ITF Taekwondo Pattern Definitions Quiz

Answer: Chon-Ji

Chon-Ji is the first pattern practiced by a student of Taekwondo. At white belt, a student learns four direction punch and block to acquaint themselves with the movements and crossing for each move. Once at yellow stripe they begin their first pattern, Chon-Ji. Comprised of 19 moves, the pattern is performed in a plus shape(+).

The pattern literally means the Heaven and the Earth. The two halves of the pattern represent the different parts. The low outer forearm block represents the Heavens, because they came first, and the middle inner-forearm block represents the Earth, because it came later.

Answer: The modern day submarine

Choong-Moo is the pattern performed by the black-stripe student. It is a considerably difficult pattern that features 30 movements. The pattern is named after the Great Admiral Yi Sun Sin who was reputed to have built the first armored battleship, the Kobukson in 1592.

It is much like a primitive submarine. It is made of wood, but the top is completely sealed off and can make light underwater submersion. For 1592, that was an architectural marvel. The pattern ends with a left-handed attack to symbolize his regrettable death, having no chance to show his unrestrained potentiality checked by his forced reservation and loyalty to the King.

The particular left handed attack is a reverse punch.

Answer: He was the legendary founder of Korea

Dan-Gun is named after the Holy Dangun, the legendary founder of Korea in the year 2333 BC. Dan-Gun is the pattern practiced by the yellow belt student in Taekwondo. It is comprised of 21 moves. Unusual for a pattern, all of it's punches are executed at high level. The basis for that is to symbolize Dangun climbing up Baekdu Mountain to claim the first territory of Korea.

Answer: Ahn Joong-Gun

Ahn Joong-Gun killed Mr. Ito, a man who played a big part in the infamous Korea-Japan merger. After killing Hirobumi, Joong-Gun was subsequently arrested and taken to Lui Shung prison. There he was executed on November 9, 1910, at the age of 32. Joong-Gun is now practiced by the blue-belt in Taekwondo.

The pattern comprises of 32 moves, that more often than not, prove quite difficult to the first-time practitioner of the pattern.

Answer: The 29th infantry division, where Taekwondo developed into maturity

The Hwarang youth group had five commandments to live their lives by: (1) Be fully loyal to the lord, (2) Love and respect your parents and teachers (3)Trust your friends (4) Never retreat in battle (5) Never take a life without a just cause. The five commandments were meant to turn the soldiers into loyal, respectful and honorable subjects. Most of their rules are the basis for Taekwondo's philosophy today. Hwarang is one of the most energetic color belt patterns.

The spirit of a youthful military group should be portrayed whilst executing the pattern to show understanding and advancing proficiency in the art.

It is first practiced by the red-belt student. The 29th infantry division was where the martial art was developed into maturity.

Answer: Buddhism

Won-Hyo was the noted monk who introduced Buddhism to the Silla Dynasty. He did that a very long time ago, 686 AD to be exact. The pattern Won-Hyo is practiced by the green belt student. Featuring 28 movements, it is the first pattern to feature the fixed stance, the circular block, and side-piercing kicks.

Answer: Toi Gye

Toi-Gye is, in fact, the pen name of Yi-Hwang. There are 37 movements to represent his birth date on the 37th latitude and the pattern diagram means scholar. The scholar diagram can be compared to the appearance of an airplane, with a straight line in the middle, a short wing appearance in the rear, and a longer wing appearance in the middle of the picture.

The pattern is practiced by the red-stripe student. The pattern also features one of the most unusual moves in Taekwondo, the W-Shape block. Essentially, the student must remain in a sitting stance, making their body and block in the shape of a W. Your legs would be where the bottom of the W is and your hands should be the two outside points, whereas the middle represents your head.

Answer: His entire life which had been devoted to furthering the education in Korea, as well as it's independence movement

Do-San is the pattern practiced by the green-stripe student, and is regarded by many as one of the most difficult color belt patterns. Featuring 24 moves, the pattern's twists and turns have quite a tendency to throw people off of their starting mark. Several hidden tricks can be executed, however, to minimize difficulty. Those are up to the practitoners to figure out, not for me to tell. Ahn Chang-Ho tried to rid the Japanese from Korea, but ended up in the United States where most his activism continued. An interesting note was that he was born on November 9, 1878. General Choi Hong Hi, the founder of Taekwondo, was born on November 9, 1918. Ahn Joong-Gun, another anti-Japanese activist was executed on November 9, 1910.

The use of these people in General Choi's patterns are more than coincidence.

Answer: Yul-Gok

Yul-Gok, the blue-stripe pattern, was named after Yi I "The Confucious of Korea". The 38 movements represent his birthplace on the 38th parallel, and the pattern diagram means scholar. It has the most moves of the color belt patterns and premieres some new moves. One of them is a back-fist strike covering distance, where one must land into a balanced X-Stance.

Another is the hooking palm block which would simulate hooking your hand around an opponent's wrist to either deflect or check their moves.

Answer: False

There is a Taekwondo saying that says, "Once you are a black belt, that's when the real learning begins". Once a practitioner must learn the black-belt patterns, they'll know what the saying means. Between 1st and 9th degree black belts, there are 15 more patterns that must be learnt.

They range in length and difficulty. The least moves in a black-belt pattern is 24, but the most is a fatiguing 72 moves. The first degree black belt learns three patterns, the second degree learns three, the third degree learns three, the fourth degree learns three, a fifth degree is down to two, and the sixth degree has one.

In the end, there are 24 patterns in Taekwondo to represent the 24 hours of the day, in essence, the cycle in a man's life.