In Traditional TaeKwon-Do, free sparring is practiced without any contact between participants. This is so because each striking technique, when properly executed, is lethal. In fact, there is a TaeKwon-Do adage which states that “one strike is sufficient for victory”. In order to test the execution of a technique, power tests (or Kyek Pa as it is known in Korean) are performed.
Power tests are usually performed on 1” pine boards, either alone or stacked together. Sometimes cinder blocks or bricks are used. While these demonstrations of power, speed and focus are impressive, the most extraordinary power tests to be witnessed are those performed by International Grandmaster Kwon, Jae-Hwa breaking river rocks. Those rocks are collected from rivers and are usually about four inches in diameter by about six inches in length.
Master Kwon breaks rocks with many different TaeKwon-Do techniques, including a variety of strikes, punches and kicks. But his favorite is a technique known as “Yok-Sudo”, or reverse knife hand strike. This special TaeKwon-Do technique uses the side of the hand with the thumb tucked underneath as a striking surface. This a much more powerful way of striking compared with the typical knife hand strike which is popularly known as a “Karate Chop”.
Spectators, when witnessing a Kyek Pa demonstration sometimes think there is a trick involved, or that somehow the power test is rigged, and that what they see is not really “real”.
As a result of this skepticism, the research engineers at the BMW Research Institute in Munich, Germany set up an experiment to accurately measure the power output of a Kyek Pa performed by Master Kwon. The researchers selected an ordinary river rock for the purpose of making their measurements. The results measured by the sophisticated scientific instruments were in fact truly amazing.
Force To Break: 2,200 pounds
Power Output: 65.7 horsepower
Hand Speed (Calculated): 106 miles per hour
These numbers clearly show the incredible power of a single TaeKwon-Do technique as performed by a true master of TaeKwon-Do: Master Kwon, Jae-Hwa.
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