Sharing Some Notes, Quotes and other stuff Part 1

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I haven't been the best at posting lately, but I am trying to get back at it :-) Yesteday I moved from my old journal to a new one, and flipping through the book so far (November 2018- August 2019) I saw that there were a few quotes, notes, ideas, etc that readers of this blog might enjoy :-) The way I journal is based on Ryder Carrolls "The Bullet Journal-method". If you had to google that you probably found the artsy beautiful works of art, that is not the original bullet point method, it is a stripped down bare way to organise everything into one book. If you are interested in how that works check out Ryder Carrols work, do not get fuzzed on beauty, I have no decorations, colours or anything in mine. It is pure function ;-) With that out of the way let us start this sharing of everything martial art related (semi or otherwise).



Below if the writing is cursive it is taken directly from my notes. If it is regular writing it is me commenting a little to put it into perspective. Here and there I will provide links to books etc where things comes from. These links might be affilliated links which means you can click them, be taken to amazon.com and if you decide to purchase something within 48 hours I get a small promotion. I am telling this up front, but everything I link to will obviously be stuff I own and use (these are from MY NOTES after all :-P so do not worry that I am trying to "push" something on anyone).

"The accomplished man uses the sword but does not kill others. He uses the sword and gives others life." -Takuan Soho

The quote above just nails the function of the martial arts as I see them. We train not to hurt others (eventhough the arts can be used that way if miss-used), but to save/ protect ourselves or people we care about (give others life). When I read this I wrote it in my notes for the day, but I also wrote it on the very fist page of the journal as I loved it so much. Link to the original book: https://amzn.to/2Aeaa8Z

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." -W.L. Sheldon.

Again a quote that spoke to me on the Mudo-philosophy of self development being in the forefront of our minds while training/ studying the Do (Way).

Ji Do Kwan Creed:
1: For myself
2: For my Kwan
3: For my Country

I wrote down and re-translated the creed as I found it in Korean and was surprised that it was different in Korean than in the normal English translations. The word "Taekwondo" does not appear, nor the word "Ji Do Kwan", still most English translations of the creed goes; 1: Taekwondo for myself, 2: Taekwondo for Ji Do Kwan, 3: Taekwondo for my Country. The top creed is true to the Korean rendition of the creed, while the latter one is the normal translation but it inserts words (Taekwondo) on each line and instead of only "Kwan" or school as it is in the Korean original the normal translations states Ji Do Kwan.

"You never fail until you stop trying." -A. Einstein

Who knew Albert Einstein had such a deep understanding of Mudo-philosophy? :-P I couldn't be more in agreenment with this. You might not make it in the beginning, but stick with it and even the impossible becomes possible. You have indeed not failed until you stop trying.

Ji Do Kwan Creed:
1: For myself
2: For my Kwan
3: For my Country

8 folded path/ The spirit of the eight manners of solemnity

1. View rightly
2. Feel rightly
3. Think rightly
4. Speak rightly
5. Order rightly
6. Contribute rightly
7. Have ability
8. Conduct rightly

In "The way of Zen" by Allan Watts he says the 8 folded path is the fourth noble truth in Budhism. Each section of the path has a name preceeded by the word "samyak" (pali, samma) which has the meaning of "Perfect" or "complete". The first two has to do with thought, the next four has to do with action. The last two has to do with contemplation or awareness. 

The following is directly from Allan Watts, Way of Zen:

1. Samyag-drishti complete view
2. Samyak Samkulpa complete understanding
3. Samyagrak complete (i. e. truthful) speech
4. Samyak Karmanta complete action
5. Samyagajira complete vocation
6. Samyag vyayama complete application
7. Samyak Smriti complete recollectedness
8. Samyak Samadhi complete contemplation

As you can see above the translations is different, and even the order. The first listing of the 8 folded path is from a Ji Do Kwan source (provided by Master Al Cole), while the second one is notes from The Way of Zen by Allan Watts. ( Link to the book The Way of Zen: https://amzn.to/2HZ4lAl  )

Below are some notes I jotted down to prepare for a self defense theory talk I held at a black belt seminar. I am a huge fan of the book "In the name of self defense" by Marc McYoung, and I highly reccommend it. I also enjoy the books of Geoff Thompson. Stuart Anslow also wrote a good book on self defense but it goes much more into the practicality than what was needed here as this was for a theory lecture. I do reccommend Stuart Anslows Ho Sin Sul book if you are looking for a book good book :-) These are notes, so it might be a little disjointed for people reading the blog, but looking through the notes you will get a good glimpse of what was covered. (Link to in the name of self defense book: https://amzn.to/2A5SyMl )

Self-defense theory

The law; "Straffeloven paragraf 17, 18, 19.

Paragraf 17 Nødrett (forsvare eiendom/ defending property) 

Paragraf 18 Nødverge (Forsvare deg selv eller andre/ defending yourself or others)

Paragraf 19 Selvtekt (sivil arrest/ civil arrest)

The  JAM- model: Jepardy, Ability, Means

• When you say you committed self defense you are potentially admitting to a criminal act.
• Hold your temper in check before, during AND after.
• Self defense is not finished just because the physical part is over. There is an aftermath.
• Physical violence is often rooted in feelings. Violence rooted in feelings are illegal!
• "Deserve" is a word you need to cut from your vocabulary when it comes to self defense

'The willingness to use force usually means you wont have to. It is a paradox because our modern culture conditions us to believe violence attracts violence, and violence never solve anything." - Marc Mcyoung

Sucsessfull use of self defense

1. You have to be able to act quickly and correctly
2. You have to stop the threat
3. You have to be aquitted (freed? I have not idea what the English term is for "Frikjent") of any legal aftermath.
4. You have to stay clear of any civillian law suits.
5. You have to be able to cope with the psycological after effects.

Common mistakes when it comes to self defense:

1. The threat is not physical
2. The threat is not imidiate
3. The "defender" takes it too far
4. The defender is actively participating to escalate the situation.

Hints that you are finding yourself in a real self defense situation:

1. The threat or trouble comes to you (not the other way around)
2. You dont get permission to leave or the situation/circumstances demands you staying where you are.
3. You do nothing to provoce the other party.

The wheelbarrow test: Can you put what causes the physical violence into a wheelbarrow? You can not put hurt feelings, pride, self image, anger, sosial status etc into a wheel barrow, but you can put your physical body into one. 

Below is a little note from my training with Colin Wee :-) He came to Norway and we actually got to train together :-D During the training he said many smart things, but one thing I managed to write down was his definition of hard and soft style which I found interesting:

"Hard style:  You displace or take over the opponent's COG or destroy his structure.

Soft style: You disrupt his COG or topple him off his base." - Colin Wee

Below you can read a quote by Plutharch which I found linked very well into the inner parts of Mudo-Philosphy or self improvement and meditation. Taekwondo is far from being only a physical thing in my book ;-)

"What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality". -Plutharch

I will end this post here, but I will share more the upcomming weeks as I look throught the old journal to reflect :-) As the Journal stays with me each and every day and I take it with me everywhere I go you will see that the contents is a little all over the place. The things I share here is related to Taekwondo or the martial arts in general in some way, but there is of course a lot more going on in the book than this. Perhaps it is a little disjointed, but I hope you found at least parts of this interesting :-) In this part I covered November 2018 to most of January 2019.