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  • Dan: We're here to film

  • the Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demonstration Team.

  • The amount of height they can get, it is nuts.

  • It's like he's going up two flights of stairs in two steps.

  • Dan: You see the powder from the wood.

  • It's a double spin. Oh!

  • Gav: Just walking through the air.

  • - That is madness. - Dan: What?

  • Oh, man.

  • Well, I feel incredibly inadequate.

  • - I know, right? - I can't do any of that.

  • Just huge impressive jumps everywhere.

  • Some of those jumps, sort of springing off each other,

  • I think went higher than I've ever been on a ladder.

  • Bloody impressive. Even some of the intros

  • and sort of interstitial moments were really impressive to watch.

  • Yeah, their, like, show introduction piece.

  • ( shouting )

  • I thought it was so good watching it

  • that we actually filmed it in slo-mo as well.

  • They're so incredibly in sync the entire time.

  • Yeah, to find out more about taekwondo

  • and the history of the Kukkiwon team,

  • we had a few questions for their head coach.

  • We're here with Master Park,

  • who is the head coach of the Kukkiwon team.

  • - Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

  • Thanks very much. So, um, do people ever

  • get hit in the face accidentally

  • when they're holding the boards?

  • ( speaking Korean )

  • A lot.

  • ( speaking Korean )

  • Kim: As you saw, kicks are really strong.

  • So sometimes if a kicker hits a holder's hand,

  • sometimes the holder's hand is broken.

  • Or because when the board is broken,

  • there's all this debris, like, everywhere--

  • so sometimes it can cause deep cuts on your skin.

  • I'm glad I wasn't holding one of those,

  • because I was thinking I could probably try that.

  • But then I saw the first demonstration.

  • - I was like, "Nope!" - ( shouting )

  • - Whoa. - ( shouting )

  • Approximately how long does it take

  • to get good enough to be on this team?

  • ( speaking Korean )

  • Kim: Most of the members start their training

  • when they are in elementary school.

  • It requires about seven to eight years

  • of training to join the team.

  • And we select who will be the demonstrators

  • - through an annual audition. - Seven to eight years just to--

  • And that's just to be good enough to get on the team.

  • And then you have to audition

  • - to be able to perform on the team. - Blimey.

  • So how long does it take to become a black belt?

  • ( speaking Korean )

  • Kim: So to get a black belt initially,

  • it requires about one to two years of training.

  • But to join the team, you need to train

  • for at least 15 years, because after 15 years

  • you can get the fifth-rank black belt.

  • So you need the fifth-rank black belt to even be on the team?

  • - Yes. - 15 years.

  • Seriously? So, you can get a black belt,

  • which I always thought was like, "Oh, he's a black belt,"

  • in, like, two years, like it's nothing.

  • Then 15 years later, you might get a shot at being on the team.

  • "I just got my black belt." Child's play.

  • Yeah, good luck, pal.

  • Wow. Does it hurt to kick the boards?

  • - ( speaking Korean ) - Yes.

  • During your training, you get to have a thicker skin,

  • so it gets less painful over time.

  • It's still painful, but again, through your training,

  • you know how to absorb the heat and endure the pain.

  • So how many hours per week do you train?

  • ( speaking Korean )

  • Kim: So, our Kukkiwon team

  • usually trains about 10 hours a day--

  • six hours of physical training

  • and four hours of creating new moves.

  • You mentioned before about how people start in elementary school.

  • Could I have started in elementary school and be this good?

  • Or does it require certain physical aspects and mental strengths?

  • ( speaking Korean )

  • Kim: Starting early is not enough.

  • At some point you have to get professional training.

  • But at the same time, you need mental skills

  • such as endurance, patience, and challenging yourself.

  • So if you are patient enough,

  • I guess you could be as good as our demonstrators.

  • - No discipline. - No chance.

  • So, what makes the Kukkiwon team so special?

  • ( speaking Korean )

  • Kim: What makes it special is two reasons.

  • First is we are the first demonstration team that was established,

  • and we've set up this system.

  • There are many demonstration teams in Korea,

  • but the way that the team is recognized

  • or what kind of moves should be included in our performance,

  • all this are things that we first started.

  • Then the other reason that we're so special

  • is that we are a government-funded agency.

  • We travel to 20 countries across the world every year

  • to perform and to promote taekwondo and Korea.

  • Dan: Wow. That's a full-on professional OG team.

  • Yeah, and for the good of the industry as well.

  • - Yeah, exactly. - Love it.

  • Thanks very much, Master Park,

  • for shattering my dreams of becoming a taekwondo performer.

  • It's just not going to happen for you.

  • Not going to happen, is it?

  • Well, that was good. Back to you, Gav and Dan.

  • Thanks, us. That was very interesting.

  • It's very interesting doing an interview with a translator,

  • - and how quickly she could relay information. - It's very impressive.

  • I was very impressed by that alone.

  • He said how hard it was and how much time it takes.

  • - Yeah. - I wanted to give it a go.

  • But, really, I just wanted to do a training montage.

  • I could tell. You didn't actually want

  • to accomplish anything long term.

  • Don't want to learn any skills.

  • - Just wanted the montage. - Just wanted the montage.

  • Dan, do you want to show me your montage?

  • - Yes, I do. - Okay, go on then.

  • ( synth music playing )

  • ( panting )

  • ( shouts )

  • ( muttering )

  • ( shouts )

  • Oh, wait. I told them not to put that in!

