Taekwondo FAQ

I often get miscellaneous questions regarding Taekwondo from my visitors. In the past, I would email them with my answers. However, since many of these questions are similar, I have created a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page in order to save me from writing a million duplicate emails. :) This page should help you with answers to basic Taekwondo questions. Please visit the other pages on this website for more detailed instructions regarding kicks, stretching, forms, self-defense, etc.

• They are a set pattern of movements that combine offensive and defensive techniques (i.e. kicks, blocks and punches). 
• You will have to learn forms for each of your belt tests (in addition to other required items such as kicks/strikes and breaking techniques).
• Everyone in your school at the same belt level will learn the same forms/patterns as they progress. However, different Taekwondo organizations (i.e. WTF and ITF) teach different forms. Therefore, a student at a WTF school will not learn the same forms taught at an ITF school.
• Poomsae is the Korean word for Taekwondo form or pattern. Other common spellings of poomsae are pumsae and poomse.
• For more information, please read this Wikipedia article.

• WTF stands for World Taekwondo Federation and ITF stands for International Taekwondo Federation. The WTF and ITF are the governing organizations for many Taekwondo schools. Other Taekwondo school associations include ATA and Rhee Taekwon-Do. The ITF and WTF are similar in that they coordinate the standards for the schools associated with their federations. One major difference is the required forms/patterns. While the Taekwondo kicks and punches being taught are similar, forms/patterns are completely different when you compare an ITF school versus a WTF school.
• For more information on the World Taekwondo Federation, please read this Wikipedia article.
• For more information on the International Taekwondo Federation, please read this Wikipedia article.

• The answer is "It depends"! Seriously, different Taekwondo federations (i.e. WTF, ITF, ATA, etc.) often utilize completely different forms/patterns for each belt level. In addition, many Taekwondo schools use different color schemes and/or color belt levels (i.e. one school's yellow belt can equal an orange belt at another school). Therefore, it is impossible to give a simple answer (i.e. you need to learn Taegeuk Ee Jang) because form requirements can vary significantly between schools. Please check with your Instructor/Taekwondo Master for the forms required for your upcoming belt test. After you find out, you can visit our form page for free written and video instructions covering WTF and ITF forms/patterns.