Purpose of Patterns
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'To perfect fundamental movements'

Historically

Patterns were developed as a result of the strictly enforced law of Hamurabi. This was in effect, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". Clearly practicing martial arts was severely limited as you could not effectively fight a moving opponent. For this reason patterns were developed.

A pattern is in effect a sequence of fundamental movements which represent either attack or defence against an imaginary target or targets.

Benefits of Practicing Patterns

There are a number of benefits to the continual practice of patterns:
  1. To practice many fundamental movements
  2. To develop sparring techniques
  3. To improve the flexibility of movements
  4. To master body shifting
  5. To build muscles (with slow motion techniques for example) and improve breathing techniques
  6. To develop fluid and smooth motions
  7. To gain rhythmical movements (through practice)

Points to Remember When Performing a Pattern

  1. Patterns should begin and end on the same spot (there are exceptions to this rule)
  2. Correct posture, stance and facing must be maintained at all times
  3. Muscles of the body should be tensed or relaxed at the critical moments
  4. The pattern should be performed in a rhythmic motion, with the absence of stiffness or jerky motions (smooth and fluid motions are the key)
  5. Movements should be accelerated/decelerated where appropriate
  6. Perfect each pattern before moving onto the next
  7. Know the purpose of each movement
  8. Perform each movement with realism (and enthusiasm, these are movements against an imaginary opponent (not slow moving slugs!)
  9. Attack and defence techniques should be equally distributed between left and right hands/feet

If you have any questions or queries with regards the site or Taekwon-Do in general then please do not hesitate to email me on AberdeenTaekwonDo@hotmail.co.uk.

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