“Jung Myen Bekki” (정면베기) Front Straight Cut

[HAEDONG]

At the 2015 Haedong Kumdo 

Vancouver Seminars in BC, Canada,

What is the Front Side Cutting(정면베기) at the the Jinyoung Ssangkum Ryu Training?

29th Sept. to 8th Oct.

organized & planned by Master Lok

taken seminars and taught by GM Kim

Written down by Lokton Au, HK student

edited by Eugenia Chau, Ass. Head instructor

under Master Lok

“Jung Myen Bekki” (정면베기)

Front Straight Cut and cutting angle explanations

“Jung Myen Bekki” (정면베기), means front straight cut in Korean. The front straight cut is one of the most fundamental cutting skills in the training with swords.

The angle for the front straight cut is very important; it forms the base of your control towards the sword through the use of your whole body.  In order to create the perfect   cut with flexibility and efficiency, you must have a natural, calm state of mind and breathing.

When performing a cut, you should make a circular motion with your arms naturally;    this will be very helpful to do the cut more easily and preciously in any angle

and directions. Beginners normally practice this cut in Kima Sae Stance to strengthen the mind and body for their basic training.

● The Explanation of difference between Striking and Cutting

Striking by just pushing down is striking, cutting is totally different thing. To perform a faster strike then your opponents, You should dash forward by stepping with your front foot. That would be able to move you quickly or get ready for a strike however,  

Cutting has a different theory. 

Proper techniques explanations

1. Raising the sword at short distance (최단거리활용)

To raise the sword, you mustraise it directly above your forehead with the hands

as close to your forehead as possible.

Once the handle has reached the forehead with the back of the blade gliding to the

back, strike immediately by pulling the handle down with the back of the blade gliding

close to your forehead, and pull down to the front with your left arm using the weight

of the sword and through the use of the whole body.

This striking motion can be practiced easily even if there is a low ceiling clearance

at your Do Jang.

2. Position of the Left Hand on the Head and on the Front (왼손 위치)

The most effective way to practice is to have the left hand placed above the center of the head. If the left hand is over the center of the head while the sword is raised up, the shoulders would  be in a restrained angle  and will restrict the movement.

The elbows should be in a 45^o angle which is not pointing out or in while the sword is being raised up.

Whenyou cut with the sword, it should always be ended with the left hand placed at the centre of the belly (Bladder)at all times.

3. Relax (힘빼기)

It is very important to have a relaxed body while cutting. A relaxed body helps to better control the angle of  the blade and the angle of the cut.

Sometimes beginners are taught to use the back of the sword to touch their back which is incorrect.

Whenever you move the sword, your body should be relaxed and the sword should always be close to your  body. Your movement will then be more natural which also helps your whole body to create a muscle memory.

4.  Sword Must be parallel with the Spine (등뼈와 일직선)

While you raise your sword, it is very important to have the sword position parallel and close to your spine but not touching.

This would allow you to move more swiftly with the use of your whole body and also you can get more power and energy naturally with efficiency. 

5. How to hold the sword during striking or cutting (손가락사용법)

When you raise the sword; the middle, ring, and pinky fingers from your left hand are relaxed in this stage. When you are cutting, your middle, ring and pinky fingers should be holding the handle tightly. While striking with the sword, all ten fingers must be on the handle at all times. When we cut downwards the sword should stop around15^o below the belt and the middle, ring, and pinky fingers are in a tight grip on the handle.

For example, when martial artistesgrabthe Dobok on his opponent in Judo, they have a tight grip on the Dobok using their middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Understanding the body bone structure, then we will come to know why we use the 2^ndknuckle and the 3^rd knuckle to attack and only strengthen them, but not the 4^th and the 5^th knuckle.

6. Leverage using the Body (가슴의 지렛대 역할)

Pectoral muscles must be touched by the elbows and must sustain this position at all times.If the elbows are out, it will be damaged very easily.If we tuck in our elbows we can protect further joint injuries and have an effective training.

7. Sword Holding (일직선상 검등과 양손 합곡혈)

We should always hold the back of the sword to create a straight line with the Hapgok pressure points on your hands located between the thumb and the pointing finger.

In this way, the energy will flow with ease and be able to get to the end of the sword efficiently and effectively.

8. Both Wrist and Joint must be Locked at all Times (양 손목 관절의 고정)

A real sword is very heavy and if your wrist and joints are not locked, it is very easy to hurt the joint and ligaments in the wrist. 

It is therefore very important that you should always make sure that both wrists and     joints are locked at all times when holding a sword during training to make it a natural

form.

9. Slight Bend on Arms 

(양팔관절보호)

When we are cutting and raising the sword, the arms must be slightly bend as this will prevent them from getting injuries.

It is like when we punch, our arms are not fully extended otherwise our arms could be seriously damaged easily.

10. Connection with Bladder and Big Toe with Breathing

(양발끝과 방광의 기운연결)

When we practice, energy from both toes goes to the bladder first and through the bladder, it transfers to the arms and goesto the tip of the sword. Thus there is an energy connection between your body and the sword.

When we stand, the toes and the bladder create a triangle, and we can feel our body float and then getting    lighter.  With natural breathing and the natural energy flowing,  our practice will be in a more natural form.

Surely, it will take some time before we can make our form more natural through natural breathing and energy flowing but we should train to make our body feel like that which is one of  the fundamental skill in sword training.

Front straightcut (정면베기)  is all about having a natural form along with the energy flow from start to the  end,

With energy flowing more naturally, we can then do more natural cutting and our skills will be improved greatly.