Taegeuk Oh Jang

A form, or poomsae (also romanized as pumsae or poomse), is a choreographed pattern of defense-and-attack motions.

The floor pattern of each taegeuk poomsae then represents three broken or solid lines, called trigrams or gwae (bagua in Chinese).

[6] As a poomsae of intermediate difficulty, this form introduces the student to a number of new techniques: During the 1920s and 1930s many of the pioneers of taekwondo studied karate or Chinese martial arts in which forms practice is seen as an essential element of the martial art.

When these pioneers returned to Korea after the Japanese occupation, they incorporated forms practice into their teaching.

During the 1960s there were several efforts among these pioneers to unify their styles of martial art and create a consolidated set of forms.

The taegeuk symbol
digram illustrating taegeuk oh jang
The first turn of Taegeuk Sa Jang is performed by pivoting in-place. The final two turns are performed by moving the lead foot. This indicates that the associated trigram is a broken line, a solid line, and a solid line.