Se-Jong

Quick Facts

About the kata

Se-Jong is the second-to-last tul of the Chang-Hon series. The English Wikipedia, grandmaster Paul McPhail (tkdcoaching.com), and the examination syllabus on dotaekwondo.net all place it at 5th dan. The ITF meaning, as given by dotaekwondo.net, dedicates the tul to the "greatest Korean king," Sejong, who invented the Korean alphabet in 1443 and was a noted meteorologist. According to the same meaning, the diagram represents the king, and the 24 movements correspond to the alphabet's 24 letters. The starting stance is Moa Junbi Sogi B. Following the numbering on dotaekwondo.net, movements 15 and 20 are performed slowly, the second of them being the pushing palm block Sonbadak Noollo Makgi. In movement 7, the practitioner jumps into the crossed stance Kyocha Sogi with a back-fist strike; in movement 19, they stand on one leg in Waebal Sogi and block simultaneously high and low. Next come the turning kick Dollyo Chagi, the arc-hand block Doo Bandalson Makgi, and the side elbow strike Yop Palkup Tulgi. McPhail considers it a short tul and, in his ranking of all 24 tuls, places it last: he appreciates that every movement is different, but finds this makes the whole feel disjointed. We did not find a kiai marked in the dotaekwondo.net breakdown.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

Brendan Doogan (kidokwan.org) reads the diagram as the Chinese character 王 (wang), king: a capital I with a third line added mid-height. The top line means heaven, the middle humanity, the bottom earth; the king is the vertical stroke joining the three realms in harmony. Claus Moos (KWON Ingolstadt) reads it the same way. On the movement count: per English Wikipedia, today's Korean spelling uses 24 basic letters, 14 consonants and 10 vowels, though the king himself wrote of 28 in his preface to the new alphabet.

Creator and history

According to the Korean Wikipedia, Sejong (세종, 世宗) was the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty and reigned from 1418 to 1450. It states he created the Hunminjeongeum script in 1443 and proclaimed it on the 29th day of the 9th month of 1446; the English Wikipedia adds that the exact day of publication is not known. During his reign, in 1441, Crown Prince Yi Hyang, later King Munjong, built the rain gauge ch'ŭgugi together with the scholars Yi Ch'ŏn and Chang Yŏngsil; according to the English Wikipedia, Europe did not get a similar device until 1639, thanks to Benedetto Castelli. The New World Encyclopedia states that the king set up an office for publishing works in hangul, and that conservative officials resisted the new alphabet. The Chang Hon Origins Project does not list Se-Jong among the four tuls still missing from Choi Hong-hi's first English-language book of 1965. The exact year the tul was created is something we have not been able to establish.

Technique Sequence — ITF Taekwondo

Breakdown source: dotaekwondo.net

1. #1
   Gunnun SogiNajunde Bakat Palmok Makgi(L)
2. #2
   Niunja SogiSang Palmok Makgi(both)
3. #3
   Yop Cha Jirugi(R)
4. #4
   Gunnun SogiPalmok Chookyo Makgi(L)
5. #5
   Annun SogiSonkal Yop Taerigi(R)
6. #6
   Moa Junbi Sogi B
7. #7
   Kyocha SogiDung Joomuk Yop Taerigi(L)
8. #8
   Gunnun SogiNopunde Ap Joomuk Jirugi(R)
9. #9
   Gojung SogiNopunde Palmok Daebi Makgi
10. #10
    Gunnun SogiSun Sonkut Tulgi(R)
11. #11
    Gunnun SogiDung Joomuk Yop Taerigi(L)
12. #12
    Annun SogiSonbadak Duro Makgi(L)
13. #13
    Dollyo Chagi(L)
14. #14
    Kyocha SogiNopunde Doo Palmok Makgi(L)
15. #15
    Annun Sogi
    Slow
16. #16
    Annun SogiDung Joomuk Ap Taerigi(L)
17. #17
    Sasun SogiSang Sonbadak Noollo Makgi(both)
18. #18
    Gunnun SogiDoo Bandalson Makgi
19. #19
    Waebal SogiNopunde Bakat Palmok Yop Makgi(R)Najunde Bakat Palmok Makgi(R)
20. #20
    Gunnun SogiSonbadak Noollo Makgi(R)
    Slow
21. #21
    Waebal SogiDung Palmok Ap Taerigi(R)
22. #22
    Gojung SogiYop Palkup Tulgi(L)
23. #23
    Niunja SogiSonkal Nopunde Daebi Makgi(R)
24. #24
    Niunja SogiKaunde Jirugi(R)