Me, Pam and the girls just saw Karate Kid.
First and foremost, the story and plot stay very true, actually incredibly true, to the original movie; which I was happy about.
Second, it was fantastic. I mean there were parts of the movie that the packed theater was applauding and cheering. It was really good.
What hit hit home the most for me was this;
The obvious benefits of hard, disciplined, respectful, dedicated training in the traditional martial arts. The art/style of focus in the movie was Kung Fu. Jackie Chan played Mr. Han, the teacher of traditional Kung Fu; “real” Kung Fu that he learned from his father. Dre Parker, played by Jaden Smith, faced enemies that trained at a hardcore commercial Kung Fu studio. Talented, yes, but disrespectful and only cognisant of the physical aspects of the art. At the point that Mr. Han was revealing to Dre that the repetitive movements he had been doing thousands of times (taking the jacket off, hanging it up, taking it down, dropping it, picking it up, putting it on, etc.), continued to explain to Dre that (this isn’t completely accurate dialogue, I know I’m messing this up) “Kung Fu is in everything we do, its in the way we move, its in our hearts and minds and its in the way we treat people.”
I loved that moment in the movie, not just because it was so powerful, but because it reminded me of all the training I grew up with in traditional Taekwon-do schools. Growing up, I studied pre-olympic style sparring Taekwon-do. Old school Taekwon-do. Traditional Taekwon-do, a true self-defense system designed to turn the student into a destructive weapon when necessary, but a peaceful person as well. The schools I trained at were more like kickboxing schools than the flashy after school program studios that are on every corner today. No frills, no sales gimmicks, just a uniform and hard training. What we learned early on and were expected to practice in our daily lives were the 5 Tenets of Taekwon-do:
(from www.itf-information.com and from “Taekwon-Do” (The Korean Art of Self Defense) also known as The Condensed Encyclopedia.
Fifth Edition 1999, All rights reserved
Copyright 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1999 General Choi, Hong Hi.)
Courtesy
It can be said that courtesy is an unwritten regulation prescribed by ancient teachers of philosophy as a means to enlighten human beings while maintaining a harmonious society. It can be further be as an ultimate criterion required of a mortal.
Taekwon-Do students should attempt to practice the following elements of courtesy to build up their noble character and to conduct the training in an orderly manner as well.
1) To promote the spirit of mutual concessions
2) To be ashamed of one’s vices, contempting those of others
3) To be polite to one another
4) To encourage the sense of justice and humanity
5) To distinguish instructor from student, senior from junior, and elder from younger
6) To behave oneself according to etiquette
7) To respect others’ possessions
8) To handle matters with fairness and sincerity
9) To refrain from giving or accepting a gift when in doubt
Integrity
In Taekwon-Do, the word integrity assumes a looser definition than the one usually presented in Webster’s dictionary. One must be able to define right and wrong and have a conscience, if wrong, to feel guilt. Listed are some examples where integrity is lacking:
1) The instructor who misrepresents himself and his art by presenting improper techniques to his students because of a lack of knowledge or apathy.
2) The student who misrepresents himself by “fixing” breaking materials before demonstrations.
3) The instructor who camouflages bad technique with luxurious training halls and false flattery to his students.
4) The student who requests ranks from an instructor, or attempts to purchase it.
5) The student who gains rank for ego purposes or the feeling of power.
6) The instructor who teaches and promotes his art for materialistic gains.
7) The students whose actions do not live up to his words.
8) The student who feels ashamed to seek opinions from his juniors.
Perseverance
There is an old Oriental saying, “Patience leads to virtue or merit, One can make a peaceful home by being patient for 100 times.” Certainly happiness and prosperity are most likely brought to the patient person. To achieve something, whether it is a higher degree or the perfection or a technique, one must set his goal, then constantly persevere. Robert Bruce learned his lesson of perseverance from the persistent efforts of a lowly spider. It was this perseverance and tenacity that finally enabled him to free Scotland in the fourteenth century. One of the most important secrets in becoming a leader of Taekwon-Do is to overcome every difficulty by perseverance. Confucius said, “one who is impatient in trivial matters can seldom achieve success in matters of great importance.”
Self-Control
This tenet is extremely important inside and outside the dojang, whether conducting oneself in free sparring or in one’s personal affairs. A loss of self-control in free sparring can prove disastrous to both student and opponent. An inability to live and work within one’s capability or sphere is also a lack of self-control.
According to Lao-Tzu “the term of stronger is the person who wins over oneself rather than someone else.”
Imdomitable Spirit
“Here lie 300, who did their duty,” a simple epitaph for one of the greatest acts of courage known to mankind. Although facing the superior forces of Xerxes, Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at Thermoplylae showed the world the meaning of indomitable spirit. It is shown when a courageous person and his principles are pitted against overwhelming odds.
A serious student of Taekwon-Do will at all times be modest and honest. If confronted with injustice, he will deal with the belligerent without any fear or hesitation at all, with indomitable spirit, regardless of whosoever and however many the number may be.
Confucius declared,” It is an act of cowardice to fail to speak out against injustice.” As history has proven, those who have pursued their dreams earnestly and strenuously with indomitable spirit have never failed to achieve their goals.
I’ll be honest. Living one’s life by this set of moral codes is not easy and I have faltered many, many times and been disappointed in myself every time. But I always come back. I also find it hard to not be irritated when people around me live and behave far outside a set of standards as these. Is this a fault? Not sure.
Watching the movie made me really miss that old school, traditional training. I miss that journey and that type of relationship with a teacher/mentor. It makes me want to try to start teaching TKD again, the way I learned it. I don’t know of any school in our area like the ones I grew up in. But it’s a commitment not to be taken lightly. Nevertheless, I feel as though I’ve been brought back to my center.
We’ll see what the future holds.
