The Choi Kwang Do Patterns

One of the major stresses for most students as they approach their black belt test is that the majority of them have forgotten their old patterns, unless they have been practicing them regularly in class.  I have seen plenty of students who have managed to forget their previous pattern 2 to 3 weeks after they have passed their test and learned their new syllabus.  The majority of instructors will have their students re learn the patterns in order and then have them practice the repetitively until they are ingrained.  This method can seem a little daunting to some and seem like a lot to learn.  To get over this I have broken the patterns into 3 sections.
Section 1 – White Belt Senior Pattern
The first section is the White Belt Senior pattern.  This pattern is fairly simple and most students can perform this with little difficulty even if they haven’t thought of it for many years, due to its simplicity.
The White Belt senior pattern is as follows:  
From a right front stance: Outward Block

Rear Hand Inward Punch

Turn the upper body to face the rear (left side) then step the left leg back pivoting the right foot.

Outward Block

Rear Hand Inward Punch

Turn the upper body to face the rear (left side) then step the left leg back pivoting the right foot.

Outward Block

Rear Hand Inward Punch

Turn the upper body to face the rear (left side) then step the left leg back pivoting the right foot.

Outward Block

Rear Hand Inward Punch

Front Hand Inward Punch to finish.
For the left side you simply repeat this pattern reversing left for right and vice versa.

It is at this point where most instructors, and in the past myself included would then teach the patterns in order.  Yellow, Gold, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, Red and Brown.  While this works it can make it hard for the student to see the patterns and commonalities in the Choi Kwang Do patterns.  Therefore I break down my patterns after white belt into two groups initially, to aid easy learning.  The first group I call the short patterns and the second group long patterns.  After a few training sessions and when the students have really grasped the similarities I then have them perform the patterns in the correct order.
Section 2 – Short Patterns

Short Patterns include Yellow Senior, Orange Senior, Blue Senior and Red Senior.  They have the same amount of moves which come off of the same limb at the same time.  All that changes is the order of the block, punch, strike and kick.
All short patterns can be described in this manner:
Right Side

Front hand block

Front leg kick

Front hand technique

Rear hand technique

Dodge

Repeat rear hand technique

Turn to the rear(left) leg, pivoting on the front (right) foot and step the (left) foot back so you land in a right front stance.

Repeat the above 3 more times

Finish with a front hand technique.
Then do the left side reversing the left and right above.
That’s it.  Memorise that, the order the blocks, kicks, punches and strikes go in and you have all of the above patterns

Section 3 – Long Patterns

Long Patterns include Gold Senior, Green Senior, Purple Senior and Brown Senior.  They have the same amount of moves which come off of the same limb at the same time.  All that changes is the order of the block, punch, strike and kick. I call them the long patterns as they expand on the short patterns with a rear leg kick and more punches after.  Note the long patterns do not have a step back as your stance is switched on kicking off of the leg side. 
All long patterns can be described in this manner:
Right Side

Open Hand Block

Front Leg Kick

Front Hand Technique

Rear Hand Technique

Rear Leg Kick (Keep kicking leg in front after completion, changing the stance to a left stance)

Front Hand Technique (left hand as stance changed due to rear kick)

Rear Hand Technique

Front Hand Technique

Dodge

Front Hand Technique

Turn to the rear side (right) and your feet should automatically be in the right front stance.

Repeat 3 more times 

Finish with a rear hand technique

For the left side simply switch left and right in the above movement pattern.

Once you have learned the patterns in this way and are confident in them then start practicing them in the correct order, white belt, short pattern then long pattern etc.