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The white circle is you, seen from above. Each tap moves you to where the next move happens, and the gold line shows the path you have walked so far.
Taegeuk Ee Jang (태극 2장), often written Taegeuk Yi Jang or simply Taegeuk 2, is the second color-belt form in the Kukkiwon curriculum and the one most yellow belts learn on their way to green. It keeps the friendly building blocks of the first form, but asks for more: punches from the long front stance, a high punch after a front kick, and a tricky three-quarter turn near the end.
Meaning: Tae, the lake
The form is tied to the trigram Tae (☱): two solid lines beneath a broken one, the image of a lake. A lake is calm on the surface and deep below, and the form is meant to be performed the same way, with smooth, gentle transitions that carry real strength underneath. Instructors sometimes describe it as “soft outside, firm inside.” Taegeuk Ee Jang is the form for 7th geup.
Floor pattern
Like every Taegeuk form, it runs on three lines joined by a center line. You begin at the center of line 1 and finish there.
Step by step
Line 1
- Turn 90 degrees to the left into a left walking stance (apseogi) with a left low block (arae makgi).
- Step forward into a right front stance (apkubi) and perform a right middle punch (momtong jireugi).
- Turn 180 degrees to the right into a right walking stance with a right low block.
- Step forward into a left front stance with a left middle punch.
Up the center
- Turn 90 degrees left to face forward in a left walking stance and perform a right middle block (momtong an makgi).
- Step forward into a right walking stance with a left middle block.
Line 2
- Turn 90 degrees left into a left walking stance with a left low block.
- Perform a right front kick (ap chagi), land in a right front stance, and punch high with the right hand (eolgul jireugi), aiming at face height.
- Turn 180 degrees to the right into a right walking stance with a right low block.
- Perform a left front kick, land in a left front stance, and punch high with the left hand.
Up the center
- Turn 90 degrees left to face forward in a left walking stance with a left high block (eolgul makgi).
- Step forward into a right walking stance with a right high block.
Line 3
- This is the tricky turn. Swing the left foot behind and around, pivoting on the right foot through about 270 degrees, to finish facing right in a left walking stance with a right middle block.
- Pivot 180 degrees on the spot to face left in a right walking stance with a left middle block.
Back down the center
- Turn 90 degrees to face the starting line in a left walking stance with a left low block.
- Right front kick, land in a right walking stance, right middle punch.
- Left front kick, land in a left walking stance, left middle punch.
- Right front kick, land in a right walking stance, right middle punch with a strong gihap.
On baro, turn left to face forward and return to the ready stance.
Key details
The biggest change from Taegeuk Il Jang is the mix of stances on line 1: the block is in a short walking stance, but the punch that follows steps into a long front stance. Make that difference visible. On line 2, the high punch should finish at the height of your own nose or chin, clearly higher than the middle punches elsewhere in the form.
Step 13 deserves slow practice. Students often turn the wrong way or end up in the wrong stance. Remember that you are turning to face right by spinning left, swinging the left foot a long way behind you. Keep your eyes moving first: look over your right shoulder before the feet move, and the body will follow.
The three kick-punch combinations at the end should be rhythmic and even. Kick, land, punch; kick, land, punch. Don’t rush the third one because you know the gihap is coming.
Common mistakes
Students frequently punch from a walking stance on line 1, because Taegeuk 1 trained them to. They also tend to let the high blocks on the center line drift too far forward or finish too low. A good high block sits about a fist’s width above and in front of the forehead, with the forearm angled slightly so a strike would slide off. In the final kicks, many students put the foot down too close, so their walking stance becomes a shuffle. Kick, then step forward a full natural pace.
Practicing at home
Split the form into the four sections above and practice the hardest piece, the 270-degree turn, on its own until it feels automatic. Counting the movements out loud in Korean (hana, dul, set…) helps with the rhythm. Once the sequence is solid, work on stance length, then on power and timing. When you are ready for the next form, see Taegeuk Sam Jang.
Questions parents and students ask
How many movements are in Taegeuk Ee Jang?
Eighteen movements in the Kukkiwon count.
Where is the kihap in Taegeuk 2?
On the final movement, the third front kick and middle punch as you return toward the starting point.
What is new in Taegeuk 2 compared with Taegeuk 1?
Taegeuk Ee Jang adds the high punch, uses front stances for the punches on the first line, and introduces a 270-degree turn on the third line.
