The “Martial Art” of Tang Soo Do
So many people have asked me over the years, “Oh, do you play karate”? When I reply that Tang Soo Do is not a sport to be played but a “way of life” they ask me to explain. I feel a sport is a game with a winner and a loser that takes place on weekends. Tang Soo Do being a way of life is practiced continuously. It can enrich our lives in every aspect, from yes, self defense to physical development, to mental development, to spiritual development. Through the diligent practice of Tang Soo Do we as students can cultivate all of these different areas of our lives. The human body as a whole is lazy but the mind is much stronger. Our minds can get our bodies to achieve things that we never imagined were possible. As we grow in our art, we also learn patience and benevolence towards those of lesser experience while still maintaining humility, since we as students always have more to learn and grow. In the great scheme of life we learn to understand and recognize how all living things are connected or can be compared to one and other. Watching the flow of a river, we can understand to be more relaxed and let our mind and emotions flow unrestricted. Observing the different characteristics of animal life, some hard and aggressive, some soft and graceful, yet we all co-exist.
We not only co-exist but we are actually intertwined with each other. All depending on each other. There is much to be learned by watching the fierceness of a Tiger on the hunt or the innocent foraging of a sparrow. Understanding the duality of all things, realizing that without opposites, then a thing cannot exist. This can help us in times of doubt or grief as well as times of happiness and joy. We seem to only search for answers when our lives are in turmoil but I find there are lessens to be learned in good times also. Tang Soo Do teaches us to be aware of all things good or bad and to learn from them and grow. To be thankful for good fortune and to perhaps understand when life strikes a heavy blow. Why all things are for a reason and a purpose. To recognize obstacles for what they are, just that, an obstacle, an opportunity to learn and grow. Negative events in our lives are not personal attacks, they are what they are, just events. Opportunities to learn and grow. In fact there are no negative events they are just events. The incarnation of opposite values that we as individuals perceive as negative. A rainy day to a bride is disastrous but to a farmer, it is an answer to a prayer. I am convinced that if all the world leaders would practice Tang Soo Do, the entire world would live in harmony, the way it is meant to be.
