A Sine Wave Motion Description

Following is a description of the sine wave motion:

“Your waist rises as you twist and falls as you overturn. Rise equals go, fall equals strike. Together they mean to strike like a rolling wave. Each part must be clearly differentiated; all must be done like lightning. This is facilitated by keeping the body relaxed until the final instant.”

Actually, this is from a book on the Chinese internal martial art Hsing-I by Robert W. Smith (Hsing-I: Chinese Mind-Body Boxing, 2003).

Had I not revealed its source, practically all ITF practitioners would have agreed that it is a reasonable description of the “sine wave motion”. I have written in several posts in the past that the principles taught by the so-called “sine wave motion” are hardly unique to ITF Taekwon-Do, as this quotation clearly demonstrates. (You can read a previous mention of the similarities between ITF and Hsing-I here.)

A main reason ITF Taekwon-Do's “sine wave motion” is so controversial is because the term is a misnomer -- it is not an actual sine wave. It may have been an attempt by General Choi who proposed the term to make it sound more scientific. We should keep in mind, of course, that English wasn't his first language, not even his second language (that was Japanese), and neither was he a physicist. I have heard accounts that he adopted the term after that is how someone else (an English speaker) described what General Choi was trying to explain as a “sine wave motion”. I don't know if there is truth to this, but I do believe that if another term than “sine wave motion” was used, even if it was just called “wave motion”, it would have been less controversial.

To get back to the quotation above, it very accurately describe how the so-called “sine wave motion” is generally used for something like a middle punch: The body should be “relaxed until the final instant,” the rising portion is when the waist is pulled back, and it is during the falling that the strike happens.

In another post from long ago, I looked at another Chinese internal style, Chen style Tai Chi Quan, and noted some similarities with the way we understand movement in ITF Taekwon-Do.

Balgyeong in ITF Taekwon-Do and the Taekkyeon Connection

[Update note: 2024. I have changed my mind on this, and do not think that the balgyeong in ITF is from Taekkyeon. However, I'm not deleting this post as this blog is for me also a testament to my own growth and understanding.]

Balgyeong in ITF Taekwon-Do, just like the sine wave motion, did not develop out of nowhere. In my mind there is a definite root from which both these ideas came and I believe that root is to be found in Taekkyeon. If Shotokan Karate is the source for the hard techniques in ITF Taekwon-Do, then Taekkyeon is, at least in part¹, the base for the soft techniques in ITF Taekwon-Do.

In the video clip below, from BBC Three's Mind, Body & Kick Ass Moves, Taekkyeon Grandmaster Do Gi-Hyun talks about the differences in motion between Japanese hard styles, Chinese soft styles, and traditional Korean styles. Yes, these are generalizations, but notice when he demonstrates Korean styles that he is in fact doing a balgyeong motion. (You can see it from around 2:05 to 2:25.)



I have spoken to Grandmaster Do about the fact that ITF Taekwon-Do has much in common with Taekkyeon. He wasn't too open to the possibility and I do not blame him. WTF Taekwon-Do is adamantly claiming a lineage from Taekkyeon, but when one looks at WTF Taekwon-Do’s fundamental movements it doesn’t resemble Taekkyeon at all. WTF Taekwon-Do is too Karatesque for such a claim to be taken seriously. However, the “bounciness” of ITF Taekwon-Do is in my opinion very Taekkyeon-like and having practiced Taekkyeon I’ve become convinced that this is the origin of the sine wave motion. Grandmaster Choi Hong-Hi, ITF Taekwon-Do's principle founder, trained somewhat in Taekkyeon as an adolescent under his calligraphy master. It seems like these early experiences started to seep back into ITF Taekwon-Do during its later development. Apart from the “bounciness” we share with Taekkyeon, there is also a shared “relaxation” and “subtleness.” While the focus in Karate is in speed, the focus in ITF Taekwon-Do is not speed as such, but acceleration—moving from a relaxed stillness and the accelerating into an explosive snap, and back to being completely relaxed again.

