

25 Oct 2009

Taekwondo One Step Video

Taekwondo One Step Sparring Curriculum from American Karate and Taekwondo Organization (of whom I'm affiliated with) uses six core one step techniques from the Nam Seo Kwan Taekwondo tradition. One step sparring allows us to gain insight into distancing and timing.

In addition,one steps allow students to practice bringing two hands up and placed between them and their opponents. It also allows students to strike 'from where their hands are,' and not necessarily start the strike from a hip chambered location.

The best thing with one steps are the endless variations that can be included for beginners, intermediates and advance. The strikes can be modified away from the traditional lunge punch to include faster jabs, shorter and punchier attacks. Intermediate and advance taekwondo one step sparring can also deal with the follow up punch from the opponent requiring a more pragmatic response to someone throwing several techniques your way. We do this by performing the first part of the basic one step sparring tactic, and add on what is required dependant on the follow on attack.

In the following video, we see GM Keith Yates performing one of the basic one step sparring techniques from our curriculum.

While there is a tendency towards 'making up' techniques for your one step applications, I would encourage you to look at the form or pattern you are learning at your rank to derive one step applications. There is no use trying to commit your pattern to memory if you are using your one step like a kickboxing exercise - devoid of all connection to your pattern or your daily martial art training.

Here's a video from one of our classes looking at a one step sparring exercise which includes the middle block and lower block from pattern Chon-ji.

If you liked the above, check out the Taekwondo One Step videos we took during our training session recently.

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Colin Wee
Traditional Taekwondo Techniques, Patterns, and Applications at the Traditional Taekwondo Blog. [Subscribe using email or RSS feeds] [Tkd Sitemap]. Colin is a martial art instructor with 25 years of experience across three continents. Colin leads a small Traditional Taekwondo group for adults in Perth, Western Australia.

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BSM said...

I recently had an "ah-ha" moment about the taekwondo one-steps I learned for my black belt. Interesting, it came in my chin na class!

All of our one-steps were practiced against a punch. However, they all work against an open hand grab too.

Your video is a good example of this: It could be a single hand grab or a double hand grab. Either way--in theory--that one-step could work!

It took a different martial art to help me make that connection.

supergroup7 said...

I love how One step allows you to think out strategies, and to adjust/compensate for the differences in your partner's size, height, speed, distance, etc. It also helped me learn which blocks were more effective for which types of attacks.

It's such a great learning tool.

Colin Wee said...

I didn't get one steps when I first had to do them as an exercise. They were slow, contrived, and seemed to not be very much fun. But it became so much better when I gained more skills from other aspects of my training. I didn't just pull out one or two responses, I could pull out 3,5, 7+ responses. Sometimes even remember a sequence of 15+ one steps at a time. Having the opponent send one strike was not a draw back either - as I became more proficient at sparring and other self defence drills, my mind could slow down one or multiple strikes. So one specific strike during a one step did not detract at all from the value of the exercise. Thanks for the response. Colin