Dan Grade Poomsae

The Dan grade patterns are most often taught after someone has achieved 1st Dan, although the first one (Koryo) may be taught as a grading pattern to those taking their black belt. Unlike the Taegeuk patterns, these forms have longer meanings and are not represented by trigrams. In contrast to the Taegeuk patterns which all follow the same floor pattern, each of these patterns has a different shape. This becomes more noticeable as you learn them, particularly in Pyongwon which is a single line.

The Dan grade patterns used in WT style Taekwondo are referred to as the Yudanja forms. Each of these forms has a floor pattern that traces out a Chinese character. The Chinese character is said to represent a characteristic that Taekwondo Masters should exhibit. The floor patterns, symbols and meanings can be seen opposite. The help sheets below will outline the basic movements of each pattern.