Question 097: Dan-gun punches

Why do all the punches in the Dan-gun pattern go to the high section?

Reply

Some movements in patterns were added for no reason other than, at the time the patterns were created, the creator thought it seemed to be a good thing to do. Although every movement in a pattern is the result of a conscious decision by the creator, that decision may have been based upon the most trivial of reasons, such as “I don’t have much time to spend on creating this pattern before dinner so I will just make all the punches high section punches.” Some people, in an attempt to prove their great wisdom, try to create complicated reasons for why things were done a certain way, when in fact; many things were done in a certain way for no other reason than it just seemed like a good thing to do at the time.

Some “experts” claim to have insight into things that even the creators of the things do not have. These experts claim that great artists, inventors, playwrights, etc. are so good at their work that they do things without even realizing it; and that it takes experts such as themselves to point out these things. When it comes to a pattern, if the creator has not stated a specific reason for a movement in the pattern or has not attributed some historic event to the movement, then the reason for the movement is open to interpretation by any number of experts.

Sometimes, the reason for a movement may reasonably be inferred from the previous movement or movements, such as, a knee strike to the head logically follows grabbing the head and pulling it downward. However, sometimes there is no particular reason for a movement. I do not know of General Choi ever stating a particular reason for only using high section punches in Dan-gun. If he did not state a reason, then there is probably not one.