Taekwon-Do Grappling: Letter & Reply

Someone recently send me the following email. I decided to post it here, with me reply beneath.

Letter:

Hi,
I have a question regarding taekwondo, I will really appreciate your answer on this one :)
My question is whether there is a full and complete grappling curriculum for taekwondo.
By grappling I mean clinch, ground techniques, locks, pins, takedowns etc. Would that be comparable as judo or jujitsu?
Is there any book or encyclopedia that completely and fully demonstrates these techniques?
Thank you in advance.
Looking forward to hearing from you
My best regards

Reply:

Good day,

Thank you for your question.

I can only speak for ITF (Chang-Hon) style Taekwon-Do, and not for WTF Taekwondo. But WTF Taekwondo, as far as I know, do not have a grappling arsenal.

Regarding ITF, grappling style techniques are covered in two parts in ITF Taekwon-Do: First, the general stand-up grappling techniques such as the clinch, wrist locks and so on. These are generally covered under self-defence (hoshinsul) sections of the ITF Encyclopaedia. And second, ground grappling techniques which are known in ITF as ground-techniques (nuwo gisul), with a particular emphasis on specific striking and kicking techniques from the ground and can be found in Volumes 3 and 4 of the ITF Encyclopaedia.

As I understand it, General Choi did not want to standardize self-defence in Taekwon-Do because he believed that self-defence is contextual and so instructors ought to provide the type of self-defence teaching that his or her students are most likely going to need and which are most fitted for their personalities and body types. As such, the ITF Taekwon-Do Encyclopaedia does not provide any set self-defence (including grappling) syllabus. However, based on principles from the ITF Encyclopaedia, National Governing Bodies and instructors compose their own syllabi. This means that in some countries ground techniques and grappling may not be covered, while it is part and parcel of the technical requirements of other countries; similarly the self-defence curriculum may be quite diverse from one school to another -- with some that do teach grappling, and some that don't.

Regarding ITF Taekwon-Do's grapping arsenal, first their is the sweeping and toppling techniques derived from Taekkyeon. Judo had an early influence on ITF Taekwon-Do as some of the original masters had a Judo background; hence many basic break falling, throws and so on are very similar to that of Judo. (The basic principles for throwing and falling techniques with some examples can be found in Vol. 5 of the ITF Encyclopaedia.) Later, Hapkido techniques were incorporated into Taekwon-Do's self-defense arsenal, so joint-locks, pins and so on are quite similar to that of Hapkido. However, the ITF Encyclopaedia does not refer to joint-locking, only joint-breaking, keeping in mind that originally Taekwon-Do was a military combat system, not a civilian self-defense system.

Later still, the sine wave motion was introduced which follows wave and circle principles found particularly in the Chinese internal martial arts like Tai Chi and Xingyi, so some instructors -- like myself -- emulate the Chinese "chin na" type techniques to reflect ITF Taekwon-Do's current evolution. "Chin na" [逮捕] is known as "chepo sulgi" [체포술기] in Korean and translates as "arresting techniques"; i.e. these are the types of techniques used by law enforcement to control a criminal and arrest them.

Regarding a book, Tony Kemerly and Steve Snyder's "Taekwondo Grappling Techniques: Hone Your Competitive Edge for Mixed Martial Arts" is probably the only book I know of that specifically focus on ITF Taekwon-Do grappling techniques. The book follows the ITF patterns and derive specific grappling style skills from each of the patterns. The book therefore provides a systematic way of learning such techniques and could therefore work very well as a grappling syllabus, but since it follows the patterns the techniques all commence from a standing position and therefore does not really cover ground fighting, but it includes various joint locks, throws and some pins. I hope this helps.

Regards,
S

Techniques Can Kill

I've mentioned some safety precautions before when performing the rear naked choke. If precautions are taken, this could be a safe technique to practise, but let's not forget that it is also a lethal technique, as a recent tragic incident shows: A few days ago two cousins were playfully wrestling when the younger cousin got his older cousin in a rear naked choke hold and unwittingly strangled his cousin to death.

In the video below two BJJ instructors discuss the incident, including some of the surprising symptoms of unconsciousness. If you practise this technique, please watch this video.





