This was written four years ago, and still adequately explains my approach to martial arts practice. It is a tradition of which I am very proud. But I promise to not get so preachy for at least six months. Okay, two. Unless I get desperate. Anyway, if you manage to finish this article, you'll understand me better. Or maybe not at all.
Z A N S H I N
by Dick Morgan
Tradition
I am wearing a new T-shirt that I really
like. It has beautiful Kanji characters
on the front which mean “Tradition” in classical Japanese. I received this shirt as a participant in the
Spring 2010 Instructor’s Seminar at the World Oriental Martial Arts Federation
U.S. headquarters: Pacific Rim Martial Arts Academy, in Beaverton, Oregon. I have been to many of these seminars, and I
am never disappointed.
It is interesting that the Kanji
characters on the front of the shirt are actually Chinese in origin. Japan has a newer, more
modernized version of print, which is used in newspapers, books, and business
correspondence. But when the message is
meant to be displayed as a decoration, advertisement, or art, then the more
traditional, more elegant Kanji is often used instead. Long-standing traditions are often treated
like this, replaced by someone’s idea of a better way, disregarding the fact
that a certain manner of doing things has served its users well for many
generations.
Martial arts are exactly the
same. The reason for traditions is to
pass down to new generations methods which have proved efficient and
effective. In the martial arts, this
means that we study not only the movement basics, but the history and
philosophy of the art as well. Who were
our founders? How has our art developed into what it is now? What did the founders intend that we learn,
and why?
The first of these questions is not
so very far away from the present.
Modern Hapkido was developed in the mid 1950’s and early 1960’s by a
small group of very dedicated martial artists in Korea. They were studying a form of Aikijutsu
imported from Japan after World War II by
Choi, Yung Sul, who referred to this art as Yu Sool Kwan. But this group of dedicated practitioners
brought with them their expertise in many other martial arts, including Judo
and Chungdo Kwan. A new approach to
Aikijutsu quickly developed, which was then renamed Hapkido.
Our connection to this group of
founders is through Grandmaster Kim, Sangcook.
He joined this group of founders as an accomplished Chungdo Kwan black
belt, and influenced the development of Hapkido more than any other single
person. From his contribution to the art
of Hapkido, we receive the hard focus of hitting and kicking, often referred to
as “the one-punch kill” approach to technique.
Most of the kicks that are now standard tradition in Hapkido have come
to us from Chungdo Kwan, the only Tae Kwon Do style that has kept its family
title. A few of those kicks, such as the
Hapkido signature turn-back kick, were invented by Grandmaster Kim during this
formative period.
Grandmaster Kim’s teacher, Woon Kyu
Uhm, has been the president of Korean Chungdo Kwan for many years, and recently
served as President of the World TKD Federation. Grandmaster Garrison has studied with
Grandmaster Kim for 40 years. During that time, he has traveled with
Grandmaster Kim to Korea, conversed with Mr. Uhm many times, and practiced with
Mr. Uhm’s other senior students, all of whom are now the senior leaders in the
Tae Kwon Do World. He has practiced with
the senior master of both Chungdo Kwan and Hapkido; He learned the Tae Geuk
Forms from the man who invented them. He
has learned Hapkido from the people who invented that art. For the past 40 years. He has paid his dues many times over.
That is where our martial tradition
comes from. It comes from a man who has
practiced his art faithfully for half a century, and has become the master his
teachers wanted him to become. He now
passes that art down to us, his students, as faithful to its origins as his
teachers presented it to him.
He
has not transformed it into a newer version, nor left out the parts he didn’t
like, nor promoted himself beyond the rank his teachers have bestowed upon
him. The art is as pure and as close to
the original as any presentation of Hapkido anywhere in the world.
Now it is our turn; tradition is a
two-lane road. We have experienced the
best training in this art available in the world today, but we must learn to be
receptive. We must approach the art with
an open mind, a prepared body, and a determined heart. When we practice basic moves, we must
remember that these moves have been taught unchanged for generations. We must examine them over and over, each time
searching for the nuances that make them so effective. Little things—the placement of a foot, the
position of the fingers, the coordination of the breathing—can make a technique
formidable, or make it ineffective. We
must continuously examine each movement we have been shown to discover all the
elements that give them power and effectiveness.
Many people discontinue this
examination process, believing that they have learned all there is to
learn. They declare themselves done, and
stop learning. The secrets gleaned from
a lifetime of study are no longer available to them. When you resist learning, tradition is lost.
I have experienced another week-end
of learning. Many of the techniques
studied I have seen many times before in my own 35 year history of studying
Hapkido. But none of the techniques were
boring, or pointless, or ineffective.
All of them presented new approaches, new insights into how they
work. And once you have served as Uke
for Grandmaster Garrison, you instantly understand a technique’s effectiveness,
and believe me when I say, you are not bored.
You get the point very quickly: there is more to learn; there is more to
perfect. You are not done. You are never going to be done.
You
will never be done learning because that is our tradition. Hapkido is an approach to life itself:
learning without compromise, and without end.
Consider yourself lucky that you are not done, and that you have such
ready access to a stellar tradition.
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