Poomse, Goal by Goal

By Merinda J. Sautel, 6th dan

"Thinking about the Goals of Moo Sul Kwan when practicing your poomse (pattern movement or form)."

Blocking During a Form

Goal one encourages the development of healthful orientation by providing opportunities to learn about how the body works and moves.  Learning poomse directly relates to this goal by the very nature of learning different patterns and the moves within each pattern.  To master a poomse, a student must learn each individual move and how to put it together with a series of moves.  Breaking down each move in a poomse gives the student the opportunity to see how the body functions within the poomse.

Goal two is about setting goals and being a self-directed learner.  Learning and practicing poomse is a perfect way to practice being a self-directed learner.  The student must set an individual goal to learn and perfect a poomse and then he or she must use self-directed learning to practice the moves given to him by the instructor until new moves are given.

Goal three is about preparing black belts to extend the teaching of martial arts.  Poomse is a vital part of each student’s training and without it no student can make it to black belt.  The Colorado Taekwondo Institute is a black belt preparation program.  We don’t train our students to be orange belts; we want quality black belts.  Learning poomse is a core requirement to reach black belt and beyond.

Goal four pertains to training upper belts and extending skills beyond the beginner level.  As each student’s training progresses, poomse becomes more complex which complements the multi-faceted training so necessary in becoming an upper belt.

Goal five promotes scholarly activities and creative endeavors.  In CTI, we learn about each poomse, not just the moves.  We also practice poomse in creative ways such as in groups, mirror image, and in different environments such as outside or in swimming pools.

Goal six is more abstract as it pertains to poomse training.  The goal is all about taking Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo to the public and showing what we have as an important sport.  Poomse can be a powerful demonstration tool.  We work hard in CTI to be able to perform poomse individually and in groups.  One should always practice poomse as if performing it in front of an audience.