So when I claim that ITF Taekwon-Do contains balgyeong, i.e. fajin, I do not mean that ITF Taekwon-Do was directly influenced by Chinese internal martial arts like Tai Chi Quan or even that the balgyeong in ITF Taekwon-Do is exactly the same as the fajin in Tai Chi Quan or Hsing-I Quan. Yes, I claim a commonality, but not a shared root. ITF Taekwon-Do is definitely not the same as Tai Chi Quan or the same as Hsing-I Quan; still, there are things that they share. That Taekkyeon (and by implication ITF Taekwon-Do) and Tai Chi Quan should share the same type of motion should not be considered odd. Many disparate martial arts have overlapping principles and techniques. It is quite foreseeable that Judo, Samo and Greco-Roman wrestling may all have a couple of shared principles and techniques, even though they developed in different parts of the world. There is only so many ways in which we can use the human body; therefore it is inevitable that cultures from around the world should come to similar conclusions. The bow and arrow was used by the Native Americans, ancient Japanese, and Southern Africa's Bushmen—this weapon presumably developed independently and although they may not look exactly the same in these three societies, the mechanics is pretty much exact. Similarly, the fact that we see balgyeong in Korea's Taekkyeon and ITF Taekwon-Do, in China's Tai Chi Quan and Hsing-I Quan, and Russia's Systema, all with presumably different origins, is not too surprising. What is surprising is that the West hasn't made more of this concept, but that is fodder for another post.



Footnote

1. I say “in part,” because besides the Taekkyeon root, Taekwon-Do had some other influences as well in its early development. For instance, Master George Vitale (8th Dan)—one of the foremost Taekwon-Do historians—told me that in its early days Taekwon-Do was exposed to such soft styles as Judo and Hapkido. Be that as it may, it is my conviction that our balgyeong motions germinated from the Taekkyeon connection.

Like Karate or Hsing-I / Crowbar or Ball-on-Chain?

Source

Apparently Bruce Lee once described the difference between strikes in Karate versus the strikes in Kung-Fu as follows: “a Karate punch is like being hit with a crowbar, while a Gongfu punch is like being hit by a metal ball on the end of a chain.” I have not been able to confirm this quotation, but the idea is vivid enough and serves the purpose of this post, which is to ask the question: “Does ITF Taekwon-Do hit like Karate (i.e. like a crowbar) or like Hsing-I or Tai-Chi Quan (i.e. a ball on a chain)?"

The ball-on-chain method is, of course, what is known in the Chinese internal styles as fajin 發勁. (Balgeong 발경 in Korean.) It is described by one martial artist as “impulse” or the “explosive transfer of momentum” and by another as “impact.”

Source

I can think of at least two differences when being hit by a crowbar versus being hit by a ball on a chain. The first is the structural integrity of the crowbar. When the iron rod hits you, it does not change form. It stays hard and rigid. On the other hand, the chain to which the ball is attached does not have the structural integrity of the iron rod. As the ball is swung toward the target the chain might be stretched erect and give the illusion of it being a rigid structure, but once the ball has hit the target and the momentum that kept the chain erect is transferred into the target, the chain collapses. Secondly, the crowbar seems to stay connected to the target longer than the iron ball. After the iron ball hits the target its force is transferred into the target and the ball merely drops. The crowbar, on the other hand, is more likely to continue moving with the target; as if, in a sense, pushing the target or it might bounce off the target. True, the ball might also bounce off, but it is more likely to just drop down. Imagine the correctly played white snooker ball that comes to a quick halt after it hits the other ball as most of its momentum is transferred into the other ball; or Newton's collision ball phenomenon. (These latter examples do not really visualize the essence of balgyeong, which is more concerned with transferring energy into the target, rather than through the target.)

So which is it for ITF Taekwon-Do, crowbar or ball-on-chain?

