4. What Concepts
of Oriental Philosophy can explain Taekwondo Philosophy?
It
is most properly the traditional philosophy of Korea
The
entire contents of this book rest upon the fundamental concepts of
Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, such as Do, Yae, Sool, Yeok, Yin and Yang,
the Great Mean, the Three
Dharma Seals[4],
Vrajna (or Prajna), etc., but placed within the framework of the Cheon Bu Gyeong. I will interpret and
relate them to the main concepts of Taekwondo, such as Kang-Yu, Heo-Sil,
distance, tide, balance, poomsae, weapons, and attack-defense, etc. I will then
organize the entire conceptual scheme along the categories of Samjae, which are
the essential concepts of the Cheon Bu
Gyeong. I thought, however, that this was not sufficient for clarifying
every aspect of Taekwondo, and so I will also provide my own concepts on life.
At
first, I explain Taekwondo at the three levels of Mudo, Muyae and Musool. In
this process I add an explanation of the concept on Do, mentioning why it is
require for a proper understanding of Taekwondo. You can read this at the
beginning of the work (from Chapters One to Three), but as it is somewhat
complicated and abstract you may have some difficulties understanding at first.
If it proves too difficult you might choose to skip over it for the time being.
Next,
I explain the relationship between life and Taekwondo. One should attain a deep
understanding of life in order to understand Taekwondo, for it comprises the
internal principle of man’s motions, and of living creatures in general. Its
external principle of motion differs in no way from the principles of physics.
But the principles of physics or of physiology alone are not enough to explain
man’s motion. We should include an understanding of man’s spirit, which
controls those motions, for a complete understanding of his motion. A physicist
might be capable of providing a better scientific explanation of running than
the runner or his coach. But it is not ‘running’ itself, but merely a physical
movement that you observe in running. Thus an athlete can run better and a
running coach can teach running better than a physicist. What is it that they
know better? It is the internal principle of running that they know better.
This is why they can explain and control the motion from within. Third is the
concept of Samjae. This can be described as the concrete framework that
formalizes the PPT, and it refers to the symbolic trinity of Heaven (Haneul),
Earth (Tang) and Man (Saram). The concept of Haneul (Heaven) represents forms,
comparatively abstract entities, and the framework of change and the reality of
no shape. That of Tang (Earth) refers to material and matter, comparatively
concrete entities, what is changed, and thus the shaped reality. Haneul and
Tang are relative to one another, for which the criterion is Saram (Man). Here,
Saram means the will or the intention that a man possesses. For example, if the
principle of physics belongs to Haneul, then the matter that moves along it
belongs to Tang, and to Saram belongs mankind, who distinguishes and recognizes
them. Fourth is the concept of Yin-Yang. This concept is familiar to all
Oriental people, yet its original meaning is somewhat abstract and carries
various implications. Of the ways we can think of to explain the concept of
yin-yang, I want to suggest a simple and easy one: the coupled relationship
between the front and back of a thing, or of up and down. If a thing possesses
a front side, then yin-yang says it must also have a back side. Likewise, if
you climb a mountain yin-yang says you must eventually descend it. Yin-yang may
be described then as a philosophical concept that enables you to conceive of
both what you see now and what you cannot see right now, i.e. to conceive of
the entirety at once. Yin-yang appears as Kang-Yu, Heo-sil, or attack-defense,
in Taekwondo. So you can see that even if your opponent is strong, he also has
defects; and however important smoothness may be in technique, it cannot be
complete without hardness. This is not to say, however, that the concept of
yin-yang can be applied indiscriminately. The essential point of yin-yang is
relativity or difference. In other words, what is yin and what is yang is
relative. Therefore, the concept of yin-yang is meaningful only in an entirety
that includes differences, and it can be applied only to the whole stage that
changes. What can we call that entirety that includes differences and change?
The ancients termed it “Taegeuk” (태극[太極]) –
the Great Absolute.
Here
another question arises. Haneul (Heaven) and Tang (Earth) mentioned in Samjae
refer to different aspects, which is similar to the concept of yin-yang. What
then differentiates the concepts of Samjae and yin-yang? Yin-yang is a concept
that explains the relative relationship between varying entities. It is purely
and completely a relative concept, so you can apply it to anything freely with
each criterion. Compared to it, the concept of Samjae includes also the
criterion, which is the foundation of the relativity in such relations as
yin-yang. So it includes not only Heaven (Haneul) and Earth (Tang), but also
Man (Saram). While yin-yang possesses practicality, in that it apprehends the
relativity of things freely, Samjae possesses fundamentality, in that it
considers the criterion along with the relativity. Accordingly, Samjae is more
reflective, and so a more fundamental concept than yin-yang. Therefore, I
formalize the principles of Taekwondo in the broader framework of Samjae,
applying the conceptual scheme of yin-yang to the more practical and applicable
factors in it. And I suggest that the entire contents are based on Do and the
foundation of philosophy on life.
[1] In Chinese tao or dao, which may be translated as
“path” or “way”. Though the Chinese term is certainly more familiar to Western
readers, for obvious reasons, here and throughout this text the Korean
pronunciation “do” will be used. However, to differentiate it from the
English “do” it will always appear capitalized.
[2] Choe Chi-won (최치원[崔致遠], 857-?) was one
of the most preeminent scholars of the Korean Silla
Kingdom monument of Nan-Rang
[3]
The Cheon Bu Kyeong (천부경[天符經])
is a main bible of Korean traditional religion. It is a very brief text. It
reads in its entirety:
Oneness and nothingness are born with each
other. Divided into Three, they produce boundless change without exhausting
their origin. The one Heaven is one, the one Earth is two, and the one Man is
three. Accumulating those onenesses into the big ten, never-ending change is
caused by those Three. The Heaven when two is three, the Earth when two is
three, and the Man when two is three too. These big Three make Six, producing
Seven, Eight, and Nine. Through Three and Four it makes a ring by Five and
Seven. Since this One is profound and mysterious, coming and going innumerably,
its use changes while its root never changes. Intrinsically the mind is the
root of everything, when looking up to the bright sun, so Heaven and the Earth
make one in Man. Oneness and nothingness finish with one another.
(一始無始一,
析三極無盡本, 天一一地一二人一三,
一積十鉅, 無▩化三,
天二三地二三人二三, 大三合六,
生七八九, 運三四成環五七,
一妙衍, 萬往萬來,
用變不動本, 本心本,
太陽昻明, 人中天地一,
一終無終一.)
[4] impermanence, non-self,
and nirvana
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