Juche

Quick Facts

About the kata

Juche is a tul of the Chang-Hon series with 45 movements (dotaekwondo.net, kidokwan.org, English Wikipedia). It begins in a parallel stance with a double side elbow. Malvern Taekwon-Do places it among the tuls for 2nd to 3rd dan. According to a 1985 ITF report cited by kidokwan.org, it took over most of its movements from the older tul Ko-Dang, with more difficult techniques added. Helen Miller of the International Taekwon-Do Foundation of New Zealand names among the new elements evasive reverse turning kicks, slow linked kicks, strikes in the air, defensive hook kicks and a two-direction kick. According to the breakdown by dotaekwondo.net, movements 5, 17, 26 and 40 are performed slowly. Movements 5 and 17 combine the side kick yop cha jirugi with the reverse hook kick bandae dollyo gorochagi, and movement 40 is the back kick dwit cha jirugi. In movement 37, as numbered by kidokwan.org, comes the jumping two-direction kick twimyo sangbang chagi: the left leg performs bituro chagi while the right leg simultaneously performs a side kick. In movements 6 and 18, according to kidokwan.org, the jump lands in the crossed stance kyocha sogi, and according to dotaekwondo.net with a back-fist strike dung joomuk naeryo taerigi.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

Per the ITF's interpretation, as given by dotaekwondo.net, Juche (주체, 主體) is the philosophical idea that man is master of everything and decides everything - in other words, master of the world. The essay by the International Taekwon-Do Foundation of New Zealand quotes a longer version: man is also master of his own destiny, and the idea is rooted in Mount Baekdu, symbolizing the spirit of the Korean people. The tul's diagram represents this mountain; the English Wikipedia adds it is Korea's highest. The same essay notes that Juche is also North Korea's state communist ideology and the political system based on it; as a slogan, per the essay, Kim Il-sung promoted it in a speech on 28 December 1955.

Creator and history

According to the English Wikipedia, Ko-Dang (고당, 古堂) was one of General Choi Hong-hi's original 24 tuls. In the early nineteen-eighties Choi removed it from the official syllabus and replaced it with a new tul, which he named Juche. Sources differ on exactly when: Malvern Taekwon-Do gives 1983, the ITF Newsletter No. 2 report from 1985, cited by kidokwan.org, states that Ko-Dang is currently being replaced and that Master Park Jung-tae is holding seminars because of it, and an essay by Helen Miller of the International Taekwon-Do Foundation of New Zealand gives 1986. The reasons given also differ. The 1985 ITF report states Ko-Dang was chosen because he was the last person from historical events selected for the tuls. Helen Miller's essay quotes Choi saying newly developed techniques needed to be represented in the tuls too, while also recalling his 1980 trip with fifteen students to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Per the essay, Ko-Dang is the pseudonym of the patriot Cho Man-sik (1883-1950), who devoted his life to Korea's independence and education movement. The English Wikipedia calls him a well-known anti-communist and writes that Choi removed the tul as he spread his art around the world, especially to North Korea, so as not to offend anyone. We have not been able to judge from the available sources which explanation carries more weight.

Differences between styles

Not all ITF-descended organizations adopted the tul as Juche. According to the English Wikipedia, one of the ITF groups renamed Juche to Kodang in 2008 because the word Juche is associated with the North Korean communist ideology. Kidokwan.org states that the ITF-C branch led by Grand Master Choi Jung-hwa renamed the tul to Ko-Dang and added kihap shouts to it, and that the I.C.T.F. gives it the name Ch'ang Hon. Torbay Taekwondo, which teaches it as Kodang for 2nd dan, interprets the 45 movements as the last two digits of the year 1945, when Korea was liberated from Japanese occupation. This is not the original Ko-Dang, which according to the English Wikipedia had 39 movements. The Global Taekwon-Do Federation, according to the English Wikipedia, still practises the original Ko-Dang and never adopted Juche.