It is always advisable that if any partner work is done, it is best to do so with a supervisor watching. Even then accidents could happen. Martial arts are, after all, occupied with the act of hurting and killing; of course as a pretence ritual -- that is what martial arts are. However, just because we are pretending, i.e. applying safety precautions, doesn't mean that these things are not lethal. Likewise, just because many of the things we are doing are in fact performed with layers of safety precautions in place--especially by the traditional martial artists, this doesn't mean that they are not dangerous. There are often important reasons for practising techniques, including traditional techniques, in certain "unrealistic" ways.

Train safe!

I saw the following from another blog and thought it well worth it to include here:

Lessons:
Chokes are no joke. Which makes you look more like a chump? Tapping out and patting your cousin on the back. “Wow that was awesome you really got me there I was starting to see stars”. Or being killed by a 14 year old? No one knows why Arcenaux didn’t tap, but if you find yourself in a simular situation just tap. Your not tapping doesn’t impress anyone. Nor does tapping ruin your status, even in competition. There is a reason the tap exists! Better to tap and learn from your experience than break an elbow and be out for 6 months learning nothing.

Law Enforcement:
Again, Chokes are no joke. A 110 lb 14 year old ended a guy twice his size with out trying in 30 seconds. A subject putting their hands around your neck is a lethal force situation. When lethal force is justified USE LETHAL FORCE, you can ease back if control can be gained, but you don’t have time to try less effective lower force options.

The Front Breakfall and Back Breakfall

It is unfortunate that very few Taekwon-Doist are aware that breakfalls are part of Taekwon-Do. Although the ITF Encyclopaedia doesn't go into detail to describe the different breakfalls, it does provide the principles for breakfalling in Volume 5 (p. 341). Breakfalls are crucial fundamental techniques for any martial artist. I'm a strong believer that Taekwon-Do practitioners should start learning correct ways of falling as soon as possible. It is especially the beginner students--who are usually less coordinated and lose their balance more easily--that benefits most from breakfalling.

In this post we will look at two important breakfalling techniques, the front breakfall and the back breakfall.

The following is an edited extract from Taekwon-Do and Ground Fighting: Basic Breakfalls and Rolls ("Nak Beop") which I wrote with the help of the Potchefstroom Dojang for the 2008 edition of the eZine The Sidekick.

Front Breakfall

 Khatija causes Franco to fall using a foot trap technique from the ground. 

A more advanced, although less technical, breakfall technique than the Side Breakfall (Cheuk Bang Nak Beop), is the Front Breakfall (Jeon Bang Nak Beop). When falling forward people often fall on their knees, elbows or wrists which can cause serious injuries to these joints.

Franco demonstrates the front breakfall in the series of photos below. He starts by jumping and shooting out his legs backwards so to get his body horizontally in the air. As Franco approaches the floor he slaps down with both palms, landing on his palms and forearms (palms making contact slightly before the forearms) and the balls of his feet. The feet should be shoulder width apart and the elbows pointing outward at an approximate 45° angle.

Cautions: Since the hips are the body's centre of gravity, people often slam their hips into the floor which can cause injury. It is therefore crucial to keep your hips raised when you land. Also turn your face to the side so that you do not accidentally fall with the front of your face into the floor and break your nose. Do not fall directly onto the elbows.

If you feel too intimidated to start practising the technique from the standing position you can start out from a squatted position or standing on your knees.

Back Breakfall

Having grabbed Gerhard’s kick, Khatija unbalances him with a counter-kick throw. To land safely Gerhard needs to perform a proper back fall.

When falling backwards one should always try to fall on one's side and do a Side Breakfall. The ITF Encyclopaedia admonishes us to fall "to the side rather than the flat of the back" (p. 341). While this is definitely the ideal, it is not always possible and sometimes you may find yourself having to fall on your back. If this is the case your priority should be to expose as little of your spine to the impact as possible. The impact should therefore to spread onto your upper back and shoulders instead.

