Lesley Jackson reviews Jim Hogan's comprehensive guide to the first ten patterns from Saju Jirugi at white belt to Chung-Moo for those wishing to take their 1st Dan.
At last, a book has been published that focuses upon ITF Taekwondo as opposed to WTF. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the WTFers out there but they do seem to have much more choice when it comes to reading material than the ITF practitioner. They are simply totally different styles with different patterns and wildly different sparring styles and therefore they warrant two different sets of books. So this book by Master Hogan comes as a welcome aid to those wanting a reference guide when learning their colour belt patterns.
Master Hogan has provided us with a comprehensive guide to the first ten patterns from Saju Jirugi at white belt to Chung-Moo for those wishing to take their 1st Dan. Each pattern warrants its own chapter and it gives very specific details as to each move and which direction to take. The colour pictures and presentation are of a very high standard and well worth the cover price and Master Hogan shows his detailed understanding of Taekwondo by explaining the various nuances and how the patterns progress in difficulty at the beginning of each chapter, with a useful glossary of Korean terms as they arise.
Where Master Hogan goes further than other books I’ve read is the patterns’ applications, as he describes, “The need for this book and its approach are summed up by the phrase ‘explain’ as opposed to ‘show.’” As well as providing the detailed pictorial illustration of the pattern across the top of the page, he also explains the techniques’ self-defence applications as well. This gives the patterns further significance to the student as it gives the patterns a real purpose rather than an increasingly difficult series of random movements we perform in class. One sometimes forgets that as well as a highly competitive sport, Taekwondo is a “self-defence art” as well and these illustrations present the patterns in a slightly different light.
Another pleasing aspect is that Master Hogan stresses the need to use this book as a companion rather than a replacement for training and offers some useful tips to further improve your standard in patterns, such as competing. He also partly portrays some cross-sectional understanding of the patterns by explaining reoccurring moves that are frequently confused, for example the upset fingertip thrust that appears in both Toi-Gye and Chung-Moo and this could have been done in even more detail with a guide to differences and similarities across the pattern range. There was sufficient depth in each pattern to keep the reader interested although there could have been even more historic background given as each pattern in Taekwondo has a special cultural significance to the history of Korea, for those avid Taekwondo fact fans.
For the colour-belt student, this book is well worth buying as a guide to their grading syllabus and I hope Master Hogan is currently producing a sequel for the black belt patterns as well.
Taekwondo Patterns by Jim Hogan
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