Blue Belt (5th Gup)
Traditional Meaning:
The young oak tree is growing and beginning to reach for the sky; it is starting to achieve new heights. The some of the sky is visible, but our eyes can only see a portion of the vastness that lies beyond it. The blue belt is reaching for the sky and growing to great new heights in their Tae Kwon Do career. The color blue is supposed to represent the mental maturity of the student, they must be determined to conquer difficult tasks and train themselves to be strong both mentally and physically.
Our Interpretation:
Like the oak tree reaching new height as a blue belt you are beginning to reach the sky. This is the level that we start to teach the students some of the more complicated jumping kicks. These kicks are difficult to throw and take a lot of determination and practice to learn. There are less new techniques to learn at this level, but they become increasingly more difficult. The tornado is the first of the aero kicks that you will learn and the concepts and ideas behind it are important for future kicks, and to get to even greater heights. You may fall down and you may think you are not learning the technique, but this is the level where you must gain the mental tenacity to get back up and keep trying. You must have the determination to persevere
Yul-Guk – (38 moves) a pseudonym of a great philosopher and scholar Yi I (1536 - 1584) nicknamed the "Confucius of Korea". The 38 movements of this pattern refer to his birthplace on 38 degree latitude and the diagram of the pattern represents scholar.