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| First movement of Kanku Dai performed by Funakoshi in 1935 |
This months quote was featured here on this blog in early 2012. I chose to republish it here because eventhough it was published here 2 years ago I had a talk with a 2nd Dan ITF practisioner on forms and the reason for the chambering of movements, the "ready positions" and the hand that goes back to the hip. She had been practising for 10 years and "knew" all that was to know about "traditional
Taekwondo" not sport like I practised. She knew how to apply everything in combat and not the sports arena. I asked here a couple of questions that she answered pretty much as I thought she would straight from the Taekwondo Encyclopedia of Choi Hong Hi. I then showed here applications for the pulling hand, the Chambers of most of the basic Blocks and the usage of stances and she became very quiet until she said: "This is NOT Taekwon-do!". I answered that everything I had shown could be found withing traditional Taekwondo either as Ho Sin Sul or as applications of the art (think Sihak Henry Cho`s 1968 book for instance). She refused to talk more about Taekwondo after that and thats OK, but I could not help but think about the following quote from Gichin Funakoshi (again):
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| Compare this to the picture above |
Sorry for the "republish" but read the quote again anyway as it is pretty profound yet very simple when you grasp the meaning. As for the relevance Gichin Funakoshi has to Taekwondo? He taught
the founders of Oh Do Kwan, Yoon Moo Kwan, Song Moo Kwan Chung Do Kwan and influenced the rest indirectly. I think that speaks for his relevance when it comes to Taekwondo dont you?
That is the cult mentality of most ITF people. No offense, but it is true.
ReplyDeleteUnlike most "masters" today, Funakoshi-san saw all unarmed combat as "karate" - literally empty hand. He actively sought out other masters and learned their favorite and signature moves and forms. We can all more readily move forward if we go back and accept his approach, learn from all, train with all your heart as if your life depends on it and bring that honest effort through to all aspects of your life.
ReplyDeleteIt warms my heart to read the response of a true traditionalist Korean master "that's not TKD!" because it was not fit for combat.
TKD has come a long way from its initial conception of a military art that strives to disable people with one blow. Some people see the TKD Bible as the be all and end all of ITF TKD...and I suppose that from a grading syllabus point of view it is. One of my ITF instructors is a 6th degree, he is pointedly interested in the application of everything from a real world point of view and that is the focus we have when training. Another of my ITF instructors is more focussed on medals at competitions and his club is full of people who are excellent at patterns/competition sparring - I'm not sure that all of them believe that TKD is the answer when somebody attacks you. Like everything in life, you must learn, digest and question everything even the TKD bible.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely enjoying your website. You definitely have some great insight and great stories.
ReplyDeleteself defense