Official Taekwondo Training Manual

By Gaetane Ricke and Soon Man Lee

There's no other manual like this: more than 1,200 photographs show every step it takes to master Taekwondo, from the very first forms to the most intricate techniques of the art. The coverage is so encompassing, it's the only manual endorsed by the World Taekwondo Federation (the sport's only recognized international governing body)-and because it's co-authored by the man who was the head coach of the U.S. Taekwondo team you know nothing's overlooked. Those eager to learn will find background notes on Taekwondo's history, philosophy, and symbols; a scrupulously complete dissection of breaking and sparring; and a thorough treatment of competition, including officiating guidelines and contestant qualifications. It's THE book anyone interested in Taekwondo must have.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402727070
• ISBN13: 9781402727078
• Release Date: August 1970
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.0" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Mostly photos of forms.

This book has a few short chapter on taekwondo history and a page or two on tournament rules. Otherwise it's 90% photos of all the forms. If your school is affiliated with the WTF, then most likely the forms you learn will be just like the ones in this book, which makes it a handy reference in case you forget how to do your forms. I think "Traning Manual" is a bit misleading. It's really a "Forms Manual". Nonetheless, it's only ten bucks and worth having in your library if you're learning WTF taekwondo.

Heim - Sykesville TKD

This book was invaluable to me while I was preparing for my black belt test. It is very illustrative with descriptions of the forms.

Official Taekwondo Training Manual

it was a good book for laren taekwondo there are alot of usfel information it was positve pook to wread

Perfect......

The manual clearly shows all positions and movements for all froms, it has also identified a couple of bad habits that I have picked up over the years that I will need to work on. This manual is a must for everyone that is serious about Taekwondo.

Very good forms reference

Most of the book covers the forms (Kibon, Taegeuk, Palgue, and the Black Belt ones). It has about 200 pages dedicated to forms (as a comparison, 13 pages to basic techniques - stances, blocks, strikes, and kicks). For more detailed descriptions of the "hows" and "whys" of each of the basic techniques, I'd recommend the "Taekwondo: The state of the art", ISBN 0-7679-0214-9. Variations in the forms may appear in different associations (and Federations!), but since the "Official Taekwondo Training Manual" has the WTF endorsement, I'll consider it as WTF's official word for the forms. Forms are shown not only with pictures, but also with feet transition diagrams in top view, drawn on the floor pattern you are supposed to cover during the whole form. The most visible negative point I see in this book is that it doesn't include the Korean terminology for almost anything apart from the form names. All the basic techniques and form components are only named in English, and not always consistently (a fault, for an "official manual"). Example (in Taegeuk Yook-Jang): ... "execute a middle section round kick with the left foot". Then you go to the "Basic techniques" section, and there's no "middle section round kick", but a "roundhouse kick". On "Taekwondo: The state of the art" (which doesn't include the Korean terminology on the forms steps either, but does it on the basic techniques), for the same step: ..."left-leg turning kick". Then on its "Kicks" chapter you can find the "turning kick", and its Korean name, "Dollyo-Chagi". My instructor (no book is replacement for one) uses the Korean terminology, and if we had that throughout the "Official Taekwondo Training Manual" in addition to the English names, that would be richer information. Between this book and the "Taekwondo: The state of the art", I'd take both. The "Official Manual" as a more complete forms reference, and "The state of the art" for everything else.