Well, let's look at refer to the ITF Encyclopaedia in search of the answer. In the section on Concentration in the Theory of Power we find the following statement: “the shorter the time for the concentration, the greater will be the power of the blow” (Vol. 2, p. 20). Another section in the Encyclopaedia concerning attacking techniques states the following: “The moment the attacking tool reaches the target, pull it back . . .” (Vol. 3, p. 17). The attacking tool does not spend unnecessary time on the target. Once the momentum is transferred, it is pulled-back. Regarding punching the Encyclopaedia says that one should: “Avoid unnecessary tension of the arms and shoulders” and “Relax the muscles immediately after the fist has reached the target” (Vol. 3, p. 29).

In other words, the attacking tool acts more like a ball-on-chain, very quickly transferring its momentum into the target and immediately “relaxing” afterwards. The structure is not kept like a crowbar, but instead it relaxes like a ball-on-chain. Techniques in ITF Taekwon-Do also adhere to the principle of kinetic chaining where the “hip is jerked slightly before the action in order to concentrate the larger muscles of the hip and abdomen together with the smaller muscles of the four extremities against the target simultaneously.” This, of course happens sequentially. For example, in a punch, first the hips rotates towards the target, then the shoulders, then the arm is snapped forward—all of this is preceded by motion from the legs based on the “knee spring”—forming one continuous kinetic chain.

If fajin / balgyeong can be defined as kinetic chaining with emphasis on the quick transferal of momentum—impulse or impact—into the target, achieved by relaxed movements before and directly after the blow, then I believe ITF Taekwon-Do more closely follow the ball-on-chain method than the crowbar method. In other words, an ITF Taekwon-Do punch is more like a Hsing-I Quan punch than a Karate punch.

It is important to remember that this has not always been (and in a sense is still not always) the case. Taekwon-Do's father is Shotokan Karate and in the early days of Taekwon-Do the movements very much resembled Karate. The real change towards this balgyeong way of moving occurred later in ITF Taekwon-Do's evolution (I'm guessing the early 80s) even though the principles (i.e. Theory of Power) were set to paper from quite early on.

However, the observant practitioner will discover that ITF Taekwon-Do does not utilise the balgyeong method exclusively. ITF Taekwon-Do seems to be using both the ball-on-chain and the crowbar, depending on the technique. The turning kick, for instance, works on the ball-on-chain principle, while the spinning reverse turning kick (not the reverse hook kick) is based on the crowbar principle. The basic front punch employs the ball-on-chain method while the ridge-hand strike uses the crowbar method. The front snap kick is ball-on-chain; the front pushing kick is crowbar. The twisting kick, ball-on-chain; the downward kick, crowbar. And the side-piercing kick can be performed either on the ball-on-chain principle or on the crowbar principle, depending on the desired effect.

Although there has been an evolution in how ITF Taekwon-Do approaches power generation, it has not completely thrown off its Shotokan Karate heritage. It would seem that power generation in ITF Taekwon-Do is situational; sometimes used typically Karate ways of power generation, other times using balgyeong. The determining factor is usually the technique employed, but could also be the effect desired. What is significant, however, is that some of the most iconic Karate-like movements, for instance the walking stance front fore fist punch or the low forearm block, doesn't strictly employ the same Karate-like mechanics any more.

Thoughts on Fajin / Balgyeong in ITF Taekwon-Do

After my previous post on Hsing-I Quan I've been thinking a lot about “fajin” and how it relates to power generation in ITF Taekwon-Do. Fajin 發勁 is a Chinese word and describes a way of doing one's movements in Chinese internal martial arts. In Korean it is known as “balgyeong” 발경 and is almost exclusively used in relation to Taegeuk-Kwon 태극권, the Korean name for Tai-Chi Quan 太極拳. Fajin / balgyeong is sometimes paralleled to sneezing as the energy is metaphorically (or is it literally?) released from deep within the body, similar to a sneeze.

The video below shows a Tai-Chi practitioner demonstrating fajin in his motions.



