Div.8 Chapter 61

Commencing Training by Following Patterns

A good beginning means half-done.

But once begun, a good ending half remains.

Each one of us is unique. We each have our own unique bodies, varied habits, and individual motions. We each lead different lives and those lives too are unique. Yet the basic process of Taekwondo training is the same for all. Why is it that? Generally speaking, originally there is Man (or Woman) in the world who distinguishes everything while the non-distinguished oneness is the world itself. It is along this border between man and the world that man’s discerning mind functions. Man knows everything is different from one another and then knows that everything is the same, while everything has an original sameness, this is followed by differences.

Naturally, correct Taekwondo training does not contradict the principle of everything. Just as all newborns may seem very similar at first, but as they grow older become more unique, so do all Taekwondo learners begin from their sameness in training and then proceed to train themselves along their respective differences. In this entire process, Taekwondo training is not about mimicking another’s motions from beginning to end but about seeking TAEKWONDO by “following” its formality. Learning Taekwondo is not imitation but creation. Though in training you may imitate your senior’s movement, you should not imitate everything of his one. In each motion as well as in the flow of motions you should think with both your brain and heart, with your action and with your entirety. Therefore, though you learn from your master and seniors, it is no more than borrowing antecedent experiences and imparted wisdom that serve to broaden your thought. Since you are aware that you are both the same and different from others you also realize what you can learn and what you must learn. This is to follow.

The training process begins at the Taekwondo dojang and then expands to all aspects of one’s life. At first you should follow those whose skills are superior to yours, while learning as well from those who are inferior to you. Though one may imitate in training it is creative imitation; Taekwondo never loses its creative essence and it always maintains its vivid and concrete structure. It is not that you should accept Taekwondo completely but that you should change yourself to a figure of Taekwondo, eliminating your faults to stand in your perfected form. Every change can be what it is because it includes what does not change.