To perform the Back Breakfall (Hoo Bang Nak Beop) Gerhard, in the series of photos below, starts by crossing his arms in front of his chest. He lowers his centre of gravity by bending his knees and falls backwards, landing on his upper back and shoulders (not the middle or lower back), slapping the ground with both hands and forearms. The back should be kept curved when falling so that the motion is performed in a rocking motion. Raising the legs helps to shift the weight away from the lower back.

Cautions: The angle of the arms from the body shouldn’t be more than 45° as it puts strain on the shoulders. Also remember to keep your chin pulled towards your chest to prevent whiplash of the head.

Beginners should start practising the Back Fall from a sitting or squatting position and use a cushioned surface.

...ooOoo...

Breakfalls should always be practised by beginners under the supervision of a qualified instructor and on cushioned floors. You can work your way up to harder surfaces over time.

References:
Choi Hong-Hi, ITF Encyclopaedia, Volume 5.
Marc Tedeschi. 2004. Hapiko: Tradition, Philosophy, Technique.
Myung Kwang-Sik. Hapkido Special Self Protection Techniques.
Phong Thong Dang & Lynn Seiser. 2006. Advanced Aikido.
Sanko Lewis. 2006. Soo Shim Kwan Colour Belt Handbook.

Ground Technique Training

Last week Sunday I competed in a grappling tournament in Seoul. It's an annual amateur tournament called “King of Ground,” and for this one there were around sixty competitors. I won some and I lost some.

This was actually the first time for me to compete in a grappling tournament. I've trained in grappling and other ground fighting on and off for awhile, but have never really had any interest to do it as a sport. I've retired from sport martial arts some years back for personal reasons, which I may discuss here in the future. So if I have no interest in grappling tournament sparring, why did I compete? The motivation for competing in the grappling tournament is twofold. Although I do have experience in stand-up fighting tournaments and and have sparred against a variety of martial arts, until now I haven't had any tournament experience in grappling. I do not practise grappling for tournament purposes but for self-defence reasons; yet it is probable that I may teach students in the future who may have such ambitions. While it is possible to teach based on theoretical knowledge, there is no doubt that practical experience is often invaluable for teaching. The second reason for my participation was to please my instructor. He really wanted me to compete. Our grappling group is not very big, so I conceded, knowing that participating in tournaments is often good for building group moral.

To be honest, I'm not fond of practising grappling. Rolling around with sweaty people is not my idea of fun. For this reason I actually like training in a full grappling uniform that absorbs sweat, for example a judo gi, better; however, I believe that grappling that does not require a gi is more practical for self-defence, as gi-training often teaches you gi-reliant techniques. Therefore, I favour practising techniques that are not dependent on your opponent wearing a certain type of garment. Although I do on occasion train at a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu academy too, where we wear uniforms, most of my grappling training occurs at a gym that does not use gi.

Grappling training may not be my favourite but I believe it to be an important part of a martial artist's arsenal so I hit the mat two, sometimes three, times a week. As a martial artist there are often things one does not necessarily like doing, but you do it anyway. It is part of being disciplined and if the martial arts teaches you nothing else, hopefully it teaches you discipline.

I've mentioned in a previous post the importance of practising ground techniques in Taekwon-Do. Ground techniques (noowo gisool / 누워 기술) is an acknowledged subsection of ITF Taekwon-Do and although it is often neglected, it should get a fair amount of training, especially—I believe—by higher level practitioners. It is my opinion that beginners should already start with basic break falling and rolling techniques, by the time students are intermediate level colour belts they must have a rudimentary arsenal of ground fighting techniques and by the time they are black belt they should feel comfortable on the ground. Of course Taekwon-Do is first and foremost a stand-up martial art, but since noowo gisool is part of ITF Taekwon-Do, a fair degree of proficiency in ground fighting ought to be expected of all black belts.