Looking at motions that demonstrate fajin, I cannot help but see overlap with movements in ITF Taekwon-Do. I asked Master Kim Hoon about balgyeon but he said that while he is familiar with the concept, it has never been his area of study, so he could not expand on it much. Instead he sent me the following description:

발경(發勁-힘을 발휘함) 육합(六合:三盤(다리,허리,어깨),心,意,氣)을 하나로 뭉쳐 온 몸의 힘을 폭탄처럼 터뜨리는 것. (Source)

The description seems to indicate that there are six elements to balgyeong, grouped as a pair of triplets. The first three elements concern the mechanics of the movements, involving the legs, hips and shoulders (다리, 허리, 어깨). The second group is more esoteric and concerns the heart or mind, the intention or will, and gi (aka ki / qi) or life-energy (心, 意, 氣). Regarding the first group, the description basically talks about coordinating the legs, hips, and shoulders sequentially, to generate explosive power. I will have to think more about the second group and how it relates to ITF Taekwon-Do, but as for the first group, I think the relationship of legs, hips and shoulders are obvious to those familiar with kinetic chaining or sequential motion as employed in ITF Taekwon-Do.

One Tai-Chi website, MartialTaiChi.co.uk, describes a fa-jin strike as follows:

The following illustrations will attempt to show levels of relative muscular tension during a fajin strike.

(Source)

The white portions of the body show only peng or background tension, such as that required to stand up. The power (jin) is generated by firing successive muscle groups, starting with the rear foot and pushing up from the braced rear heel through each muscle in turn, adding acceleration through each successive muscle or group of muscles. The red areas show the body parts where the momentum is currently being accelerated and the orange through to yellow sections show the body settling back to a lower level of tension such as that necessary to brace against the impact. The fighter should not rise up as her power pushes through her body, rather she should sink lower and compress to brace the strike. The whole process should happen in a fraction of a second. Notice how the whole body returns to its background peng levels once the power has been released so that the fighter may return to a state whereby she is equally ready to move any portion of her body.

A typical ITF Taekwon-Do fundamental punch works on similar kinetic chaining principles. Before the shoulders rotate, it is preceded by the turning of the hip, which in turn is part of a greater leg-motion initiated by the knee-spring. Although the process is never so clearly described in the ITF Encyclopaedia, the principles are embedded in the Theory of Power and Training Secrets, as well as other descriptive passages in the ITF Encyclopaedia. I've posted about kinetic chaining a number of times before. (See the “Kinetic Chaining” keyword tag.)

But fajin is not merely kinetic chaining. If it was, then we can describe what a baseball pitcher does as fajin or a pro boxer's cross punch as fajin. Maybe I am wrong, and fajin is merely kinetic chaining, but my gut tells me differently. For one thing, in the video above of the Tai-Chi practitioner demonstrating fajin, one can see why the sneezing metaphor is used. The same sneezing metaphor does not fit the description of the baseball pitcher and western boxer. See for example the Fight Science explanation of kinetic chaining as used by a boxer to achieve a knock-out punch. The kinetic chaining is obvious, but there is no “sneezing.”

Dan Djurdjevic describes fajin as “an explosive transfer of momentum - impulse.” For me, ITF Taekwon-Do is all about momentum, but do we approach our use of moment like the Chen style Tai-Chi or Hsing-I practitioner or do we approach our use of momentum like a boxer?

I have my thoughts and will probably divulge them a little later. In the meantime, what's the method you employ? And how do you think ITF Taekwon-Do go about generating momentum?

Further Reading:

• Impact and Momentum Techniques
• Dan Djurdevic's post on "Understanding the Internal Arts" in which he defines fajin.

Hsing-I Quan and ITF Taekwon-Do

A recent post by another blogger made me look at the Chinese internal style Hsing-I Quan (aka Xingyiquan) 形意拳 again. There are two things that stood out to me when I looked into Hsing-I Quan today.

