LT.Div7. Chapter 50

Free in Strict Regularity


"Can I fight with this formal motion?"
"Then, can you suppress your opponent with blind motions?"




There is something you have to keep in mind all the way whenever you practice poomsae; poomsae is not at all serial motions made by only you yet it always relates an opponent with you. While this opponent is not seen to others, it can be seen to Taekwondo man who practices poomsae. Therefore, the poomsae that excludes him will stop being a poomsae right away. And it stops being Taekwondo, too.

Poomsae, as the best way of acting in the relation to the supposed opponent, was not formulated by chance but through the infinite experience and wisdom of the old people. Therefore, you, who practice Taekwondo poomsae, do not fight merely alone yet together with wisdom of old seniors. A true wisdom cannot be something fixed all the way yet it moves with its own life in reality. The wisdom of Taekwondo in poomsae looks like a closed formality, however, it opens infinite possibility of new creation in spite of its strict formality. The right Taekwondo is nothing more than creation in temperate formality. Then, freedom appears with no contradiction even in the complete regularity.

So, poomsae consists only in the limited pattern while it can be open into infinite possibility when you perform it who interpret new meaning of each motion of the poomsae and use them at your own will. No one can understand the ultimate implication of poomsae unless he knows this freedom. Therefore, you ought to find every meaning hidden here and there more than merely to imitate the motions when you practice it.

In this manner, to do poomsae is not to restrict you within its formality but to free you toward the nonregularity through the aisle of generality in poomsae. This is possible only after you've got skilled by way of regularity in poomsae. Therefore, while poor formality disturbs freedom that of Taekwondo poomsae never interferes with freedom ultimately. The formality of poomsae rather creates freedom and exists with freedom.