Div.3 Chapter 20

Establishing Distance in Taekwondo

“Why is it that I cannot defeat my opponent though I know many techniques?”

“You know many parts but not yet the entirety.”

What is the distance that results when Haneul (Heaven) and Tang (Earth) unite? Distance refers to what is between you and your opponent, your will and his will. That both of you change means that everything is constantly in flux. Distance in Taekwondo continuously changes. It is the relationship between you and your opponent.

That you as a man intend to do something means that you intend to change something with the use of your mind and body. Thus, what you wish to do at any given time is intimately related to what you and your opponent are like. The opponent in Taekwondo represents the world. Thus distance in Taekwondo is determined by a complex of factors; you and your opponent’s poses and intentions, the spatio-temporal distance between the two of you, and so forth. And each of these factors has at each moment its own distance, which in turn is unified into an entirety determining the whole distance.

‘Distance’ in Taekwondo is simple. Though it may rely on many factors in you and your opponent, its entirety is ultimately a non-distinctive oneness. Those who practice Taekwondo can feel its simplicity, just as a song is in the end but a simple tune though it is constituted of melody, rhythm, lyrics and other qualities. And just as it is possible to sing a song without really considering its melody, rhythm, and lyrics, so the distance of Taekwondo is not found in the distinctive analysis of each factor but merely as a skilled motion. However, just as you can sing a song better with an understanding of its melody and rhythm, so you can better establish distance in Taekwondo with a sound knowledge of the factors involved.

You should always keep yourself at the most ideal distance when practicing Taekwondo. The ideal distance is the one wherein your opponent’s intentions fall short while yours are attained. This is called “Taekwondo distance”. When you as a Taekwondo-Een know the proper distance you will also know what motion you should and can make in any given state. When you know your proper distance you know yourself. When you know your opponent’s distance you will know what kind of attack he will make in any given state, and thus how you should defend against it. When you know your opponent’s distance you know your opponent. When you grasp both distances as one you will understand “Taekwondo distance”.

In Taekwondo distance the opponent’s attack falls short while yours can reach him. As a Taekwondo-Een you can attain this proper distance only when you erase yourself and harmonize with everything in the world. You can maintain yourself in that continuously changing distance when you maintain everything of yours in its proper place, following the most proper motions. This is why, when keeping this right Taekwondo distance, you can always protect yourself and subdue your opponent. Then we can say you know everything of Kyorugi.

In this manner, understanding distance is not merely judging with your brain but responding to and coping with everything around you with proper motion at the proper distance. This is true knowledge, not only in Taekwondo but in all things. This sort of Taekwondo knowledge is “empty knowledge”. Empty knowledge implies not that you know nothing but rather that the knowledge you have contains nothing false. In other words, there is nothing you do not know. With that, what more do you need to know?