Taegeuk Sam Jang

Quick Facts

About the kata

Taegeuk Sam Jang corresponds to the trigram ☲, fire. The Taekwondo Compendium (nbtkda.com) links fire with the sun's brightness and with the courage the form's bold, flowing movements express. Phoenix Taekwondo reads this symbolism in the rhythm: like a flickering flame, the sequence alternates fast and slow tempo with bursts of energy. Technically, the form is a turning point. For the first time it features the back stance dwit kubi with knife-hand work: a strike to the neck and an outward block. Wikipedia notes the turns — first and last by stepping with the front foot, the middle one by pivoting in place. Typical are chains where the kick ap chagi is at once followed by two strikes. The single kihap, per nbtkda.com, belongs to the final strike baro jireugi. The movement count differs by source and counting method: Phoenix Taekwondo and mtftaekwondo.com give 20, taekwondopreschool.com 30. Its grading level also differs — nbtkda.com and the Korean Wikipedia link it to 6th geup, while clubs test it from 7th to 5th geup. Per Phoenix Taekwondo, the floor pattern follows the character 王, 'king'.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The fire trigram is written as a solid, a broken, and again a solid line; English Wikipedia gives it as 離, Korean Wikipedia as 火, read 이. Per taekwondopreschool.com, the trigram is also linked to east and, in the eight trigrams' family scheme, to the second daughter.

Bunkai – applications

The Taekwondo Compendium (nbtkda.com) explains why the hands open for the first time in this form: an open hand lets you grab the opponent during the technique. The inward knife-hand strike, according to the same source, should end on the side of the neck, just below the ear.

In competition

The June 2025 British Taekwondo para-poomsae rules place Taegeuk Sam Jang among the compulsory forms of class K1, intended for practitioners from 4th to 1st geup, across all age categories. We have not been able to confirm it on World Taekwondo's competition lists.

In grading syllabi

• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 1st poom
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 2nd poom
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 3rd poom
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 4th poom
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 1st dan
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 2nd dan
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 3rd dan
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 4th dan
• Kukkiwon system (poom and dan): 5th dan

Technique Sequence — WT Taekwondo

Breakdown source: phoenixtaekwondo.net

1. #1
   Ap SeogiArae Makgi
2. #2
   Ap SeogiAp Chagi
3. #3
   Ap KubiMomtong Jireugi
4. #4
   Ap KubiBaro Jireugi
5. #5
   Ap SeogiArae Makgi
6. #6
   Ap SeogiAp Chagi
7. #7
   Ap KubiMomtong Jireugi
8. #8
   Ap KubiBaro Jireugi
9. #9
   Ap SeogiSonnal An Chigi
10. #10
    Ap SeogiSonnal An Chigi
11. #11
    Dwit KubiSonnal Makgi
12. #12
    Dwit Kubi
13. #13
    Ap KubiBaro Jireugi
14. #14
    Dwit KubiSonnal Makgi
15. #15
    Dwit Kubi
16. #16
    Ap KubiBaro Jireugi
17. #17
    Ap SeogiAn Makgi
18. #18
    Ap SeogiAn Makgi
19. #19
    Ap SeogiArae Makgi
20. #20
    Ap SeogiAp Chagi
21. #21
    Ap KubiMomtong Jireugi
22. #22
    Ap KubiBaro Jireugi
23. #23
    Ap SeogiArae Makgi
24. #24
    Ap SeogiAp Chagi
25. #25
    Ap KubiMomtong Jireugi
26. #26
    Ap KubiBaro Jireugi
27. #27
    Ap SeogiArae Makgi
28. #28
    Ap SeogiBaro Jireugi
29. #29
    Ap SeogiArae Makgi
30. #30
    Ap SeogiBaro Jireugi
31. #31
    Ap SeogiAp Chagi
32. #32
    Ap SeogiArae Makgi
33. #33
    Ap SeogiBaro Jireugi
34. #34
    Ap SeogiAp Chagi
35. #35
    Ap SeogiArae Makgi
36. #36
    Ap SeogiBaro Jireugi
    kiai