basically we get 10 basic movements at white belt, and then taegeuk 1-8 up to red belt/black tag (just before black belt)

to be perfectly honest (and at the risk of sounding really stupid, here) I have never heard of 'palgwe' until tonight, although after checking it out on youtube it seems a little more lively than taegeuk, kinda regretting that I have never heard of it :(

tracey xxx

(btw, we are WTF)

Personally I prefer the Palgwe forms myself, like you said they seem more "lively" and perhaps "exciting" to watch. 

Of all the forms that I have learned the only I really love is Taeguek 3 sam jang, as it represents fire for lack of a better term and you can see the eement with how "agressive" the form is.

When I work with lower ranks on poomse I always bring up the elements they represent to help them understand the flow of the form. 

My worse form, and the one I dislike the most is palgwe Sa Jang, for me this form has little flow, but that is my opinion. 

Again I think the cool thing about Kims Academy is the fact that we do both Taeguek and Palgwe because if I need to move out of state and attend another TKD school it would not matter as much if it was only Taeguek or only palgwe since I will have both.  Now learning them they way each school does them may take some time since most schools add thier own little twist to the forms.

Taekwondo will never become 'just one' as in 'just one organization', or 'just one style'.

If it DID... it'd stop being a martial art and it'd turn into something else.

In martial arts, since time immortal, every individual master, has put their OWN stamp on the arts of their choice, and taught them to their students.  Then those students have done likewise... learned what they could, then added their own 'stamp' if you will to the art, and raised their own students, who went on to do likewise and so on.

Frankly, I don't WANT to see the WTF and ITF and ATA and all the organizations start merging... because WE WILL LOSE SOMETHING SPECIAL with each merger.

It's the DIVERSITY that makes our art strong.

I have studied at length, two styles of Taekwondo, (The 'original 20' forms of the ITF and the Songahm style), and have dabbled with WTF forms and at least reviewed a couple of others.

The techniques are all the same folks...  it's all Taekwondo.

The patterns might be different... but we're cut from the same make of cloth.  There's no better, or worse... there's just Taekwondo... and if it's taught by someone who knows what they're doing... it can change lives for the better.

That's the bottom line for me.

Since some are sharing their forms, I'll share the ones I've learned in order of my learning them.

Chon Ji (White belt)
Dan Gun (Yellow belt plain to yellow belt with 3 green tips)
Do-San (Green belt plain to green belt with 3 blue tips)
Won-Hyo (Blue belt plain to blue belt with 1 red tip)
Yul-Gok (Blue belt with 2 red tips to Blue belt with 3 red tips)
Joon Gun (Red belt plain to Red belt with 1 black tip)
Toi-Gye (Red belt with two black tips to Red belt with 3 black tips)
Hwa Rang (1st Degree black belt --recommended---plain black belt)
(Note... at this point I had 3 testing cycles or 6 calendar months to pass another test to make my 'decided' 1st degree black belt, OR I'd revert back to a red belt with 3 tips)
Choong Moo (1st Degree black belt decided with uniform trim or trainee instructors' stripe)
(NOTE... ATA was rolling out Songahm forms by this time and to ready us for more challenging forms that black belts would be doing under the new system... I was taught two more forms, which were the 2nd degree recommended and 2nd degree decided forms, which were...)
Gwang Gae ---(2nd degree recommended form prior to the rollout of Songahm style)
Po-Eun ---(2nd degree recommended form prior to the rollout of Songahm style)

By the time I made 1st degree, the Songahm style was gradually rolled out... I learned Songahm 1-5 and In-wha 1 and 2, before I dropped out...(I was a teenager and got interested in girls and a few other things)

I got back into things formally in 2004... and refreshed my knowledge of all of my techniques AND all of my past forms up to Po-Eun...  THEN I returned to formal training in the ATA, and learned 'in order' in the space of a year...

Songahm 1 -White belt form
Songahm 2 -Orange belt form
Songahm 3 -Yellow belt form
Songahm 4 -Camo belt form
Songahm 5 -Green belt form
In-Wha 1 -Purple belt form
In-Wha 2 -Blue belt form
Choong Jung 1-Brown belt form
Choong Jung 2-Red belt and red/black belt form (red/black is 1st degree recommended black belt in the ATA now)
Shim Jun -1st degree decided black belt

PLUS the single ssahng jeol bong and single bahng ma ee weapons forms.

Since then, I've learned Koryo from a WTF friend of mine, and studied boxing under a local former professional boxer.

I have also audited the Taegeuk and Palgwe forms, and they are quite interesting.  I've also had a look at the Pyung-ahn forms, which were used in TKD training well before I was a twinkle in my dad's eye.

It's kind of awesome really... to look at all the different forms in the TKD world and then to watch people trained in them, show them off.

Taekwondo is an awesome martial art, regardless of the style.

Our school is a Kukkiwon school and we learn taegeuk forms Iljang through Paljang, with a 'basic form' of the basic blocks and punches all in front stance between white and yellow tip.

We also do step sparring, self defense, and tons of drills on kicks, punches, and blocks, as well as WTF sparring and no touch sparring.

Personally, I am in favor of one set of forms during the kyu ranks.  I'd rather learn a small number of forms very, very well with application as well, than know two different sets of forms.  Once students reach Yidan (2nd dan), then branching out to learn other forms is a good idea, but I am of the opinion, and it is just an opinion, that students are best served by a more focused curriculum until that point.

Daniel

The issue with all the diffrent styles of forms is it makes moving from one dojan to another difficult at best.

For example lets say in 3 years I need to move out of state and end up in a small town where the only TKD school is ITF as compared to WTF that I am used to.  I may or may not be able to retain my rank, and I would need to learn a whole new set of forms or look stupid for having a black belt and not knowing any of the required color belt forms.

My Thoughts on 2 Poomse per rank starting at Yellow Belt to Red Belt Yellow Tip

I have heard a few people mention that learning Taeguek and Palgwe seems odd, but really it is not that bad.  IT just means that you need to work twice as hard inorder to learn both forms extremely well for promotional testing and in some ways it shows the differance between those who are weekend warriors and those who really want to improve thier skills. 

The school I attend is also part of the kukkiwon and once we reach first dan our certificates come from there.  The requriements they ask for are just that requirements most masters use them and add to where they wish as long as they cover the basics.

And like I said honestly I enjoy it because again if I need to move to another WTF school I will already be ok if they use either Taeguek or Palgwe line.  Not that I have any plans of moving, but you never know what tommorow may bring.

Actually come to think about it, I had to learn 2 forms per belt in both Shaolin Kempo and Kempo Karate so perhaps I can not be a fair judge on thiis because it is simply what I am used to. Another thing that may effect my thoughts on the matter is that I enjoy working on forms, expecially when I am sick or injuried and can not attend classes. 

I guess another good question to ask is do you simply do your poomse and call it good, or do you do your  poomse with other people punching/kicking in so people can see what you are really doing?  People see forms and think they are some type of pretty dance, but at demos if you get people acting out the parts of who you are blocking or striking they get a completely diffrent impression of it.  When i am working with my after class pracitice group or helping out lower ranks in class I act the part so the person can see exactly what they are doing and it helps out greating.  For shaolin kempo this was actually part of testing, and they also had 2 forms that you had to learn that   were complete opposites and when you had two people do them while facting each other it looks like a perfect fight from a martial art movie, also looks great as a demo.

have a friend who alot of years ago decided to test this theory and tried a form in the middle of a dance floor in a night club, lets just say he nearly knocked someone out, lol