Division
8. The Basics
Chapter
61
Commencing
Training by Following Patterns
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A good beginning means
half-done.
But once begun, a good
ending half remains.
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Each one of us is unique. We each have our own
unique bodies, varied habits, and individual motions. We each
lead different lives and those lives too are unique. Yet the
basic process of Taekwondo training is the same for all. Why
is it that? Generally speaking, originally there is Man (or
Woman) in the world who distinguishes everything while the non-distinguished
oneness is the world itself. It is along this border between
man and the world that man’s discerning mind functions.
Man knows everything is different
from one another and then knows that everything is the same,
while everything has an original sameness, this is followed
by differences.
Naturally, correct Taekwondo training does not
contradict the principle of everything. Just as all newborns
may seem very similar at first, but as they grow older become
more unique, so do all Taekwondo learners begin from their sameness
in training and then proceed to train themselves along their
respective differences. In this entire process, Taekwondo training
is not about mimicking another’s motions from beginning
to end but about seeking TAEKWONDO by “following”
its formality. Learning Taekwondo is not imitation but creation.
Though in training you may imitate your senior’s movement,
you should not imitate everything of his. In each motion as
well as in the flow of motions you should think with both your
brain and heart, with your action and with your entirety. Therefore,
though you learn from your master and seniors, it is no more
than borrowing antecedent experiences and imparted wisdom that
serve to broaden your thought. Since you are aware that you
are both the same and different from others you also realize
what you can learn and what you must learn. This is to follow.
The training process begins at the Taekwondo
dojang and then expands to all aspect of one’s life. At
first you should follow those whose skills are superior to yours,
while learning as well from those who are inferior to you. Though
one may imitate in training it is creative imitation; Taekwondo
never loses its creative essence and it always maintains its
vivid and concrete structure. It is not that you should accept
Taekwondo completely but that you should change yourself to
a figure of Taekwondo, eliminating your faults to stand in your
perfected form. Every change can be what it is because it includes
what does not change.
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