Basic Poomse used by the World Tae Kwon Do Federation are the Taeqeuk series.

Basic Poomse used by the World Tae Kwon Do Federation are the Taeqeuk series.

Taegeuk means "Universality" and the eight poomses are based on the "Book of Changes" (Iching). Each poomse is represented by one of the eight trigrams (Keon/Gon, Tae/Gan, Ri/Gam, Jun/Seon) which are usually arranged in a circle to represent the universe.

The eight symbols are pairs of complements, as are the poomses. On average, a student would learn a new poomse every 3-6 months. At first the poomse appear to be just a set of steps. However with growing experience, the meanings start to shine through - for example, Jun (Thunder) is expressed by direct, crashing, movements, and it's complement, Seon (Wind), is expressed through wide, sweeping and circling movements.

Taegeuk Trigram Image

• El-Jong Keon "Heaven"
• E-Jong Tae "Lake"
• Sam-Jong Ri "Fire"
• Sa-Jong Jun "Thunder"
• O-Jong Seon "Wind"
• Yook-Jong Gam "Water"
• Chil-Jong Gan "Mountain"
• Pul-Jong Gon "Earth"