When I was a low rank, the longer forms grew to a magical or legendary status and I longed for the day when I would finally learn them. I mean, more of a good thing like forms is a good thing right? Yoo-Sin, Moon-Moo, and So-San are all amazing forms for their own set of reasons. I've written about some of these forms, but I've been reluctant to write about So-San since it is my highest and newest form. It's been almost a year now of working on this one as my highest and I finally feel ready.
To start out I must admit that So-San is my favorite form. While many students say that their highest form is their favorite, this isn't the case for me. There is just so much nuance in this form, that a person could spend five years working on just this form, and probably feel like they were finally getting the hang of it. I've been working it for one year now, and I feel like I am starting to get a good enough handle on the form to finally start to explore that nuance.
A good friend described So-San to me (before I learned it) as the form of little forms, and if there is a piece of advice I have for anyone about to tackle the form it is to keep the mindset of a bunch of little forms. So-San's 72 movement construction is completely unique. In Yoo-Sin for instance, you fire off 1/3 of the form ( the first 23 movements) from just 11 stance changes. What this means for the less visualizing capable is that you are doing multiple hand techniques from the same stance in Yoo-Sin, which in my opinion makes its 68 movements much easier to manage from a memorization stand point. To reach the 1/3 mark in So-San (the first 24 movements) you have already hit 18 different stance changes. You are almost changing stance on every single technique in the first third of the form. Although all of these early moves are symmetrical in both forms, I believe So-San to be the harder form to wrap your mind around, unless you break it into manageable parts.
The many stance changes early in the form is a lead in to another one of the things I love about So-San. The form has a "block, counter attack" kind of feel to it that almost pays homage to the first ten forms and feels so very satisfying to execute. In addition to being a form of smaller forms, it could also be described as a collection of one steps performed as a form. This can be seen in the first eight moves in a row, and then frequently in the second and third portions of the form.
Further making this form stand out is the prominent slide stepping into certain techniques. In my opinion, more than in any form, the slide stepping feels natural, and adds a dimension of power to the form that punctuates the block and counter strike make up. It's like the form was intended for self defense (hosinsul) break down.
Finally, the form features the three basic kicks, and a jumping front kick. For this form it is fitting. There is a sense of no nonsense with the kicks in this form. There is no question that the only demonstration of the art in this form is of the damage capability of TKD's kicks.
If forms are really supposed to be fights against imaginary opponents than this is the form to hang that entire argument on. It's just a pity that it comes so far down, and that many people will end their TKD careers before ever getting to learn this. It's a terrific form.
