Distance control and the fake

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. Pairs stand in fighting stance just outside kicking range, roughly two long steps apart. Blue attacks first, red defends.
4. Contact is light and to the hogu only for this drill.

How it runs

1. Distance round, no kicks: blue steps in and out and side to side; red keeps the same gap by moving with them. Swap after a minute.
2. Fake round: blue shows the start of an attack without finishing it, such as a front-knee lift, a half step, a shoulder dip or a hand flick.
3. Red reads it: step out of range if it looks real, hold still if it looks like a fake.
4. When red steps back and plants, blue slides in and throws a back-leg dollyeo chagi (roundhouse kick) to the hogu at light contact.
5. Five attempts each, then swap. Finish with a free round where both may fake and attack. Everyone stops at once on kalyeo (break) or keuman (stop).

Coaching points

• Know your own range: the gap at which your back-leg kick just reaches the hogu. Wait just outside it.
• Sell the fake: it should look exactly like the start of your real kick, then stop.
• Go as the defender's weight settles after their step back, not while they are still moving away.
• Defenders move with small steps and keep the guard up; one big jump back leaves you flat-footed.
• Watch the partner's chest and hips rather than the feet.

Common mistakes

• Using the same fake every time, so the partner learns to ignore it.
• Closing in on a straight line with the guard down.
• Backing up in a straight line until there is no room left.
• Kicking harder to make up for being out of range.