Customer Reviews

Early Masters of Tae Kwon Do

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This DVD contains archival footage (as is the case with many Rising Sun Productions DVDs) of General Choi and others performing I.T.F. Taekwondo forms, techniques, etc. The footage has not been cleaned up in any way, thus the image quality is what you'd expect for 40 year old film. That I can handle - but who decided to use waltzes for the entire audio track????? I don't know what music would have matched the movements, but the waltzes just don't cut it for me... it's too incongruous. I had to turn down the sound to finish the DVD.

I think there is tremendous value in preserving this type of footage on DVD; Don Warrener and Rising Sun are to be commended for these efforts. It would be great if it could be digitally cleaned a bit (admittedly an expensive proposition for material with a such limited appeal, so I suspect it will never happen) and if it had more appropriate music.

This video should be in every TKDist's collection. The main portion of the video is in grainy black and white with a few "bad" sections from the original source but it is still very clear and absolutely fascinating. It shows many of the early masters performing the original Chang Hon forms (24, no "Juche" by the way) in the "old way" without sine-wave and in a very Shotokan-esque "hard" style.

Granted, the overdubbed music is a bit over-the-top and the black-and-white may be offputting but the content is amazing. There is a lot of material to see from comparing the "old way" of doing the forms to some of the demos, step sparring, training drills, and especially the Hapkido cane at the end.

Between forms, they perform breaking demos, self defence, sparring and other such stuff. It's priceless to see the art as it was in the 60/70's and to see how much has changed. Following the first part, there are some "newer" demos from the 70s (I guess) with more breaking and one steps, again very interesting.

The last section is old video of a Hapkido artist demonstrating 20 cane techniques. This is awesome and a must for any HKDist in my opinion.

Highly recommended for serious students of Taekwondo (and Hapkido). I would recommend this for more advanced students who are ready to explore a bit more beyond the dojang.

I had been studying Tae Kwon Do for about 8 months as I eagerly awaited this dvd (which looked home made when I recieved it.) I was disappointed with what I bought. The footage is extremley grainy, the sound is poor/ (music?) and I was foolish enough to think I would benefit from viewing this. Well I did learn something about myself. Dont act impulsivley.There must be better footage than this. My opinion is that this dvdr is not worth the s&h I payed

Ok,i saw this dvd for 20minutes,and i fell sleep right away!

why? because background music is so boring that makes you

sleep right away... I like all the forms,but i notice that

their forms seems to me came from shotokan karate katas.

i know that general choi said he studied karate in japan,

but he never mention which style of karate! I think he is not

honest person,because he make storys about Takkyon and himself.. But as far as i know Taekwondo and Takkyon don't share anything common...

I say dont buy this film.. it's a waste of money. this film is put together by don warrener of rising films and sold by martial arts supermarkets. neither of these companies is reputable. you will find this out if you stick around a while in the martial arts world. a lot of their stuff is trash and they wont make it right by replacing it with some decent product of equal value. dont let this turn you off though to all the honest practitioners and business men and women out there in M.A. just be aware that when you buy or do any business with these two companies you just may be hung out to dry and forgotten.. throughout the entire film all you can see is snow. the only things that are clear are the stances they are in. the rest is anybodies guess. another don warrener production!! Attaboy don!! case closed.