Four Common Things to Work in Poomse

Erik Albrechtson at Red Rocks

By Erik R. Albrechtson, 5th dan

Poomse is one of the biggest aspects in a CTI student’s training.  On each promotion test, poomse is considered to be about 50% of the student’s testing grade.  Thus, it is important that each student develop each poomse to their top potential.  The only way this can be done is by practicing.  

In order to make each of our poomses into “diamonds”, we need to place some pressure on ourselves. Each poomse needs 500 repetitions to be developed properly.  For 1st dan black belt, each CTI student must know 19 poomses.  At 500 repetitions each, that’s a minimum of 9,500 poomse to get them all down.

Here’s a list of four common things to work on while performing one of those many poomses during practice:

• STANCES – there are seven different poomse stances.  Developing each stance and the transition between them is very difficult.  The best way to master each stance in each poomse is to move slowly and take your time and perform each stance precisely.
• EYES – Maintaining an objective focus is extremely important when practicing poomse.  Eyes are crucial for balance and focus.  In class, when doing poomse in a group keep your eyes forward.
• BLOCKS – Blocks are important basic building block of poomse.  Without blocks, we would not have the means to stop an incoming attack.  A block needs to be performed with greater speed and power than any incoming attacks.
• STRIKES – Each poomse contains nearly as many strikes as blocks.  Each strike needs to be performed with power and speed, but they also need to be very precise.  Each target (solar plexus, philtrum, etc.) is very small.  Therefore, each strike needs to be accurately performed to achieve its maximum efficiency.