GM Park Hae Man Seminar October 16, 1999

by Dale E. Yeo

GM Park Hae Man arrived in good spirits looking strong and healthy, although he said that he had a cold. He came to show us more about the details of the forms than he did last year when he came and also to try and tell us more about the reasons for the moves in the forms and the philosophy and history of Tae Kwon Do. I did notice that he was a bit heavier than last year and that the only kicking he demonstrated was relatively low front kicks. The blocking and other moves he did were extremely strong and fast, however. He called up people at the seminar to demonstrate the kicks (both good and bad examples). He said in English, after the translator said that others would demonstrate side and round kicks: "I'm an old man." It was a little sad to hear that, but if others were feeling as I did, we couldn't dwell on it long, as he demonstrated a proper blocking technique on our translator who grimaced, and said that it hurt, and that it would be hard mentally and physically to attack again. (He has taken up golf so one of our gifts to him was some golf balls with Michigan Tech's logo on it.) It made people very nervous to be called up front to demonstrate something, but he called people of all ranks and ages and he was kind and very patient (almost grandfatherly) in his comments, even when he was saying that it was the wrong way to do it. About one hundred and thirty people showed up for our seminar, and it was held in a fairly small area so it was rather crowded trying to do the forms. I almost got kicked in the head more than once and it was a real test of concentration to finish a long form sometimes. On the other hand, we were close enough to hear his translator well and see what he was doing.

He spent some time at the beginning explaining what he thought was the essence of Tae Kwon Do. He described the movements as based on efficiency of motion--minimal motion and energy to produce maximum power and effect. Twisting is at the root of the production of power--particularly the hip, which he mentioned and demonstrated from time to time throughout the whole seminar. He also spoke very much on what I have learned to call "focus." Techniques should be aimed at a small point. The movement should be relaxed as muscle power is gathered and then applied at that small point. He said he liked to talk about physics and science since this was Tech, and then he made an extended analogy to a drill he saw once. It was compressed air in which you could add diamond dust to break the strongest rock. He said the movement should flow like the air but at the point of focus hit like the diamond dust. He also addressed the idea of breaking something without touching it. There are legends about that and he thinks it is theoretically possible. It could work by creating air waves to exert the force. He cited candle training as a simple example. He did not address this point directly but my impression was that he does not believe most of the claims of people currently who say they can break things with their "ki". His actual comment was that you might be able to train to do it, but it would take so much time that it would ruin your life for anything else.

He talked about where he thought Tae Kwon Do was going. He did not say so, but I think he was talking as the head of Chung Do Kwan and where he thinks it is going (and where he wants it to go). He said that Tae Kwon Do is for training the mind as well as the body and that it is going toward martial sport and defense and away from harmful techniques (like those in Hapkido). It is for reaching your maximum potential and testing your own limits. It should be healthy for you. He feels the defensive part of Tae Kwon do is being lost in sport. I feel he does not want to get rid of sport, but he wants it balanced with an emphasis on defense. If there is any one (physical) theme he tried to pound in to us during the seminar while he was teaching us techniques and forms, it was good defense. I looked at our forms that way and I think I can see what he has been seeing. The kicks and the attack techniques are strong and the defensive techniques in our forms tend to be weak. We don't practice them as much because they aren't useful for sparring. He spoke of "murderous" versus "reborn" Tae Kwon Do. There may be some problem with the translation of what he said for the word "murderous." The translator was puzzled for a while and asked GM Park about it before giving the translation. There may be a better word. He also addedthat more time should be spent on breath control and on practicing the other things that make the body react quickly. Sparring does this, but the brain and body should learn to react quickly in other areas also. Another theme of his is that Tae Kwon Do should not be habit but thinking and reacting. He sees, I think, a lot of rote practice of drills and forms and an inability of people to change their habits and practice with their minds engaged. It's there in all of us, surely including me, and I agree that we need to learn to keep our minds more open (in many ways). His philosophy can be summed up from the Kukkiwon Handbook: "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport in accordance with his or her need."

He spoke more about good practice technique at lunch where I got to sit close enough to hear him. (Poor Sang Woo Kim, our translator, hardly got to eat the whole day and was translating between or during bites of food.) He advised that we should not train by hitting anything harder than our bones or anything that breaks the skin. He pointed out that a healthy defender is a better defender. Since Tae Kwon do is about power as well as art, he suggested that we make our own training devices to train for power. He described one that was based on a fishing rod with a leather end and a hard sponge. After the evening banquet he drew a plan of it and explained it to Sang Woo.

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What did he say to us specifically about technique to illustrate his philosophy?
I will try to mention the points he emphasized, especially if he spoke of them at last year's seminar as well. Defense was emphasized. Stances were also emphasized as being vital to balance and therefore the execution of technique. For more information, consult the Kukkiwon Text Book (although it would be a good idea to have someone who can read the Korean available to translate). Here are some points he made:

*Stances:
Ready stance is your own foot's width apart. Put the heel of one foot against and perpendicular to the other. Then turn that foot until it is parallel to the other, pivoting on the front of it. Feet should be evenly parallel and the outside of the feet are no further out from the body than the hips.

Walking stance:
Line a step forward, ends up with weight centered, knees straight, back foot turned out at 30 degrees (line from inside of leading foot grazes the inner side of the back heel).

Front stance:
1 1/2 walking stances with weight slightly forward. (Knee bent so you can barely see your front big toe, slightly wider than walking stance.)

Back (L) stance:
From proper walking stance, pivot front foot on heel 90 degrees into the back stance position. (Weight is toward back and back knee bent.)