The first is the striking similarity (no pun intended) in movement between Hsing-I Quan and ITF Taekwon-Do. The blogger quotes Tim Cartmell who describes movement in Hsing-I Quan as “mass in motion” and “controlled falling.” This is probably the central thesis of power generation in ITF Taekwon-Do, which I described before as: "accelerate as much body mass as possible in the direction of the technique, with emphasis on strong exhalation, and without compromising your balance and posture."

Look at the two YouTube videos below. In the first we see the Hsing-I Quan practitioner (Master Hai Yang) performing the Five Elements and Linking Forms. In the second video another practitioner begins with a “water bending” sequence, followed by the Five Elements. The Five Elements Forms are the fundamental sequences in Hsing-I Quang training. If you truly understand the basic principles of movement in ITF Taekwon-Do, the similarities in movement between Hsing-I and ITF Taekwon-Do are glaringly obvious. Notice, for instance, the sense of an intermediate position in the forms. Although the intermediate positions are not as clearly paused as seen in the videos below, it is very clear that ITF Taekwon-Do and Hsing-I Quang have this in common. Also notice, especially in the second video, how the practitioner clearly accelerates his mass by turning his hip in the direction of the technique, while at the same time dropping his body weight down, similar to the motions in ITF Taekwon-Do.





A descriptive line in Wikipedia describes Hsing-I Quan as follows: “. . . xingyiquan uses coordinated movements to generate bursts of power intended to overwhelm the opponent, simultaneously attacking and defending.” ITF Taekwon-Do is all about “coordinated movements to generate bursts of power”and higher level Taekwon-Do training focus on “simultaneously attacking and defending,” as seen, for instance, in One Step Sparring. But it is that idea of “mass in motion” and “controlled falling” that I find most interesting.

This is not the first time I've noticed similarties between ITF Taekwon-Do and Chinese internal martial arts, of which the three main ones are Tai Chi Quan, Baqua Zhang and Hsing-I Quan. In a previous post I referred to the similarities between ITF Taekwon-Do and Chen style Tai Chi Quan.

"to strike or break with the fist"

The second thing I realised while looking into Hsing-I Quan regards the name. I've always assumed that the last character is Kwan (Hangeul: 관 / Hanja: 館), meaning “house” or within the context of the martial arts, “style”; thus the “Style of Hsing-I.” I thought it is the same character one sees in Moo Do Kwan or Soo Shim Kwan. I was completely mistaken. It is not Kwan, but Kwon (Hangeul: 권 / Hanja: 拳). The Korean for Hsing-I Quan 形意拳 is Hyeong Eui Kwon 형의권. The last character in Hsing-I Quan 권 / 拳 is actually the middle character in Tae Kwon Do 태권도 / 跆拳道.

I find this profoundly interesting. It means that General Choi Hong-Hi, the principal founder of Taekwon-Do and also the person who proposed the name Taekwon-Do, specifically chose this character 拳 that is present in the names of such iconic Chinese internal martial arts as Hsing-I Quan and Tai Chi Quan. Kwon 권 / 拳, as every Taekwon-Doin knows, means “to strike or break with the fist.” True, the character can literally translate as fist 주먹 and is often used to denote “pugilism” or "boxing,” but keep in mind that General Choi was a calligraphist and had an intimate knowledge of Chinese (Hanja) characters and must have been fully aware of the connotation this character has with such Chinese martial arts as Hsing-I Quan and Tai Chi Quan. By choosing the name Tae Kwon Do 태권도 / 跆拳道 he was positioning Taekwon-Do within a specific group of martial arts. The first character links it to Korean martial arts (referring phonemically to Taekkyeon); the second syllable referred to traditional Chinese martial arts like Hsing-I Quan, Tai Chi Quan, Shaolin Quan, and so on; and the final character positioned Taekwon-Do as one of the new modern styles, like Aikido and Judo, that emerged in Japan.

I'm pleased with my (belated) 권 / 拳 discovery as it confirms something I have intuitively felt for quite some time. I cannot believe I've overlooked it for so long.