Category: Martial Arts

Take a peek at Jesse Encamp’s video about the 2020 Olympic Karate inclusion.

Now, it has been quite a while since Taekwondo was changed from a demonstration sport to a full medal winning event. This was good for Taekwondo in the same way. I think that the inclusion of Karate will benefit Taekwondo schools again, too.

There are still a great many people who don’t recognize there are differences between Taekwondo and Karate. This will bring people into schools of both arts possibly looking for the other. I hope that our industry takes the opportunity here to promote each other!

I have long taken the stance that the different arts and the different schools are not actually competitors for students. Each art appeals to a personality. Those who like to grapple may not like a striking art. They won’t attend striking schools and vice versa. By “playing nice” with other arts, we can make sure that we all have students who are achieving their goals. This goes for schools within the same art that teach different material or aspects of an art. I am not an Olympic Taekwondo person. I don’t care for the sparring and sport aspect. My school could even be labeled more as Korean Karate, than Taekwondo. Now, this doesn’t stop me from referring students to schools, who play nice and have been respectful, when they ask for that version.

Since the new TMNT movie has come out, we may even see an influx from there. All the parents trying to find places for their ninja younglings. It will be common to get calls asking about programs and age requirements. After chatting with the parents and having an idea what they think they want, I won’t hesitate to direct them to schools where I think it’ll match.

A big point here, for those school owners who happen to read my posts, is that I hope that we truly develop our martial arts community more than we do the martial arts industry.

I think that I’ve got a company that has motivated people who have found inspiration in the challenges of my curriculum – official and unofficial. In fact, they can’t get hired into my company without a very long audition that demonstrates their motivation. Their inspiration feeds their motivation to make a wonderful cycle of personal growth. Another quote is to “Hire character. Train skill.” (Peter Schutz) as skill can be taught but character can’t be. I only want people of character to join me in working on these skills.

Yes, I will use this analogy of working for me because my whole brand and success is based upon how my students present themselves in life. The skills that they develop in my martial arts classes are not so much about learning personal protection as they are about learning about themselves.

This is an important distinction. Until recently, the past two years, I hadn’t been presenting my teaching well. The martial arts classes teach a system that has developed over time that focuses on specific techniques taught for a specific purpose (use) with acknowledgement being given to the lineage that created it.

This is not the same as a personal protection program. These focus on violence and how to survive it. They teach things that can keep you safe in an ugly world. My martial arts classes can teach the concepts and, even, some strategies for violence but it isn’t the same thing. The benefit of a martial arts class does come from being able to apply the martial arts principles, strategies and concepts into daily life.

The daily life applications help show these motivated people that there are things bigger than their job to believe in. The students as a group find ways to serve each other and the school, which then leads them to seeing how they can serve within their community (including other special groups that they belong to). I truly believe this as very few people decide to just “quit” our classes. They have life issues that get in the way. Many find their way back but it isn’t as important as them taking these applications with them.

Last year around this time, I received a graduation announcement from a student who hadn’t been in class to five years. It had an extra little handwritten note from both him and his mother asking me to stop during the party. I went without expecting much and learned that he had left class at 13 years old to focus on music and academics. He used the principles and concepts from Taekwondo, which are really the same in all martial arts just with different words, to reach his academic goals. His success had lead him to starting an engineering program.

I also have a student who is gone during the school year as he works on his Bachelor’s degree in physics, which is changed from his original idea of engineering, and returns for the summers. The chaos of life settles for a bit when he gets to train in Taekwondo again. I just don’t think I want to be around when he and my 2nd Dan Haidong Gumdo PhD candidate in Astrophysics have a conversation.

I have students from a wide range of skills and careers. They all come back and continue training because they see how much it helps their world beyond the physical fitness. I greatly enjoy investing in students. They don’t always see it but their effort and development is also their investment in me.

That look I get when I ask students to work on a drill that moves differently than the other drill. Yeah, the one you just gave me…a bit of confusion.

Part of the Haidong Gumdo curriculum are fighting combinations that we do mostly as a movement drill to develop footwork and cut lines. These combination come from a set of gumbub (patterns) that are also required. They are a lot of fun to work on and provide insights into some strategy.

