Do your actions show honor and respect?

Honor and Respect are not just lofty concepts. When I speak of honor and respect within competition, I don't mean to be passive and take it easy on your opponents. On the contrary, it shows more respect for your opponent that you think they deserve your best challenge!

In class, stay aware of the needs of others. Be there to challenge and encourage. Help your fellow students by holding the target higher, asking for faster, harder kicks, and more focus! Tell your partner when they are doing well and when they need to step it up as well.

Show honor and respect to yourself! Don't except anything , but the best from your technique, your sparring ability, your speed and power , and of course your conduct. We have all heard about "defending our honor," and having self-respect." Make sure your actions are in line with this.

Honor and Respect

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!

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!"

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!

Respect -Joen Gyung

The flip side of modesty is respect. As you make sure not to take more than you need , make sure that you allow for the differences between yourself and others. Different ways that we process, store, and communicate information make us seemingly very different creatures. We may have great differences in the way we see the world, but we can respect even our greatest enemies and through this respect strengthen our own position.

Respect precludes that we do not have to be correct! Righteousness should not be used as justification for greediness. Modesty and respect can resolve at least 80% of conflicts. When our will pushes into another's will, it like deciding to invade a foreign land and must be done with full justification.

Sparring is a great opportunity to explore protecting our own boundaries, yet not abusing our sparring partner. Using modesty and respect will help you to become a victor and respected martial artist.

Modesty - Kyum Soen

Modesty requires us not to put ourselves in front of others, take more than what we need, flaunt what we have achieved, or use our gifts to bully or manipulate others.

Modesty is the first act of wisdom that takes other into account. If we apply mushim, innae, geugki, jajeh continuously in our lives, we may then see modest advances in our relationships with others. Taking into consideration how hard it is to practice the first four words of wisdom ourselves, we must be reasonable in what we can expect from others.

This is an important point in itself. We mustn't be unrealistic in our expectations of how a relationship (student/teacher, business, friendship, or romantic) can progress. More on this when we discuss joen gyung (respect).

The best martial art students talk less and listen more. They show less and practice more. The practice of modesty in martial arts connects one with appropriate use of our energies. Do we really need to say what we were about to say? Did we need to hit our training partner that hard? Who really benefited from that interaction we just had?

Let me give a concrete example or two:

1. You decide to demonstrate a self-defense technique to the class. Will this help students understand and be able to execute the technique better or will it be discouraging and difficult to follow? Do you plan to break it down for students or did you do it to show off or just get the practice?

2. You notice a student seems unmotivated and lacks any power in her technique, so you admonish her for lack of effort, and then kick her target to show her what real power looks and feels like. Did you do this out of frustration that the student was not displaying effort and power? Does showing your own power necessarily translate into a students accessing their own? Did you investigate to what is going on with student?

When we are modest, we do not waste energy. We use what we have and we refuse to covet what other have.

OHTMAC Tournament

OHTMAC Tournament

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MooGong

Our martial art of Moogong-Ryu means Way of guarding the peace. Moo meaning warrior and Gong meaning peacefulness. How does war and peace come together? Inner peace requires inner strength. When we live in fear we cannot feel peace. Moo and gong are eum and yang. One flows into the other to create harmony and peace.

We need to concentrate on private victory before we can have public victory. Our first four acts of wisdom: mushim, innae, geugki, jajeh are the actions that will aid us in having victory within. When we have a sense of ourselves, we hold ourselves to what we know is right, we accept and stay in the present moment, we will attract success outside of ourselves. As we work these first four words of wisdom, we will create inner peace and strength that will aide us in our relationships.

The Moo is the fighting energy that destroys old patterns: mental, physical,spiritual, and emotional. The Gong is the peaceful energy that give birth to new patterns and harmonizes them with existing ones.

Continued strength requires keeping peace this must be done internally and in our relationships. You cannot maintain any power in relationships if you do not know how to live in harmony with those around you. At the same time it must be from a position of strength or you will lose your essential qualities in the exchange. To have a peaceful relationship this strength must come from true inner power and not manipulation. This is why finding your true self and applying the first four words of wisdom our so essential!

Next month, I will move to the next set of words that deal with human relationship, beginning with Kyum-Soen (modesty).

Who is the self in self-control?

