After enjoying the book Bruce Lee Artist of Life and using its takeaways towards my 4th Dan Thesis, I decided to purchase Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do by the same author, John Little. The former book dives into Lee’s personal philosophy for life, whereas the latter book dives into his Continue Reading
Philosophy
Meaning of “Yin” and “Yang”
The terms “Yin” (or “Um” in Korean) and “Yang” have become commonplace in our modern Western culture, and whenever anyone uses these words, it is mostly used to contrast two individuals or two objects. The Yin and Yang symbol is commonly represented by a white and black circle, as shown Continue Reading
Find Solace in Solitude
One of my favorite parts about martial arts is how individualized it is; many other physical activities are team-based. While we do utilize partner work in martial arts, a majority of our training and progression in skill comes from working on your own. Everyday you train you are aiming to Continue Reading
The Meaning of Cho
Learning to count is one of the first things one learns when learning a language, whether it is their first or tenth. It was no different when I began training Tang Soo Do; while I am fluent in Japanese, the Korean language is quite different enough that it took a Continue Reading
Rock What You Got: Your Martial Arts, Your Do
In simple terms, training in martial arts is essentially being in a constant state of comparing your skills to your instructor and your peers, and eventually your students. You are constantly striving to match your instructor, be better than your fellow students (or at least their equal) and stay one Continue Reading
Bad or Just “Not for Me”?
If you don’t like something, it isn’t necessarily “bad”. I recently finished watching a movie on Netflix, and at the end of the film, it asked me to review it. I was presented with three options: “Like it”, “Love it” and “Not for Me”. This struck me as the word Continue Reading
The Meaning of Cha Ryut
One of the first commands we learn in any traditional martial arts is the command to come to attention. In Tang Soo Do and other Korean martial arts, it is “Cha-Ryut” (or Ryot), and it is one of those commands that is not only instantly recognizable, but quintessentially Korean. In Continue Reading
Where the Head Goes, the Body Follows
A strategy of certain techniques in martial arts is getting your opponent off balance so your technique has a greater chance of success. Once someone’s center of gravity is disrupted, their instincts will be focused on getting their stability back; since they’re distracted and at a positional disadvantage, it leaves Continue Reading
Time to Give and Time to Receive
When it comes to deciding whether to attend an event or participate in an activity, we can fall into the trap of asking ourselves, “What am I going to get out of this?” Or “What’s in it for me?” When deciding how to spend our finite amount of time, These Continue Reading
The Meaning of Bo
In my association, there is a rank called “Cho Dan Bo”, which translates to “black belt candidate”. It is a solid blue belt, and it is the rank that you receive prior to testing for your black belt. I discussed what “Dan” meant in this article, so this one will Continue Reading