Taekwondo Forms and Patterns

Forms are one of the best ways to understand the different branches of Taekwondo. Depending on the organization and era, forms may be called hyung, poomsae, tul, or simply “forms.” Older Korean martial arts schools often used the term hyung, Kukkiwon / World Taekwondo schools usually use poomsae, and ITF Taekwon-Do schools use tul or “patterns.” [8][32]

Forms are more than memorized movements. They preserve the identity of a system. A form teaches posture, balance, timing, breathing, direction changes, focus, rhythm, stances, blocks, strikes, kicks, and transitions. Forms also show what branch of Taekwondo someone came from. If someone learned Taegeuk forms, they likely came from modern Kukkiwon / World Taekwondo. If they learned Choong-Moo, they likely came from ITF or a Chang Hon-influenced school. If they learned Songahm, they came from ATA. If they learned Ho-Am, they likely came from the ITA / Tiger-Rock line. [30][31][32][33][34]

This is why Taekwondo forms are so important historically. They are not just test requirements. They are fingerprints of different organizations, eras, and teaching methods. The forms practiced in a school can often tell you whether that school came from Kukkiwon, ITF, ATA, USTA / ITA, Tiger-Rock, Tang Soo Do influence, or an older independent American Taekwondo background.

Palgwae Forms

Before the Taegeuk forms became the standard color-belt poomsae for Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo, many schools practiced the Palgwae forms. The Palgwae forms were created during the Korea Taekwondo Association period and were connected to the eight trigrams, similar to the symbols found on the Korean flag. [30]

The Palgwae forms were used for a relatively short official period, but they are still remembered by many older practitioners and are still taught in some traditional schools today. World Taekwondo Academy’s history explains that the Korea Taekwondo Association established the Palgwae poomsae in 1967, but in 1971, after additional kwans joined the KTA, the Taegeuk poomsae were adopted as the newer color-belt forms. [30]

The Palgwae forms are important because they represent an older stage of Taekwondo’s development. They show the transition from the kwan era into a more unified Korean Taekwondo curriculum. Some practitioners feel that Palgwae forms have a more traditional or older feel compared to the later Taegeuk forms because they still show more of the older Karate-influenced structure in some of their movements. [30][31]

For students who trained in older schools, the Palgwae forms may be an important part of their Taekwondo memory. Even though many modern Kukkiwon schools now focus mainly on Taegeuk poomsae, Palgwae forms still help preserve an earlier chapter of Taekwondo history.

Taegeuk Poomsae

The Taegeuk forms became the modern standard color-belt poomsae for Kukkiwon / World Taekwondo-style schools. These are the forms many Taekwondo students practice today before reaching black belt. The Taegeuk series includes Taegeuk Il Jang through Taegeuk Pal Jang, with each form connected to one of the eight trigrams and a symbolic idea such as heaven, lake, fire, thunder, wind, water, mountain, and earth. [8][30]

The Taegeuk forms helped modernize and standardize Taekwondo training. While the older Palgwae forms represented an earlier stage of Kukkiwon / Korea Taekwondo Association development, the Taegeuk forms became the main color-belt curriculum used by many modern schools. [30][31]

For many students, the Taegeuk forms are their first deep introduction to Taekwondo movement. They teach stances, blocks, punches, kicks, turns, rhythm, breathing, balance, and focus. Each form builds on the one before it, gradually adding more difficult movements and combinations as the student moves closer to black belt. [8][9]

After the Taegeuk forms, Kukkiwon students usually move into the black belt poomsae, beginning with Koryo, then continuing into forms such as Keumgang, Taebaek, Pyongwon, Sipjin, Jitae, Chonkwon, Hansu, and Ilyeo. These black belt poomsae introduce deeper ideas about discipline, balance, power, movement, and the connection between body and mind. [8][9][10]

The Taegeuk forms are important because they represent the modern Kukkiwon / World Taekwondo identity. If someone says they learned Taegeuk forms, they most likely came from a Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo background rather than ITF, ATA, or Tiger-Rock.

