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I'm particularly interested in which forms (hyung?) are taught, and for which ranks they are required. I've clicked through most (but not all) of the schools listed on the UFAF page. Half of the links are dead, the other half are just full of poor web design without much in the way of helpful information.

I'd assume a largely TSD-based syllabus, but the various pages about Chuck Norris suggest that he's incorporated techniques and "wisdom" from many other martial arts (particularly Okinawan and Japanese originated styles, but also BJJ and several others besides). I have no idea if this would include forms as well.

I'm starting to wonder if the syllabus itself is guarded with NDAs and legal documents. Other websites for more mainstream styles regularly include various charts and other information to let Suzy Soccermon know just what's needed for Timmy to get his belt.

Anyone have any insight on this paticular style/system?

PS I don't have enough rep points to create relevant tags for this.

Macaco Branco
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John O
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  • Do you want to know which forms are required at each belt? One-steps? Individual techniques? – Macaco Branco Oct 15 '19 at 02:34
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    I want to know the names of forms (kata, not one-steps or techniques) and at what ranks (gup/dan more than belt colors) they are required. – John O Oct 15 '19 at 02:56
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    I found my Black Belt Society manual from the 1990s, the text of which does indicate that having that manual was a privilege of having paid to do a longer contract. That said, I will quickly do a rough photo scan/transcript of the testing requirements for you. I am currently planning on doing a better transcription of the contents of it, for posterity, and posting it to the Internet Archive. – Macaco Branco Dec 27 '22 at 14:58
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    Ran into a slight hitch, with some of the more abused pages jamming up the feeder, but here's the testing requirements: https://archive.org/details/1541-001 – Macaco Branco Jan 10 '23 at 13:06
  • Thank you so much for this. I appreciate it. – John O Jan 12 '23 at 15:08
  • Scanning the entire book is becoming problematic, because I subjected the pages to more abuse than I thought. The dog ears keep jamming the scanner feed. Is there anything specific that you wanted, other than the testing requirements? – Macaco Branco Jan 13 '23 at 21:54
  • @MacacoBranco What I've seen from the archive.org link may be everything I need. Again, thank you much. – John O Jan 16 '23 at 06:48

1 Answers1

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This information may be out-of-date, as I completed my training around 1996 or so, but as of the last time I trained, the manual states the adult curriculum:

  • Kam Sah (white belt)
  • Giecho Hyung Il Bu (yellow Belt)
  • Giecho Hyung Yi Bu Sang Gup (purple belt)
  • Giecho Hyung Sahm Bu (orange belt)
  • UFAF 1 (blue belt)
  • UFAF 2 and Mohammed Bastone Ana-Isa [bo form] (green belt)
  • UFAF 3 (green belt stripe)
  • Pyong-an Sahm Dan (brown belt)
  • Pyong-an Sa Dan (brown belt stripe)
  • Pyong-an Oh Dan (red belt)
  • Bassai (red belt stripe)
  • Bassai (black belt)
  • Design Form (black belt 1st degree)
  • AFAF 1 (black belt 2nd degree)

This largely gibes with other sources online, which state that the Chuck Norris System adheres to the American Tang Soo Do forms except for the UFAF forms. I sent a query out to my old school to see what might have changed, and the head instructor said that the form names are correct except that UFAF 1 and UFAF 2 were merged and UFAF 3 became UFAF 2. I vaguely remember that name change, with the two parts basically linking together. Kong Sang Koon, Jion, and a UFAF Bo Staff form also show up on lists, but I don't remember us ever doing them. My manual has an explanation listing Koon Sahm Goon as also being titled UFAF 4.

I also remember learning two weapons forms, only one of which seems to be required for testing. There was a nunchaku kata, Ni Da Buda Itchi, and a bo-staff kata named Mohammed Bastone Ana Isa, the latter of which is listed in the testing requirements for the first green belt.

I am in the process of scanning in my "Black Belt Society" manual from 1992 (it was a privilege of signing up for the three year contract, having all of the material in one place), but the testing requirements can be found here.

Macaco Branco
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