Basic Principles 

A student of open hand fighting is trained to  block using their palms and forearm and to strike with and open hand with devastating effect.  The art is based around three main "powers" these are strength, speed and technique.  When put together these allow a practitioner of  Korean open hand fighting to eliminate any attacker quickly and efficiently.  Students traditionally begin training at the age of 15 and reach their black band 7 years later, longer if they fail or miss a grading.

 

Grading System

The grading system is similar to the grading system of most other martial arts, however instead of the belts used by most martial arts, the practitioners of Open Hand Fighting use head bands. 

The students of Open Hand Fighting begin their training as a 10th kup and work their way up to 1st.  Once they reach 1st kup they are awarded a Black band and are given the black uniform of a degreed practitioner. From there the trainee may continue to grow by earning Dan, the highest Dan achievable being 9th.

 

Weapons

Although Korean Open Hand Fighting is mainly a style of hand to hand combat students who wish to extend themselves can be trained in a variety  of weapons including a large claymore-style blade, dual daggers and a baton. All practitioners who choose continue once they have their degree are required to choose and learn a weapon. They may choose any weapon they please and it is not unusual for a practitioner to use nunchaku or tonfa which are not traditionally Korean weapons.

 

Origin

The Original Grand Master and Founder of Korean Open Hand Fighting is said to have climbed the sacred mountain, where the gods taught him the art and gave him the task of passing it on to all who needed it. The more realistic theory is that is was created by Tae Kwon students who thought that Tae Kwon focused to much on the feet and not enough on the hands. When Korean open hand fighting is combined with Tae Kwon it makes for a lethal combanation.