PATTERNS PATTERNS are various fundamental movements most of which represent either attack or defence techniques, set to a fixed and logical sequence against an imaginery opponent.

 WE PRACTISE PATTERNS to improve our Tae Kwon-Do techniques, to develop sparring techniques, to improve flexibility of movement, master body-shifting, develop muscles, balance and breath control. They also enable us to acquire techniques, which cannot be obtained from other forms of training.

 THE REASON FOR THERE BEING 24 PATTERNS IN TAE KWON-DO is because the founder Major General Choi Hong Hi, compared the life of man with a day in the life of the earth and believed that some people should strive to bequeath a good spiritual legacy to coming generations and in doing so gain immortality. Therefore, if we can leave something behind for the welfare of mankind, maybe it will be the most important thing to happen in our lives, as the founder says: "Here I leave Tae Kwon-Do for mankind as a trace of a man of the late 20th Century. The twenty four patterns represent twenty four hours, one day or all of my life."

INTERPRETATIONS OF PATTERNS. The name of the pattern, the number of movements, and the diagramatic symbol of each pattern symbolises heroic figures in Korean history or instances relating to historical events.

INTERPRETATIONS OF PATTERNS ARE LEARNT so that you can draw some inspiration and guidance from the examples given of the tenets of Tae Kwon-Do.

CHON JI CHON JI literally means "the Heaven and the Earth". In the Orient it is interpreted as the creation of the world or the beginning of Human History. It is therefore the initial pattern played by the beginner. The pattern consists of two similar parts - one to represent Heaven and the other the Earth

. DAN GUN DAN GUN is named after the Holy Dan Gun, the legendary founder of Korea in the year 2333 B.C.

 DO SAN DO SAN is the pseudonym of the patriot An Ch'ang-Ho (1876-1938) who dedicated hi entire life to furthering the education of Korea and its independant movement.

WON HYO WON HYO was the noted monk who introduced Buddhism into the Silla Dynasty in the year 686

YUL GOK YUL GOK is the pseudonym of the great philosopher and scholar "Yi I", (1536-1584) nicknamed the "Confucious of Korea". The 38 movements represent his birthplace on the 38th Parallel and the diagram represents "Scholar".

JOONG GUN JOONG GUN is named after the Patriot "An Joong Gun" who assassinated Hiro Bumi Ito, the first Japanese Govenor General of Korea, known as the man who played the leading role in the Japan - Korea merger. There are 32 movements in the pattern to represent Mr An's age when he was executed at Lui Shung Prison in 1910.

TOI GYE TOI GYE is the pen name of the noted scholar Ti Hwang (16th Century A.D.), an authority on neo-confuscionism. The 37 movements of this pattern refer to his birthplace on the 37th parallel.

 HWA RANG HWA RANG is named after the Hwa-Rang Youth Group which originated in the Silla Dynasty about 1350 years ago. This group eventually became the actual driving force for the unification of the three Kingdoms of Korea. The 29 movements refer to the 29th Infantry Division, where Tae Kwon-Do developed into maturity.

CHOONG MOO CHOONG MOO was the given name to the great Admiral YI SUN-SIN of the YI Dynasty. He was reputed to have invented the first armoured battleship (Kobukson), which was the precursor to the present day Submarine, in 1592 A.D. The reason why this pattern ends with a left hand attack is to symbolise his regrettable death, having no chance to show his unrestrained potentiality, checked by the forced reservation of his loyalty to the King.