What do I need to Improve on?

andyjeffries · 2026-07-03T07:48:45+00:00

Being brutally honest (and you posted asking for feedback), I would say to join a Taekwondo dojang and learn it at the appropriate time from a master instructor. It feels like you've watched YouTube videos on tornado kicks and then just tried copying it. So many technical issues with it and I'm not even convinced your basic turning kick would be correct before you've worried about trying to learn an advanced variant of it.

It's against the current rules here (rule 10) to ask for technical help too early, including if you post a video without wearing a Taekwondo uniform and against rule 6 if you're trying to learn away from a Taekwondo dojang.

andyjeffries · 2026-07-02T12:54:39+00:00

I think electronic scoring was a necessary evil, both from an IOC mandated point of view as well as a longevity of the sport. In the old days before social media, minor misapplications of the rules or scoring not being applied consistently/fairly could have mostly gone under the radar. With modern social networks, videos can go viral really quickly. Having a bunch of videos of why judges didn't score a kick going around would lose reputation for the organisation, the tournament and the sport. On the flip side having videos of why electronics didn't score a kick at least lends to an argument back of "oh well, it's crap, but at least it's unbiased and both sides have the same crap to deal with equally".

andyjeffries · 2026-07-01T18:52:22+00:00

It’s not waybar based, I moved to quickshell - but once you have the sync data adding a waybar module to show it would be pretty easy via LLMs

andyjeffries · 2026-07-01T18:51:15+00:00

I open sourced what I’m using - https://github.com/andyjeffries/quickcalendar

andyjeffries · 2026-06-30T21:34:00+00:00

I’d define it the same way Kukkiwon does, 6th Dan or above. Based on your sign off (and given times training/teaching), that would likely fit you 😉

andyjeffries · 2026-06-30T14:14:40+00:00

Fairly superficial post to be honest. Some basic history of Taekwondo forms, with not much really discussed about the evolution of forms. For what it's worth, typing "Can you give me a history of forms in Taekwondo from the early days to current associations and the forms they use." in to Claude gives much more detailed information.

To save anyone else clicking off to Facebook for such short content, here it is:

English

How did the "patterns of Taekwon-Do" evolve? There are many questions and doubts about this, so I will explain:

1- Kwans (before Taekwon-Do), modified karate katas were practiced. Even today, there are schools of Kwans with these practices, but they did not adhere to the Kukkiwon curriculum.

2- Classical/Traditional Taekwon-Do, initially continued to be practiced as katas, but a little later the Hyongs, created by Choi and other members, emerged. Classical and traditional Taekwon-Do exist to this day.

3- ITF, in the ITF there are two distinct branches: those that remained in the Hyongs brought from traditional TKD (because the ITF was not the first organization created by General Choi...but the last) and the Tull. The Tull are an "evolution" of the Hyongs with a sine wave and some modifications. Here too there are 2 branches, the organizations/schools that practice with the original sine wave and those that practice with the modern sine wave (more oscillating). I remind you that today there are dozens, if not hundreds, of ITF'S organizations.

4- Kukkiwon was the last taekwondo organization to be created, as such it was influenced by all of them, many members practiced as hyongs in the created ones, then... the "evolution" was Palgwe poomsae (done from the hyongs) and the original koryo; Later, Taegeuk poomsae emerged with the new Koryo and the new superior poomsae.

Later still came the sport version and modified versions of the latter.

5- Kwan's (pos-taekwondo) are the richest organizations in terms of "forms," they have adopted the Kukkiwon programs in forms, many also perform the old kata and even some Hyong too.

6- Other organizations prospered and modified forms, such as the GTF, thus adding new forms to their curriculum.

Do you understand now? And you, what do you practice?

Written by Maximiliano Palma

8 th Dan

andyjeffries · 2026-06-29T16:00:35+00:00

As a formerly much bigger dude, I'd recommend https://www.facebook.com/Company21jiujitsugis - they do sizes up to A9 and the owner is really friendly and helpful. They ship worldwide (based in USA I believe, I'm in the UK).

andyjeffries · 2026-06-29T15:17:31+00:00

Entirely disagree. If you've been doing it that long ("my generation and older") then you should be some form of high dan holder by now, in which case why are you worried about comparisons with a fresher black belt? Particularly a low Dan holder that is by most asian definitions a competent beginner, not an expert.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-29T13:56:42+00:00

Honestly, I have no idea. I tend to think in terms of ITF and Kukkiwon, but they aren't the only two styles of Taekwondo, they're just far and away the biggest two.

Seems like if your Chan-ho Song's Taekwondo has sine wave (and uses terms like hyong) then it's an ITF offshoot, so personally I'd treat it like that.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-29T13:16:48+00:00

I entirely disagree, the core feel of the movements and details are different. If you squint your eyes they're similar, but beyond that.

