Camo Belt Form – Songahm 4 and Sparring Combinations
This is a reference page for Students at Kowkabany’s Family Martial Arts in Tampa, Florida, and covers ATA’s Camo Belt Form and the Camo/Green Sparring Combinations; it is broken down into four parts:
1) A video of the Form – Songahm IV – being done slowly, with a voice-over by Sr. Master David Kowkabany providing additional guidance on how to execute the techniques properly while avoiding some common mistakes.
2) A video of the Camo-Green Sparring combinations being performed slowly, with a voice-over providing additional guidance on how to execute the techniques properly.
3) A text segment for those who want to read more about the design of this Form, as well as some of the philosophy and methodology behind the Songahm Forms in general.
4) A page showing the specific breakdown of the form line by line.
OK, let’s get started!
Note: We suggest opening each video in a new window.
Songahm 4 Performed Slowly with Voice Over Explanations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkW3ZhIvfYg
Sparring Combinations for Camo & Green Belt Forms!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB_Fr9ZUHFI
Here is some additional information regarding this Form!
At Kowkabany’s Family Martial Arts, we teach the Songahm Forms developed by the American Taekwondo Association in 1983. As with most forms taught in traditional martial arts, our forms were developed to help students improve the quality of their technique. The ATA took this basic concept much further, allowing for three main differences in our Songahm Forms:
First, every form is symmetrical—techniques done on one side of the body are done later in the form on the opposite side, promoting balanced development of techniques and of the body.
Second, every form is designed to teach the basic kicks, strikes, blocks and stances that a student at that rank should be practicing. For example, in Songahm 4, the reverse side kick is introduced into the forms, as reverse kicks are first taught at the Camouflage Belt level when students begin to free spar. The sparring stance is also introduced.
Third, every form taught in our traditional taekwondo system is on a set pattern of lines as depicted in the Songahm star, and begins and ends at the same point. There are 9 Color Belt Forms that use North, South, East and West lines; there are also 9 Black Belt Forms that use the same 4 basic directions, but also the diagonal lines that run Northeast, Southeast, Northwest and Southwest.
Songahm 4 Basic Facts:
* The form consists of 31 moves, broken down into 4 basic segments. The segments will be in this order: segment 1, segment 2, segment 3, segment 4, then the segments begin to repeat, starting with segment 2, segment 3, segment 4, and finishing by repeating segment 1 at the closing.
* The pattern of the form is a simple rectangle performed in a counter-clockwise direction.
* The strikes in this form are at mixed levels, midsection and high.
* There are four stances in this form: the back, front and middle stances found in the lower rank forms, and the new stance for this rank—the sparring stance.
* This form introduces the reverse side kick, the first reverse kick introduced in the Songahm system of forms.
* The kihaps (yells) are on the first backfist, move #7, and the second knifehand, move #24.
* The color “Camo” represents the young tree, which must begin competing (sparring) with older, taller trees (higher ranks) for rain and sun to continue its growth. One interpretation of the word Songahm is “pine tree.”
* As with all Songahm forms, the passive hand (hand not executing a technique) should be drawn back tight and high on the ribs after the other hand executes a technique; however, both hands should be “up” when executing kicks.
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