Kwang-Gae

Quick Facts

About the kata

Per TKD Coaching, Kwang-Gae is the first tul learned at 1st dan, forming a bridge between colour-belt and black-belt performance; Torbay Taekwondo and the TAGB syllabus also place it at 1st dan. Per the ITF interpretation, it bears the name of King Kwang-Gae-Toh-Wang, the 19th ruler of the Koguryo dynasty, who regained all lost territory, including most of Manchuria. The diagram is meant to show expansion and recovery of lost territory, and its 39 movements refer to the first two digits of 391, when the king took the throne. The tul begins in a parallel stance with the sky hand, and the first movement brings the hands round in a circle into the joined stance Moa Junbi Sogi B. Dotaekwondo.net lists eight movements performed slowly (2, 3, 10, 11, 21, 22, 26 and 30), stamping at movements 23, 27, 31, 32 and 36, a double step at movements 4 and 6, and two pairs of linked kicks, 13–14 and 17–18: a low kick noollo chagi immediately followed by a side kick yop cha jirugi to the middle. TKD Coaching says the tul demands a strong sense of fast and slow, hard and soft.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The tul's name is a shortening of the king's name. The Soo Shim Kwan blog breaks down its characters: 廣 means broad, 開 means to open or begin, and 土 means soil or land. Kidokwan.org writes the tul's name as 광개 (廣開) and the king's name as 광개토태왕 (廣開土太王); English Wikipedia translates his full posthumous name as buried in Gukgangsang, broad expander of the domain, peacemaker, supreme king. Brendan Doogan (kidokwan.org) and Claus Moos (KWON Ingolstadt) note the tul's diagram has the shape of the Chinese character for land. Per choongmootkd.com.au, the opening stance with the sky hand represents the warrior-king amid his army, examining the weather and the sun's position; the circular opening of the hands then signals the army to attack from the flanks. Soo Shim Kwan reads the slow movements along broad ellipses as the king's patient, strategic nature, and the stamping as his military effectiveness. It also proposes another reading of the number 39, namely the king's age at death; English Wikipedia, however, gives 37 or 38 years.

Creator and history

Claus Moos (KWON Ingolstadt) states that Choi Hong-hi published the first English Taekwon-Do textbook in 1965, containing all twenty original patterns; he does not name Kwang-Gae among the four that, according to him, were added in 1968 (Eui-Am, Yon-Gae, Moon-Moo and So-San). We have not been able to establish the exact year this tul was created. The king after whom the tul is named was born, according to the English Wikipedia, in 374 and reigned in 391–412. In 396 he defeated Baekje and captured its capital Wiryeseong, campaigned against the Khitan in western Manchuria, and took control of the Liaodong peninsula. His deeds are recorded on a stele raised in 414 by his successor Jangsu. Brendan Doogan (kidokwan.org) notes that the word expansion in the ITF interpretation clashes with the principle that Korea fought only defensive wars, and considers it an unfortunate choice.

Differences between styles

Sources disagree on which movements are slow and stamped. Dotaekwondo.net gives slow execution also for pushing blocks 21 and 22, and stamping at 23, 27, 31, 32 and 36; the TAGB syllabus (blackbeltschools.com) has the same slow blocks and stamping. Kidokwan.org, however, does not list the pushing blocks among the slow ones and adds a stamp also at movement 37. The name is spelled Kwang-Gae (ITF), Gwang-Gae (English Wikipedia, Andy Jackson) and Kwang-Gye (kidokwan.org).

Bunkai – applications

The author of the Foot Fist Way blog reads the first third of the tul as a breakdown of the sky hand as a defence against a wide strike. After the sky-hand block, the transition into the joined stance Moa Junbi Sogi B can serve as a guillotine choke, the slow strike dwijibo jirugi as a bent-arm lever (maki hiji in jiu-jitsu), and the double step with a hooking palm block as a grab of the back of the neck, after which stepping back into a low knife-hand block pulls the opponent backward. He interprets the circular low knife-hand block in the joined stance (movement 12) as pressing the opponent's head down, followed by two side kicks to the back of his legs.

Technique Sequence — ITF Taekwondo

Breakdown source: dotaekwondo.net

1. #1
   Moa Junbi Sogi B
2. #2
   Gunnun SogiSang Joomuk Dwijibo Jirugi(R)
   Slow
3. #3
   Gunnun SogiSang Joomuk Dwijibo Jirugi(L)
   Slow
4. #4
   Gunnun SogiSonbadak Nopunde Golcha Makgi(R)
5. #5
   Niunja SogiSonkal Najunde Daebi Makgi
6. #6
   Gunnun SogiSonbadak Nopunde Golcha Makgi(L)
7. #7
   Niunja SogiSonkal Najunde Daebi Makgi
8. #8
   Dwitbal SogiSonkal Nopunde Daebi Makgi
9. #9
   Dwitbal SogiSonkal Nopunde Daebi Makgi
10. #10
    Gunnun Sogi
    Slow
11. #11
    Gunnun SogiSonbadak Ollyo Makgi(L)
    Slow
12. #12
    Moa SogiSonkal Najunde Ap Makgi(R)
13. #13
    Noollo Chagi(L)
    Continuous
14. #14
    Yop Cha Jirugi(L)
    Continuous
15. #15
    Niunja SogiSonkal Anuro Taerigi(R)
16. #16
    Moa SogiMe Jumeok Naeryeo Chigi(L)
17. #17
    Noollo Chagi(R)
    Continuous
18. #18
    Yop Cha Jirugi(R)
    Continuous
19. #19
    Niunja SogiSonkal Anuro Taerigi
20. #20
    Moa SogiMe Jumeok Naeryeo Chigi(R)
21. #21
    Nachuo SogiSonbadak Noollo Makgi(R)
    Slow
22. #22
    Nachuo SogiSonbadak Noollo Makgi(L)
    Slow
23. #23
    Annun SogiDung Joomuk Yop Taerigi(R)
24. #24
    Gunnun SogiDoo Palmok Makgi(both)
25. #25
    Gunnun SogiNajunde Bakat Palmok Makgi(L)
26. #26
    Nachuo SogiOpun Sonkut Tulgi(R)
    Slow
27. #27
    Annun SogiDung Joomuk Yop Taerigi(L)
28. #28
    Gunnun SogiDoo Palmok Makgi(both)
29. #29
    Gunnun SogiPalmok Najunde Bandae Makgi(R)
30. #30
    Nachuo SogiOpun Sonkut Tulgi(L)
31. #31
    Gunnun SogiSang Joomuk Sewo Jirugi(both)
32. #32
    Gunnun SogiSang Joomuk Dwijibo Jirugi(both)
33. #33
    Ap Cha Busigi(R)
34. #34
    Niunja SogiSonkal Daebi Makgi
35. #35
    Gunnun SogiNopunde Ap Joomuk Jirugi(L)
36. #36
    Gunnun SogiSang Joomuk Dwijibo Jirugi(both)
37. #37
    Ap Cha Busigi(L)
38. #38
    Niunja SogiSonkal Daebi Makgi
39. #39
    Gunnun SogiNopunde Ap Joomuk Jirugi(R)