Soar TSD Training, 17 Oct

Posted on 13 October 2019 by Calvert

Attitude Requirements to Master Tang Soo Do (1 – 14)

1. Purpose of training should be the enhancement of mental and physical betterment.
2. Serious Approach.
3. All out effort.
4. Maintain regular and constant practice.
5. Practice basic techniques all the time.
6. Regularly spaced practice sessions.
7. Always listen to and follow the directions of instructors or seniors.
8. Do not be overly ambitious.
9. Frequently inspect your own achievements.
10. Always follow a routine and truing schedule.
11. Repeatedly practice all techniques already learned.
12. When you learn new techniques, learn thoroughly the theory and philosophy as well.
13. When you begin to feel idle, try to overcome this.
14. Cleanliness is required after training. Keep yourself and your surroundings clean.
The obvious application is to keep your body, your home, your school or work place, and your dojang clean, but how else might you apply this to your life?

Meditation for the Week

No Retreat in Battle – While the immediate meaning is likely clear, the word “battle” is significantly more. Primarily, “battle” refers to self-defense or non-consensual conflict. This may be a verbal or a physical altercation. Either way, we are to train in such a way that we do not retreat and have no need to retreat. That means studying and training for all possible circumstance to the best of our ability. When done so properly, out fifth code comes in to play: “In fighting choose with sense and honor” – more on that next week. In a more metaphorical sense, we are talking about determination, perseverance, duty, and courage. We all have our personal battles to fight in our jobs, in our relationships, and even in our character. We are challenged not to retreat from these personal battles, not to ignore the difficult, to keep pushing forward to attain our goals, and to become the people we were designed to be.
James, in his New Testament letter to the church, addresses this very principle in dealing with our spiritual growth and our exposure to the Gospel. In chapter one verses 23–25, James writes, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
The one who heard and walked away is the one who retreated when faced with the glory of Christ in the Gospel. The one who is honorable, who courageously perseveres is the one who recognizes his/her deficiencies, and seeks to conform the image of the Son of God. This is part of the application to which Paul referred to when he said we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).