Learning Respect
by Dr. Dennis McCain
Respect is one of the keys to having a teachable spirit! Without learning proper respect for those in authority we may never strive to our full potential and God-given ability. Over the years I have seen a number of “unteachable” students. They failed to learn, because they all had at least this one thing in common: they did not respect their instructor or other higher ranking students. Without respect, we have the sense that our knowledge is superior to that of our instructors or teachers. Without respect, we can never learn the true meaning of humility or serving. Without respect will not earn the admiration of others, demonstrate personal power, achieve individual honor from God, or sense the greatness maturing in our life or martial art. What a tragedy to see any student fail in the area of respect. The term “student” carries with it the idea that we are to learn and others are to teach. Upon learning respect, those that we have learned from offer us the great responsibility that we desired originally, to teach! Give honor to whom honor is due and wait patiently and humbly for God to bring honor to you, at the time of His choosing.
We viewed Master Hardin perform some powerful techniques during a demonstrations
in Modesto and Porterville. You may ask yourself, "How did he
accomplish these great feats of strength? Will I ever be able to have that
much ability and power? Is it fake?" These questions have been asked
by many people over the years because they do not understand the development of
power. The mathematical formula for power (MV2) is fundamental to
demonstrating the power that you want to develop. "M" represents
the weight in pounds of the person, and "V2" is the speed or velocity
of the technique times itself. If you weigh 100 pounds and your technique
is 50 miles per hour then you multiply 100 x 50 x 50 to arrive at a number which
pictures the power achieved. It is obvious that “the greater the speed -
the greater the power." To develop power you must increase the
speed of the technique. To increase the speed, you must relax through the
strike, use accelerated speed, good timing, etc. However, there is more to
developing power than just speed, angle and technique. There 12 elements
of power (Stance, hip rotation, reaction force, focus, timing, acceleration,
geometric design, etc). But I will share just a few with you. Each
of these elements are found in the TKD patterns which you perform. Your
Instructor will teach the patterns in such a way as to demonstrate and explain
the importance of each of these elements of power. As you perform the
patterns correctly you will "automatically" begin to develop power and
speed. For example: In Chon Ji pattern, the angle of attack is
straight ahead in the front stance. As you progress through the pattern
system, the change in angles is reflected in the pattern movements you perform.
Spend time on your patterns and develop "power" in your technique
through hard work, full speed movements and techniques, and do not take the
patterns lightly. Your sparring, one-steps and board breaks will be
enhanced by the proper development of technique within the patterns that you
learn. Continue working on all the patterns that you have learned.
You are responsible for all patterns under your rank level. As Blue Belts
you should be strengthening your white through green belt patterns as you work
on your current pattern. Patterns take much patience, time, and effort to
perfect, but the rewards are worth that effort. During the last test, I
was impressed with the Black Belts from Porterville. They performed their
patterns with power, grace, and flexibility. The demonstration of poise
and power allowed the lower rank students to see the power that can be generated
by those who have worked hard to fulfill the four principles of Choong Sil Kwon
Taekwondo.
Focused
power is the concentrated striking force of the foot, hand or other body part on
a designated target with the maximum amount of force that can be generated
by the student. One of the major problems in any martial art is aggression!
Students are aggressive for a number of reasons: Fear of injury to themselves,
failure in their inner character, lack of understanding, or stubbornness.
Any of these four negative areas can bring disaster to another student, our
credibility, and to ourselves. We would be in a sad state of affairs if we
neglected to correct any of these areas of life.
Fear
of being injured:
When we face a sparring partner we should have respect and
trust for that partner. The longer we work together, the greater that respect
and trust will become. Remember, if each student has respect for their
partner, injuries will be few and far between.
Failure
in our inner character:
All of us exhibit some failure or weakness in our
character. An aggressive spirit hurts our development of the art of TKD,
brings conflict between friends, destroys our ability to learn, and will cause
us to violate the first tenet of Tae Kwon Do.
Lack
of Understanding:
Sparring develops an awareness of the movements of an
attacker, teaches focus controlled strikes, provides an opportunity to prepare
for testing and gives a chance to practice your techniques. These facets of
learning will never be experienced without relaxing through sparring time and
seeing this time as an opportunity to enhance our ability and that of our
sparring partner.
Stubbornness:
There are those who will not listen to their instructor. This is typical of a
person who is a “know it all.” This type of person is generally
unteachable, and will not learn without some necessary attitude adjustment.
It is necessary to set aside pre-conceived ideas and learn from a qualified
instructor.