Technique Sequence — ITF Taekwondo

Breakdown source: dotaekwondo.net

1. #1
   Annun SogiAn Palmok Narani Makgi(L)
2. #2
   Sonbadak Golcha Makgi(R)
3. #3
   Annun SogiKaunde Jirugi(L)
4. #4
   Waebal SogiBakat Palmok Narani Makgi
5. #5
   Yop Cha JirugiBandae Dollyo Gorochagi(R)
   Slow
6. #6
   Kyocha SogiDung Joomuk Naeryo Taerigi(R)
7. #7
   Golcho Chagi(L)Yop Cha Jirugi(L)
8. #8
   Annun SogiOpun Sonkut Nopunde Bakuro Ghutgi(L)
9. #9
   Gunnun SogiNopunde Palkup Taerigi(R)
10. #10
    Kyocha SogiSonkal Dung Najunde Ap Makgi(L)
11. #11
    Niunja SogiSonkal Daebi Makgi(R)
12. #12
    Niunja SogiSonkal Twio Dolmyo Taerigi(L)
13. #13
    Annun SogiAn Palmok Narani Makgi(R)
14. #14
    Sonbadak Golcha Makgi(L)
15. #15
    Annun SogiKaunde Jirugi(R)
16. #16
    Waebal SogiBakat Palmok Narani Makgi
17. #17
    Yop Cha JirugiBandae Dollyo Gorochagi(L)
    Slow
18. #18
    Kyocha SogiDung Joomuk Naeryo Taerigi(L)
19. #19
    Golcho Chagi(R)Yop Cha Jirugi(R)
20. #20
    Annun SogiOpun Sonkut Nopunde Bakuro Ghutgi(R)
21. #21
    Gunnun SogiNopunde Palkup Taerigi(L)
22. #22
    Kyocha SogiSonkal Dung Najunde Ap Makgi(R)
23. #23
    Niunja SogiSonkal Daebi Makgi(L)
24. #24
    Niunja SogiSonkal Twio Dolmyo Taerigi(R)
25. #25
    Dwitbal SogiGokaeng-i Chagi(L)Kaunde Palmok Daebi Makgi
26. #26
    Moa Sogi
    Slow
27. #27
    Dwitbal SogiSun Palkup Naeryo Tulgi(R)
28. #28
    Gunnun SogiBandalson Nopunde Bandal Taerigi(L)
29. #29
    Dwitbal SogiSun Palkup Naeryo Tulgi(L)
30. #30
    Gunnun SogiBandalson Nopunde Bandal Taerigi(R)
31. #31
    Gunnun SogiSang Sonkal Nopunde Anuro Taerigi(both)
32. #32
    Gunnun SogiNaeryo Jirugi(R)
33. #33
    Niunja SogiBakat Palmok Naeryo Makgi(L)
34. #34
    Niunja SogiPihamyo Bandae Dollyo Chagi(R)Kaunde Palmok Daebi Makgi
35. #35
    Niunja SogiBakat Palmok Naeryo Makgi(R)
36. #36
    Niunja SogiPihamyo Bandae Dollyo Chagi(L)Kaunde Palmok Daebi Makgi
37. #37
    Twimyo Sangbang Chagi(L)Bituro Chagi(L)
38. #38
    Sasun SogiSang Sonbadak Chookyo Makgi(both)
39. #39
    Dwitbal SogiYop Palkup Tulgi(R)
40. #40
    Guburyo Junbi Sogi BDwit Cha Jirugi(L)
    Slow
41. #41
    Niunja SogiDung Joomuk Soopyong Taerigi(L)
42. #42
    Narani SogiOpun Sonkut Nopunde Anuro Ghutgi(R)
43. #43
    Moa SogiTwimyo Yonsok Jirugi(R)
44. #44
    Gunnun SogiSonkal Ap Naeryo Taerigi(L)
45. #45
    Gunnun SogiKaunde Jirugi(R)