Large movement

Keun dongjak (큰 동작, "large movement") is the large-movement strike in kumdo. The Korea Kumdo Association textbook devotes a section to the basic large-movement techniques (keun dongjak gibon gisul).

• Single strikes: meorichigi (head strike), sonmokchigi (wrist strike) and heorichigi (waist strike), plus jjireum (thrust).
• Combinations: wrist → head, wrist → waist and head → head.
• Retreating strikes (toegyeok) from the close-quarters guard-to-guard clinch (kodeungissaum), and the sequence head → body contact (mombadeum) → retreating strike.

In teaching, large movement is used mainly with beginners, together with the single attack. As skill grows, small movements and continuous attacks are added. One source says that the lower the level, the more large techniques are trained, and the more skilled the practitioner, the more small, correct techniques. The ideal is varied practice that mixes both.

The person receiving the strike should avoid a violent, axe-like blow and also a light touch, which is not effective. The preferred strike is a controlled one that uses the wrist, in a movement that is large but soft.

In the continuous striking series yeongyeok, the principle "大" (large) means that every movement is done large. One source says that striking with a large movement makes the motion smoother and faster. Another says that large movement is inevitably slower than small movement. It adds that "large movement" refers to large techniques such as the head strike, rather than the wrist strike.