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