So what do you do if your ITF Taekwon-Do instructor does not teach you any ground fighting? Firstly, don't blame him or her. For some unfortunate reasons many ITF practitioners are not aware that ground techniques is an important part of ITF Taekwon-Do traning. It may be that instructor was probably never taught it by his or her instructor. Remember, also, that instructors often teach what they think students want to learn. After all, martial art teachers are in many ways service providers -- providing a teaching service to a particular audience. Suggest your interest in noowo gisool to your instructors and they may start to include it in training if they knew that there is an interest for it by the students. If, after you have requested ground technique training, your instructor still doesn't teach you anything, there are two other options. Get books and material of the Internet. A good introductory book I could suggest is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Renzo Gracie and Royler Gracie. There are some good grappling resources online like the YouTube-channel Submissions 101, for instance. Practise what you learn with a friend. Secondly, cross train at a gym focussing on ground techniques, like a Judo club, Brazilian Jiu-jitusu gym, or an MMA-club. (See my post on cross-training.)

A final caution. Remember that ground fighting in Taekwon-Do is different from normal submission styles. In Taekwon-Do we include a wide variety of techniques from the ground including strikes and kicks, not only submissions and joint attacks. Take some time to read through some of the striking and kicking options from the ground in the ITF Encyclopaedia. See Volume 3, p. 323-332 for ground hand techniques and Volume 4, p. 321-329 for ground foot techniques. (Note that a number of these techniques—like attacking the eyes—would be considered illegal in a typical grappling tournament.)

All of the best with expanding your arsenal for both stand-up fighting and ground fighting.

On Cross-Fighting and Ground Techniques

The shocking video above shows a Taekwon-Do player getting seriously injured during an MMA-style competition because of his lack in ground fighting experience. I know nothing about the two fighters, and cannot say if the Taekwon-Do player is an ITF or WTF practitioner. Regardless, the video illustrates two very important points.

Firstly, that if you train for one type of tournament you shouldn’t, by default, expect to do well in another type of tournament. For instance, a soccer team suddenly pulled onto a rugby field to play against a rugby team is bound to do terrible, regardless how good the soccer team is at soccer. Similarly, one would expect that if the MMA-player were to compete in a Taekwon-Do tournament, following Taekwon-Do tournament rules, it would have been the Taekwon-Do practitioner that would have won. (During different rules it could have been the other person injured – take for instance the knockout Bill Duff, an All-American wrestler and National American Football defensive tackler, received against a WTF player during the Human Weapon episode on Taekwon-Do.)



The second point is that at least basic skill in ground fighting is essential for any stand-up fighter.

Most Taekwon-Do practitioners are unaware of this, but Taekwon-Do, as it was originally practiced, was one of the first mixed martial arts of its time, incorporating Hapkido, Judo and other styles. As such, the early Taekwon-Do practitioners training in the 50s and 60s were versed in ground fighting skills. The “Hapkido” of the time was nothing like the present day Hapkido which resembles Aikido, instead it was known then as Yusul (Yoosool), a Korean branch of Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu, which in these early days was less graceful and more brutal – more of a ground fighting style.

With time these techniques have pretty much disappeared from WTF Taekwon-Do with its extreme focus on sport – Olympic style sparring. In ITF Taekwon-Do some of these skills have remained, but have been marginalized to special “self-defence” techniques and neglected as part of fundamental training. In part, I would guess, because most of these techniques were not systematised into the ITF Encyclopaedia as fundamental techniques, for the simple reason that they were not basic kicks, strikes and blocks, but rather auxiliary techniques taught by instructors as part of self-defence training. Unfortunately, the lack of their documentation has caused them to be mostly forgotten. Some instructors and students seem oblivious to the fact that Ground Techniques “Nowoo Gisool” is an acknowledge subsection of techniques in the Taekwon-Do arsenal. I would go so far as to say that in some Taekwon-Do schools students may go through the ranks without ever learning to do a break fall, hip throw or chocking technique. For many ITF practitioner, the only time they get close to a ground technique is at second Dan level when a kick and punch from the ground are included in one of the patterns. It is a lamentable reality.

If you plan to compete in a tournament, make sure that you train for that tournament, keeping the fighting styles and rules of that tournament in mind. Also, as a Taekwon-Do practitioner, re-embrace our early heritage and include ground fighting into your arsenal of techniques. Since so little of the early grappling techniques are documented I can understand that it is difficult to learn “original” Taekwon-Do ground fighting; this, however, should not be an excuse. You may not have access to yoosool, still the Internet is a rich resource for other very effective grappling technique, ranging from Brazilian Jiu-jitsu to Sambo or Judo. There is no excuse for not learning at least the basics of grappling and ground fighting.