Most of us think that we struggle with control, but what I think we are really struggling with is the "self." Who is in control anyways? Without a leader within us there is no way for things to fall in order. We have so many conscious and unconscious influences on us that it is one's sense of self that obscures who is actually making decisions. Find the self and you will find-out who is steering the wheel.

Try spending more time with less thoughts and outside stimulus to find yourself, then you will have more control in your life.

Discipline is all a matter of time!

When we are fully present, we almost always know what to do. This is why it is so important to remain present as often as possible. When we try rush or stuff our lives with too many activities, or take ourselves out of the present through addictive behavior, we lose our connection to what is real in the moment. Later we may say " that was a dumb thing to do or say." If we remind ourselves to wait and stay present, we will remember what we really want to do or say. This is where holding yourself to what you know is right comes in -discipline!

When we are present and inhibit our habitual reactions through patience, it gives us a chance to go beyond our ego and sense what our true self knows to do or say. This can be illustrated more concretely, when you are practicing a sidekick. If I am having a difficult time striking a target hard with my side kick, I could keep adding more speed and power with my will. Usually, I will get farther and farther from what I am trying to achieve with this method.

Instead, I could stop, empty my mind, try the technique as slowly as I can, and then see if I can now identify what instructions I can use that will change the outcome. Many times I will quickly discover what it is I need to do. Other times I may need to repeat the process or ask others to watch.

In the next stage I will find that when I try to speed-up, I will go back to my old patterns. This reminds me of a story:

There was a student walking to the dojang who would get to a spot where there was a hole in the ground. Every time his left foot got stuck in that hole and he tripped and fell. Each time he cursed and ran on with mud on his dobok. Eventually, he started to absorb some of the lessons from his master about mushim and innnae.

He decided to leave for class a little earlier and he took his time enjoying the walk with his mind more and more present instead on what he would be practicing in class. The student would start to slip into the hole, but he would be present enough to catch his balance. As the student absorbed more of the master's lessons on discipline and he became better at holding himself to leaving for class on time, he spent less time worrying about if he would remember his forms in class, and held himself to noticing the his surroundings more. Not only did he start remembering his forms better, but his performance became more powerful. Most importantly, he noticed that there was a path he had never noticed before that was a little quicker, had no hole to fall in, and had a beautiful view!

When you find that you slip back to your old patterns when you speed things up, you know you must slow things down so that you can be mindful enough to replace your reaction with a new one. You must be humble and patient enough to really break things down into small pieces

In our next installment, I will explain how the realization that we really do control our reactions is!

Practicing Patience

Patience requires an empty mind and discipline. In a sense patience is a practice of meditation. Viktor Frankl wrote about this fundamental principle of the nature of humans in his book: Man's Search of Meaning. The principle is that between stimulus and response is our freedom to choose. F.M Alexander also speaks of this in regard to changing habitual patterns in our lives when he speaks of "inhibition."

How often do we react the same way we always do in an argument? How often do we respond the same way to stress in our lives with self-destructive behavior? As a martial artist, how often do respond with the same counter technique in sparring? We condition a response through repetition. So how can we change these responses? The answer lies in connecting mushim and geukgi with innae of course!

At the start of our practice it is crucial that we become completely present in mind, body, spirit, and emotions. When we disconnect, we will always go to our default reaction. This is why the continual practice of putting our mind into our body and breath is so helpful. I suggest you read Eckart Tolle: The Power of Now for great incite into this subject.

As Viktor Frankl waited it out in a Nazi concentration camp, he discovered that his captors could control his enviroment but not his reaction to it. That space between stimulus and reaction is patience. If we start our training very present, move very slowly, we will be very aware of our habits. Moving fast or adrenalized, we will have no time between stimulus and reaction.

This is why I want you to start each exercise slowly and build speed slowly. This will keep you aware of your muscle's reaction to each movement and allow you to choose how fast and high you make the movement. If you stay present and slow down, you will not only hear your body, but you will hear your instructor's instructions, and you will be able to make adjustments.

For many of us who are Type A, we have a hard time going slow enough to be aware of our habits. Make a commitment to learn the value of slow movement. Try all of your forms, self-defense, etc.. in slow motion, taking at least three seconds to complete each move. If you are having a hard time disciplining yourself to do this, join in on one of my kimoodo classes. This is one of the ways I have learned the process.

