Dan:
the Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demonstration Team.
The amount of height they can get, it is nuts.
It's like he's going up two flights of stairs in two steps.
Dan:
It's a double spin. Oh!
Gav:
-
Oh, man.
Well, I feel incredibly inadequate.
- I know, right? - I can't do any of that.
Just huge impressive jumps everywhere.
Some of those jumps, sort of springing off each other,
I think went higher than I've ever been on a ladder.
Bloody impressive. Even some of the intros
and sort of interstitial moments were really impressive to watch.
Yeah, their, like, show introduction piece.
( shouting )
I thought it was so good watching it
that we actually filmed it in slo-mo as well.
They're so incredibly in sync the entire time.
Yeah, to find out more about taekwondo
and the history of the Kukkiwon team,
we had a few questions for their head coach.
We're here with Master Park,
who is the head coach of the Kukkiwon team.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
Thanks very much. So, um, do people ever
get hit in the face accidentally
when they're holding the boards?
( speaking Korean )
A lot.
( speaking Korean )
Kim:
So sometimes if a kicker hits a holder's hand,
sometimes the holder's hand is broken.
Or because when the board is broken,
there's all this debris, like, everywhere--
so sometimes it can cause deep cuts on your skin.
I'm glad I wasn't holding one of those,
because I was thinking I could probably try that.
But then I saw the first demonstration.
- I was like, "Nope!" - ( shouting )
- Whoa. - ( shouting )
Approximately how long does it take
to get good enough to be on this team?
( speaking Korean )
Kim:
when they are in elementary school.
It requires about seven to eight years
of training to join the team.
And we select who will be the demonstrators
- through an annual audition. - Seven to eight years just to--
And that's just to be good enough to get on the team.
And then you have to audition
- to be able to perform on the team. - Blimey.
So how long does it take to become a black belt?
( speaking Korean )
Kim: So to get a black belt initially,
it requires about one to two years of training.
But to join the team, you need to train
for at least 15 years, because after 15 years
you can get the fifth-rank black belt.
So you need the fifth-rank black belt to even be on the team?
- Yes. - 15 years.
Seriously? So, you can get a black belt,
which I always thought was like, "Oh, he's a black belt,"
in, like, two years, like it's nothing.
Then 15 years later, you might get a shot at being on the team.
"I just got my black belt." Child's play.
Yeah, good luck, pal.
Wow. Does it hurt to kick the boards?
- ( speaking Korean ) - Yes.
During your training, you get to have a thicker skin,
so it gets less painful over time.
It's still painful, but again, through your training,
you know how to absorb the heat and endure the pain.
So how many hours per week do you train?
( speaking Korean )
Kim:
usually trains about 10 hours a day--
six hours of physical training
and four hours of creating new moves.
You mentioned before about how people start in elementary school.
Could I have started in elementary school and be this good?
Or does it require certain physical aspects and mental strengths?
( speaking Korean )
Kim:
At some point you have to get professional training.
But at the same time, you need mental skills
such as endurance, patience, and challenging yourself.
So if you are patient enough,
I guess you could be as good as our demonstrators.
- No discipline. - No chance.
So, what makes the Kukkiwon team so special?
( speaking Korean )
Kim:
First is we are the first demonstration team that was established,
and we've set up this system.
There are many demonstration teams in Korea,
but the way that the team is recognized
or what kind of moves should be included in our performance,
all this are things that we first started.
Then the other reason that we're so special
is that we are a government-funded agency.
We travel to 20 countries across the world every year
to perform and to promote taekwondo and Korea.
Dan:
Yeah, and for the good of the industry as well.
- Yeah, exactly. - Love it.
Thanks very much, Master Park,
for shattering my dreams of becoming a taekwondo performer.
It's just not going to happen for you.
Not going to happen, is it?
Well, that was good. Back to you, Gav and Dan.
Thanks, us. That was very interesting.
It's very interesting doing an interview with a translator,
- and how quickly she could relay information. - It's very impressive.
I was very impressed by that alone.
He said how hard it was and how much time it takes.
- Yeah. - I wanted to give it a go.
But, really, I just wanted to do a training montage.
I could tell. You didn't actually want
to accomplish anything long term.
Don't want to learn any skills.
- Just wanted the montage. - Just wanted the montage.
Dan, do you want to show me your montage?
- Yes, I do. - Okay, go on then.
( synth music playing )
( panting )
( shouts )
( muttering )
( shouts )
Oh, wait. I told them not to put that in!