For Soo Shim Kwan students, make sure to practise the ground fighting requirements in the Soo Shim Kwan handbook, as these will introduce you systematically to a basic ground fighting armoury.

Side Break Fall ("Cheuk Bang Nak Beop”)

The following is from the article "Taekwon-Do and Ground Fighting: Basic Breakfalls and Rolls ("Nak Beop")" which I wrote with the help of the Potchefstroom Dojang for the 2008 edition of the eZine The Sidekick. I decided to post parts of the article here on our blog.

Taekwon-Do and Ground Fighting:
Basic Breakfalls and Rolls (“Nak Beop”)
Sanko Lewis and the Soo Shim Kwan – Potchefstroom Dojang

Although often neglected, breakfalling (“nak-beop”) is an indispensable and crucial aspect of Taekwon-Do. Mastering these fundamental techniques are just as important as mastering other defensive techniques such as guarding, dodging and blocking.

It is good for students to start to learn proper breakfalling as soon as possible, because it is especially the beginner students who are most prone to falling, since they still haven’t acquired good balance.

Notice how often practitioners fall during sparring matches at tournaments. Now imagine them fighting in real life and falling on concrete floors, tarred roads and paved pathways. Furthermore, when faced with a sudden take-down technique, the Taekwon-Do practitioner must know how to minimise the impact and recover quickly.

When starting to train breakfalls begin on a cushioned surface and slowly work your way up to harder surfaces.


The (sit-out) Side Fall:

Concerning falling techniques the ITF Encyclopaedia (Volume 5, p. 341.) gives the following advice:

The emphasis in falling is naturally, placed on learning to fall without getting hurt and recovering as quickly as possible.

Falling is practiced from a standing, sitting and lying down position. In [all] cases there are certain basic rules that must be followed:
1. Relax the body.
2. Fall to the side rather than the flat of the back. The falling should be done with a rolling motion distributing the weight on the buttocks, side and shoulder.
3. Absorb the shock by striking the ground or floor with the palm of the hand.
4. Tuck the chin into the chest to avoid the head striking the ground or floor.
5. Raise the legs.

In the photo above Bsb Philip performs a foot reap throw on Charl. This is one of various situations where the Side Breakfall is crucial.

Charl du Plessis demonstrates the Side Breakfall ("Cheuk Bang Nak Beop”) in the series of photos [below]. Charl starts by swinging one leg (his right leg in this case) forward as if someone is sweeping or reaping his leg from under him. He quickly lowers his centre of gravity by bending his weight bearing leg (left leg). Once his buttocks touch the floor he smoothly rolls onto his side-back and shoulder, making sure to keep the contact only on one side of his back (the right side in this case), avoiding rolling over the spine. Charl allows the rolling motion to carry his legs upwards.

Using the palm and forearm Charl slaps the ground to disperse the momentum. The arm should be angled at about 45° from the side of his body. His opposite shoulder and side is raised off the floor. Finally he chambers his legs and arms into a guarded position. Through out the breakfall Charl stays relaxed and keep his chin tucked in to avoid whiplash.

Depending on the situation Charl can deploy various ground kicking techniques or quickly get back to his feet.

Choke Holds

Dear friends,

I've taught the "rear naked choke hold" in class on numerous occasions, stressing its effectiveness and relative safety.

A study posted on a Judo-website lists a number of cases of people dying from choke holds. In most cases the deceased were intoxicated (e.g. drugs), or had heart disease or hypertension. At the end of the article a couple of guidelines are listed. Please scan the article and read the guidelines at the end.

Another article suggests not:

1. To perform a "choking" hold on subjects with cardiac disorders or hypertension.
2. To apply "choking" on youngsters whose central nervous system and heart have not yet attained complete development.
3. To continue to hold after the subject falls unconscious.

For more on chocking techniques, you can visit this web page.

Taekwon-Do regards,

Bsbnim Sanko