In my next post, I will connect the concept of discipline, or "holding yourself to what you know is right," to our learning process.

Making mushim work!

The key to enacting our words of wisdom are always the words that proceed and follow. In the case of mushim, it is choshim (beginner's mind) and innae (patience). The best way to understand this is to think about listening to someone in an argument. If our sense of self is strong, we will think that we know the answer and have the best arguments for it. Instead of actively listening, our mind will become full of rebuttals. By telling ourselves that we may not know (choshim), we open ourselves up to new viewpoints and answers. This will definitely take Innae, patience. We may start to say things before we even realize they are leaving our mouths and we have to focus on our breathing and just WAIT! The waiting is the key. Time heals all. It seems so important to say or do something in the heat of emotion, but then time goes by and it is not important at all. This is the power of patience!

Acts of Wisdom

Senior Grandmaster Choi's moogong-ryu system incorporates a list of "Words of Wisdom." This list is more like recipe for living life than just a group of nice words to think about. They have been a guide for my daily life over the past 15 years.

Mushim - Empty Your Mind

You must be present to win is often quoted. How are we present when our mind is elsewhere?
Living in the present is the only way to fully live life, yet we are so consumed by what is next and what we did yesterday that it rarely happens for the average person. There are two concepts that need to be accepted before the ego will let go of thought: Thoughts are energy and we are more than our thoughts.

Much of our modern living separates our mind and bodies activities. Right now I am writing this entry, about being present, but my mind is anything but present as it searches my memory for the right words. The best way to get into the present moment is through putting one's awareness into our bodies. One of the great benefits of exercise and particularly our martial art is how it does this. When we are "in our bodies," It is impossible to not be present.

Why We Compete?

With our 16th Annual School Tournament approaching, the subject of competition invariably comes up. There will be students who will say they are not competitive. Competition is part of life. Without it there is no growth. A student may say they are not competitive, but it may really mean that do not feel the need to prove themselves in the martial arts and they may be very competitive in other areas of their lives, or it may be an excuse to not deal with the stress of the competition.

When we make ourselves accountable by competing against others or performing in front of others, we give ourselves the opportunity to infuse mind body, spirit, and emotions into our technique like never before

Healthy competition is the natural way to insure we improve ourselves. As long as you are in the world, you must compete, and if you must compete, you must win. I believe in the importance of competition within ourselves and to challenge our selves against other’s achievements. In this way, we put pressure on ourselves to change and it encourages us to bring out our best qualities and to compound those advantages into superiority.

The Dojang includes healthy competition as do all sports, but it encompasses a greater system for self-improvement than any other sport. Martial arts have a unique opportunity to train mind, body, spirit, and emotions in harmony through a unique system. This system empowers people for life!

Moo Shim Sho Vel

Welcome to 2009!

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

12/5/07 -

As we end this year at CTC with Harmony and Unity as our theme, I would like to sum-up martial art's primary purpose in modern society as the empowerment of individuals so they may reach higher in every endeavor. Empowerment comes from mind, body, spirit, and emotions working in harmony and developing a unity of thoughts, words, and deeds.

The Power of Recognition

A pupil from whom nothing is ever demanded which he cannot do. Never does all he can.
John Stuart Mill

We learn something by doing it. There is no other way.
John Holt

The modern belt promotion system has given us our most important tool to help students develop confidence, stay motivated, see progress, and become better taekwondoin. This system helps students continue to improve month after month and year after year.

Younger students are immediately attracted to the different color belt and achievement stripes. These extrinsic rewards are like a “candy shop” for children. Although many adults will express a desire only to improve their skills, and that they are not concerned with belt promoting, they may be covering up anxiety around performing in front of others. These test become the best way for students to see advancement and make long and short-term goals.

Anxiety around public performance decreases and performance abilities increase as students gain experience. The fact that you are accountable in your martial art training makes learning so effective. Performing in front of one’s seniors and family, and peers is part affirmation of what a student has learned, part training in performance skills, and part celebration and graduation. This part of martial arts truly exemplifies the training of mind, body, spirit, and emotions all at once.

11/20/07 - Happy Thanksgiving! I appreciate all of the positive energy and hard work everyone is doing at CTC to make it the best martial art school anywhere!

