United States
News:
West Coast:
Letter from Chief Master Taejoon Lee
The Warrior’s Path
Walking with Death
“I guess it comes down to a simple choice
really –
get busy living or get busy dying.”
The Shawshank Redemption
Chief Master Taejoon Lee faces off against Jokyo Simon Lee
I had a student come to me and ask for a private
lesson to show him how to execute a jump spin kick. Of course I feel
that it’s long overdue and he should have asked me many months
ago when he was first introduced to it as a Tae Soo Do (TSD) Brown
Belt. Nearing his TSD Black Belt graduation where he must complete
the final part of his Black Belt Testing Requirements by successfully
breaking five boards with kick combinations, finishing with a jump
spin/low spin kick break, he felt the need to get some extra help
to ensure his success. It’s a good thing he was proactive in
trying to control the future outcome by increasing his preparation,
but what really motivated him? We’ll come back to this. As we
continued his private session, he was having a terrible time fixing
his old habits. Finally I blurted, “What are you afraid of,
what?!”
He answered, “I am afraid of falling.”
I replied, “You have been here almost three
years, learned how to fall properly, are standing on two inch thick
mats, and yet you are still afraid of falling? Well, that’s
it then. You must become unafraid and accept the worst outcome before
you can move forward or perish (not in so many words).”
Human beings are motivated strongly by fears; mainly
fear of injury, pain, hardship, embarrassment, and of the unknown.
We try to balance our fears by creating comfort zones of predictable
patterns to limit our uncertainty, deluding ourselves to think that
we have some grasp on our lives. As we are taught in Hwa Rang Do to
never retreat in the face of the enemy, we must first clearly define
and understand this enemy of ours – fear. Let’s think
for a moment what that is. Fear is anticipation of negative results
from a particular event, action, or set of conditions that has been
learned from past similar events. The important thing to understand
is that fear is not real. It is imaginary. It did not happen, and
might never happen; it’s only our imagination, our mind which
creates images with emotional and psychological attachments that become
so real that we create our lives, our responses, and our choices based
on fear – our imagination.
There are two types of fear discussed here: let’s
describe them as good fear and bad fear. Good fear causes motivation
for action and bad fear creates reasons for inaction. Good fear prompts
proactive behavior while bad fear immobilizes our minds, causing either
no response or complete abandonment - quitting. The good fear prompted
the student to take action to prevent the negative result that he
was anticipating with planning and preparation by deciding to take
a private lesson. The bad fear prevented him from creating the necessary
changes for betterment and advancing. He took refuge (as many do)
in the comfort of what’s most familiar. Whether that’s
good or bad, negative or positive, self destructive or self enriching
has no bearing on the decision. Just as a hermit crab hides in their
shell, so do we hide in what’s most familiar. The student was
not willing to give up what’s familiar and clung to it like
a safety blanket (however old, filthy, or smelly it may be), fixating
only on the potential negative result rather than focusing on the
possibility for growth and change for the better.
Once I helped the student think through the worst
that can happen to him – a broken leg, perhaps, maybe even death
(highly unlikely but let’s give our imagination the benefit
of the doubt) the student was willing to move into unknown territory.
Where before he kept doing the same wrong movement, once he accepted
the worst-case scenario, he began to try different ways. Finally after
almost an hour of what was to be a thirty-minute session, he made
some progress. However, something very interesting occurred. He made
some advancement, but quickly regressed to his old ways when he felt
he was losing control, uncomfortable with the new body positioning.
I think he even fell once. Well, that confirmed it. His fears were
right - he did fall. Fear is not logical, it’s not just mental
or emotional, it’s all consuming, and it’s powerful. Fear
cannot be underestimated, and the demon that has taken a lifetime
to take root and grow cannot be defeated in a single brief encounter.
Furthermore, fear cannot be eliminated and should
not be. Everything serves a purpose and so does fear. However, like
all things, we must learn to control it, using it as fuel for action
and exercising caution in making decisions. Being able to do this
requires strength, which in turn increases our self-confidence, and
enhances our self-image. These are all necessary weapons when facing
the demon of fear.
Primarily, we need the strength to accept the worst-case
scenario. If one cannot, then they must quit their task and hide from
fear, as many people try to hide from death. The problem is that death
will come and we have absolutely no control over when or how. The
only thing we have control over is life. Hiding is only a temporary
solution. Also, have you noticed that when we quit things, or give
up on dreams, that in our minds it’s perfectly justified and
we have all the right reasons to do so? Of course we do! How could
we live with ourselves if it weren’t the case? This is how our
mind works for self-preservation. Letting go of these justifications
and delusions by being true and honest to oneself is the first step
in battling our fears. As warriors then, by definition, we must train
ourselves to be unafraid of confrontation and engage our enemy. We
must accept and embrace death as a guest, a friend that walks next
to you with life on the other side. Only by embracing death, by truly
understanding it, can we begin to appreciate and respect life. Not
to abuse our life and live recklessly, which would be disrespecting
death, but by honoring life so that our deaths become more meaningful.
