s they did
d

centuriess ago.

I am sure that when you

u go throu
ugh this art,
a both in
n theory a
and in practice, you
u

will find th
hat the sccientific ba
asis of the motions and eal power which com
a the re mes out a

small hum
man bodyy cannot fa
ail to impre
ress you.

SPEED (Sok
kdo)

Spe
eed is the most esse
ential factor of force
e or power. Scientiffically, forc
ce equalss

mass X a on (F = MA) or (P = MV2).

acceleratio

gure A, a large sto

In fig een gently dropped
one has be d on a do
ouble pane
e of glasss

from a he s. On the other han

eight of three inches nd, in figurre B, a sm
mall stone has been
n

 
 
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thrown ag
gainst the
e glass witth great sp
peed. In figure C, th
he flat of tthe hand passed in
n

e candle with
a slow motion through the flame of the w no result to the
e flame. Th
he candle
e,

however,, was put out with a controlle

ed punch or kick sttopping w
within an in
nch of the
e

flame as shown in figures D and E.

Acco y of kinet ic energy, every ob

ording to the theory bject incre
eases its weight
w ass

well as sspeed in a downw

ward movvement. This
T very principle is applie
ed to thiss

particularr art of se
elf-defence
e, as provved in pag
ges 29 and 30. For this reason, at the
e

moment of impacct, the po d normally become

osition of the hand es lower than the
e

shoulder and the foot

f lower than the h
hip while the
t body is in the a
air.

Rea
action forcce, breath control, e
equilibrium
m, concen
ntration an
nd relaxation of the
e

muscles cannot be ignored

d. Howeve
er, these are the fa
actors tha
at contribu
ute to the
e

speed an
nd all thesse factors, together with flexib
ble and rhythmic mo
ovements
s, must be
e

o produce the maximum pow

well coorrdinated to wer in Taekwon-Do..

SP
PEED AND
D REFLEX
X (Sokdo
o wa Ban
nung)

It is essential for the sttudents off Taekwon

n-Do to un
nderstand
d the relattion of the
e

speed an
nd the exe
ecution tim
me of techniques in order to apply
a them
m effective
ely.

Achieving pre
ecise mea
asurementts of these
e factors has
h been vvery diffic
cult due to
o

the greatt speed att which Ta

aekwon-D
Do techniq
ques are performed
p d. Howeve
er, in Aprill

of 1973, I conducted an ex
xperiment to measu
ure the precise spe
eed and execution
e n

time of va
arious tecchniques.

 
 
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The approach
h used was
w multi-fflash Stro
obo photo
ography. T
Two EG&G controll

units—model 553--11 (seria

al No. 248
8 and No
o. 256), and two fla
ashes in reflectorss

were use
ed to recorrd movem
ments on fi lm. This experimen
e nt was con
nducted att the M.l.T
T.

Strobo la
ab with spe
ecial perm
mission fro
om Profes
ssors Edge
erton and Miller.

Results of the experiment are pre

esented be
elow:

Side Pi ercing Kick

   

I n t h i s p h o t o g r a p h , w e c a n s e e t h r e e i m a g es o f t h e
r i g h t f o o t o n c e i t i s l i f te d o f f t h e f l o o r . T h r e e im a g e s
p r o d u c e t w o i n t e r v a l s . T h e S t r o b e w a s s e t a t 20
f l a s h e s p e r s e c o n d , w hi c h m e a n s o n e i n t e r v a l is e q u a l
to 1 /20 (0,05) of a second.
W e c a n s e e f r o m t h e p h o t o g r a p h t h a t i t t a ke s t w o
i n t e r v a l s t o c o m p l e t e t h i s k i c k , w h i c h m e a n s t ha t i t
takes 1 /10 (0,1) of a second to execute.

 
 
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Hookiing Kick

In this photograph the rig ht foot passes by my face after 3½

i n t e r v a l s . T h e f l a s h f re q u e n c y w a s 3 0 p e r s ec o n d , s o i t t a k es 0 , 1 1 7

seconds or just a little more t han 1/10 of a second to execute this

kick.