Here is the next installment of my thesis:

The Power of Self-Defense


The only people you have to get even with are those who have helped you.
R.H. Rehwinkles

Our first line of defense is self self-defense.
Paul Korchak


I like to tell my younger students that they are like “ super heroes in training.” and that the extraordinary abilities they are developing have to be used for good always. They really relate to this concept.
Internal peace comes from building confidence through challenge. It comes from developing the mind, body, spirit, and emotions, through determined practice. It also comes from becoming aware of our higher purpose in life.
External peace is a direction of a student’s inner peace. Parents and students who are concerned that martial arts encourage violent behavior find that well trained black belts are the most peaceful, grounded humans you could meet. Developing inner peace dissuades students from needing to fight for survival. Human interaction turns into cooperation and compassion. The ability to be able to fight for survival with one’s hand and feet allows the martial artist to move through life with inner confidence. He or she will also exude this confidence and will not be targeted by bullies and predators.

11/7/07 - What Would A Black Belt Do?

I think on of the most important life skills taught at our center is the black belt attitude. Using black belt as a metaphor for high standards of personal excellence, students seek to “act like a black belt would.” This attitude of excellence extends beyond the martial arts class. Students work not just to become black belt martial artists, but academic black belts, black belt employees and black belt parents.

You create a standard that asks throughout each day, “How would a black belt do this?” How would a black belt sit and listen to the teacher? How would a black belt clean his room? How would a black belt work on this job?

This new standard develops into an attitude of positive self expectancy which means good things happen to people who work hard.

In our belt system, students learn the importance of the four steps to goal setting through the example of earning their black belt.

Step one is to know what it is you want. In the martial arts, it's the black belt. Most students don't set black belt as a goal initially. It's up to the instructor in the beginners classes to motivate, educate and instill the desire to earn a black belt in each student.

The second step is to take the long term goal and break it down into short term goals. In the martial arts, this is the importance of having a well structured belt and stripe system so students have exams every month. These short term goals work as motivating mini-victories for the students. All confidence is built upon a foundation of excellence and accomplishment. With each exam successfully completed, the student builds confidence towards seeing themselves as black belts.

The third step is to map out a very specific plan to take you to your goal. A good martial arts school has developed a curriculum that, while possibly based in a particular style, does not make the student serve the style. Instead, the style or curriculum serves the student. If the student attends class and practices with the black belt attitude, the curriculum is well designed and specific in helping them achieve the goal of earning a black belt.

The fourth step is critical. You must develop a team to help you achieve your goal. This is why the student/instructor relationship is so important. That's why we our Leadership Team and Instructor Team are so important. It's difficult to obtain a goal as worthy as a black belt without the help of people who have already taken that path.

We know you too can earn your black belt, but there will be obstacles and it won't be easy. In fact, you are taking portions of your black belt test every day. Every time you don't feel like coming to class but make the effort to get in your car or on your bike to get here, you have passed a part of your black belt test. Every class that you take is part of your black belt test. Miss class and you fail that part of the class. Attend class and you pass. Of course, you have to work hard in that class to make it count. Let's see how hard you will work today. Let's get started... (adopted from John Graden)

Another Sixth Dan thesis excerpt:

The Power of the Body

The body weeps the tears that the eyes refuse to shed.
Proverb

If you don’t take good care of our body, where will we live?
Anonymous


I started martial arts over 27 years ago because of the physical benefits of the martial arts, and I am just as amazed by them today. Each stance is a strengthening, stretching, and energy moving exercise. The intricate hand techniques develop coordination and brain function. The kicking not only stretches and strengthens the legs in every plane, but helps make taekwondo a more cardiovascular and weight managing workout. The best part of the physical aspect of our martial art training is the variety of movement that we continually expand on. As participants get older they may not do the jumping and spinning as much, but there are so many movements that they can continue to do and not only maintain function in those joints, but add to their ability.


Taekwondo has a unique blend of whole body movements that take into account the entire well being of an individual. The movements are natural and engaging because they are based on real-life application. An emphasis on self-perfection helps ensure safety and injury prevention. Taekwondo participation has a positive influence on health related fitness such as cardio-respiratory fitness, joint flexibility, and muscle strength and endurance, and weight management.

