For the practitioner of Tae Kwon Do, the phenomena of the universe is explained by the philosophy of Um and Yang, as described in the Jooyeok. In this ancient oriental work, the palgwe symbolizes the phenomena of man and the universe.

Palgwe means "Law, Command". It symbolized the eternal duality of all that exist, interdependence of good and evil, of plus and minus, of north and south, of heaven and earth.  These are opposite, yet part of the same whole.  They are in constant dynamic struggle with each other, yet they can never break apart.

The principle of Palgwe is that he who knows himself and his environment will find the path of harmony between the changeable forces of the world in which he lives.  As the Tae Kwon Do practitioner executes the Palgwe forms, he must bear in mind the reciprocal commands they represent.  These commands may be translated as follows:

 

1. Know yourself and be in harmony with the universe
2. Be responsible for yourself and be loyal to your commitments
3. Be respectful of your relationship; know the limits beyond which your freedom encroaches on the freedom of others
4. Be pure in motive and direct in action

Palgwe in its most profound philosophical sense symbolically expresses all of the phenomena of man and the universe.  It is the most basic philosophic principle contained in the ancient Book of Changes.

Within Palgwe there are sixty-four commands, which naturally flow from its basic, all encompassing law.  These commands are grouped into eight branches, which are called Taeguek.

Taeguek is written: Tae means "bigness", Geuk means "eternity", thus Taeguek has no form, no beginning and no end. It is the eternal infinity whose vastness contains the essence of everything, and from which everything in the universe originates.

Taeguek forms are essentially the ideals of Tae Kwon Do. They contain the basic movements, which must be mastered to be proficient in Tae Kwon Do.

The Jooyeok, "The Book of Changes", is an ancient work composed by several Chinese sages over a period of hundreds of years. It tells of a theory in which the phenomenon of constant shifting change, the human condition, is shown to possess a moral harmony. It analyzes the process in which two opposing metaphysical forces called Um and Yang combine to generate new combinations and this is seen as the conceptual mechanism, which propitiates life and the universe.

Fuh Hi was the 13^th century author of the Jooyeok. He identified eight combinations from the two primal forces of Um and Yang. He named them and arranged them in a circle to illustrate their harmonious relationship and designated the character of each. These eight concepts, as he showed us manifest themselves in all living things, including human destiny.

References:

TaeKwonDo

by Y. K. Kim

TaeGuek the New Forms of Tae Kwon Do

By Pu Gill Gwon