Being a Martial Artist

Taekwondo A Way of Life
For me Taekwondo is not just a hobby that I dedicate a couple hour a week to. Yes I may only wear my dobok and my rank for 6-10 hours a week but that does not mean that is all the time I dedicate to being a martial artist. I am a martial artist every waking moment of my life wither I am in the dojan, at the gym, in yoga class, at work and everywhere else in between. I take the tenets of Taekwondo with me and apply those principles to everything I do. Being able to do Koryo perfectly may not help me to get a job, however the hard work, dedication and focus it took to be able to learn Koryo will.

It is amazing just how much time many of us give to training our bodies for Taekwondo classes and competitions. As it pertains to physical training of Taekwondo I spend no less then 20 hours a week at the gym either in Taekwondo classes, practicing my techniques and poomse, working out, taking yoga class or working on the ARC trainers to get my cardio up. When I go in for workouts and practice sessions I normally wear old dobok pants and a Kim’s Academy T-shirt. I figured that if I am at the Y I may as well wear my Kim’s Academy t-shirts to help advertise for our classes. This also reminds me that I need to be mindful of what I say or how I treat others because we are all ambassadors of Kim’s Academy and what we do could certainly have a impact on our school. Normally I do not get much attention while hitting the weights or in yoga class but the looks my wife and I get will practicing techniques or working on forms are normally rather funny. It is not uncommon to have someone watching us for our entire practice session which is good because it helps to advertise our school, but at times it can be difficult. Most of the people who ask us questions are receptive to the answers and we also encourage them to check out the classes and give them information on class days and times for the different Y branches, however there are always trouble makers around every corner. I can not even try to remember how many times I have been told that Taekwondo is a waste of time because it is not useful in the street, or asked “do you think you can beat me up” It takes a great deal for restraint not to answer that question the way I would like to, but I encourage them to check out the classes and let them know that if they take classes we do sparring every Thursday at the west branch. I actually find it funny that when I ask the people who think Taekwondo is a waste of time, or who want to know if I could beat them up what style they train in and I get answers like “I am not training right now but I want to take jujitsu” or “Oh I am a black belt in Karate”. Most of them do not even understand that Karate is a general name, not a specific style. When I get people who are looking for trouble asking me questions I keep my cool and run through the tenets of Taekwondo in my mind and I remind myself that I am a representative of Kim’s Academy and Grand Master Kim most likely would not find the news of me getting kick out of the Y for fighting well. At first thought giving the trouble makers what they want seems like a good idea but it is not worth dishonoring myself or Grand Master Kim in the process. Besides I think it bothers the people more when you do not play the game they want and you stand your ground confidently.

On most promotional test, especially in the summer Grand Master Kim asks the kids how many books they have read this month. Personally I think he should ask every student this question and within reason everyone should be able to read at least one book per month. I believe that reading is critical for martial artist and researching one’s style is important especially for those who are thinking about teaching one day. In my collection I have a number of Taekwondo related books that I personally would recommend to anyone looking to train in Taekwondo. Recently on the internet I have was attacked for my knowledge in Taekwondo because I did not know the true history of Taekwondo. It was later revealed that the person attacking my understanding of Taekwondo history was a person from the International Taekwondo Federation line of Taekwondo. Since then I have also read a couple books by General Choi to understand the ITF as well as my own research on the ITF and the 3 “official” head quarters of the ITF. I also read the latest issues of Taekwondo times and some only ITF magazines so I can be know what they are up to as well. Reading books for run is also important and personally I love reading Star Wars extended universe books, Anne Rice books, and spirituality related books. When I was a child I could not read very well, however after High School I learned I was dyslexic and after I found this out and did exercise to overcome this challenge I read often as possible as well as reading out loud to improve those skills. It may bother my wife sometimes but she supports it which makes life easier. I also enjoy reading things on the net and working on my own website for fun and perhaps to leave my mark on the world.

Physical training and mental training are both important, however spiritual training can certainly not be overlooked when it comes to a balanced program. Some people blend this in with their own religions while others see it as a separate issue. I believe spiritual training is essential for developing Ki and for understanding your place in the world. To work on developing the spiritual side of my training I follow Qigong and Reiki as well as daily meditation. There are two books that have been extremely helpful for this process. The first is called 365 Tao, this book offers daily concepts to meditate and even though I have had this book for 11 years now it is funny to read how my perspective on topics have changed from one year to the next. The second books is called “Bow to Life” this book is like 365 Tao except it approaches the concept with a martial artist point of view. Another great aspect of Taekwondo is that many of the Taeguek and Palgwe poomse we use are associated with elements of life so working on forms for me personally is a way of tapping into the universal life source for energy. 2 summers ago I went with Jennifer up to the North West Branch to take class with Master Bowman. The weather outside was crazy and you could tell a storm was coming at any moment. Most of the students of the branch decided the same thing so class was extremely small. Master Bowman decided that since the class was so small we would focus on poomse. When we got up to Sa Jang I made the comment that since Sa Jang represented Thunder and O Jang represented water it may be a good idea to skip over those forms.

Master Bowman did not see any harm in doing the forms so we proceeded to do them. As soon as we finished Taeguek Sa Jang the storms power increased and there was a announcement over the speaker to move into the locker room due to a tornado warning. The looks I got from my classmates was funny and after we were a loud out of the locker rooms everyone found the events interesting. Some people do not think much of the spiritual element of martial arts training and to each their own, however I find it to be wonderful tool in rounding out martial art training.

I honestly do not think many people notice how much work we put into being martial artist. Everyone likes watching promotional testing and watching how skilled people are at different ranks and comparing them to what they were like when they started, but I do not believe anyone outside of the martial arts community even realize how much really goes into training. I think the popularity of shows like “The Ultimate Fighter” and organization such as the UFC, WEC and other such organizations have diluted many people about what martial arts is really about. Anyone can take our basic strikes, foot work and blocks and be a fighter, however it takes much more to become a martial artist in specific styles such as Taekwondo. I believe many would agree that Taekwondo is not a hobby, or just a competitive sport instead Taekwondo is a life styles. We may only wear our doboks and ranks a couple hours a week but no matter where we are, or what we are doing we are martial artist.

TKD Dragon