Blocking Standards

 

Up Breathing Standards Warm-up Standard Blocking Standards Striking Standards Kicking Standards Breakfall Standards Grappling Standard

Below you will find a chart comparing the Blocking material of the World Hapkido Federation, Dr. He-young Kimm's book, "HAPKIDO" the HWARANGDO and the KUKSOOLWON. As before the 

1st group of Blocks are those shared by 5 out of five of the groups researched and are coded in Red. 
The 2nd group are Blocks shared by 4 out of the five groups and these are coded Blue.
The 3rd group are Blocks shared by 3 out of five and these are coded Green.
The 4th group are Blocks shared by 2 out of 5-- Violet.
The 5th group are for Blocks that are unique to only one out of the five. They are Auburn and represent the least likely to be retained in the basic material identifying a standard Hapkido curriculum. 


Apparently there are more than a few small issues to be resolved when it comes to the art of Blocking--- in the Hapkido arts. Here are some things I have run into.

a.) More so than in the first two cases --- kicking and striking--- the blocks have a huge range of terms. An additional problem is the one person's "inside" can occasionally be another persons' "outside", so right off there is a matter of direction to address.

b.) Another issue is than not everyone prioritizes the same areas worthy of protection in the same way. For instance, in its most basic applications an Up Block defends the face, Inside and Outside Blocks defend the Chest and a Down Block defends the Groin. This, however does not stop someone from having an Up Block as well as High, Middle and Lower Inside and Outside Blocks to defend head, chest and groin respectively.

c.) And while we are at it there is the matter of all of these blocks being duplicated as a separate group of blocks merely by performing the same block with the hand either open or closed.

d.) Finally there is the matter of just how far one goes in including the role of snaring the identified weapon at the same time one blocks. The result is yet another class of blocks called "hooks".

From what little I have seen the all-time champs for providing the greatest range of blocking options are the KUK SOOL people followed closely by the Hapkido of Kimm He-young. No big surprise there when you consider how much time Kimm spent with the Seo brothers in developing things here in the States.

At any rate I have identified 12 blocks for the most basic applications though the green area identifying the blocks shared by at least two Hapkido arts is split. The first section is numbers and the items seem reasonable for the fundamentals of most Hapkido arts. The second section contains those blocks one would reasonably expect to be part of a more advanced curriculum. Thoughts?

Yon Mu Kwan / WHF  He-Young Kimm  (Hapkido)  Hwa Rang Do  Kuk Sool Won 
1. High Level Block  High Rising  Block  Top Block  Upward Block 
2. Outside Block  High Inside Block  Middle Body Block  Outside Chest Block 
3.  Low Level  Block  Descending Block  Low Block  Downward Block 
4. Double Outside Block  Double-Palm Block  Double Outside Block 
5. Inside Block  Forearm Block  Middle Forearm Block 
6. Rising X-Block  X-Block  Upward X-Block 
7. Downwards X-Block  X-Block  Downward X-Block 
8. High-Low Block  Double High-Low  Block 
9. Double Inside Block  Double Inside Block 
10. Inside Circle Block  Inside Circular Block 
11. Outside Circle Block  Outside Circular Block 
12. Knifehand Block  Inside Knifehand Block 
Low Outside Block  Outside Low Block 
Low Inside Block  Inside Low Block 
High Outside Block  Outside Face Block 
High Inside Block  Inside Face Block 
Downward Palm Block  Low Palm Block 
High Open-hand Block  Double Open-hand Inside Block 
Outside Wrapping Chest Block  Outside Wrapping Chest Block 
Inside Wrapping Chest Block  Inside Wrapping Chest Block 
Wrapping Block  Inside Wrapping Low Block 
Outside Wrapping Block  Wrapping Right Head Block 
    Inside Praying Mantis Block  Praying Mantis Block 
Outside Wrapping Low Block 
Rising Open-hand Block 
Wrist Block 
Inside Chest Block 
High Open-Hand X-Block 
Low Open-Hand X-Block 
Double-Open-hand: High/Low Block 
Outside Wrapping Head Block 
Upward Palm Block 
Cross-Block 
Heel Palm/Looping Hook 
Middle Block 
Standing Grab 
Looping Hook 
     Outside Praying Mantis Block 
Spinning Forearm 
Outside Spinning Forearm 
Inside Open-hand Block 
Outside Open-hand Block 
Inside Wrapping Block 
Backhand Block 
Lateral X-Block