Taekwondo Terminology
Why learn Taekwondo Terminology?
If you train Taekwondo in any country with any instructor, the language barrier is non-existent due to the fact that the martial art of Taekwondo uses the same Korean terminology.
In preparing for your black belt grading regardless of dan level, you will need to explain the meaning of your current poomsae and learn Korean terminology used in Taekwondo. To further assist your preparation to obtain a black belt, you can download one of our handy Dan Grading Pocket Guides from the Downloads page.
The following list of terminology is to help you with learning the common terms used in Taekwondo.
Commands
YELL: GIHAP
YES: YE
NO: ANIO
ATTENTION: CHARYOT
BOW: GYONGRE
READY: JUNBI
START: SHIJAK
FINISH: GUMAN
REST: SHYO
PATTERNS: POOMSAE
SPARRING: GYORUGI
COLOURED BELT GRADE: GUP
JUNIOR BLACK BELT GRADE: POOM
BLACK BELT GRADE: DAN
Stances
STANCE: SOGI
FRONT STANCE: AP GUBI
BACK STANCE: DIT GUBI
READY STANCE: JUNBI SOGI
NATURAL STANCE: PYONI SOGI
HORSE STANCE: JUCHUM SOGI
CAT STANCE: BOM SOGI
CRANE STANCE: HAKTARI SOGI
Punches
PUNCH: JIRUGI
FRONT PUNCH: BANDAE JIRUGI
REVERSE FRONT PUNCH: BARO JIRUGI
MIDDLE PUNCH: MOMTONG JIRUGI
FACE PUNCH: OLGUL JIRUGI
BACK FIST PUNCH: DUNG JUMOK
DOUBLE PUNCH: DOO BUN
TRIPLE PUNCH: SAE BUN JIRUGI
Strikes
STRIKE: CHIGI
HAMMER FIST STRIKE: ME JUMOK CHIGI
KNIFE HAND STRIKE: SONNAL CHIGI
ELBOW STRIKE: PALGUB CHIGI
SPEAR STRIKE: PYEONSONKOOT CHIGI
Blocks
BLOCK: MAKGI
LOW BLOCK: ARAE MAKGI
INNER MIDDLE BLOCK: MONTONG MAKGI
OUTWARD MIDDLE BLOCK: MONTONG BAKKAT MAKGI
OUTSIDE BLOCK: BAKGAT MAKGI
UPPER BLOCK: OLGUL MAKGI
DOUBLE BLOCK: HECHYO MAKGI
CROSS BLOCK: EOTGEOREO MAKGI
Axe Kick: A Chagi. Photo courtesy of Warren Thrush.
Kicks
KICK: CHAGI
FRONT KICK: AP CHAGI
BACK KICK: DIT CHAGI
SIDE KICK: YOP CHAGI
ROUNDHOUSE KICK: DOLYO CHAGI
REVERSE TURNING KICK: MOM DOLYO CHAGI
AXE KICK: A CHAGI
PUSH KICK: MIRO CHAGI
JUMPING UP BACK KICK: EDAN DOLGA CHAGI
Numbers
1: HANNA
2: TUL (“T” is pronounced as “D”)
3: SET
4: NET
5: TASOT
6: YOSOT
7: ILGOB (“B” is silent)
8: YUDOL
9: AHOP
10: YEOL
11: YEOL HANNA
12: YEOL TUL
13: YEOL SET
20: SEUMOOL
21: SEUMOOL HANNA
22: SEUMOOL TUL
30: SOREUN
40: MAHEUN
50: SHEEN
60: YESOON
70: ILHEUN
80: YUDOON
90: AHEUN
100: OBAK
