Taekwondo · Stance & guard · Warm-up

Dojang etiquette: attention, bow and ready

Students learn to come to charyeot (attention), bow with kyeongye and stand in junbi (ready), then test their listening with a game of 'Sabeom says'.

Start / 6

Setup

Bare feet, short nails, no jewellery, uniforms tied. Shoes and water bottles stay at the edge of the dojang.
Show students where the front of the dojang is (where the sabeom stands) and line them up in rows in your club's usual order, an arm's length plus a little more apart.
Teach the words before the actions: charyeot (attention), kyeongye (bow), junbi (ready), sijak (begin) and keuman (stop). Say each one, show it, and have the class say it back.

Students bow at the edge of the mat as they step on, then walk to their place in the rows.
Charyeot: feet together, legs straight but not locked, arms straight down by the sides, chin level and eyes forward. Nothing moves.
Kyeongye: from charyeot, bend from the waist into a short, unhurried bow, the head following the line of the back, then rise back to charyeot. The class bows to the sabeom; later, partners bow to each other.
Junbi: step the left foot out to shoulder width with the feet parallel. Both fists rise slowly in front of the body as the student breathes in, then press down to rest just in front of the belt, slightly apart, as they breathe out.
Run charyeot, kyeongye, junbi in order three times. Then play 'Sabeom says': the sabeom calls the commands in any order, sometimes without saying 'Sabeom says' first.
Anyone who moves on a trick call does two star jumps and joins straight back in. Nobody is ever out.
Finish with sijak and keuman: on 'sijak' everyone throws slow punches in the air; on 'keuman' they freeze, then return to junbi.

Stillness is the skill. In charyeot even the fingers and eyes stay still.
Fast feet, slow bow: get to attention quickly, then take the bow calmly.
Junbi is a calm breath as well as a position. Let the shoulders drop as the fists settle.
Praise the sharpest response by name; young children copy whatever gets noticed.
Tell adult beginners why: the bow shows respect and marks the moment the mind switches to training.

Say it: “Still feet, steady bow, ready fists.”

The sabeom calls the commands faster and more quietly, so students have to listen.
A student takes a turn calling the commands for the class.

Show each position and hold it together before calling it.
Start with only two commands, charyeot and junbi, and add the bow once they are steady.

Reviewed by the Sportdify coaching team.