Homage, reverence, and deference are words that are often used in relationship to the word honor. Our teachers honor make efforts to respect every student that walks into our door. Their abilities, age, or background do not matter. We are honored to have them as a student.
When we honor someone in the martial arts, it is done in several ways. First, we may honor our teachers. Through the dedication of those who came before us, their patience and understanding for us as students, we have all achieved our current proficiency. In a time that admires self-reliance , I think it is important to recognize those who have come before us and have spent their lives developing what we are now enjoying.
Grand Master Choi has spent so much of his time in person and on the phone to help develop what I teach here. He in turn shows his deference to his teacher, Byung Jik Ro by doing things like naming his highest form in our system after his teacher's style.
The second way we honor is is to show reverence to our students. Students need lots of encouragement by their teachers, and also patience with all of the student's challenges. This becomes the student/teacher contract.
A third way we show honor in the martial arts is to our peers. To honor those around us is to show deep respect towards them. How do we do this? Listen long and often.
During, the Oriental Martial Arts College's Annual Winter Camp, we hold the Big Bow, which comes from the Korean tradition on family members coming home to show honor and respect to their elders. This is a time that students of all levels come and show respect for their seniors and what they have passed down to them. Masters and seniors share wisdom from their years of experience with there juniors.
What are some ways that you show and honor and respect around you? During the holiday season, nothing is better than to experience gratitude and to express it to others!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Acceptance and Unacceptance
The martial artist must always train holding two truths:
1. Thriving for perfection
2. Accepting what is
How do we do this in our everyday training and the training of our students?
Appreciate imperfection for the beauty of what it is. Think about how cute a child's smile is when they have big gap from a missing baby tooth! Now how about the young child learning martial arts who has very little muscle tone and is flopping all over? What about the older adult that is so stiff in their movements that you wish you could just apply some WD-40? Now how about you when you can't seem to get out that one combination of moves quite right?
Is it a little harder to find yourself cute and to have the same joy and compassion? The serious, hard work of growth in he martial arts should be enjoyed with pure satisfaction of what is, or as another teacher said "always happy, never satisfied!"
1. Thriving for perfection
2. Accepting what is
How do we do this in our everyday training and the training of our students?
Appreciate imperfection for the beauty of what it is. Think about how cute a child's smile is when they have big gap from a missing baby tooth! Now how about the young child learning martial arts who has very little muscle tone and is flopping all over? What about the older adult that is so stiff in their movements that you wish you could just apply some WD-40? Now how about you when you can't seem to get out that one combination of moves quite right?
Is it a little harder to find yourself cute and to have the same joy and compassion? The serious, hard work of growth in he martial arts should be enjoyed with pure satisfaction of what is, or as another teacher said "always happy, never satisfied!"
Monday, February 15, 2010
Courage and Strength
Yong-Gee/Heem (courage and strength)are the themes of 2010 at Cincinnati Taekwondo Center. When someone is working-out in the gym trying to build physical strength, one must have the courage to do one more repetition or pick-up a heavier than ever before. This is an act of courage because you are opening yourself up to failure and defeat, but do not despair...
Many people prescribe to "failure is not an option," but the samurai had it right when they accepted death before they entered battle. Acceptance of failure will free you to push yourself to your very limits and know that even in failure you have built strength.
This is the secret that famed sports psychologist, Jim Loehr writes about in his book, Mental Toughness Training for Sports. The greatest athletes, inventors, and leaders have all turned adversity into strength, which in turn has lead to so many great successes.
My very first taekwondo instructor always would get this big smile when someone scored a point on him in a sparring match. I realized it was his way of accepting his lost and moving on in the match, in which he usually won. So don't be afraid to fail in class and in life. Learn to laugh at yourself. If you give your all and fail, you are still getting stronger and better. This is the beauty of courage!
Many people prescribe to "failure is not an option," but the samurai had it right when they accepted death before they entered battle. Acceptance of failure will free you to push yourself to your very limits and know that even in failure you have built strength.
This is the secret that famed sports psychologist, Jim Loehr writes about in his book, Mental Toughness Training for Sports. The greatest athletes, inventors, and leaders have all turned adversity into strength, which in turn has lead to so many great successes.
My very first taekwondo instructor always would get this big smile when someone scored a point on him in a sparring match. I realized it was his way of accepting his lost and moving on in the match, in which he usually won. So don't be afraid to fail in class and in life. Learn to laugh at yourself. If you give your all and fail, you are still getting stronger and better. This is the beauty of courage!
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