 
 
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O n e r e m a r k a b l e f ac t i s t h a t t h e e x e c u t io n t i m e s o f t he a b o v e
kicks are shorter than the norm al reflex time, which m eans that it is
imposs ible for anyone to blo ck these kicks unless he can detect
t h e m b e f o r e t h e l e g is l i f t e d o f f t h e f l o o r ; i. e . , k n o w w h a t k i c k i s
coming before it is executed.
N o r m a l r e f l e x t i m e i s t h e e l a p s e d t i m e of r e f l e x a c t i o n . R e f l e x
a c t i o n c o n s i s t s o f b e h a v i o r i n w h i c h t h e r e ac t i o n s u s u a l l y o c c u r a s
d i r e c t a n d i m m e d i a t e r e s p o n s e s t o pa r t i c u l ar s t i m u l i . H e r e w e a r e
dealing with conditioned refle xes, which can be defi ned as built-up
a d j u s t m e n t s t o p a r t i cu l a r e x t e r n a l s t i m u l i ; i. e . , s e e i n g a pu n c h o r
kick coming and responding b y blocking or moving o ut of the path.
N o r m a l r e f l e x t i m e h a s b e e n e x p e r i m e n ta l l y d e t e r m i n ed t o b e
around 2/10 of a second, at th e quickest.

Flyin
ng Front

In
n this photo
ograph, one e interval is equal to 1 /10
/ (0,1) of a
secon
nd. Executio on of a flyying front kick
k takes one intervaal
which means tha at this kick ttakes 1 /10 (0,1) of a second
s to bee
complleted.
 
 
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Thiis picture illu

ustrates a defence
d
aga
ainst a sworrd attack.

 
 
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Front

T h e s p e e d o f a p u nc h w a s a l s o t e s t e d . He r e w e s e e o n e i n t e r v a l
o f 3 0 f l a s h e s p e r s ec o n d . T h e r e f o re , i t t a ke s 0 , 0 3 o r 3 / 10 0 o f a
second for the punch to be co mpleted.

 
 
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All th
hese techniques ca
annot be b
blocked iff we wait until an o
opponent begins to
o
execute tthem, since the ex
xecution tiimes of th
hese techniques arre shorterr than the
e
time it takes for ou
ur reflexes to respo
ond. Therrefore, we
e must be
e able to detect
d the
e
on-comin
ng of these techniques beforre-hand. This
T is the
e reason w
why one must
m gaze
e
at the opponent's eyes
e at all times an
nd not at the legs orr arms.
At this point, itt would be
e advanta
ageous to introduce
e a formula
a which will
w enable
e
the stude erstand t he significance of speed in
ent to furrther unde n the exe
ecution off
Taekwon
n-Do techn
niques.
The fformula we
w can use
e to calcullate the po
ower of an
ny techniq
que is:

MV 2
P = 1/2 M
P stands fo
or power.
1//2 is a con
nstant.
M stands fo
or mass.
V stands fo
or velocity or speed.
This equation clearly reveals whyy developing speed
d is the mo
ost importtant factorr
in develo
oping power.
example, if the mas
For e ss is incre
eased by a factor of
o three (w
with the sp
peed keptt
constant)) then the
e power is
s also incrreased by
y a factor of three. But if the
e speed iss
increased
d by a facctor of thre mass kept constant) then the power is increased
ee (with m i d
by a facto
or of nine.
Hencce, with th
his formula
a we can m
measure the
t powerr of each ttechnique
e:

Power = (1/2
2) x (masss) x (velocitty)2
= (1/2
2) x (masss) x (velociity) x (velocity)
And sspeed (velocity) can be expresssed as
V= (diistance of last intervval) x (1/e
execution time
t of lasst interval))
This experime
ent has been a sim
mple dem n of how fast and powerfull
monstration
Taekwon
n-Do techn
niques can be practticed prop
perly as ta
aught.
This e
experimen
nt is contributed by JJae Hun Kim,
K 3rd degree
d bla
ack belt ho
older.

 
 
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