History and philosophy of the taekwondo and its significance for the modern man.

There are no enemies in the real budo. The real budo is a function of love. The way of the warrior is not to cause death and destruction but to cherish life, over and over again.
Morihei Ueshiba.

Introduction

After 30 years of practising Taekwondo,I started asking myself what this could mean for people who are not really/genuinely interested in martial arts.
To me the Taekwondo has always been more than only a fighting sport. To me it is an art and a way of living.
In this statement I present my idea image for the road of the warrior. Many people would think that it is not very appropriate to them and it is too different from their way of living. Nothing is as true. If one adapts the course of life of the warrior to his or her daily way of living of a “modern man”, he or she will obtain much better results.

When the day comes, you would be able to look back to a rich life. Life filled with a lot of pain, sorrow and with difficult moments, but also life filled with a lot of joy and nice moments. You would possess rich experience and would be regarded as a wise man.

Before I begin with the core philosophy of the Taekwondo, I would like to present in more detail the history of the Taekwondo. I would like to present the way it has become a modern Olympic sport of the present day and by what it is still additionally characterized as a true martial art.

To the performer of martial arts as a sport the Taekwondo is only a phase of his or her development. It is an important phase which one should in any case pass, but it is not a final purpose.

Can I have the love to accept what I am not able to change,

The courage to deal with what I am able to change,

And the wisdom to make the distinction between those two.

2. History



The history of the Korean martial arts, fighting sports is difficult to be exactly ascertainеd. This is mainly due to two reasons.

The first reason is that during the occupation of Korea by Japan from 1910 to 1946, most of the writings on this subject disappeared or were destroyed. The Japanese believed Korea had to become a part of Japan. The Koreans were obliged to practise the Japanese fighting styles. After 36 years of dominance there was not much left of the original Korean styles.

The second reason is that the Koreans would prefer that their combat styles were completely authentic and had a long history. That is not actually necessary because most martial arts and styles which are practised at present date back from the period after the Second World War or at least from the beginning of the twentieth century. They are all combinations of old styles that have existed across Asia. Every contemporary fighting sport focuses on something different. This focus is often determined by the form of the competition which is practised.

In actual fact there were fighting styles in the history of Korea-Subak, Ssirum and Taekyon. Subak was a real martial art that mainly consisted of hand techniques. Ssirum is a form of wrestling. Taekyon is a game based mainly on leg techniques.

The Koreans tell their history as follows.

Around 50 BC Korea was made up of 3 kingdoms,
Koguryo (37 B.C. – 668 A.C), Paekche (18 B.C. – 660 A.C.),
Silla (57 B.C. – 936 A.C.).

Subak is the oldest known fighting style. In the Royal
tomb, Muyongchong, wall drawings were found dating
back from the 4th century A.C.).The tomb was located in Koguryo.

The warriors of Koguryo were called "sunbae".That means "a
virtuous man who never fears a combat”. They lived in groups
and were taught (history and literature). Their life was dedicated
to the nation.

In the 7th century Silla unified the then three kingdoms. They at first conquered Paekche in 660 and later conquered Koguryo in 668.

In that period there existed the "Hwarang Do" (Hwa - flower, Rang - young man). That was an association of noble persons which can be compared with the knights with us. This group had trained both their bodies and spirit and were devoted to their nation. They had a code of honor and practiced various forms of martial art including Subak.

The hwarang-do had Boedisme as religion. Their honor code was based on the five principles of the Buddhist monks. Weonkwang:Sagunichung: love your king and your country
Sachinihyo: respect for your parents
Kyouisin: sincerity towards your friends
Imjeonmutoi: at war, fight to the end
Salsaengyutaek: do not kill for nothing, use the martial art only for justice

These five principles could still be found in the present-day taekwondo.

A period of peace followed and the Hwarang-do changed from a military group to a group where the emphasis was laid on cultural matters, such as poetry and music.

During the Koryo Dynasty (918 – 1392) the Subak was further developed. It was practiced by the military. They practised the “obyong subak hui” which was not intended to be a sport but actually for a means of killing the opponent.
The Chosun dynasty (1392-1910) was a period of flowering and inventions. The Boedisme was replaced by Confucianism. According to Confucianism, the higher class had to be engaged in literature and the martial art was suitable rather for the lower class.In 1790 -"Muyedobotongji"- a guide for unarmed fighting was written by King Chongjo.