Original Koryo and Modern Koryo

One interesting part of Taekwondo forms history is the difference between Original Koryo and the modern Kukkiwon Koryo poomsae. Many Taekwondo students know Koryo as the first black belt poomsae in Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo, but there was an older version of Koryo that existed before the modern form became standard. [8][31]

The older Original Koryo was part of an earlier stage of poomsae development, during the period when Taekwondo leaders were still working to standardize forms and curriculum. Later, that version was replaced by the modern Koryo poomsae that most Kukkiwon black belts practice today. [31]

This is important because it shows that Taekwondo forms were not frozen in time. Forms were created, revised, replaced, and standardized as Taekwondo moved from the kwan era into the Kukkiwon era. Just like the Palgwae forms were later replaced by Taegeuk forms as the main color-belt poomsae, Original Koryo was replaced by the modern Koryo form used in Kukkiwon black belt training. [30][31]

Modern Koryo is usually the first black belt poomsae learned after the Taegeuk series. Kukkiwon connects Koryo to the spirit of the Korean people and the historical identity of Korea. The form introduces stronger black belt-level movement, including more advanced stances, knife-hand techniques, side kicks, turns, and sharper changes in direction. [8][9][10]

The history of Koryo is a good reminder that Taekwondo continued to evolve even after it became organized. The forms practiced today are part of a long process of development, replacement, and standardization. When students practice modern Koryo, they are not only learning a black belt form; they are also practicing a piece of Taekwondo’s transition from older kwan-era material into a modern Kukkiwon curriculum.

Chang Hon / ITF Tul and Choong-Moo

The forms that include Choong-Moo belong to the Chang Hon pattern system, which is associated with General Choi Hong Hi and ITF Taekwon-Do. In ITF schools, forms are usually called tul or “patterns.” These patterns were designed to preserve General Choi’s technical ideas, Korean historical themes, and the identity of ITF Taekwon-Do. [6][32]

The official ITF pattern system includes 24 patterns, which are often said to represent the 24 hours in a day. Many of the pattern names honor important people, ideas, or events in Korean history. This gave the forms a strong cultural and historical meaning, not just a technical purpose. [32]

The common Chang Hon color-belt patterns include:

Chon-Ji
Dan-Gun
Do-San
Won-Hyo
Yul-Gok
Joong-Gun
Toi-Gye
Hwa-Rang
Choong-Moo

The black belt patterns include forms such as:

Kwang-Gae
Po-Eun
Ge-Baek
Eui-Am
Choong-Jang
Juche or Ko-Dang, depending on the organization
Sam-Il
Yoo-Sin
Choi-Yong
Yon-Gae
Ul-Ji
Moon-Moo
So-San
Se-Jong
Tong-Il

Choong-Moo is one of the best-known Chang Hon patterns because it is commonly learned near the end of the color-belt curriculum in many ITF-influenced schools. ITF sources describe Choong-Moo as being named after Admiral Yi Soon-Sin, one of Korea’s most famous naval commanders. [32]

This is why someone who remembers learning Choong-Moo probably did not come from a modern Kukkiwon / Taegeuk-only background. They likely trained in ITF, Chang Hon, older American Taekwondo, or a school that preserved ITF-style patterns even if it was not officially part of the ITF.

The Chang Hon forms also became important in American Taekwondo because many older American schools used ITF-style or Chang Hon-influenced patterns before developing or adopting their own curriculum. Some students from older ATA, USTA, ITA, or independent Taekwondo backgrounds remember forms such as Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun, Do-San, Hwa-Rang, and Choong-Moo even if their school was not officially ITF. [16][32]

ATA Songahm Forms

The American Taekwondo Association, or ATA, developed its own forms system known as Songahm Taekwondo. This became one of the major things that separated ATA from older Chang Hon / ITF-style Taekwondo and from Kukkiwon / World Taekwondo. Instead of continuing to use forms such as Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun, Do-San, or Choong-Moo, ATA created its own structured curriculum under Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee. [14][15][33]

ATA states that the Songahm forms were designed by H.U. Lee and that the system includes 18 forms. These forms were created to guide students from beginner level through advanced black belt training. The Songahm forms were also designed to build technical skill, balance, memorization, coordination, and development on both sides of the body. [33]

