World Youn Wha Ryu Association Beginner’s Curriculum Handbook Techniques and Forms Required at White Belt Level www.younwha.com © 2005-2012 World Youn Wha Ryu Association, NMMA, LLC White Belt Curriculum Foreword The Beginner’s Curriculum Handbook is designed to be a reference guide to the techniques required at the white belt level as outlined by the Missouri Division of the World Youn Wha Ryu Association. The handbook is not designed as a replacement for training under an instructor certified in the Youn Wha Ryu Taekwondo system. Training and testing curricula are subject to change without notice. Please ask your instructor. 1 Grandmaster Man Hee Han 9th Degree Black Belt World Youn Wha Ryu Taekwondo Association 2 White Belt Curriculum Grand Master Man H. Han Grandmaster Han has stated several times that he is indeed a blessed man. He has had the unique opportunity to train and master several martial arts. He was fortunate to train under three famous martial artists of his time. His first teacher was Son Bop Sa. Master Son was a traveling monk who had observed the young Man Han. He presented himself to the young man’s mother and asked permission to take the boy along with him to educate him in meditation and martial arts. Permission was granted and the six-year-old Man went off with the monk to train and learn. Most of the training Grandmaster Han went through was strengthening and sensitizing of the mind. In other words, he was trained to have a strong "sixth sense" mainly through Zen and other mental activities. His training consisted of focusing the mind through meditation and qigong or breathing exercises. Six years later, the young Han began to long for home and asked his master for permission to go back and see his parents. The monk conceded and let the young man go. It would be the last time he would ever see his master. The second of his famous instructors was a man known as Byung In Yun. Master Yun taught Grandmaster Han a system called Kong Soo, one that predated Tae Kwon Do. Grandmaster Han began training under Master Yun at the age of 13. At the same time, the young Han met Sae Chong Wang. Master Wang was his Youn Wha instructor. Although the Youn Wha system contains forms, it is mainly a conglomeration of high level fighting techniques from all the martial art systems. During this same time period of middle school and high school, Grandmaster Han also studied Hwarang- do, Kendo, Hapkido, and various weapons. He has attained an 8th dan in Hwarang-do, 7th dan in Kendo, 8th dan in Hapkido, 4th dan in Judo and has trained extensively in 24 different weapons: rope, throwing star, double sticks, short stick, six foot staff, Hapkido cane, tonfa, sai, and others. After leaving high school, Grandmaster Han entered the law program at Kon Kuk University and graduated with his Bachelors degree. Grandmaster Han is a respected member of the martial arts community and was on the Board of Directors in the Korean Tae Kwon Do Federation in its early days. He helped design the Palgue forms presently used by the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. During his tenure with the Korean Tae Kwon Do Federation, Grandmaster Han was appointed president of the North Province of Seoul. Besides his martial arts credentials, Grandmaster Han served as a Special Tactics Instructor for the Korean Intelligence Agency, teaching martial art techniques to the Korean military. He was also called to train the 7th US Army Infantry Division from 1970 to 1972 in hand to hand combat and served as Close Combat Instructor for the 2nd Army Infantry Division from 1972 to 1976. In 1976, Grandmaster Han and his family made the choice to immigrate to the United States. His first encounter with the U.S. was New Jersey. From there the Han family moved to Tennessee, Florida, and in 1978, to Dallas, Texas. Grandmaster Han firmly believes that the Youn Wha Ryu is the best system available because of its completeness. He has a dream of reaching the entire world with the Youn Wha system, and through his instructors he hopes to accomplish this. 3 Grand Master Han’s Training Principles Be Polite Be Patient Be Alert Be Brave Do your Best Respect Yourself and Others 4 White Belt Curriculum 5 Stances, Movement & Turns The Bow: Arms to your side, Feet together, head and eyes down, body bent at waist at about 45°. Choon-Bi: The Ready Position -Feet about shoulder width apart, head upright, eyes focused straight ahead, arms extended forward and down, elbows not locked, hands in tight fist, mind alert for instructor’s command. Note: In this manual each stance will be identified as Right Front/Back or Left Front/Back Stance depending on which foot is forward of the body. 6 White Belt Curriculum Front Stance: The Front Stance is executed by placing one foot forward and to the side 1 ½ shoulder 1 ½ width apart. Both feet are flat on the Shoulder floor toes pointing forward. The Width forward knee is bent. The back leg is straight but not rigid. About 80% of your weight is on the front leg. Back Stance: The back stance is primarily used as a defensive posture; however it can and will be used offensively. One foot advances forward while the back foot rotates 90° with the knee pointed in the same direction over the foot. Both knees are bent. About 80% of the body weight is shifted to the back leg. Note the alignment of the heels of the feet. Horse Riding Stance: Feet are a comfortable distance apart pointing in the same direction. Knees are bent, back straight with body in a sitting position. Weight is centered over both feet equally. 7 Youn Wha Stance: Youn Wha Stance is similar to back stance, except the weight is shifted slightly further back locking the front leg straight. The arm over the front leg is in a Down Block position and the other arm is in a High Block position. Advancing in Stance Front Stance is advanced forward with what is called a “C Step”. The back foot is brought up beside the front foot then advanced forward into an identical stance with the opposite foot now positioned forward. The head should remain level during this movement, not bobbing up and down during the forward movement. The Back Stance is advanced by slightly lifting the back foot and sliding it forward of the other foot to its new position, again keeping body position low not bobbing the head up and down during the movement. The Riding Stance is advanced by shifting the weight to the front foot and sliding the rear foot forward ahead of the body as close to a straight line as possible. You will be facing the opposite direction. Keep body position low and head level. 8 White Belt Curriculum Turns Do not be anxious if turns initially are bewildering. This is normal for most students. Please be assured that with little time and practice turns will become effortless and even automatic. Be patient with yourself. Turns will be taught and practiced in the “Basic Technique” and the “Forms” portion of each class period. In Basic Technique all turns are 180° turns (reversing direction), as illustrated by the shaded feet in the Left Front Stance feet position diagram below: The turn is executed by (Step #1) shifting your weight forward to your Left foot sliding the back foot along a straight line (as diagrammed) to the left side. (Step #2) Rotate a 180° turn to the Right on the balls of both feet ending up in a good Right Front Stance facing in the opposite direction. Original feet position Step #1 Move Right foot to left Step #2 Rotate 180° to Right 9 White Belt Basic Techniques No. 1 Down Block Front Stance No. 2 Center Block Front Stance No. 3 Center Punch Front Stance 10 White Belt Curriculum No. 4 Inside Block Front Stance No. 5 Outside Chop Front Stance No. 6 Inside Chop Front Stance 11 No. 7 Double Center Block Front Stance No. 8 High Block Front Stance No. 9 Side Punch Riding Stance 12 White Belt Curriculum Kicking Techniques Learning to kick effectively is a very important part of the World Youn Wha Association system of martial arts. This is in evidence by the number and variety of kicks, martial arts students are required to perform at each belt level testing. The purpose of this section is to outline the proper techniques for the basic kicks taught at white belt, providing the opportunity to improve your kicking effectiveness. Kicking effectively in practice, and especially sparring, is far from easy and requires many hours of practicing proper technique. Effective kicking requires knowledge, timing, flexibility, relaxation, speed, balance, accuracy, and lack of pre-motion. With counsel from your instructor you can decide which of these elements you need to work on the most, but do not neglect to become skillful in all the fundamentals. As you develop in your martial arts training each of the above fundamentals will take on a role of increased emphasis. The following discussion on kicking techniques cannot cover all the information on the subject, and is intended to point out some basic concepts that you should call attention to early in your training in order that you can become effective in your kicking. For explanation purposes each kick is divided into three basic elements: 1) Initial stance 2) Chambering 3) Execution Initial stance takes into consideration the respective position of the target, balance, your body position, and pre-motion.