Cardio-respiratory fitness refers to the ability of the heart and lungs to operate efficiently during exertion over an extended period. Taekwondo striking and kicking performed repetitively over an extended time represent the upper and lower-body movements that offer aerobic improvements for the martial artist.

Joint flexibility refers to the range of motion a person has at each joint in the body. Joint movement at the ankle, knee, and hip are essential for kicks, and the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joint movements are necessary for strikes. Rotation and flexion movements at the trunk are necessary for strikes and kicks, and require flexibility of the pelvis.

Muscular strength and muscular endurance will improve when practicing taekwondo skills. Muscular strength refers to the ability to exert short-term forceful movements, and muscular endurance involves eliciting force over an extended time. Forceful contractions of upper-body, trunk, and lower-body muscle groups are necessary to perform the striking and kicking skills correctly. Students develop muscular strength through these efforts. In addition, when students perform these skills repeatedly, as in a taekwondo aerobic routine, they enhance muscular endurance.

Taekwondo can be used to aid in weight management whenever students participate in vigorous physical activity, and burn a large number of calories. Expending calories is a key factor in managing the health-related fitness component of body composition. Body composition is a person’s ratio of body fat to lean body mass, often referred to in the context of body fat percentage. A well-planned taekwondo lesson can require demanding upper- and lower-body movements. This type of energetic workout results in significant calorie usage.

Performance-related fitness such as balance, coordination, speed, agility, and reaction time will be improved through taekwondo practice as well.

Balance involves maintaining equilibrium against the force of gravity. Kicking skills require maintaining balance while standing on one leg, and at the same time moving the other leg forcefully and dynamically. Add to these circumstances bending and twisting the trunk, and studens can develop balance considerably.

Coordination involves performing a set of movements with the proper sequencing and rhythm. Taekwondo skills require a series of specific movements that flow from one to another. Practicing the transition from one movement to the next with fluidness will result in a coordinated, skillful appearance.

Speed refers to moving the body or parts of the body as rapidly as possible from one point to another. Striking and kicking with speed are important aspects of taekwondo training. When students combine speed with the force of muscular strength, the result is muscular power.

Combining two or more skills in a series of movements will improve agility. Agility refers to the ability to change directions rapidly and accurately. Moving the body forward, backward, and sideways while moving into the various techniques is what promotes agility. Students need agility to make these changes in direction quickly, efficiently, and precisely.

Reaction time refers to the length of time it takes to respond to a stimulus. The speed of the reaction determines whether you get hit a strike or kick in the martial arts class.

10/31/07 - Happy Halloween!

Make every class like your Black Belt Test!

Success is the not result of one action. It's the accumulation of many, many actions and decisions, each of which take you closer or further from your goals.

When you are deciding to go to class when you're tired or distracted is a decision that will move you closer to your goal of earning a black belt. During each class not trying your best on a single drill or not listening to the instructor with all of your focus will slow down your progress and move your goal further away.

This is why it's important to think of your black belt test happening right now! You will never get to the day of the official test unless you pass the small daily tests.

"Every class is a test and every test is a class." Master Korchak


Another excerpt from 6th Dan Thesis

Seven Powers Revealed:

When the body and mind are in harmony with nature than you are most happy and healthy
Choi, Joon Pyo


Power of mind, body, self-defense, unity, support groups, recognition, and success make taekwondo more than just a hobby, but a system to enhance life.
These seven powers of taekwondo training are what make it a unique system to empower its students to change and evolve.


The Power of the Mind


The power of the mind and the emotions begins with the concept of mushim, to empty the mind. This is why it is important for a student to enter class with the white dobok and white belt. As the new student bows onto the mat, they have a chance to re-create themselves in the microcosm of the dojang. It does not matter what successes they have achieved previously, or what difficulties they are experiencing in the rest of their lives, they can be emptied as they enter the dojang, and receive “beginner’s mind” again.
Participation in taekwondo can contribute to their cognitive (mental) abilities. Practicing martial art skills requires developing mental focus and discipline. The martial art student must focus on the instructor throughout the lesson. Mental endurance is necessary to perform the skills correctly as they become more complex and requires more time to complete.
Discipline and self-control are two powers of the mind that students and parents are very interested in. These mental skills are developed as an instructor helps students become aware of habits that need to be formed and habits that need to broken. As a student’s focus develops and he or she experiences control over their movements, self-control is attained.