The real fun comes when we add a partner to play the opponent (i.e. Bad guy). The designed response for the partner can throw off the movement of the combination. Movement angles change, techniques don’t seem to be on target any longer. Students can have a hard time “seeing” what they’re trying to accomplish. That’s when I get the “what are you talking about?” look or the “there’s no way this will make sense” look.

Once I start discussing the bunhae (application) of the movement, things usually start to brighten up. You can see the lightbulbs turning on. This is one of the faults in martial arts training. There are so many drills done, without the variables included, that the actual techniques and combination become ineffective. Students need to keep reminding themselves that they aren’t just learning physical techniques but, rather, parts of a fight. The dynamics of movement will change the whole drill. Yet, I only have given them one possible outcome variation. There are nearly limitless variations for that encounter due to the number of variables within the encounter. It is the student’s job to start looking for these applications while practicing the required version.

But, to get back to the look I get, it makes me wonder why the thoughts and hesitations come up when given an assignment. It seems to contradict that they came to me in the first place to learn the martial arts. The look from senior students is even more entertaining. After years of training with me, they still aren’t seeing the pattern or progression that is used to get them to the endpoint? That look of doubt (“You are goofy thinking that I can do it that way!”) on their faces always gives me a little smile.

All too often, it is forgotten that there is a progression toward learning new techniques and applications. Some are obvious but many are hidden within the drill. If you get too focused on doing only the original drill, then the insights from the different version will be a struggle to find. This is the same for any subject matter. The physical techniques of personal protection and martial arts are easily recognized but there are others. An everyday example is driving. How many people only know two applications for the car – gas or brake? It takes time to see another option – coast. It takes time because it involves more knowledge and developed skill at reading traffic flow and timing for distances.

There is MUCH more in everything that we do. The level of success in any skill or activity is directly related to the development of knowledge and understanding in the subject matter. If you don’t get pushed outside of your comfort zone and knowledge limits, then you will not develop greater understanding. So, the next time your teacher presents something that doesn’t quite make sense, look deeper into the applications and purpose.

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The idea of gaining rank, position or titles is a big draw. People like rewards and recognition. The problem is that true leadership has nothing to do with any of those.

In fact, I’m old enough to remember people regularly commenting upon military officers coming out of ROTC programs. These officers were very educated but not experienced and often thought they had the best ideas about how to do things. Those who became leaders from this opportunity understood how important their personnel were. The education they received from their sergeants after getting into a company taught them what real leadership was. The movie Heartbreak Ridge has a very good example of this.

Maj. Malcolm A. Powers: I am, sir. Major Malcolm Powers.
Colonel Meyers: Did you lead this assault?
Maj. Malcolm A. Powers: Sir, Lieutenant Ring and Gunnery Sergeant Highway disobeyed a direct order. I told them to wait for support but they went up this hill anyway.
Colonel Meyers: [to Highway] Why?
Highway: We’re Marines, sir. We’re paid to adapt, to improvise.
Lieutenant M.R. Ring: Sir, I gave the order to take this hill.
Maj. Malcolm A. Powers: Ring, this is going to ruin your career.
Colonel Meyers: Are you new to the infantry, Major?
Maj. Malcolm A. Powers: Yes, sir. Just came over from supply.
Colonel Meyers: Were you good at that?
Maj. Malcolm A. Powers: Yes, sir!
Colonel Meyers: Well then, stick to it because you’re a walking cluster fuck as an infantry officer. My men are hard chargers, Major! Lieutenant Ring and Gunny Highway took a handful of young fire pissers, exercised some personal initiative and kicked ass!

These lessons don’t end EVER. The role of a leader has no real boundaries. I’ve chatted with several martial artists who have agreed with me that some of their teachers and peers are called by their title even off the mat BECAUSE of how they live and the continuous lessons they offer (without trying). This is what leadership is actually about. The development of others to surpass your accomplishments and understand more than you do. This ties directly to what I believe tradition is. The continual development of excellence is the tradition! The techniques and methods used only re-enforce the principles but grow and improve over the years. Knowing more doesn’t change the reason (principles) for tradition.