This is the beauty and the power of Hwa Rang Do.
We exercise dealing with fear on a daily basis as we take on physical,
mental, and emotional challenges set by the art, fellow students,
and me in a controlled safe environment. Hence, realizing our limitations,
weaknesses, and the truth about ourselves, we can practice taming
our personal demons and making them our friends that we may call upon
for help – sources of motivation. As the protagonist, Andy,
in the acclaimed film, “The Shawshank Redemption,” was
forced to make a decision when all hope was lost, so do we - either
to get busy living or get busy dying. After losing all hope, when
facts were revealed that could prove Andy’s innocence were brutally
suppressed by the prison warden, Andy was forced to contemplate the
meaning of life. Hopefully, we do not need to be in such extreme conditions
to realize that the choice is ours - to live or to die, to be living
or to be dying.
Death is inevitable and tomorrow may never come.
To live life by allowing fear to force our hopes and dreams into hiding,
never realizing our full potential, is slavery epitomized. We must
look deep within and bring to the surface our innermost fears, confronting
them face to face as we do our opponents, sparring until imminent
victory. The fear you suppress most that lurks in the dark crevices
of your mind is what enslaves you and it’s that enemy that we
must overcome in order to truly live life with freedom. I hope to
continue gettin’ busy living with all of you for many more years
to come.
With gratitude to death in making our lives more
fulfilling,
Taejoon Lee
Chief Master/WHRDA VP
Record Breaking Buddy Week
2008!
On the wall at the dojang, it says that most of our
students come by referral. This was certainly true in January of 2008.
Just a few months from a record number of friends and colleagues coming
in to try a Tae Soo Do class, the West Coast Hwa Rang Do Academy played
host to an even larger crowd of guests in the new year with over 40
guests. The Buddy Week classes in January literally overflowed the
mats, with aspirants and students stretched all the way in to the
weight room.
In a twist, Master Lee had the people trying the
class putting students in headlocks, after taking them down from their
knees. From the upper side mount position, the buddies got a close-up
view of what their lives could be like if they decided to begin training.
While a little nervous at first, everyone soon got into the spirit
of the week, with whobae and sunbae alike having a great time sharing
our Art with those interested in training.
The walls rang with “kiaps!”, the mats
rocked with grunts and everyone had a great time testing themselves,
and learning something new. It was great to see what can be accomplished
when we work together as a school, extending ourselves to a larger
community. Let’s see how many people we can get to break the
record next time!
Minneapolis, MN:
Self-Defense Workshop at Segate Technology
One of the advantages of doing self-defense seminars
at a large corporate site is that sometimes you get repeat customers.
This January the second self-defense seminar at the Seagate “Normandale”
campus in Bloomington was held. Attendance was good, with over twenty
people jumping into the specialized training. Some of the participants
were also already enrolled in the Seagate Tae Soo Do club, so learning
the more “street side self-defense” was a valuable twist
from the regular traditional training.
The previous seminar covered the basics of situational
awareness (the best self-defense is to avoid placing yourself in a
situation where you’ll be attacked!), use of force, and close-quarters
pushing, kicking, and of course, shouting! The most recent seminar
started quickly through most of that information for review purposes,
and then quickly moved on to escapes from a variety of positions.
Escapes from grabs like wrist grabs, cloth grabs, and body grabs are
important to learn and the group got the hang of escaping, we moved
onto some basic joint lock techniques. Soon everyone grasped the basics
of these concepts and the C-locks and arm bars were applied successfully
from a variety of attacking positions.
Instructor Sirny then introduced the group to a bit
of pain compliance and other more advanced escape techniques, borrowing
from Hwa Rang Do Blue sash to demonstrate escapes from chokes and
two-arm grabs, and also how attacking the joints of the opponent can
be very effective against bigger and more muscular opponents. Great
techniques for all the ladies, and even though everyone was learning
some “painful” techniques, the smiles were big as the
partners worked on each other.
The self-defense seminars are always well received,
and this year, not only did we get good attendance, but we received
an invitation to branch out. Instructor Sirny received an invite to
present a similar seminar at the monthly meeting of the International
Association of Administration Professionals meeting. The Seagate attendees
were very impressed with the practicality and simplicity of the training,
and eagerly await the chance to have their friends and co-workers
learn the same information. When it comes to self-defense, forewarned
is forearmed, and a little knowledge can prevent a lot of future harm.
