by Mark McNutt - Brown Belt Essay
Light, water, fire, earth, the peacefulness of a lake, the
stability of a mountain, the intimidating effect of thunder, the duality of
wind that can alter between soothing and destructive: connect these to poomsae
and what was once a mere workout for the body becomes exercise for the mind and
spirit as well. What Taekwondo and the I
Ching have in common is that they are both meant to be a way of life. The I Ching is just a book until it is lived
by a person who moves and talks and thinks and interacts with other people;
Taekwondo poomsae is merely a series of defense moves, not that
practical for
daily living, until it is imbued with the spiritual and ethical philosophies of
its founders.
The I
Ching, also known as The Book of Changes, was originally composed by the Taoist
sage Fu Hsi and became a cornerstone of Taoism; Confucius later amended
it. Taoism and Confucianism were two
of the philosophies that the ancient Korean warrior the Hwarang, forerunners of
Taekwondo, embraced. I believe its safe
to say that here the original connection between the I Ching and Taekwondo was
made. But it was centuries later that
someone solidified this connection by putting sixteen specific Taekwondo forms,
the eight Taeguek forms and the eight Palgwe forms, together with the I Ching’s
eight trigrams. Their motives for doing
so are clear. They wanted the body and
the mind and the spirit to come together and be as complete as the yin/yang
philosophy that is at the heart of the I Ching and in turn at the heart of the
Korean culture. They wanted each student
of Taekwondo to be a living representation of the yin/yang symbol where the
negative and positive of everything is represented by two complete halves
forming a perfect circle.
So today,
each Taeguek and Palgwe poomse has its correlating I Ching symbol. Taeguek Il Jang along with Palgwe Il Jang
have Heaven and Light; Taeguek Ee Jang along with Palgwe Ee Jang have Joy
and Lake, and so on. As with most
things spiritual, we are handed down established interpretations by teachers
and sages, then encouraged to have enlightenments of our own. I shall approach the meaning of the I Ching
symbols with this in mind.
Il Jang
- Heaven and Light
Here is the concept of Pure
Yang. It points to the Creative Force
that lies behind everything. The actual
I Ching interpretation is Sky; to me that suggests openness, perhaps openness
to learning and the spontaneous creative process that arises thereof.
Ee Jang - Joy or Lake
Non-aggressive. Serene.
Gentle. Spiritually
uplifting. This seems to point directly
to meditation and the meditative way of life.
Our spirit, like water in a lake, reacts to agitation. When left alone, both water and spirit will
revert to their natural state, that of serenity, which can also be interpreted
as joy.
Sam Jang
- Fire and Sun
This suggests great energy,
something that is very lively and unpredictable. In contrast the sun by day and a fire at night
can be a source of consistent warmth and comfort. It is interesting to note that the forms that
coincide with these symbols are very different from each other. Taegeuk Sam Jang contains quick double
punches and ends with a complicated series of low blocks, front kicks, and
middle punches; whereas Palwge Sam Jang has no kicks, only singular punches,
and at times draws on the elementary and therefore comfortable forms of Kicho
Il and Kicho Ee.
As for a
personal meaning, I think I spot a bit of yin/yang humor here in this
sense. That while we aspire to be quiet,
calm and peaceful, like a lake or the glowing sun, we must avoid boring those
around us. Amidst our tranquility, we
must embrace the unpredictability of fire, its vibrancy, its spontaneity. That way we attract life to us, rather than
cause life to sit back and yawn.
Sa Jang
- Thunder
A storm and the danger it can bring
– Thunder gives this a voice. The yin
and yang of this of this has to do with courage in the face of danger. Thunder can make a person cringe, and yet by
itself it is harmless. The disrupting
effect of a kihop is one way of putting an attacker off-balance, but then it
must be followed by action. Thunder
reminds us to be prepared for action and to be on guard about losing our
focus. Courage can be described as a
mental and spiritual action, the ideal stance for facing thunder. Courage has the wisdom to know that trials
will pass like a thunderstorm.
Oh Jang
- Wind
The yin and yang qualities of Wind
are obvious. It is sometimes forceful,
sometimes gentle; sometimes it pierces through, sometimes it is yielding;
sometimes it is destructive and sometimes soothing. I was born in the Nashville region, part of
Dixie Alley, the Tornado Alley of the South; I am very aware of the destructive
power of wind. Also, the humidity in
summer can be overwhelming there, but a gentle breeze can be the ideal answer
for it. A poomse flows and if done
meditatively, it can have a soothing effect upon the performer and perhaps upon
observers; yet its movements are intended for battle situations where one must
be destructive in order to prevent destruction to oneself or to others.
Yook Jang - Water
This is the idea of acceptance,
flow, and consistency. Even the idea of
forgiveness is here, for being unforgiving creates impasses in one’s path. A
person must be malleable to life. As it
has been said in the dojang, water flows downhill and takes the path of least
resistance. Unlike the water of Ee
Jang’s lake, this water is moving and meeting obstacles head on and becoming
what the situation requires.
A Taekwondoist must accept whatever
an attack demands and take the proper shape for defense, while at the same time
looking for an opening to flow into with a counter-attack. Poomse done properly must flow and be as pleasing
to the eye as the motion of a stream. It
has been noted that the consistency of flowing water can in time smooth down
the rough edges of rocks and even carve out canyons; a student with a black
belt is simple a student with a white belt who has had their rough edges worn
away by consistency.
Chil
Jang - Mountain
My first inclination is to say that
this is about stability, perhaps the stability of knowing one’s own mind or the
stability of maintaining a healthy and balanced life. In Taekwondo there is the physical stability of
its stances that act as launching pads for all of its moves. There are also the five tenets of Taekwondo
that encourage stability in day-to-day life.
However, upon studying I discovered
a different meaning. The actual I Ching
interpretation is Top Stop. In
Master Cook’s book Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Warrior this is
described as “the wisdom of knowing when and where to stop, as if one is
traveling up a steep mountain.” Coming
at it from that angle, I believe this is about setting your own pace, working
toward your personal best, reaching for your own goals and not for the goals
someone else has set for you.
Pal Jang
- Earth
Here is the concept of pure
yin. It marks the wholeness of opposites
coming together to form perfect balance.
Taeguek Pal Jang and Palgwe Pal Jang equal completeness. They are the last forms before obtaining
black belt status. Earth
represents physical creation, the final result of what was begun with Heaven
and Light. Earth must be
yielding in the creative process in order to be solid in the end.
As a final
note I will make the observation that like the I Ching, poomse is best when it
is internalized. It is good to think, ‘The I Ching says, therefore I should
do’, but it is even better to simply do.
When a certain form is in my mind’s memory, I can execute it accurately:
but when it is in the memory of my muscles, it frees my mind to go elsewhere,
perhaps into those spaces in between thoughts where the act of meditation
lies. But a form should never be
mechanical: therefore, its philosophy must be absorbed as well. Then
instinctively an advanced student performing poomse can have excitement like
fire, can flow like water, can express inner joy, can be forceful like the
wind, can inspire courage like thunder, can know when to start and stop like a
mountain climber, and know when to yield like earth. When I think of the totality of Yin/Yang,
from Heaven and Light, the act of creation, to Earth, the
creation itself, I realize that a poomse that was created for students is not
finished until a student performs it.
Only then is it a complete and solid creation. In the same way Traditional Taekwondo is not
complete until a student lives it in and out of the dojang. Thanks to the influence of the I Ching
students have something to carry away with them, something that will help their
daily lives be as balanced as the Yin and Yang symbol is to the eye.
