Bass Korean Martial Art School Tang Soo Do Technique Application for Practical Self Protection

The importance of form training in Tang Soo Do

Forms, hyungs, patterns, poomse, kata call them what you will ………. they are all Self Protection training techniques.

We teach our students how to execute a form first then break each move, turn and technique into practical defensive techniques. From the very first form to the highest students will learn the importance of what they are actually doing, rather than just going through the motions of completing grading requirements.

BKMAS Tang Soo Do training is geared toward Self Protection more than sport orientated styles. Yes we do take part and host competitions, but the main teaching is Self Protection.

BKMAS teaches a core of Tang Soo Do, but is not closed off to learning other techniques and concepts from other Martial Art styles. We take into consideration, however, the idea of “if it isn’t broken - don’t fix it”, the forms we learn were designed for a reason and that reason is Self Protection. Yes, some forms have been changed and adapted by other organisations and we are open to them, but if they show no reasonable/practical defensive moves then they are not the forms for us.

We pride ourselves on our practical Self Protection techniques which are traditional techniques used in a modern situation. We do not teach a student how to defend themselves as this would cause un-necessary hesitation, we teach a student how they may be attacked and let them find their own favoured technique.

For example; if a student is confident doing a low block, then why not use this should they be attacked…the student will do the technique instinctively rather than thinking about what the instructor told them or showed them.

Learning the techniques whilst performing “line work” and performing forms repetitively trains the student to act instinctively rather than the pause that could result in the student getting injured (or worse) in a real-life situation.

Many techniques have been tried (some good some bad) but in recent times BKMAS have decided to go back to basics. From the basic first form up to the highest we are breaking down each technique executed in a form and putting it to practical Self Defence use.

Dan grades will be encouraged to move away from the more traditional techniques and employ technically more difficult ones. Dan grades will also learn pressure point techniques and groundwork to enable them to add more to their arsenal, and defend from different positions.