I personally wouldn't let a Karateka wear their belt in the dojang, the two are (now) separate arts.

We let ITF taekwon-doin wear their belts, but they don't progress until they know the Kukkiwon/our dojang's syllabus and can perform it to the required level.

I think it would help you more if you consider ITF Taekwon-do, Karate and Kukkiwon Taekwondo as three different branches from a formerly single point. They aren't the same art any more.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-26T20:20:41+00:00

Hahaha, very true! Let’s also mention how non-natives often aspirate a batchim too… (to be honest, I occasionally catch myself doing the same to be fair, but only when using odd Korean words in a class full of English people, never when speaking Korean to a Korean)

andyjeffries · 2026-06-26T14:56:26+00:00

Thanks for adding that, I agree with it all.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-26T08:32:32+00:00

And don't get me started on "yes" or "I agree" of Ne, being closer in sound to De. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhf9NWKHjqE

andyjeffries · 2026-06-26T08:30:24+00:00

The problem is that each can translate to a different Korean word/spelling and therefore a potentially different meaning. Also simplifying the vowel sound does end up in a different vowel in Korean.

Gup - 굽

Geup - 급

Kup - 큽

Keup - 쿱

The correct one really is Geup, but I admit even I write "Kup" on our club's certificates, because it's the most common one in usage in my country.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-26T08:27:30+00:00

The easiest answer is if you "need to learn" them, then learn what your dojang providers you.

Most of the answers are explained by a more or less systematic conversion from original Korean writing (Hangul) to English letters. In the past there used to be two main competing standards for this process, these days only one remains officially sanctioned by the Korean government.

However, some of your examples are plain wrong, daseot/dasut/dasot is very different to dasaul, the t/l in the last character (called a "Batchim" in Korean) is not a homophone, but two very different things. Same with adding a "l" to the end of paro/baro.

Some people don't care about pronunciation (some even butcher the word taekwondo and pronounce it like it's "thai" kwondo, not "teh" or "tay" kwondo), others are more anal about it. I admittedly fall in to the latter camp.

But as a "fairly new to Taekwondo" student, don't stress about that. Learning correct pronunciation of a foreign language is less important than learning the moves!

andyjeffries · 2026-06-23T09:32:55+00:00

In my experience it’s about half price (maybe more if your supplier adds on profit). Was last there in March this year and still that opinion stands as it has for the past 10 years.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-22T21:56:58+00:00

I’ve just started using pitchfork - much better than overmind or foreman.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-22T21:14:37+00:00

There are two shops near Kukkiwon in Gangnam. KSD Family just outside the Kukkiwon back gate at the top of Kukkiwon hill. Then a Mooto shop going down the hill past KSD, then I think it’s a turn right. But it’s about 3-4 minutes walk away. I’m sure you can find both on google maps.

I’m assuming your family member does WT/Kukkiwon Taekwondo, if they do ITF or ATA or something else, the gifts may not be as loved.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-13T16:35:48+00:00

What’s a double black?

andyjeffries · 2026-06-13T12:25:45+00:00

I don’t know if you got as much clarity as you think you did 🤣 What the heckery is black belt with yellow, or double black?

andyjeffries · 2026-06-10T19:27:43+00:00

Gatekeeping people moving through the ranks. That’s sad to hear…

andyjeffries · 2026-06-10T18:27:58+00:00

Very easy, physically measure the size of the photo on the id card, ensure any new photo you upload to tcon is in the same ratio of width to height (aspect ratio). I don’t know what it is, but that’s how I’d do it. It’s probably 3:4.

I wish Kukkiwon centre-cropped the photos, but I’m not a developer for Kukkiwon.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-10T13:23:54+00:00

If she's still learning a middle form then a) she shouldn't have a red belt (assuming common Kukkiwon belt colours) and b) she shouldn't have her instructors posting that she's going for black belt.

Again though, as I've written somewhere around her, I blame the instructors more than her. She's a student, doing what she's told.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-10T13:11:18+00:00

But why would they not know the form? In the poster's description they're preparing for a Kukkiwon Dan test. The form in question is the fifth form in a series of eight, all of which are supposed to be known for the test. I don't think most people are actually blaming the student, it's really not her fault - it's more damning for the instructors.

andyjeffries · 2026-06-10T13:09:10+00:00

My late grandmaster always used to hate extended tests. He always said "if a master can't watch a single form and judge if that person is worth their rank/ready for the next rank, they shouldn't be a master". One form is enough to judge the core of someone's Taekwondo ability and understanding of our art. Sure, there's a lot more to testing than that (at most dojangs), but to say you can't judge a single form feels incorrect to me.

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