Koryo: The Form That Changes Everything in Taekwondo

Koryo: The Form That Changes Everything in Taekwondo

In the Korean Taekwondo system, each of the eight basic forms — the Taegeuk poomsae —

represents a fundamental force drawn from the I Ching trigrams.

Heaven. Earth. Fire. Water.

Mountain. Wind. Thunder. Lake.

Taegeuk represents creation and destruction.

Mountain represents stillness.

Water represents adaptability.

Each form teaches the body to embody one of these cosmic forces through movement, breath, and intention.

Then comes Koryo.

The Integration

Koryo is not another force.

It is the integration of all eight.

After you have spent years learning each individual force — the explosive power of fire, the

rooted stability of mountain, the flowing redirection of water —

Koryo asks you to combine them.

To stop practicing individual forces and start wielding them together.

This is what separates someone who does Taekwondo from someone who understands

Taekwondo.

The pattern you walk in Koryo is not arbitrary.

It is a symbol.

It represents high dignity, elevated martial arts — the pinnacle of the Korean martial tradition before you enter master- level territory.

Why It Matters for Practitioners

Most students learn forms as memorization exercises.

Step here.

Block there.

Kick here.

Turn there.

They practice the pattern until they can perform it without thinking.

But Koryo demands something different.

It demands intention.

The calibrating breath at the beginning — palms up, gathering — is not a warm-up gesture.

It is a practice.

In the framework of Korean martial philosophy, it is the conscious gathering

of Chi.

In physiological terms, it is the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system

through controlled diaphragmatic breathing before explosive movement.

Either way, it is not optional. It is functional.

The Double Kick

The most technically demanding element of Koryo is the double kick sequence — a low side

kick that transitions immediately to a high side kick from the same leg without putting the

foot down.

The coaching key:

the bottom kick is a fake.

Nice and loose.

You are throwing the leg out, but the real intention is the top kick.

If you commit too much power to the low kick, you rob yourself of the explosive lift needed for the high kick.

Let the centrifugal force pop it up. One becomes two. Low becomes high. Control becomes power.

That single technique contains the entire philosophy of Koryo: integration. Two forces from

one movement.

Two dimensions from one kick. The ability to operate on multiple levels

simultaneously.

What You Take from the Form

When a student truly understands Koryo, they stop thinking about martial arts as a

collection of techniques. They start experiencing it as a unified system.

Every stance connects to every breath.

Every breath connects to every strike.

Every strike connects to every step.

The form is not a pattern — it is a conversation between body, breath, and intention that happens in real time.

That is what high-level martial arts actually is.

And it's BEAUTIFUL.

And Koryo is where you first encounter it.

Shaun “Beastman” Anderson holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt (Kukkiwon) and teaches Koryo and advanced forms at Martial Arts USA, Huntington Beach.

Explore KCJK Korean Tai Chi at shop.liveyourbeastlife.com.