Fundamental Theory of Haidong Gumdo and Martial Arts - Part 4

This final entry in the series on the fundamental theory of Haidong Gumdo and martial arts is about the body.

Body
Even though this is listed as the third point in the theory of Haidong Gumdo it is just as important as Spirit and Mind as it is through training the body that we can develop the other two components. By analyzing technique, pushing our body to (and beyond) its limits we learn more about our mind and our spirit. It’s the gateway to integrating martial arts into our life.

Power (Correct posture)
In martial arts we need to control and manage our power. We need to assess the amount of power we use in training and in any real life scenario. A punch can be delivered with breaking power but if all that is required is to warn someone away then using full power is excessive. The same with the sword, if we use too much power on our cuts then our sword will travel too far and leave us exposed for a counter attack. The other side of this is posture. If we overextend ourselves by applying too much power, then we can injure ourselves trying to stop the motion. Not to mention that correct posture and stance actually will deliver more power to the technique we are doing.

Speed (Swift movements)
Speed comes over time but it is something we should all strive for. It is important to know when to strive for more speed and it is only when you have gained control of the technique. Applying speed to early will just exacerbate bad technique and will be detrimental in the long term. I encourage all students to focus on the basic technique first before striving for more speed.

Balance (Stable stances)
Balance develops over time but it starts with the correct application of stance. People always want to rush to the fun stuff like punching, kicking and cutting and try to gloss over the benefits of good stance. Stance though is the bedrock of every technique we do. It’s important to make sure our stance and our feet are in time with our techniques. When we can think about balance in the martial arts moves we make, our techniques will improve and the more we will improve.

Sweat (Continuous effort)
Hard work pays off. No matter what happens in our journey, whether it’s hitting a plateau and thinking we are not improving, a technique we feel like we just can’t conquer or any of the other obstacles we hit while training martial arts, hard work and sweat will always help us get beyond it. When things get hard, a lot of people want to quit, find an easier way or just ignore that technique altogether but it’s those times we have to suck it up and keep training. Perseverance and hard work will always help us get through the tough times. So if things are looking difficult or you are getting frustrated, put in more time because sweat and continuous effort will get you though.

Fundamental Theory of Haidong Gumdo and Martial Arts - Part 3

I am continuing my series on the fundamental theory of Haidong Gumdo by looking at the second area that is covered by Haidong Gumdo, the mind. However these theories really apply to martial arts as a whole. So if you look at this and say "I am not a Gumdo student so its not relevant" you would be missing out in my opinion.

Mind

With any martial art, comes the concept of mind. Believing in yourself, pushing yourself and character building. Mind is the second fundamental theory of Haidong Gumdo but again I put to you that it is not limited to just Gumdo but applies to martial arts as a whole. It is something we practice without thinking about it during classes but it is when you stop and reflect on these aspects, you can learn so much more about yourself and really start to integrate martial arts into your whole life.

Courage (Ability to handle fear and danger)
Courage can’t be given to you in a rolled up parchment no matter what the Wizard of Oz tells us. It has to develop. I get a lot of students who come into the club looking to train and develop self-confidence. You will definitely gain self-confidence from doing martial arts but you gained confidence just by stepping through the door. People have a desire to learn martial arts and can be easily scared away by the intensity of training or the instructors or one of a hundred other things, but when you take that leap and get onto the floor and start training, you are showing courage. Through martial arts you learn to hand fear, nervousness and anxiety and those lessons of control and courage can then be applied to other areas of your life.

Judgement (Knowing oneself)Judgement is vital with martial arts. It’s the ability in the split second moment to determine how much force you need to apply in a self defence scenario. It’s knowing that even if you could fight back, you don’t need to prove it and can walk away from a fight. It’s being able to say I did my best and not listening to other people who say you didn’t try hard enough or you failed.

The subheading here talks about knowing oneself and to me that is difficult in itself. It’s hard to look at yourself honestly and think about our faults. It can also be hard to look at ourselves and not be overly judgemental and harsh. We have to take the time to reflect on ourselves and our judgement to ensure we are being true to ourselves.

