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Patterns: The Devil Is In The Details - Part 4
by Stuart Anslow
Page 1/3
For this final article I look mainly at the 1s degree patterns with some information that you may find useful... Or not, as the case may be.
Toi-Gye’s W Block
Starting off we are going to look at the W Blocks from the 3rd Kup pattern Toi-Gye. Toi-Gye has 6 of these so its important to get them right. My focus is on the way the arms and shoulders move, as I often see students simply turn their fists outwards, then inwards as they a execute this block, with no shoulder or body movement at all, meaning everything stays inline as they turn..
In this pattern there are actually two different ways we turn into the W-Blocks. One is clockwise and the other is anti-clockwise and the shoulders move the opposite way depending on which way you are turning into the blocks.
Following the previous move of Twin Side Elbow Thrust in a Closed Stance (move #12), we turn 90 degrees anti-clockwise into the first of the W Blocks, stepping into a Sitting Stance as we do so. However, as we begin to turn we should offset our shoulders (and in turn our arms) by twisting the shoulders so that the right shoulder moves backwards and the left shoulder moves forward whilst at the same time turning our fists so the palm is facing outwards. This way, as we turn to complete the move, we have actually have a blocking motion that has power generated by the hips and torso, as well as the twisting motion of the arms.
The palms of the fists should face outwards during the movement part of this block, twisting sharply back inwards (facing), as we twist our shoulders sharply into position. The next W-Block is a clockwise motion one, so in this case we would do the opposite with the shoulders and push our left shoulder backwards and bring our right shoulder forwards as we begin the move. And so it is with the other four W-Blocks.
Off-turning the shoulders for W-Blocks
Kwang-Gae’s Back Fist To Double Forearm Block
Moves #23 to #24 and moves #27 to #28 asks the student to chnage from a Sitting Stance to a Walking Stance in consecutive motion (i.e. Without stepping) and although these movements seem the same and are simply executed with the opposite arms, there is a small difference in how they are performed.
The first time you perform them, you move your front (right) foot into the Walking Stance, however, when you repeat the combination the second time, you move you back foot to form the Walking Stance. In both instances it is the right foot that moves. And there are no slides or shifts backwards while performing these combinations either—I have seen students shift on each of the moves, but it is only the next moves (#25 and #29) that asks for the student to shift backwards.
Moves #23 to #24
Moves #27 to #28