Gyul-Dan/Geun-Gi or Determination and Persistence is our CTC theme of the year! It is a theme that has to be built like a muscle, and it may be the one factor that differentiates between those who succeed at their aspirations and those who fail. World renowned sports psychologist, James Loehr writes in his book, The New Toughness Training For Sports that toughness training is the art and science of increasing your ability to handle all kinds of stress.
Determination is the acting of making one's mind up. Persistence is the act of continuing an activity without interruption. These two Moogong-Ryu Words of Wisdom should be like muscles that need to be worked-out everyday!
There are many great stories of determination and persistence in martial arts. My first instructor told me the story of the National TKD Team Coach who tried for something like ten years to make the Korean National Team without avail. After finally making the Team, he was then able to keep winning at the national level for over ten years!
Although I did not have the experience of being on top at the national level for ten years, I did have the experience of competing somewhere in the neighborhood of ten tournaments before even getting my first third place trophy. This built some muscle in me to persevere to next win a second place trophy.
I think that it is easier for students to learn determination/persistence if they do not win at their first competition, break their board the first time, etc... So even though there may be some tears to get over, on the other side is a martial artist that is empowered to stay the course!
Happy Year of the Bull!
Master Korchak
