Meditation
Meditation is an essential part of your Taekwondo training. Before and after any class, we must mediate first — to clear our mind of all thought and to relax completely.
Now that I am really involved with Taekwondo, I have been doing some research on this great sport. I have foudn that many of the patterns of Taekwondo are rooted in semi-mystical Taoist philosophy and their deeper meaning is said to be far more important than the mere performance of a gymnastics series of exercises. This is not immediately obvious, either when performing or watching the poomse being performed. The eight Taegeuk poomses performed in Taekwondo are derived from the eight triagrams of the occult I?_TChing. The forms of Taekwondo are more than physical exercises: they are vehicles for active meditation.
For example the Ilyeo poomse. Ilyeo is a pattern which has a spiritual orientation containing 24 movements.A The title of the pattern refers to the development of a state of spiritual enlightenment which is one of the ultimate aims of the disciple of Taekwondo.A If you have learned Ilyeo, then you are capable of completely spontaneous reaction without any interference from the conscious mind.
BTW, this poompse is done in the shape of an actual swastika.A Hitler stole this ancient occult symbol from the Buddhists and Hindus who had used it for centuries as a symbol of monism (all is one, and all is God).A Taekwondo teaches that ?_~The line of poomse symbolizes the Buddhist mark (swastika) in commemoration of Saint Wonho (or Won Hyo), which means a state of perfect selflessness in Buddhism where origin, substance, and service come into congruity. The Buddhist swastika in Taekwondo ?_~teaches that a point, a line, or a circle ends up after all in one.A Therefore the poomse Ilyeo represents the harmonization of spirit and body which is the essence of martial arts. The swastika in Taekwondo has the occult (i.e. Hidden) purpose of teaching the higher-level students that all is one and all is God. Taekwondo is not merely a physical exercise, but in fact is a Zen Buddhist meditational practice.
Anyway, I am still learning… and improving… A long way to go, but I am determined to succeed.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.