Training for Week of 17 Feb.

Hyungs are essential to the art of Tang Soo Do. They are worth the dedication of study and continual practice. Once you feel you have learned the form and applied each movement, you realize that you have only scratched the surface of applications. As you move through the Hyungs be conscious of your weight. Where are you pressing into the ground? Where else do you feel it in your body? How and when do you shift your weight to move? 

BREAK IN TRAINING: Most importantly, I am very grateful to the support and leadership provided by Mrs. McConnell over the last few months. THANK YOU! With that said, due to Mrs. McConnell’s advancing pregnancy (Praise the Lord!), next week will be our final class until I return home this summer. With Brigade reintegration and block leave, I do not yet know our new start date. I will continue to provide a weekly workout through this same blog. Please do not hesitate to send your questions.

The Soar Weekly Challenge

Daily challenge for the week. Training hard. 

• 50 pushups 
• 50 sit ups/ab routine 
• 50 squats 
• 10 minutes of planks in 2 series.
  (1 min elbow, 1 min side, 1 min side, 1 min high, 1 min elbow)
• 50 jumping jacks 

You may break this challenge up into as many sets as you need throughout the day. Go for it!

Meditation for the Week

In fighting choose with sense and honor – Remember last week’s meditation? I talked about battle. What is the difference between “battle” and “fighting”? A Battle is a confrontation you did not agree to; it’s non-consensual, or something you would prefer not to engage. A “fight” is a consensual conflict like sparring or debate. The challenge is to maintain your self-control, humility, and respect during the “fight” – that’s fighting with sense and honor. As Paul instructed Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12). You should be proud of your actions and reactions after the fact. Paul continued his exhortation to Timothy by saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul was content with the manner in which he lived, and at those points he was not, Paul rested in the Grace of Christ. There is a large bit of overlap between our fourth and fifth codes of Tang Soo Do, still I want you to understand the differences. Each of you will be forced into a variety of conflicts, either battles or fights, therefore you must decide now and practice how you will respond and engage. You will do without think that which you practice.

Attitude Requirements to Master Tang Soo Do

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 training 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? 

13 Hyung Interpretation Principles

1. There is more than one proper interpretation of any movement. 

“Do” in Tang Soo Do means “way or art.” Tang Soo Do is an art of body movement and mechanics. It is organic. The actual combat application derived from the hyung transcends the artificial construction of the form as a training tool. It becomes error to say there is only one sound application of a specific tactic found in a hyung. To limit the practitioner to a single application for a single movement within the hyung limits the growth of the student just as much as it limits the art itself. The practitioner is free to be creative with elements of the hyung, and creativity finds its fullness within a community of martial artists because of the variety of physical characteristics, body types, and mental and emotional approaches to combat. What works well for one person (i.e. the 215-pound semi-pro male athlete) may not work well for another student attempting to apply the interpretation in the same way (i.e. the 125-pound female teenager). On the other hand, the serendipitous discovery of a new interpretation and application might work even better than what was developed individually. This first principle requires an open mind.