(Part 3) Applying Eulgeul Makki

This series was started to demonstrate that one singular technique (in this case Eulgeul Makki or Face/High section Block) can have multiple Applications. In Poomsae you will have to pick the one Application that fits in With the technique before or (and?) after the one you are looking at to find its combative meaning within the form. The reason why I started the series was to show that eventhough the basic movements that we have inherited from Taekwondo`s mother arts are "jumbled" around in Poomsae, we can still find practical Applications within them. Personally I think that the originators of Poomsae knew far more than we give them credit for and I find it likely that they designed poomsae With practical Applications in mind whilse still grading them for difficulty of performance etc. In Part 1 we looked at the movement of the "blocking hand" as a Block against straight and round punches to the head. We also looked at the movement as a part of a simultanious defensive/offensive move in one as recorded in several Places in Our Poomsae. In Part 2 we looked at it as a wrist grab release showing allready that the single technique could handle 3 different attacks!


In this the Third part of this series I want to share one Application that has been an "open Secret" within the Shotokan comunity, and a Shotokan Karate student was the first to show it to me. It is also documented in Karate Do Kyohan by Gichin Funakoshi which explains why it is such an "open Secret" in Shotokan Karate.

First Things first though: Here is a look at the technique we are looking at:

So as you all know the movement that is labelled Eulgeul Makki is a movement where one hand is drawn toward the hip while the other hand comes from below and moves upward ending at a position above and in front of the fore head.

Below is the most typical Application of high section Block demonstrated first and it is demonstrated by a Shotokan 8th Dan. He says that moving backward is a Block and then he demonstrated Gichin Funakoshi`s Application as his number 2 and says that moving forward (as we often do in Poomsae while doing the "Block") is not a conventional "Block" but an attack instead.

I learned it With slightly more distance between the attacker and defender but it is the same one it seems. The hand at the hips secures the opponents arm while the lifting hand Locks and lifts his elbow from below. The end position of the Block is follow through.

I am not the most fond fan of this particular Application but I felt that it did deserve its Place in the series both to show a different aspect of the technique and it might be to someone elses liking, and I felt the need to show it so that those who say Gichin Funakoshi did not know "alternative Applications" and if he did know them he did not teach them to see that he did know them and he did teach them:-)

In Part 4 I show a more "old School" defensive Application to the high section Block:-) Click here to go directly to part 4

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