Respect (Yourself and others)
We bow to our instructors, our training area and each other all the time in martial arts to show respect. We are showing respect to the people teaching us, the area we train in and the people who train with us. We show respect by standing still when our instructors talk to us, by looking at them while they talk and not fidgeting. We show respect by showing restraint and not fighting too hard with our fellow students during sparring.

Respect is a huge part of martial arts but I also hope that these lessons of respect are going home with you and being applied in other areas of your life. That you are showing respect to your boss or teacher by listening to them, even perhaps if you don’t like them. That you are showing respect to your elders (parents, grandparents or just older people you know) as this is a large part of Korean culture that we sometimes miss in western culture.

I know respect it is something I really want my students to think about outside of the club environment. It shouldn’t be like your uniform and you just put it on at training.

Temperance (Self-control)
Temperance and self-control are the final aspects of the mind aspect of martial arts theory. We need to be rational and calm in situations where it could be easy to get angry and riled up. We need to not lash out, verbally or physically, when something or someone upsets us. It is even more important for martial artists who learn skills that can severely injure other people. We don’t have the luxury of throwing a friendly punch at someone because our punches are more technically proficient that most people. We need to control ourselves.

We also need to have self-control with how we treat our body. Our body is one of the few constants in our life and if we abuse it we can’t replace it. So while that extra drink at the pub is nice and chocolate is awesome, we need to make sure we have these things in moderation, that we have self-control so that firstly, our body is healthier but also because as martial artists, we can’t have alcohol or sugar highs control us because it is too easy for us to hurt someone accidentally.


Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia.

Fundamental Theory of Haidong Gumdo and Martial Arts - Part 2

Part 2 of my fundamental theory of Haidong Gumdo talks about the first of our fundamental parts of Haidong Gumdo/Martial Arts. This one is all about spirit.

Spirit

Spirit is a big part of Haidong Gumdo although sometimes it is the one people overlook the most as it isn’t something we directly train. Rather spirit is something that comes from the other aspects of learning martial arts (Mind and Body which I will talk about shortly). Spirit comes from being around people who show these traits, making sure we look up to people who demonstrate the below attributes.

Patriotism (Love of Nation)

This means respecting the country we live in and the ideals that are common to everyone, yet also showing respect to the cultures and beliefs of everyone. We are a multicultural nation and respecting others should be part of the way we show that we are all Australian.

You can also show your love of nation every day by being a person who treats everyone as equals or even by something as simple as picking up some rubbish you might otherwise ignore.

Filial Piety (Love of Parents)

Sometimes our parents drive us nuts but they sacrificed a lot to raise us and it is important to show them respect and love. Everyone makes mistakes, even parents so don’t hold that against them. Instead tell them you love them as often as you can as you never know when it will be too late.

This also means doing what our parents say, straight away without talking back. Even as adults, we need to show our parents the respect they deserve.

Propriety (Good and proper behaviour)

Be a person who behaves in a way that is respectful to yourself and others. Don’t pick on other people or bully them. Don’t look down on people or treat them as well than yourself. It also means standing still when people are talking to you, giving them attention by listening to what they say.

We need to make sure that our actions tell others about the sort of person we are and want to be.

Justice (Moral rightness)

Sometimes it’s tough to do the right thing when all we want to do is yell back at someone and sink down to their level. Yet as said many times in the world of comics, with great power, comes great responsibility and this applies to martial arts students. The techniques we learn, whether with a sword or with our hands and feet, are potentially lethal techniques. They can definitely cause injury and pain to others, so we need to be able to make sure we can control our moves so as to only to the required amount of force on an opponent.

However the greatest challenge is to avoid situations that would mean we have to use our martial arts skills. So if someone tries to pick a fight, or does something to make us angry, we need to try and walk away if we can.

We need to make sure we are setting a good example, to our family, friends and other martial artists and this aspect is one of the most important.


Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia.