Saturday, April 2, 2016

ITF Compared to HMK (Part I of II) - Chief Instructor's Blog April 2016


In a two part blog in October and November 2015, I shared my thoughts on how Han Moo Kwan (HMK) was different from World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF).  Starting in this blog and concluding in next month’s I will attempt to share how HMK is different another large TKD association: International Tae Kwan Do Federation (ITF).  In the first part of this blog, I will provide a brief overview of how ITF came to be, name the key areas where ITF and HMK are different, and describe the first two areas where we differ. 

General Choi Hong Hi was also the founder of one of the original kwans Oh-Do-Kwan and was quite active in collaborating with other founders of the other kwans to unify Tae Kwon Do thorough a newly formed Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA).  Choi was the first President of the KTA.  In 1965, Choi (who was Korea’s country's first ambassador to Malaysia) was appointed by the Korean government to lead a goodwill mission to West Germany, Italy, Turkey, United-Arab Republic, Malaysia, and Singapore.  This trip was significant in that, for the first time in Korean history, it declared Taekwondo as the national martial art of Korea.  Choi returned to Korea and stay briefly to start an international branch of the KTA, but was not successful.  On March 22, 1966, General Choi Hong Hi formed the ITF in Seoul, Korea, with the consent of nine countries.  You can read more about the history and details of ITF on their website (Ref. 1) or on the HMK website (Ref. 2).

 The key differences between HMK and ITF are:
 
  1. Focus
  2. Style
  3. Sparring differences/rules
  4. Forms (Hyung)
  5. Ranking

Focus

Similarly to WTF, I believe much of the differences between ITF and HMK, stem from the difference in their focuses.

Similarly to WTF, one of ITF’s goals was to spread the art form internationally and a great way to exhibit and demonstrate is to hold competitions.  However, ITF is different than WTF in that ITF continues to focus on hands and feet and their competitions include free-sparring, pre-arranged sparring, patterns (hyung), and team patterns.   ITF also focuses on breaking techniques and self-defense. 

The current ITF competition rules, ITF World Junior & Senior Tournament Rules – Rules and Regulations, (Ref. 3) is 21 pages in length covering various topics including but not limited to: Dress, Ring Size, Division of Competition, Point Awards, Warnings, and Disqualifications. 

Based on the competition rules, it appears ITF is focused on speed, precision, and control (but not power).  And while those that learn ITF do also learn self-defense, because they limit the techniques for competition I contend it also limits the effectiveness of the style for self-defense purposes, although maybe less so than WTF since their limitations (targets area and uses of techniques) appear to be less than WTF’s.  In additional, since ITF schools focus on competition and spreading the art form, those schools rarely if ever, teach and practice the energy side.  More on that subject when I go over sparring differences/rules in Part II of this blog.

As noted in the blog in October 2015 and repeated here for convenience, HMK continues to focus on an art form for adults who are more interested in learning and training for self-defense purposes.  In my opinion, competitions have many rules that could be counter to training for self-defense purposes and the two different focuses tend to not mix well.  Because the HMK Club’s focus is on self-defense, we only limit a few techniques or targets for safety reasons.  In addition, in HMK the energy side is taught and considered a critical skill to be able to demonstrate to progress in the art form.  You can read more about what sets HMK apart from other schools on the HMK Association About Us webpage (Ref. 2).  In fact, HMK Club members would probably not do well in competitions – mainly due to the rules. 

Style

ITF teaches and expects their students to use a wave movement for the development of power by generating a maximum of speed and mass through relaxation, breathing, and hip movements.  This concept, called the Theory of Power, was introduced by Choi as both a scientific explanation on where the power comes from and as a way to explain how to develop (more) power in the techniques.

HMK is very linear and expects students to be grounded for the entire technique and transition, and never “relax”.  From our perspective this wave movement would result in being vulnerable at the peak of the wave.  In HMK we teach students to develop more power through cultivating internal and external energy versus body movement. By doing so, physical size and strength have little to do with generation of power.

In part II of this blog, I will discuss the other three areas where HMK differs from ITF.

Regards,
Kelly

"To help others to develop and succeed in life is a reward itself and only has value when nothing is expected in return." ~ Choi Hong Hi (1918-2002), South Korean army general and founder of International Tae Kwon Do Federation (ITF).
 
References:
2.      Han Moo Kwan Association About Us webpage, www.hanmookwan.org/about_us.htm
3.      ITF World Junior & Senior Tournament Rules – Rules and Regulations, January 2013, www.tkd-itf.org/competition/#rules-regulations