Horse stance:
Feet are parallel and the width of two of your own feet. Knees are bent, back straight and looking down with your head you should barely see your big toes.

These stances are pretty short but another of GM Park's themes was that attacks or defenses are stronger and better balanced if performed with your body parts closer to the center of your body. He cited the physics of tops to back up his reasoning.

*Blocks:
For middle blocks, the forearm is at a 90 degree angle to the upper arm for most effective force when blocking. Longer arms can have up to a 120 degree angle, but no more.

Do not use the outside edge of the hand near the wrist for the primary blocking surface but use the outside arm bone just above the wrist. Therefore, for double knife hand blocks, that part of the non-leading arm goes across the solar plexus. (Strikes are still done with the outside edge of the hand near the wrist.)

The wrist is kept straight on blocks.

When executing middle blocks (including knife hand) the whole blocking arm needs to move around and into the block. The elbow moves out and around as well as the arm above it, although at an angle that will make the block be executed at the desired 90 degree angle- so it can't be too far out from the body either. There is a tendency to keep the elbow almost at the same spot on the body with minimal movement and throw the block primarily with the upper arm, which robs it of effectiveness.

At the end of all blocks the shoulders and chest is at a 45 degree angle to the block.

*Kicks:
Side kick is executed by pulling the kicking leg up close to and at the level of the supporting knee and twisting the body to kick out with the knife edge/heel. The foot of the supporting leg turns and points straight back to allow for the hips to deliver power and to avoid injury to the kicker's leg.

After executing a kick, especially in a sparring or self-defense situation, bring the kicking leg back beside or closely in back of the supporting leg. This will provide balance, and a better chance to attack again or move.

*Punches:
The center of the body is the tanjun (four fingers up from the crotch). Fists should be at the side at the level of this area and the punch should begin from that level for maximum power and effect.
We went carefully through forms changing some of the things we had wrong, both as a group and as individuals. Three things that might be of general interest:

Execute techniques in forms and in other sequences making sure the body stays on an even plane. (All motion should go directly into the attack or defense, forward or backward, and not be diverted away, up or down.)

He wanted upper ranks to know Kibon 6 which is mostly kicks, including a combination round/spin round kick.

The black belt form Taebaek had a major change. His philosophical defense of the change was that while Keumgang is meant to have tension moves to build up strength. Taebaek is meant to concentrate on flow and speed (as water) and so it is fast with no tension moves. The first "bridge" has three fast combos that are a quick deflection and a release from a hand grab by twisting out of the hold, then pulling the opponent in for the punch. It is somewhat difficult to explain, but if you see this, GM Park Hae Man is where it came from.

Here are some changes in forms from the way we (or in one or two cases, just I:-) have been doing them.

Kibon 2: The suto and the groin block are done in (an angular) front stance. (Pivots on the left foot).

Kibon 3: The circular low knife block has the blocking hand rising, starting by the ear and twisting down into the low block.

Kibon 6:
Middle block (dbl fists palms down-back stance), front kick, side kick, pivot around back into middle block, front kick, side kick, pivot to middle block, Round kick, spin round (put kicking leg behind), round kick (back leg), to middle block, round kick, spin round (putting kicking leg behind), round kick (back leg), pivot to middle block, pahroh.

Taegeuk 4: Move 19 in front stance the second to the last middle block/double punch combination)

Taegeuk 5: Moves 2 and 4 in "left" and "right" walking stance (like back stance but knees not bent and weight more centered)

Taegeuk 6: Palm block is like other middle blocks in positioning but open handed with palm set to make contact.

Backfists going down last bridge (before kicks into hand) are in alternating left and right walking stances. I asked GM Park about this at the seminar and this is what he showed and what Sang Woo said. The Kukkiwon Text Book shows a walking stance here. I think we've been using walking stance.

Double fist outer block has elbows close to body and arms close to perpendicular at outer edges of body.

Taegeuk 8: First set of double kicks is fast and continuous in the air. Second set has a slight pause after the first kick.

Middle block with fist ends up straight up and down in front of body- with chest out at a forty five degree angle.

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He had a supply of T-shirts, buttons, pins and more usefully, Kukkiwon Tae Kwon Do Textbooks. I bought a text book and had it autographed. He wrote in Korean and then my name in English, then his name. I asked Sang Woo what two of the five words meant (I recognized the words for Tae Kwon Do in Korean). He said they meant "Reborn One." When I think about it, I do feel like that about my Tae Kwon do experiences over the years.

Master Henkel discovered that an old student of GM Park's was a current Professor at Tech and he invited him to the banquet after the seminar. His name is Nam Kim. He said he started TKD associated with the military in Korea under GM Park in 1958 and got his black belt from him in 1960. His first assignment was teaching a group of sergeants to become black belts in one year. He thought it would be impossible, but he did it. He came to the US in 1967 and taught Tae Kwon Do to the military around the U.S.- particularly in Montana, Utah and the Dakotas. He talked about the Vietnam War briefly and spoke of teaching people to kill. Some of us felt from what else he said that he was still working through some trauma from those days. He reached seventh Dan but decided in 1987 that he needed to make a choice and he chose to leave Tae Kwon do in favor of becoming a professor at Michigan Tech. What I thought about after he was finished reminiscing was this. I think there is a difference in philosophy that develops over time between the old masters of Tae Kwon do who have seen lethal combat and those masters who have not. I don't think it is just maturity with age, either. It has to do with their depth of experience of evil. Those who could reconcile these terrible experiences and come through them to become positive leaders, who are kind, tolerant and gentle, as well as firm, deserve to be respectfully listened to and their ideas thoughtfully considered.

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