Controlling Every
Motion with Rhythm
“How can I be faster without rushing?”
“Do not hurry your mind but gain speed by training. Achieve
timeliness with rhythm.”
In
order to move as one with your opponent finding the true way of Taekwondo you
must control yourself according to the rhythm of motion and ride all change.
The origin of everything is the same driving force behind all change. This has
been termed both “Do” (도[道]) and Yeok (역[易])[1].
Do is the term applied from the perspective of “non-being” to refer to the
non-distinctive nature of the absolute. Yeok, on the other hand, is the term
applied from the perspective of “being”.
What
is or is not? Truly this is the distinction. From the perspective that there is
no distinction there is the Do that never changes, penetrating all things. From
the perspective of distinction each can be different from the other, which
produces changes with Yeok that presents us with all varieties of change in the
world. With full understanding of this you will come to know that Do and Yeok
are open to one another, and not at all different.
The
rhythm immanent in change generates Yin and Yang through Yeok and Kang and Yu
through Do. Since Yin, Yang, Kang and Yu compose Saram (Man), and the
composition proceeds as breath, there can be distinction between Yin and Yang
and between Kang and Yu in terms of Saram. Therefore, the Samjae of Haneul
(Heaven), Tang (Earth) and Saram can be no exception, nor can anything in
Taekwondo.
To
discern this sort of change in Taekwondo the best example to look at would be
that of distance. Distance is one of the most fundamental factors in Taekwondo.
It is also the most objective one as the unity of Haneul and Tang does not
include the subjectivity of Saram. Distance in Taekwondo is very much alive and
in continuous flux. Everything that changes, and thus everything that lives,
has its own rhythm. Therefore, when you confront your opponent, and the two of
you take up a particular distance, two rhythms are meeting each other making
one controlled at that distance. This control is the true rhythm of TAEKWONDO.
It can be within or outside of you.
The
relationship between distance and rhythm is a simple one, and each is included
in the other. Placing oneself at a proper distance means being able to move
with a proper rhythm. Everything ideal is essentially simple. An ideal is where
difficulty and ease meet. Distance differs subtlety from rhythm. This sort of
rhythm can never be seen but rather can be found only when you raise your
vitality and harmonize its rhythm with the world. You cannot perceive distance
in Taekwondo with your eyes; you should find it with your mind. And you should
practice Taekwondo not merely with your mind but with your whole being.
What
is the role of distance? Distance in Taekwondo concerns attack and defense. It
is a vital element in subduing one’s opponent and protecting oneself. This
attack and defense constitutes the whole meaning behind Taekwondo’s motions,
which realize themselves in distance on the one hand while revealing themselves
in poses on the other. Here, tide and balance when united make pose.
Why
do we discuss pose? It is because pose is visible and so simple to correct in the
course of training. Flowing rhythm becomes equipped rhythm in pose. That is,
when you make your pose its figure determines the range of rhythm possible to
you. Owing to this, your opponent’s pose reveals the nature of his motion. To
express it differently, you can discern all his possible motions in his pose. A
good pose should not be just a stable one. Rather, a good pose should be one
that suppresses the opponent. It must not be ‘for the sake of' subduing him,
but submission itself’.
In
this respect, motion and standstill are no different in Taekwondo, which
embraces what Buddhism speaks of as “Saek Jeuk Si Gong, Gong Jeuk Si Saek” (색즉시공[色卽是空], 공즉시색[空卽是色])[2].
You know that everything visible is empty, which is because you discern it not
with your eyes but with your mind. In the same manner, you can see the motion
hidden in your opponent’s pose when you look into his mind over the temptations
of his visible form. Rhythm flows along through changes and motions. In this
way, the rhythm that regulates all motions is extended even to the calm pose of
Taekwondo.
[1] In this work, “역[易]” will be
written as “Yeok”, according to the character’s Korean pronunciation.
This will prove less confusing than the Chinese pronunciation “I” as in the I
Ching (易經). As previously stated, the more
familiar Chinese term “dao” (道) will be
rendered in this work by its Korean pronunciation “do” (rhymes with the English
‘no’).
[2] This passage is usually translated as
“Form is Void and Void is Form”. The meaning here is that everything is both
empty and full at once. Such a paradoxical expression may make its message
difficult to grasp. An easy way to understand it is to consider that everything
we have gained in life (food, money, power, even life itself) will ultimately
prove in vain upon our death, and thus they were always inherently futile
gains. This is the “Saek Jeuk Si Gong” (Form is Void). However, to proceed
further, if we say that these things are empty, then it follow that there is
nothing that is not empty. Thus the emptiness is not true emptiness. This can
be understood as “Gong Jeuk Si Saek” (Void is Form). This is my own
explanation, which, nonetheless, cannot be entirely false. Just as with every
Buddhist sutra, this text contains a plurality of implications. This passage is
taken from the “Heart Sutra”.
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