We practise patterns to improve our Tae Kwon-Do techniques, to develop sparring techniques, to improve flexibility of movement, master body shifting, develop muscles, balance and breath control. They also enable us to acquire techniques which cannot be obtained from other forms of training.

Patterns are a major element of Tae Kwon-Do and students start to learn them as soon as they have passed their first grading.

From yellow tag to black belt one new pattern is learnt at each grade (but students must also continue to practise and improve their previous patterns) whilst from 1st Dan onwards there are three patterns to learn between gradings.

 There are 24 patterns in total, representing 24 hours in the day, and each pattern has a name taken from Korean history. Students are required to learn the meaning of each pattern.