Division
7. On Poomsae
Chapter
48
Seeing
Motion at a Standstill
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“Why is it they
do not move but only glare at each other?”
“Do you not see the many movements of their minds?”
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Your Taekwondo ability reveals itself even in each of your
trivial motions, and is manifested as well in your pose when
you do not move. The mind of a Taekwondo-Een can see and feel
it. TAEKWONDO is in its motions. Then how is it possible that
the figure of Taekwondo is also found in one’s stable
pose?
Just as a line is more than a series of points, so is a movement
more than a series of stable poses through particular spatial
points. A motion cannot be composed only of a strung series
of stable poses. How can a rock, when rolled forward moment
by moment in a series of stable positions, ever be the same
as a rolling rock? The difference between motion and non-motion
is not a matter of degree but a matter of essence. A bead is
not at rest when it is rolling, no matter how slow it may roll.
Thus, in the change between motion and non-motion you should
make, though invisible, a continuous series of concealed movements.
The world is already full of movement and continuous change
amidst which a man makes his living. Therefore, a pose of Taekwondo,
though it reveals no outward motion, is ever in constant unseen
motion.
Making a pose you reveal only a little or no actual motion,
because you have to arrange and adapt yourself to the change
of surroundings without confusion. This standstill, however,
contains a critical tension between you and your opponent that
is on the very verge of exploding, and it is in fact no different
from a motion. This is why you tire even just watching out for
your opponent. In the whole of your activity you should meet
yourself in a standstill that contains movement and meet your
opponent with a movement that contains standstill. This is Taekwondo.
And you who watch yourself and face your opponent with such
Taekwondo are a Taekwondo-Een. Therefore, recreating a form
with nothing more to it, this cannot be the essence of the Taekwondo
pose. Now, subduing the opponent and protecting oneself is the
essence of the Taekwondo pose. Therefore, even when you remain
in a pose without movement you keep open the possibility of
change in every part of that pose, and when you make continuous
motion you always establish a consistent self.
In this manner, a pose is an expression of your mind into a
certain figure through the body. A good pose consists in an
accordance of mind and body, while a bad one lacks such accord.
Your pose reveals the possibility of your movements. Between
the subject of recognition and its object the possibility determines
the reality. Therefore, your pose determines your motions and
reveals your ability.
There are three factors you must keep in mind in observing
the opponent’s pose. First is his center, the second his
sight, and the third his intention. Observing the location of
his center you can guess which foot or hand he will use in his
attack and how far that attack will reach; observing his sight
you can determine his target; and reading his intention you
can recognize how he wants to deceive you. If you fail to read
his intention, even if you pay close attention to his sight,
you can be easily deceived. If you observe only his center yet
fail to catch his sight you will expose yourself to unexpected
attack. Thus, you should penetrate his center and sight at a
glance and must not lose them, and you should be able to read
what he intends by an instinct. This is possible only when you
open your mind. You must see yourself with a mind directed to
your opponent and protect yourself with a mind of helping him.
In Taekwondo, making the pose for Kyorugi against your opponent
is to strain oneself to the full. Yet despite this extreme strain,
a sufficient capacity of your pose must be preserved without
strain so that your body is soft and in a relaxed state with
your mind concentrated and composed. The tight strain exists
between you and the opponent and in relation to the world. Therefore,
it must be in the world and in you, yet it must not be in your
bones and muscles. The strain that is neither in the bones nor
muscles but in the self is that of your entirety. The bones
and muscles should be prepared for a reconciliation of this
total harmony. What a tremendous strain that must be!
Thus, a good Taekwondo pose is like having concealed bombs
all about you, so that you are prepared to explode – in
your fist, kick, and trunk – at any time and as soon as
the opponent attacks. But nothing is visible. Gunpowder is merely
a sort of dust that reveals nothing of its potential flame or
explosion in its original form. Such must be the concealed strain
of Taekwondo.
On the other hand, a good bomb does not easily explode even
with an unexpected shock. However, its explosive power, which
is triggered by the appropriate shock from its own percussion
lock, is remarkable when it comes. The pose of the Taekwondo-Een
should be like this, not only in practicing Taekwondo but in
all of life. And the percussion lock of the Taekwondo-Een is
nothing less than his moral judgment. This sort of correct Taekwondo
pose, which is both strained and not strained, differs from
your daily self in that it contains more possibility in every
part and the standing point of the Taekwondo-Een is one pole
in his relation to the world. At the same time, it is the same
as his daily self and so, it never reveals itself outwardly.
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