Cut kick (front-leg push) to stop attacks

Setup

1. Everyone in full sparring gear: headgear, hogu (trunk protector), forearm and shin guards, groin guard and mouthguard, plus gloves and foot protectors as your federation requires.
2. Match partners by size, age and experience. The sabeom (instructor) supervises from a spot where every pair can be seen, and contact stays light and controlled.
3. Before pair work, everyone practises the cut kick on a body shield held against the holder's hogu: knee lifted high, sole of the foot pointing forward, push through the shield.
4. Pairs about two steps apart in closed stance. Blue steps in to attack; red practises the cut kick (a front-leg push kick).

How it runs

1. Blue steps or slides forward to kick. Red lifts the front knee early and places the sole of the foot on the middle of blue's hogu, pushing just enough to stop the advance.
2. Red puts the foot down and follows at once with a back-leg dollyeo chagi to the hogu at light contact.
3. Five attacks each, then swap roles.
4. Next block: blue mixes real attacks with steps that stop short, so red must decide when to cut and when to hold.
5. Last block: red cuts, blue steps off the line, and both carry on for a few exchanges until the instructor calls kalyeo.

Coaching points

• Lift the knee before the attacker arrives: the cut kick is a wall they run into, not a reaction to being hit.
• Aim the sole at the middle of the hogu. Never at the hip, thigh or knee: kicks below the waist are a foul and can injure.
• Push, don't stamp. The aim is to stop the advance and stay balanced, not to knock the partner over.
• Keep the guard up and the standing knee soft so the follow-up kick comes straight away.
• Check the current World Taekwondo competition rules on when a front-leg push scores and when holding the leg up is penalised.

Common mistakes

• Leaning back from the waist, so the push has no power and the follow-up is late.
• Holding the leg up for ages, waiting for the attacker to arrive.
• Pushing low into the hip or thigh.
• Using the hands to shove the partner away (pushing is a gam-jeom offence in competition).