Div.7 Chapter 50

Freedom through Strict Formality

“Can I fight using such formal movements?”

“Would you subdue your opponent with blind motion then?”

There is something you must always keep in mind as you practice Poomsae. Poomsae is not merely a series of movements made only by you. It also serves to situate your opponent. While this opponent is not seen by others, it can be seen by a Taekwondo-Een who practices Poomsae. Therefore, Poomsae that excludes him ceases immediately to be Poomsae. It ceases to be Taekwondo as well.

Poomsae, as the optimum way of acting in relation to an opponent, developed not by chance but through the infinite experience and accumulated wisdom of the ancients. Therefore, the practitioner of Taekwondo Poomsae does not fight alone but with the wisdom of his forebears. All true wisdom cannot be fixed but must flux with its own life situated in reality. The wisdom of Taekwondo in Poomsae may at first appear as fixed formality; however, through that formality opens up infinite creative potential. Correct Taekwondo is simply creativity within temperate formality.

Therefore, though Poomsae is comprised of a limited pattern, it opens up to infinite possibilities when through your own creative will you interpret the original potential of every Poomsae motion. No one can understand the ultimate implications of Poomsae until he grasps this freedom. As you practice Poomsae you ought to seek out its hidden meanings rather than merely imitating its patterned motions.

In this manner, to practice Poomsae is not to restrict oneself to a structured formality but to open oneself to non-regularity by way of the generality of Poomsae. However, this will not be possible until one has first become trained in the formality and regularity of Poomsae. In other words, while poor Poomsae form will hinder freedom, skilled Taekwondo Poomsae in no way interferes with freedom. The formality of Poomsae both creates freedom and exists alongside it.