  • ( shouts )

  • ( ding )

  • Don't cringe.

  • ( cheers and applause )

  • Wow. Good montage, Dan.

  • - Learned some skills. - Very inspiring.

  • Why don't we put those skills to use?

  • I've got some boards that we can break.

  • - Okay. - Yeah.

  • Already done this, so, no worries.

  • You're a professional at this, so I'll give it a go.

  • Why don't you hold out this board,

  • and I'll punch through it.

  • - Okay. - Yeah.

  • You sure? You got to give it a bit of power.

  • Yeah, just a little bit of power?

  • - Yeah, yeah. - Just like--

  • - Yeah, that's good. - Yeah.

  • Obviously, it's quite easy to...

  • Simple. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

  • ...to break.

  • I'll just take that off of you.

  • - All right, your turn. - Okay.

  • All right.

  • - Yep. - You ready?

  • - Whenever you're ready. - Okay.

  • - Aah! - Ooh.

  • Didn't quite get through there.

  • Give me that board. That's never going to break.

  • Well, what happened was I bought a plank, but there was only one.

  • So I had to get a different kind of plank for yours.

  • - And-- a little bit harder. - This one's solid.

  • ( music playing )

  • Ooh, nasty punch, that one, wasn't it?

  • Idiot. Thanks for that, yeah.

  • So, I thought it would be good next

  • to test to see if you could take a kick.

  • So I challenged you to find a taekwondo expert who could kick you.

  • I did find an expert. A local expert.

  • - Yeah. - Um, Danica?

  • Lovely to meet you. This is our taekwondo expert.

  • Yeah, nice to meet you, Danica.

  • How long have you been doing taekwondo?

  • - Um, three years. - Three years. Ah, cool.

  • - How old are you? - Seven.

  • Seven. That's almost half your life.

  • How hard do you think you can kick Dan?

  • - Um, pretty hard. - Pretty hard.

  • Pretty hard? Look, you're not supposed to kick me hard.

  • I haven't seen her in action yet, but I've heard--

  • I've heard she can kick hard.

  • ( laughing ) Wha-- oh, man.

  • So, why don't we put on some padding?

  • I've got this PSI-measuring pad

  • to be able to test how hard you can kick me.

  • - Put you on. - I notice you've got a red belt on.

  • What does that mean?

  • It means I've been in nine belts,

  • and I'm two belts away from being a black belt.

  • - Gav: At age seven. - That's ridiculous.

  • I bet now you're pretty scared.

  • - Can you tie me up? - Yes.

  • If I come down here, you can help me.

  • You're two belts away from being a black belt

  • and you're only seven years old.

  • That's quite intimidating.

  • - I bet now you're scared. - I am now.

  • I bet now you regret your decision.

  • A little bit. Must be pretty good.

  • How does this belt and shoe system work?

  • The magnets connect to the screen

  • where the kicks count them.

  • So we can see how hard you kick him.

  • - All right. - Okay.

  • Where do you need Dan to stand for this?

  • If I stand here, you stand just there.

  • Do you reckon you can hit me here?

  • - Yeah. - So confident.

  • I'm going to hop on the Phantom.

  • Danica looks pretty excited to kick you.

  • Are you looking forward to booting me in the side?

  • Yeah. Most people would be, I think.

  • Gav: All right, I'm on the trigger.

  • I'm going to stand here, and whenever you're ready,

  • - give me a good whack. - Okay.

  • Okay.

  • ( shouts )

  • I forgot to breathe out. Almost winded me.

  • Jeez. That's 22 PSI.

  • Gav: That's quite a boot. Did you feel it?

  • Yeah, I did, actually.

  • Remind me to never get in a fight

  • with a seven-year-old.

  • This is what you look like in slow motion.

  • Dan: You're eyeing up your target,

  • which is the side of my chest.

  • Look at that form there, swinging the arm around.

  • Gav: I like the concentration on the face.

  • Dan: It's a good concentration face you got there.

  • You hit me pretty hard there. That wasn't messing around.

  • - That was good. Look. - Gav: It's a good action shot.

  • - Dan: It is a good action shot. - Danica: Yeah.

  • Gav: What were you thinking there, Dan?

  • I was like, "Oh!"

  • ( imitates explosion )

  • See, I could just do this over and over again.

  • You only had to kick him once,

  • but I can have you kick him all day.

  • Well, I think throughout this series,

  • that was some of the most impressive human feats

  • that I've ever filmed in slow motion.

  • - You're talking about my montage. - No.

  • I'm talking about the Kukkiwon team. You know, the people--

  • The blokes jumping sort of 20-foot in the air...

  • - Exactly right. - ...kicking boards with their feet and hands,

  • and-- yeah. Okay. Yeah.

  • Your montage was pretty good, to be honest.

  • - Thank you. - I was impressed.

  • Although you did kind of pad it out a lot

  • with random scenic shots of Seoul.

  • Let's not. All right, I was tired.

  • I was actually quite impressed by your... ( imitates swooshing )

  • I didn't expect to be able to do that.

  • You actually looked quite surprised.

  • Yeah, I was like, "Oh!"

  • Hopefully, you enjoyed that video.

  • Feel free to subscribe to the Slo Mo Guys

  • and check out other episodes of "Planet Slo Mo."

  • How's the hand?

Dan: We're here to film

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