You should always work to become replaceable. If it can’t survive without you, then too little of the knowledge was passed on. This would be because you really don’t know enough or your were selfish and hadn’t really led anything.

The lessons that you provide as the leader MUST be usable throughout the student’s life! There are specific areas that your teaching is intended for and they need to be shown. This can be seen in how many martial arts schools claim to teach self defense. I have only recently recognized this issue. My Taekwondo does not truly teach personal protection. It has elements that support learning protection applications but it is really about personal development for students to strengthen their confidence and courage and spirit for dealing with daily life. Some of the applications within hyungs (forms) can provide some elementary insight into personal protection but the training doesn’t re-enforce that outcome. We are building leaders who will work in daily life activities (families, community, jobs).

The other areas of development require lessons from those teachers. It is important to seek them out and study. This is true about any interest or passion that you have. here is where a secret piece of leadership fits. You don’t necessarily become a leader in what gave you the skills! Many excellent martial arts teachers that I know only teach part-time. They have small schools and a small student base. The leadership that they provide is within these schools and they create more leaders but their leadership is most noticeable is not within the martial arts.

One example is Dr. Mark Crapo Sensei. He is a high ranking leader within Seidokan Aikido but you probably haven’t heard about him unless you’re part of Seidokan. His leadership has been invaluable to Seidokan but he has lead a far larger entity, Symmetry Global, that is a multi-national company. His leadership has created new leaders who are out supporting their own teams and educating more people. This is because he is a leader and leaders should create more leaders.

I’ve had the fortune to have train with Crapo Sensei and other excellent Seidokan teachers. I have had awesome Song Moo Kwan Taekwondo lessons as well. Currently, I have been able to recruit others to Haidong Gumdo but they were already leaders in their own right. This version of the leadership topic has been in my brain for the past few weeks as the Midwest Haidong Gumdo group promoted students into the yundasha (black belt levels). Where will our next leaders come from? Will they be leading in our schools or other places? I’ll be happy that they are leading because they are all quality students.

I usually change “alone” to “by yourself”. If you can’t enjoy your own time to work on your goals/plans or do nothing, then you will never be able to truly help others.

Since all of the dreams, goals and desires come from within you, you MUST be able to spend time by yourself to work them. The time that you spend alone gives your mind the chance to work through the details and begin to see the path that they will take you on.

My Song Moo Kwan lineage continues one of the founder’s principles yet today. Supreme Grand Master Byung Jick Ro taught “nothing is impossible” (Ha Sa Bul Sung) as part of the principles that create success. This is presented during training, where YOU are the one doing the work and putting in the effort. This principle is to remind you that YOU are the reason you have success.

All of the things that you wish to accomplish are within you! They can be aided by others but you MUST do the work. The support systems that you develop help fill in the blanks in your plans and patch cracked sections, but they are not the energy and power that will make any plan a success.

I will admit that it is truly wonderful to find others with similar dreams and desires. These people help provide some insights and details that may be missing from your plan as they’ve lived through other different experiences than you have. These are the people who become true family.

Now, the flip side of working toward your dreams & goals is taking the appropriate time away from them and the other duties in daily life. Sleep is one of the biggest ways that we do this today. Sleeping is, for some, the only time they spend alone away from everything. Even when we say that we’re taking a break, many still answer emails or check Facebook.

The chemical based depression aside, I know a few people who become depressed when alone. Their fears become larger and take control. They hide within chemicals (drugs, alcohol) to ensure these fears don’t rise too high.

If a goal of training in the martial arts is to develop courage, then it should be applied to every part of your life. Your alone time is the perfect place to work through your fears and to develop the bravery that will allow you to serve others struggling through similar fears. There is so much within the realm of physical personal protection strategies and tactics that fit into personal development as well. The internal struggles can warrant responses nearly as great as the external attacks.

Train physically to help develop mentally to fight the evils outside and inside. Your alone time is where you will set those skills as they apply to all of your dreams & goals. Don’t hesitate, don’t delay, train hard and long! Consider your alone time as part of your training…to help keep you from the insanity.