Mission 7 of 10 · 1st dan / 1st poom
1st Dan Black Belt — you finished the tutorial
Black is every colour absorbed. It also means you are now a beginner again.
A black belt is not a certificate of mastery — in the Kukkiwon system it certifies that you know the complete basic curriculum well enough to begin learning properly. The traditional reading is that black absorbs all the colours that came before, and that the belt darkens with wear and lightens again over a lifetime.
Your form is now Koryo, and it is a genuine step up: longer, lower, more demanding, and unforgiving of the stance sloppiness colour belts get away with. Most new black belts are visibly worse at Koryo than they were at Pal Jang for about six months.
Techniques
Knifehand low block
sonnal arae makgi
Koryo's opening pair, performed in walking stance. Hand shape must be exact — this is a black-belt form, and hand shape is now graded.
Double side kick
dubeon yeop chagi
Two side kicks off the same leg without setting down — first at the knee, second at the head. Balance is the whole test.
Arc-hand strike
kaljaebi
Open hand, thumb wide, striking the throat with the web between thumb and index finger.
Pull-and-uppercut
danggyeo teok jireugi
One hand pulls the imaginary opponent's head down while the other drives an uppercut into the chin. Both hands must move together.
Deeper stances
gipeun seogi
Koryo demands more depth and length than any Taegeuk. Expect your legs to hate the first two months.
Knee break sequence
mureup kkeokgi
The stamping technique in Koryo represents attacking a joint. It should look deliberate and heavy, not like a step.
Forms
Koryo
고려 · 30 moves
The Koryo dynasty (918–1392) — the origin of the name 'Korea'; represents an educated, unbending spirit
Floor pattern traces the character 士 ('scholar'). Signature techniques: knifehand low block, double side kick, arc-hand throat strike, pull-and-uppercut, and the knee-break stamp.
Terms
Quiz
How many movements are in Koryo?