by Master Doug Cook
Totally Taekwondo Magazine March 2015 Issue #73
Several years ago, my daughter Erin completed a
200-hour instructor training course at the Kripalu Yoga Center located in Lenox,
Massachusetts. My wife and I went to pick her up one beautiful, autumn day and
while walking up a stairway I noticed a poster on a wall. In it was a photo of
a woman sitting on a bus with a caption reading: “I was only trying to get home from work.”
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| Rosa Parks |
For those of
us old enough to remember, the precipitous event that produced this antiquated
photograph represented a world of change.On December
1, 1955, in segregated Montgomery, Alabama, USA, after a long, hard day at
work, a seamstress named Rosa Parks headed homeward. Dog tired, she took a seat
in the front section of a city bus. After a few stops, the bus driver demanded
that she give up her seat to a man of European descent - she refused. Shortly after, she was arrested, convicted of disorderly
conduct and, subsequently, lost her job. The response
of one woman to this unreasonable command inspired the 381-day Montgomery Bus
Boycott. Ultimately, it helped end segregation in Alabama and is a testament to
the fact that the actions of one person can
have a profound effect on the fabric of humanity at large. Later, when interviewed, Ms. Parks said: “I was only
trying to get home from work.”
Rosa Parks literally changed the complexion of racial
discrimination in America without any premeditated
intent whatsoever.Today, as martial artists, as modern warriors endowed
with an ancient wisdom, we endeavor, by example, to live a life of virtue as dictated
by the Five Tenets of taekwondo: Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance,
Self-Control and Indomitable Spirit. We set our sights not on elusive perfection,
but on a path to excellence both physically and ethically. As living vessels of
these moral principles, we possess the power to influence change for the better
whether it be at work, at home or in school. Yet, when we awake in the morning,
just as Rosa Parks did one December day in 1955, we never know where our daily
path will take us.
During a recent promotion test at my school, the
Chosun Taekwondo Academy, a ten-year old girl rose to read her required essay
on the topic of indomitable will. By the conclusion of her reading, there was
not a dry eye in the audience. I feel it is safe to say that not many adults
could have enunciated this virtue as well as this child did. She is small; a
little wisp of a thing, yet she spoke of her confidence and how, regardless of
how her peers might attempt to discourage her, she would diligently press ahead
with her adolescent dreams and, eventually, with those that will flesh out her
adult life. Both she and her parents attributed this sense of self-assurance
directly to her taekwondo training. Who’s to say what this youngster might
accomplish in the decades ahead? Might she one day change the world simply by
returning home from school or work?
Fortunately for us today, the great martial arts
masters of the past chose to imbue their hard-earned disciplines, no longer as
viable in a world of advanced weaponry, with meritorious codes of honor in an
effort to survive cultural upheaval within their society. Evidence of this
trend manifested itself in the creation of Funakoshi’s karate-do and Kano’s
judo. Rather than teaching techniques primarily intended to devastate an enemy
on the field of battle, the original intent of the root disciple was altered,
particularly during the early 20th century, for the benefit of elementary
and college level students in Okinawa and Japan. For the first time in memory,
martial training methods were instead utilized as a vehicle for physical
fitness and character enhancement. Later, following the liberation from
Japanese imperialism in 1945 that coincided with the conclusion of the World
War II, Korean masters returned to their native land, continuing this
tradition. We, as taekwondoists of the 21st century are the
recipients this time-honored practice.
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| Master Cook (right) training at the Kukkiwon |
Granted, practical taekwondo was initially developed
as a form of self-defense for soldiers in the theater of combat. However, by
recognizing the necessity for an ethical framework intended to govern and balance
the destructive power we as martial artists
possess, our predecessors fashioned
an environment where altruism eclipses apathy. By way of example, the Chosun Taekwondo
Academy Leadership Team - a group of active, young students whose mission it is
to serve our local community under the and train with diligence – year after
year generates a vast amount of revenue for the Lions Club International and
provides Christmas gifts for underprivileged children. Likewise, I personally
attempt to gainfully influence fellow martial artists of all ages and creeds,
by teaching with integrity and by sharing my knowledge of traditional taekwondo
globally, through the written word, international seminars and by exposing
practitioners to seminal skills by arranging training tours to Korea - the
epicenter of the taekwondo.
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| Chosun Taekwondo Academy Leadership Team |
Nevertheless, I am certain that my students are not
unique in their pursuit of virtue through the practice of traditional taekwondo
even though our comprehensive curriculum clearly emphasizes the philosophical
elements of the art. Many of the schools I have visited across America and
abroad can easily boast of members equally as devoted to leaving a positive
stamp on their communities. A casual glace at the news section included in this
magazine will verify this belief. In fact, since the promotion of ethical
qualities in the practitioner has become a tradition in taekwondo, we at Totally TaeKwonDo would welcome hearing your stories spotlighting the
beneficial contributions you as an individual, or your schools have
collectively made within your community.
Yet, regardless of the source, it is often the deed
that occurs unlooked for that resonates most through humankind at large just as
in the case of Rosa Parks or my young student who stands ready to create a
climate of benevolence whenever necessary. Given the blueprint set down by
previous generations of masters and grandmasters, the important work of
cultivating an elevated lifestyle wrapped in virtue becomes less a chore and
more a gratifying reward. Therefore, as modern day martial artists, we must
strive for ethical consistency through the disciplined, virtuous practice of
taekwondo so that if called upon by fate, we will be prepared to affect
positive change anywhere, anytime or anyplace, as best we can…even if we are just trying to get home from
work.
Master Doug Cook, 6th dan black belt, is head instructor of the Chosun
Taekwondo Academy located in Warwick, New York, a senior student of Grandmaster
Richard Chun, and author of four best-selling books entitled: Taekwondo…Ancient Wisdom for the Modern
Warrior, Traditional Taekwondo - Core
Techniques, History and Philosophy, Taekwondo–A
Path to Excellence, and Taekwondo
Black Belt Poomsae: Original Koryo and Koryo, co-authored with Grandmaster
Chun along with its companion DVD. Master Cook can be reached for Korea tours,
seminars, workshops or questions at www.chosuntkd.com
or info@chosuntkd.com.
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