Taekwondo translates to "Hand Foot Art" and is a traditional Korean style of Martial Arts known for its dynamic kicks. The Chang-Hun style patterns were written by General Choi who is considered the founder of Taekwondo. This semester we are studying the Toi-Gye pattern. The diagram of this pattern represents "scholar", and Toi-Gye is the pen name of the noted scholar Yi-Hwang (16th century AD), an authority on neo-Confuscianism. The 37 movements of the pattern refer to his birthplace on 37 degrees latitude.

Muay Thai or Thai boxing is the cultural martial art of Thailand. The origin of Muay Thai can be traced back as far as the Khmer Empire, and is inextricably linked to the striking arts that emerged from it.  Muay Thai as well as other Southeast Asian boxing styles developed as a form of close-combat fighting using the entire body as a weapon, and are renown for their powerful strikes and devastating kicks.

Filipino Martial Arts make use of weapons such as single stick, double stick, knives, swords, projectiles and flexible weapons. These weapons take precedence in Filipino systems and act as a "force multiplier" to give practitioners an edge in combat.

Silat emerged from the former Majapahit Kingdom which existed from 1293 to around 1500, and today similar styles are found in the countries that once made up this kingdom. Maphilindo Silat is regarded as Guro Dan Inosanto’s personal combat system, and was first organized in the early 80s by Leo Gaje, Eddie Jafri and Guro Dan Inosanto. The word Maphilindo is combination of 'Ma' – Malaysia, 'Phil' – Philippines and 'Indo' – Indonesia. 

By looking at every strike as either a forehand or a backhand we can experiment with how to get to each strike efficiently and effectively. There are 4096 variations if you consider the other two variables of low line strike versus high line strike and on-side (right hand initiate) versus off-side (left hand initiate).