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BACK TO THE BATTLEFIELD
Author: Col. William O. Odom
Once a week, some 14,000 soldiers in the U.S. Army’s renowned 2nd Infantry Division greet the sunrise in the Land of the Morning Calm with snap kicks and power punches reinforced by a chorus of kihap battle cries. They are part of a new training initiative designed to augment their combat readiness with traditional Korean martial arts skills. In honor of the division’s nickname of Warrior Division, the program has been dubbed Warrior Taekwondo.
The Mission
Soon after he assumed command of the 2nd Infantry Division in 2000, Maj. Gen. Russel L. Honoré asked his unit commanders to draw up a list of programs and activities they thought should be started, stopped and continued.
I suggested creating a division taekwondo team, and he liked the idea.
He then proposed reinstating a division- wide taekwondo program, which had been done away with some 25 years before.
Honoré immediately remembered all the benefits taekwondo training had bestowed upon him when he was a young lieutenant in the division during the early 1970s. He then charged me with the task of creating the program.
As commander of the 2nd Brigade, I had already instituted a combatives program composed of taekwondo strikes and Gracie- jujutsu grappling. Honoré acknowledged that and explained that he wanted an enlarged program that would:
• increase the soldiers’ confidence by developing competence in basic selfdefense techniques
• improve physical fitness
• develop discipline and teamwork through the memorization and practice of forms
• foster an appreciation for Korean culture and inspire soldiers to learn more about their host country
• provide a basic knowledge of taekwondo upon which soldiers can build their skill through off-duty training with local instructors and/or participation in unit taekwondo clubs
• establish a venue for competition between the 2nd Division and South Korean army units
• allow soldiers to progress as far as brown belt during their one-year tour of duty.
The Process
I enlisted Kim Mun-ok to help me develop the program. An eighth-degree master of taekwondo and hapkido, Kim had more than 20 years of experience teaching U.S. soldiers in Korea. He and I determined that proficiency in taekwondo requires at least two years of study with two to three classes a week. At the same time, we knew we would be limited to one relatively short session a week. We remained confident we could achieve all the division commander’s objectives, but we admitted to ourselves that once-a-week workouts would not produce proficient taekwondo practitioners unless the soldiers sought additional instruction.
Kim and I then set about developing the Warrior Taekwondo program.
It had to be composed of instruction that was modified to fit the somewhat unique conditions under which the 2nd Infantry Division operates. They include: • one weekly session of about 40 minutes • soldiers with limited martial arts experience • irregular schedules caused by military duties • an outdoor training environment with a variety of surfaces • soldiers who are wearing a physicaltraining (PT) uniform and running shoes or a battle-dress uniform (BDU) and combat boots.
The program we devised would be taught during each unit’s morning PT period. It consisted of four progressive modules, each of which was based on 12 practice sessions per quarter. Each session would consist of no less than a 15-minute warm-up run prior to the martial arts instruction. The actual taekwondo training would stress the repetition of techniques to ensure that soldiers receive maximum cardiovascular benefit.
As the soldiers’ proficiency increased, the program would allow for less time to be spent learning and more time to be spent practicing. Progression to a higher module would require the men and women to demonstrate proficiency in all the techniques included in their current module. Of course, advancement rates would vary according to each soldier’s aptitude, previous experience and commitment to obtaining supplemental instruction.
The Launch
Warrior Taekwondo started in January 2001 with mandatory weekly training at the company level. By February 1, all units in the 2nd Division had come onboard. Kim was hired as chief instructor and charged with overseeing the execution of the program, ensuring uniform training and sustaining the continuity of the program despite the relatively high turnover of American soldiers, who normally spend one year in country. Kim hired eight Korean instructors to assist him with morning visits to the 17 camps (military bases) at which the division’s units are stationed.
Kim conducted Warrior Taekwondo’s first Train-the-Trainer program in March 2001. It was an intensive fiveday instructor-development course designed to hone the skills of soldiers with prior martial arts experience and teach them how to teach others. To ensure that each company-sized unit (about 100 soldiers) had at least one certified instructor, the division adopted a plan to run the course every three months.
The Curriculum
Warrior Taekwondo includes all the moves for which the Korean art is renowned: kicks, punches, open-hand strikes, sweeps, blocks, breakfalls, stances and so on. Soldiers also drill in the modernized taegeuk forms, which date from the early 1980s.
One specialized component of the program is called “warrior combat defenses.”
The fighting sequences are basically one-step sparring techniques.
They are simple and direct—typically following a block-strike-takedown-finish progression. Since Kim attended the most recent brigade Gracie-jujutsu seminar, held in April 2002, he has expressed an interest in incorporating some ground techniques into additional warrior combat defenses.
All soldiers who participate in Warrior Taekwondo spar. It is considered an essential component of their realitybased martial arts preparation. The unit trainer determines when a student is ready to begin. Most start within the first three months. To date, sparring has been more sport-oriented than practical.
The objective is to make a little contact, to experience hitting and getting hit, to get the heart pumping and to build confidence. It is not to batter one’s fellow soldiers.
To get an idea of the type of training being conducted, consider the following outline, which is taken from the first lesson of the brown-belt module taught after 24 weeks of training): The second week of brown-belt training adds instruction in the elbow strike and backfist, as well as in moves 9-20 of taegeuk o jang. After that comes rigorous practice of all the above-mentioned techniques and 20 repetitions of the elbow strike and backfist. The third week adds the back kick. The fourth week adds the round kick/back kick combination and warrior combat defense No. 4. The fifth week adds warrior combat defense No. 5 and No. 6.
The sixth week through the 11th week teach no new techniques, but everything that has been learned is further ingrained into each soldier’s psyche.
The 12th week culminates in the brownbelt test.
The Future
In August 2001 the division formed a demonstration and competition team, which will maintain a membership of 16 to 20 soldiers. It has been tasked with promoting the practice of the art and serving as an ambassadorial force during visits to and competitions with Korean military units. Kim, his assistants and members of the All-Army Taekwondo Team are serving as coaches. In February 2002 the team won the Eighth Army Championship, and in March 2002 it placed four soldiers on the All-Army Taekwondo Team.
Kim Mun-ok will continue to provide opportunities for his students to engage in weekend competitions and participate in local qualifiers that lead up to the Division Taekwondo Championship, held every September, and the All-Army Championship, held in the spring.
He is also investigating ways to make the training a bit more hardcore.
Although there is currently lots of contact in the division’s competitions, which follow standard taekwondo rules, there is little contact in the unit classes (except during the execution of the self-defense techniques). The trend is to gradually move away from forms practice and increase the emphasis on self-defense techniques.
One option that has been discussed involves teaching only one form as a warm-up, cool-down and team-building drill, and then focusing the rest of the workout on fighting.
Before more contact can be made, units will have to procure chest protectors, groin cups, headgear, and shin and forearm pads. As the program matures to the point where more soldiers have sufficient skill to warrant additional full-contact training, obtaining authorization for the purchase should be easier.
Under the supervision of Kim and his assistant instructors, Warrior Taekwondo is an unrivaled success. In addition to developing hand-to-hand combat skill, it boosts the confidence and discipline of every soldier who serves in the 2nd Infantry Division. And with the projects that are planned—one of which involves expanding the program to all U.S. forces in Korea—things will only get better. ...