Friday 28 June 2013
Recently at an International Poomsae referee refresher course I attended in Jakarta the WTF presenter Professor Kim mentioned that Taekwondo as a sport has the 8th highest level participation globally of all Olympic sports. In some countries martial arts like Taekwondo are hailed as great traditional activities that rank for their inherent traditional values. As a country, though, Australia ranks poorly compared to this global statistic.
I recall back in 1972 as a 10 year old child there was a church hall on Riverview Terrace Indooroopilly that was absolutely packed out with students training Taekwondo. I recall watching them train and there must have been near 100 people, if not more, in the class. Sure there’s no doubt that this golden Bruce Lee era had something to do with that, however families were embracing the Martial Arts because it not only represented but trained and taught traditional values like respect, humility and integrity.
Today the story is not always as we would hope. It’s all too sad and disappointing to attend a Taekwondo sparring tournament as I did recently to see coaches behaving poorly who, incidentally, are in some cases Master Instructors from local clubs. Clearly they’ve lost the plot and have forgotten that mums and dads, and the public generally, are looking closely to assess on a moment by moment basis what this sport is all about.
Well there’s some light that I can shine here on this less than glossy story of people in our sport who are missing the “sense of the occasion”. Indeed the light I’m referring to is that of the traditional discipline of Taekwondo Poomse.
Athletes who train this wonderful discipline learn how to painstakingly rehearse movements in slow motion at first and over time to build them to increasing intensity and power, a process from where the mastery is born. The traditional performance happens at a tournament where the athletes are impeccably respectful to each other and towards the officials, other players and coaches.
At Factor10 our Yellow Jacket tournament is a sparring tournament also, however at that event the same traditional values of integrity, modesty, humility and many others are on display there. We’re so proud that we’ve preserved the traditional respectful way that the Martial Arts are indeed so famous for.
Poomsae as I mentioned earlier is also an expression in every regard of the traditional values. The concentration and “no quit” attitude is fostered through the mastery of the challenging basic movements.
Children benefit in extraordinary ways in the practice of this discipline of Poomsae. Apart from the concentration developed move by move, children learn that, just as in life, there are structures and a sense of order that ensures a step by step achievement towards excellence in whatever we do. We know that getting somewhere in whatever we do in life starts with the beginning, and that mastery does not come at the end of what we do but rather builds and develops from a continual focus on excellence from the beginning. As we say at Factor10, “well begun is well done” .
For adults the pursuit of excellence through Poomsae is also derived the same way as with children, with steady master, move by move, to attire at an almost enlightened sage of mastery.
We know that adults experience, and sometimes suffer, from the human-wide phenomenon of not being able to be present. This is something that increasingly consumes us through the ages 25 thru 55 or so, after which we often realize there is more to life than the ceaseless chatter of our minds. Unfortunately some people never really get to identify this “lack of presence” phenomenon in themselves, and seek refuge in addictive behaviours or become addicted or dependent on drugs or other medications that provide momentary relief. Sadly these modern pharmaceutical solutions never deliver a long term solution, and sadly only deliver more heartbreak through poor life quality in the latter years.
Poomsae training delivers on helping adults and children to train the life skill of being present. It is through the training and practise of traditional Taekwondo Poomsae that this state of presence is learned and understood possibly more than through any other Martial Arts discipline, except possibly traditional martial arts meditation. In fact. many Poomsae practitioners world wide attest to the practice of Poomsae being an active meditation in itself, leading the performer to a unique state of presence seen in no other active meditation pursuit.
Developing presence, or being in the now, is something that we would all want our children to develop. A mindset that can focus on the now, the task at hand, harnessing all our mental horsepower possible in the ever present moment.
In being present, or “now” as the famous spiritual leader Ekkart Tolle puts it, adults and children learn to focus on the critical success points of whatever they are doing, whether the moment is contributing to an intimate relationship, being productive in the workplace, or socializing with some friends. Regardless of the environment the traditional values of love, respect and honesty pervade all we do in the practice of Traditional Poomsae.
Love that Poomsae!
Master O
