Three New Forms I've learned to show my Dr.s

 This is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD3AAm0Ak34 ,  that I made yesterday July 20, 2015 to show to my good friend and Physical Therapist Michael Rinaldi, my family doctor Dr. Sandy Naples and my Surgeon, Dr. Timothy Domer, so that they can watch it and yell at me for all of the things I'm not suppose to be doing. I made this this video because for some odd reason, they don't appreciate me kicking around in their offices.  

I'm really enjoying training and feel 18 again, or maybe 14 before I became flexible and strong. I wish that the quality of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD3AAm0Ak34 was better but I used a phone rather than a camera, though the good thing is that it hides lots of my errors. 

In this video I did three new poomsae, new in the sense that I'm just learning them. They are Chonkwon, Hansoo and Kong song-kun. Two Kukki Taekwondo forms and the third an ancient Okinawan form based upon tangsoo, Chinese boxing.

Poomsae ChonKwon 

The first poomsae is a Kukki Taekwondo form for childan 7th degree black belt known as Chonkwon which means the power of the universe, the source of everything. Its infinite competence signifies the creation, change and completion.

The primitive people that lived on the peninsula that was to become known as Korea were known as the "Han" people, as in Taehan, and Hankuk. They believed that 9000-ish years ago that "Hwanin" came down from heaven and settled in Korea. His decedents were "the chosen people". 

The diagram of this form is "T" shaped and symbolizes Hwanin coming down from heaven and means we should seek oneness with SOURCE and other human beings. 

Poomsae HanSoo

The second form is also Kukki Taekwondo form for paldan, 8th degree black belt known as Hansoo which means the power of water. Water is necessary for all life. We can only live a few days without water. Water can become subtly yielding and also powerfully destructive like a Typhoon. Water adapts always taking the shape of its container. It can be solid, liquid or gaseous. The movements of Hansoo should flow like water ever changing, shifting. 

The diagram is the pictograph, Chinese word for water.  

Poomsae Kong Song-kun

 The third and final form Kong song-kun is an ancient form which is one of the first to originate in Okinawa and was in the Shorin (Shaolin) linage. This form traveled from Okinawa to Japan via Funakoshi Gichin, Toyama Kanken and Mabuni Kenwa.  

Funakoshi Gichin taught some of the early fathers of taekwondo including Rho Byung-jik, founder of Songmookwan;  Lee Won-kuk who founded Chungdokwan and Chun Song-sup, who founded Yunmookwan Kongsoodo Bu (which would become Jidokwan, the author's style) who brought the form to Korean.  

Okinawan master, Toyama Kanken instructed Yun Byung-in, of Changmookwan; Yun Kwai-byung, who took over Yunmookwan Kongsoodo Bo and changed the name to Kongsoodo Jidokwan; and Kim Ki-whang who essentially taught Toyama's style under the Taekwondo Moodukkwan banner.  All of these masters taught and required Kongsong Kun Hyung in their schools until Kukki Taekwondo created the unique Taekuk and advanced poomsae including: Koryo, Kumkong, Taebaek, PyongWon, ShipJin, Chitae, Chonkwon, Hansoo and Ilhyo. 

Sakugawa-Kanga began his martial arts instruction as a youth in Okinawa under Takahara Peichin and was his student until Takahara died in 1760. After Takahara's death Saukgawa studied with a Chinese expert named KwangShangFu.

Kwang Shang-fu's name translated from its Chinese Kwang Shang-fu is Ku San-ku in Okinawan, Kan-ku in Japanese and Kong Song-kun in Korean. From this point on we will call the Chinese master Kong, the Korean translation of his name. 

Kong was a man of letters and allegedly learned Chuanfa, Chinese boxing from a Buddhist monk, probably from the Shaolin Temple.  Kong was an official emissary of the Qing Dynasty (The Chinese government at the time) and lived in the village of Kanemura, near Naha City in Okinawa around 1762.

Legend has it that one night a young Sakugawa, quite the karate jock of his time unknowingly attacked the aged Kong (Kwang Shang-fu, Ku San-ku) who was crossing a bridge and was easily defeated by the elder man. From this point Sakugawa knew that Kong was the man to help him continue his study of Tote.

As was the tradition in Okinawa at the time, a student could not approach a master and ask to begin training. An introduction was required. So The 23 year old Sakugawa found a younger student of Kong’s and gained the introduction that he needed. Sakugawa studied with Kong for 6 years until the age of 29.

Sakugawa-Kanga became so respected as a martial artist that his nickname became “Tote (Chinese hand, tangsoo)” Sakugawa. Tote Sakugawa began to integrate the skills that he learned from Takahara and Kong developing a kata that was an amalgam of the techniques he learned. Though the movements were a combination of the techniques taught by both Takahara and Kong, the kata became known as Ku san-ku in Okinawan, Kanku kata in Japanese and Kong Song-kun poomsae in Korean.  

Tote Sakugawa-Kanga passed his kata down to Sokon Matsumora also known as Bushi (warrior) Matsumora who taught Anko Itosu. Itosu then developed two versions of Kusanku: Kushanku dai and Kushanku sho and incorporated them into his own system of karate. A very well known student of Itosu's, Gichin Funakoshi became very well known for his mastery of these kata and taught many of the taekwondo founding fathers as mentioned above. 

As Itosu began to teach Tote (Chinese boxing, tangsoo) in the Okinawan school system, he felt that Kongsong Kun was too difficult to teach young children so he created the Pinon kata Which Funakoshi called Heian and in Korea were called PyongAn. If you know the five PyongAn poomsae, you can see most of the moves in Kongsong Kun. 

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 NOTE: Think of "Tote" in the name Tote Sakugawa-Kanga the way you think Ray "Boom-Boom" Mancini. Boom Boom it's a nickname.