To achieve the physical benefits the mind must be there too!
First, you need the “DESIRE” to learn. Then there needs to be “FOCUS” and “CONCENTRATION” to carry out even the simplest movements, until they are learned correctly and become natural, “physical”, movements. “DETERMINATION” and “PERSERVERANCE” come along when the “going gets tough”.
So, by using the mind to train the body, you are also training the mind. By constant, repetitive, physical practice, students begin to “Know Themselves”. The more a student trains the more they learn to “FOCUS” and “CONCENTRATE”. As students improve, the more “SELF CONFIDENT” they become. Studying in Chungdokwan, students learn a whole new “code of ethics” or “etiquette” that can follow them into every part of their lives. “Discipline”, “fairness”, “consideration”, “cooperation”, and many more.
Another mental aspect of training; “ADDICTION”. Once the bug gets into your system, even if you quit or get to old to practice, you will never forget the “FEELING’ that quality training gave you. How it made you feel physically and mentally. Many students train and quit, and then years later return because they remember, and want again, that feeling. Many other students never stop training because they are “addicted”, and they make life choices based on their feeling!
By training both the physical and mental aspects together, students learn to “Know themselves” and just what they are capable of accomplishing. It gives students the ability to make the right choices, both in their day to day life, and if ever needed, in crisis situations. The choice to “act” or “don’t act” can only be made at “that moment”, based on the situation and the students’ ability. This ability can only be gained through experience.
Finally, is the social aspect to training in Chungdokwan. When student’s start, they are usually nervous, being new to something “different”. They soon meet other students and the instructor’s and start walking a path of “RESPECT”, that is not found anywhere else. They may build lasting relationships and connections that stand the test of time!
Blaine Gray
Head Instructor
Calgary Chungdokwan
(Formally know as the J.J. Lee Tae Kwon Do School)
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- Written by Calgary Chungdokwan