( shouts )
( ding )
Don't cringe.
( cheers and applause )
Wow. Good montage, Dan.
- Learned some skills. - Very inspiring.
Why don't we put those skills to use?
I've got some boards that we can break.
- Okay. - Yeah.
Already done this, so, no worries.
You're a professional at this, so I'll give it a go.
Why don't you hold out this board,
and I'll punch through it.
- Okay. - Yeah.
You sure? You got to give it a bit of power.
Yeah, just a little bit of power?
- Yeah, yeah. - Just like--
- Yeah, that's good. - Yeah.
Obviously, it's quite easy to...
Simple. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
...to break.
I'll just take that off of you.
- All right, your turn. - Okay.
All right.
- Yep. - You ready?
- Whenever you're ready. - Okay.
- Aah! - Ooh.
Didn't quite get through there.
Give me that board. That's never going to break.
Well, what happened was I bought a plank, but there was only one.
So I had to get a different kind of plank for yours.
- And-- a little bit harder. - This one's solid.
( music playing )
Ooh, nasty punch, that one, wasn't it?
Idiot. Thanks for that, yeah.
So, I thought it would be good next
to test to see if you could take a kick.
So I challenged you to find a taekwondo expert who could kick you.
I did find an expert. A local expert.
- Yeah. - Um, Danica?
Lovely to meet you. This is our taekwondo expert.
Yeah, nice to meet you, Danica.
How long have you been doing taekwondo?
- Um, three years. - Three years. Ah, cool.
- How old are you? - Seven.
Seven. That's almost half your life.
How hard do you think you can kick Dan?
- Um, pretty hard. - Pretty hard.
Pretty hard? Look, you're not supposed to kick me hard.
I haven't seen her in action yet, but I've heard--
I've heard she can kick hard.
( laughing ) Wha-- oh, man.
So, why don't we put on some padding?
I've got this PSI-measuring pad
to be able to test how hard you can kick me.
- Put you on. - I notice you've got a red belt on.
What does that mean?
It means I've been in nine belts,
and I'm two belts away from being a black belt.
- Gav: At age seven. - That's ridiculous.
I bet now you're pretty scared.
- Can you tie me up? - Yes.
If I come down here, you can help me.
You're two belts away from being a black belt
and you're only seven years old.
That's quite intimidating.
- I bet now you're scared. - I am now.
I bet now you regret your decision.
A little bit. Must be pretty good.
How does this belt and shoe system work?
The magnets connect to the screen
where the kicks count them.
So we can see how hard you kick him.
- All right. - Okay.
Where do you need Dan to stand for this?
If I stand here, you stand just there.
Do you reckon you can hit me here?
- Yeah. - So confident.
I'm going to hop on the Phantom.
Danica looks pretty excited to kick you.
Are you looking forward to booting me in the side?
Yeah. Most people would be, I think.
Gav: All right, I'm on the trigger.
I'm going to stand here, and whenever you're ready,
- give me a good whack. - Okay.
Okay.
( shouts )
I forgot to breathe out. Almost winded me.
Jeez. That's 22 PSI.
Gav: That's quite a boot. Did you feel it?
Yeah, I did, actually.
Remind me to never get in a fight
with a seven-year-old.
This is what you look like in slow motion.
Dan:
which is the side of my chest.
Look at that form there, swinging the arm around.
Gav:
Dan:
You hit me pretty hard there. That wasn't messing around.
-
- Dan:
Gav:
I was like, "Oh!"
( imitates explosion )
See, I could just do this over and over again.
You only had to kick him once,
but I can have you kick him all day.
Well, I think throughout this series,
that was some of the most impressive human feats
that I've ever filmed in slow motion.
- You're talking about my montage. - No.
I'm talking about the Kukkiwon team. You know, the people--
The blokes jumping sort of 20-foot in the air...
- Exactly right. - ...kicking boards with their feet and hands,
and-- yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Your montage was pretty good, to be honest.
- Thank you. - I was impressed.
Although you did kind of pad it out a lot
with random scenic shots of Seoul.
Let's not. All right, I was tired.
I was actually quite impressed by your... ( imitates swooshing )
I didn't expect to be able to do that.
You actually looked quite surprised.
Yeah, I was like, "Oh!"
Hopefully, you enjoyed that video.
Feel free to subscribe to the Slo Mo Guys
and check out other episodes of "Planet Slo Mo."
How's the hand?