Grandmaster Kim’s Note for March
I always hope that my students will eventually elevate their practice beyond the execution of the techniques I have tought them. Technique is important; however, it is just a baseline or starting point.
I have been known to tell students to practice a certain technique 1,000 times a day. After a few months of this practice their technique improves; their speed and execution improves; their technique looks prettier – but oftentimes there is still something lacking.
Since this is the 21st century and since my students are not extremely youthful, full-time Taekwon-Do practitioners with a lifetime to learn this lesson and since I am getting older and have less time to wait, I want to state my objective.
I hope that through diligent practice my students will learn how to internalize the techniques I have taught them. I hope that one or two techniques will become a part of them and a part of their soul. I hope that the execution of the technique eventually comes from their heart and not their muscle or their brain. They should be able to see the technique in ways that are original and unique to their own practice, and they should be able to execute it simply, without mind or thought. In short, I hope that my students will pick a favorite technique and master it (just one! in a lifetime would be tremendous) by making it a part of them.
Tae and Kwon mean kicking and punching, and plenty of that is required in a lifetime of practice. But for my students at a certain level I am more concerned that they go beyond that and uncover the Do.
Related posts:
