Cheonkwon

Quick Facts

About the kata

Cheonkwon is a Kukkiwon master poomsae that both the Taekwondo Compendium (nbtkda.com) and the English Wikipedia place at 7th dan. The Taekwondo Compendium names its goal as the state of jihaeng-ilchi, the unity of knowledge and action, reached through persistent training. Lee Kyong-myung, director of the Institute for Taekwondo Culture Research, counts in an article on mookas.com 26 units called poom and 29 movements. He says it differs from the poomsae Jitae in that it starts in moa seogi stance with the ready posture gyeopson junbi jase, has fewer movements (Jitae has 37) and only one kihap instead of two. The Taekwondo Compendium places its kihap on the side kick yeop chagi. A 2008 study by Hwang and co-authors lists among the new techniques the wing spread nalgae pyeogi, the underside strike bamjumeok soseum chigi, the swinging block hwidulleo makgi, and the mountain push taesan milgi. The Taekwondo Compendium prescribes a slow tempo for several techniques: the ready posture, nalgae pyeogi, taesan milgi and the open-palm block pyeonson oesan makgi should each take about five seconds, and the wrist release bakkat teureo ppaegi and the punch baro jireugi about four.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The Taekwondo Compendium reads the name as the energy that nourishes all things, together with the unchanging laws that hold even when changes in nature and the universe are not visible. As the laws of nature are not random, a person too should follow the rules of right mind and right action. The English Wikipedia states that Cheonkwon literally means heaven, which in the poomsae symbolizes the ruler of the universe, mysterious, infinite and deep, and that the movements are full of reverence, vital force and respect. Lee Kyong-myung and the site Maniareport instead break the name into the characters 天 (heaven) and 拳 (fist); Maniareport translates it as fist of the sky and reads it as the great power of heaven, the basis of all things and itself the universe.

Floor pattern (embusen)

The poomsae's line has the shape of the character ㅜ. Per the Compendium, the upper horizontal line stands for the vast sky and the vertical line for the power of light, acting on earth and its people like the sun, moon and stars. Lee Kyong-myung notes that ㅜ arises from the character 工 by removing its lower horizontal line. Maniareport sees in it a person descending from heaven, guided by its will; a 2008 study by Hwang and co-authors likens the line to a capital T and reads it as a person coming from heaven, following heaven, receiving strength from it and honoring it.

The hardest part

The Compendium clarifies several techniques. In the wing spread nalgae pyeogi, said to gather power, the palms rise to shoulder height with the fingertips at neck height, then push forward with wrists bent 90°. The mountain push taesan milgi unites breath and movement; the hands only come close before the push, without touching, and the front hand's fingertips end up roughly at belt height. In the turning kick to a target dolgae pyojeok an chagi, the arms cover the body until the practitioner completes the first 180° turn, then extends the arm holding the target. The quick steps jajeun bal ditgi go in the order right, left, right, left, in a stance that stays equally low throughout. The underside strike bamjumeok is aimed under the opponent's jaw and ends at the height of the philtrum below the nose; the swinging block's arm straightens in an arc downward and bends again in an arc upward.

In competition

World Taekwondo competition rules in force from 30 September 2024 list the poomsae as Chonkwon. It is compulsory for individuals from the under-50 category (ages 41 to 50) through the under-60 and under-65 categories up to the over-65 category; pairs and teams have the same age-based lists. Cadets, juniors, and the under-30 and under-40 categories do not have it on their list.

Competition status

• Taekwondo WT (Olympic) – WT Taekwondo — Compulsory routine · Seniors, Veterans · team events too · valid from 9/30/2024 ↗

In grading syllabi

• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 7th dan
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 8th dan
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 9th dan