Chon-Ji (, ) is the first Taekwon-Do teul, as defined by the International Taekwon-Do Federation. The pattern consists of 19 movements and is taught to students with the 9th geup (white-yellow belt) and necessary to know to obtain the 8th geup (yellow belt).
Meaning When read in Hanja, chon (天) means 'heaven' and ji (池) means 'earth'. Together, chonji refers to the Heaven Lake in North Korea. Moreover, 'heaven and earth' refers to the beginning of the world according to Korean mythology. According to Korean legends, the deity Dangun lived at the Heaven Lake. Similarly, the pattern is the beginning of the Taekwon-Do career of each student.
Number of movements
Concerning the number of movements of the pattern, it has previously been believed that Chon-Ji had 19 movements to represent each degree a Taekwon-Do student can obtain (10 geup degrees and 9 dan degrees). However, this is not possible, because the pattern has been devised between 1962 and 1964, when there were only 17 degrees in total.
Instead, the number refers to the tricoloured taegeuk. The pattern consists of two sets of eight movements (in reference to the eight trigrams around the taegeuk) and one set of three movements. The first set refers to heaven, as chon means 'heaven', and the second to earth, with ji meaning 'Earth'. The third set has three movements because the trigrams consist of three stripes and because the tricoloured taegeuk has three colours: blue, red, and yellow, representing heaven, earth, and humanity, respectively.
Movements Nr.English descriptionKorean description (in Hangul)Korean description (in Revised Romanisation)Parallel ready stance A facing D나란히준비서기narani junbi seogi1Move the left foot to B to form a left walking stance towards B, while executing a low outer forearm block to B with the left forearm.걷는서팔목낮은데막기geonneun seo palmok najeunde makgi2Move the right foot to B to form a right walking stance towards B, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards B with the right hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi3Move the right foot to A (turning clockwise) to form a right walking stance towards A, while executing a low outer forearm block to A with the right forearm.걷는서팔목낮은데막기 geonneun seo palmok najeunde makgi4Move the left foot to A to form a left walking stance towards A, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards A with the left hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi5Move the left foot to D (turning counter-clockwise) to form a left walking stance towards D, while executing a low outer forearm block to D with the left forearm.걷는서팔목낮은데막기 geonneun seo palmok najeunde makgi6Move the right foot to D to form a right walking stance towards D, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards D with the right hand. 걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi7Move the right foot to C (turning clockwise) to form a right walking stance towards C, while executing a low outer forearm block to C with the right forearm.걷는서팔목낮은데막기 geonneun seo palmok najeunde makgi8Move the left foot to C to form a left walking stance towards C, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards C with the left hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi9Move the left foot to A (turning counter-clockwise) to form a right L-stance towards A, while executing a middle inner forearm block to A with the left forearm. ㄴ자서안팔목가운데옆막기nieunja seo an palmok gaunde yeop makgi10Move the right foot to A to form a right walking stance towards A, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards A with the right hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi11Move the right foot to B (turning clockwise) to form a left L-stance towards B, while executing a middle inner forearm block to B with the right forearm. ㄴ자서안팔목가운데옆막기nieunja seo an palmok gaunde yeop makgi12Move the left foot to B to form a left walking stance towards B, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards B with the left hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi13Move the left foot to C (turning counter-clockwise) to form a right L-stance towards C, while executing a middle inner forearm block to C with the left forearm.ㄴ자서안팔목가운데옆막기nieunja seo an palmok gaunde yeop makgi14Move the right foot to C to form a right walking stance towards C, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards C with the right hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi15Move the right foot to D (turning clockwise) to form a left L-stance towards D, while executing a middle inner forearm block to D with the right forearm.ㄴ자서안팔목가운데옆막기nieunja seo an palmok gaunde yeop makgi16Move the left foot to D to form a left walking stance towards D, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards D with the left hand. 걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi17Move the right foot to D to form a right walking stance towards D, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards D with the right hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi18Step backwards by moving the right foot to C to form a left walking stance towards D, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards D with the left hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugi19Step backwards by moving the left foot to C to form a right walking stance towards D, while executing a middle obverse forefist punch towards D with the right hand.걷는서앞지르기geonneun seo ap jireugiMove the right foot to parallel ready stance A facing D.나란히준비서기narani junbi seogi
Trivia
Chon-Ji is one of the few teul that are not named after people, together with Juche, Sam-Il, and Tong-Il.
References