The name Songahm means “pine tree and rock.” In ATA philosophy, this represents strong roots, growth, patience, and stability. The idea is that a martial artist should grow like a pine tree while developing a solid foundation like a rock. This gave ATA its own identity, not just as another branch of Taekwondo, but as a complete curriculum with its own forms, rank structure, tournaments, and teaching methods. [15][33]

Songahm forms are important because they show how Taekwondo continued to evolve in America. ATA did not simply preserve older Korean or ITF-style forms. It created a new system designed for its own students, schools, instructors, and organization. This made ATA one of the clearest examples of American Taekwondo developing its own curriculum while still keeping Taekwondo’s focus on kicking, forms, discipline, and rank progression. [14][33]

For many students who trained in ATA schools during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, Songahm forms were a major part of their martial arts experience. These forms became closely tied to ATA tournaments, belt testing, leadership programs, and the large commercial Taekwondo school network that helped spread martial arts to families across the United States.

Ho-Am Forms and Tiger-Rock

Ho-Am Taekwondo became associated with the later ITA / Tiger-Rock line. This is important because many students from older USTA, ITA, Taekwondo Plus, or Tiger-Rock schools may remember their forms differently depending on the era in which they trained.

In the earlier USTA / ITA period, many students remember practicing forms that were influenced by the older Chang Hon / ITF-style pattern system. This is why some former students remember forms similar to Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun, Do-San, Hwa-Rang, or Choong-Moo. Later, as the organization developed its own identity, the Ho-Am name became more connected to the ITA / Tiger-Rock curriculum. [16][17][34]

Tiger-Rock testing material lists Ho-Am Form as part of the testing standards, showing that Ho-Am became part of the organization’s structured rank curriculum. [34] This reflects a larger pattern in American Taekwondo history: many organizations began with shared Korean or ITF-influenced material, then later created their own forms, terminology, rank requirements, business model, and school culture.

The Ho-Am forms are important because they show how American Taekwondo continued to change after the early ATA, USTA, and ITA years. Just like ATA developed Songahm forms, the ITA / Tiger-Rock line developed a branded curriculum that helped separate it from Kukkiwon, ITF, and ATA Taekwondo.

For students who trained in Tiger-Rock or ITA schools, Ho-Am forms became part of their identity. They were not just movements for belt testing. They represented the organization’s own approach to Taekwondo, leadership, discipline, curriculum structure, and school development.

Why Forms Matter

Forms are more than just movements students memorize for belt testing. They are one of the clearest ways to see the history, structure, and identity of a Taekwondo system. Each form system tells a story about where that branch came from and what it values.

The Palgwae forms represent an older stage of Korea Taekwondo Association and early Kukkiwon development. The Taegeuk forms represent modern Kukkiwon / World Taekwondo color-belt training. The Chang Hon patterns represent ITF Taekwon-Do and General Choi Hong Hi’s approach to Korean history, movement, and technical theory. The Songahm forms represent ATA’s independent American Taekwondo curriculum. The Ho-Am forms represent the later ITA / Tiger-Rock identity. [8][30][31][32][33][34]

Forms also help students develop important physical skills. They teach balance, stance transitions, breathing, focus, timing, posture, rhythm, turning, and coordination. A student may not fully understand the purpose of every movement at first, but repeated practice helps build body control and technical discipline over time.

Forms can also preserve techniques that may not appear as often in modern sport sparring. Blocks, hand strikes, knife-hand techniques, low stances, turns, self-defense motions, and traditional movement patterns are often kept alive through forms practice. Even when sparring becomes faster, lighter, and more sport-focused, forms continue to preserve older parts of the art.

At the same time, forms should not be treated as empty choreography. When practiced correctly, they should connect to basics, self-defense, footwork, body mechanics, breathing, and mental focus. A form should teach a student how to move with purpose, not just how to remember a sequence.

This is why forms matter in Taekwondo history. They act like fingerprints. If you know the forms someone practiced, you can often tell what branch of Taekwondo they came from, what organization influenced them, and what era of training shaped their martial arts background.

Source Note

Sources used on this page: [6], [8], [9], [10], [14], [15], [16], [17], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34]

Citation numbers refer to the full Taekwondo Sources and References page.