Later, the Subak changed towards Taekyon. That is weird because the Subak consisted mainly of hand techniques while the leg techniques were mainly Taekyon. In a painting by Yu Suk (1827 - 1873) competitions of both the Ssirum and Taekyon can be found.
In this way, the Korean unarmed fighting was fully developed in Korea itself. Personally, I believe that the neighboring countries should have had much more influence on each other.

Overall, we could say that the history of the martial arts in Asia passed as it follows.

In 5000 B.C. the first traces of chi-gong exercises already existed in China. These exercises were then intended mainly to improve health. The Indians at that time already had some fighting techniques.

The combining of these two forms provided the basis for a fighting
system in which no muscular but mental energy (chi) was used. This
system was disseminated throughout Asia with a different variation in
each country. In the 13th century, Chang San-Feng came up with
the idea of testing acupuncture points in a fight. As the story goes, they would be tested on prisoners. He was surprised that so many of them died.
This system was so efficient that it was not suitable for everyone. From then on the masters hid their techniques in forms (poomsee, taeguk). The true meaning of the techniques was explained only to the privileged students. The style of Chang San-Feng was named H'ao Ch'uan (loose boxing). Later on this style became the tai chi chuan.
The use of chi and the acupuncture points can be found in the ancient Chinese styles, Taichi, Shaolin boxing, wing tsun, etc. They are loose flexible styles. From the old masters was said that they fought like rag dolls. It can be assumed that the Subak was also such a style.

Chinese masters then found themselves in Okinawa and laid the foundations of the Okinawa-te. The Okinawa-te was also a loose flexible style of fighting.

According to the Koreans the Okinawa-té was also influenced by the Subak. In their opinion some Korean masters ended up on Okinawa and therefore had an influence on this style of fighting.
That is of course possible. There has been a constant exchange in all fields between these countries, including in the field of martial arts.

Gichin Funakoshi (10/11/1868 – 26/04/1957) introduced
Karate to the Japanese mainland. He was himself trained in
Okinawa-té. It was him who was asked to train the Japanese
army.
This was not so simple because they had always been trained in
small groups before. One day he saw the American army doing
its drill and decided that was the method to teach karate to big groups.

By implementing these techniques, the smoothness of the style was lost and resulted into typical angular movements of karate. At the end, there was probably not anyone left who knew how to put all the movements smoothly together.I was also told that Funakoshi was not aware of the hidden forms of self-protection. In any case they would not have been brought to the Japanese knowledge because the Japanese were in principle considered to be an enemy.In 1910 the Shotakan, the Karate of Funakoshi, was introduced in Korea. The Koreans were obliged to train the Japanese styles and the Subak and the Taekyon were prohibited.

After 36 years of domination, there would not be much left of the original Korean styles. After the liberation the Koreans of course wanted their own identity quickly back as well as their martial arts.

Taekwondo is clearly derived from the Shotakan. The Koreans however have put in it their own identity through the enlarged and spectacular kicking techniques. There is not a nation that can kick like the Koreans.

In my view, this has more to do with their genetic predisposing determined by their way of sitting rather than with the influence of the Taekyon. The Japanese traditionally sit on their knees and the Koreans sit cross-legged. The constant sitting cross-legged provides a very flexible base which is needed for the performing of the taekwondo kicking techniques.

The Koreans are also much more dynamic in their movements and everything became more fluent. The Korean Karate was thus much more similar to the original flexible form of the Chinese loose boxing in the past or the Subak itself in Korea.
After the Second World War (1944 – 1947) there were five kwan (=schools) that formed the basis of the Taekwondo:
1. Chung do kwan (Lee Won Kuk),
2. Moo duk kwan (Hwang ki),
3. Yun moo kwan (Chon Sang Sop),
4. Kwonboptojang (Yun Pyong In),
5. Song Moo Kwan (No Pyong Chik).

Each school used a different name for what they practised: Dangsudo,
gongsudo, kwonbeop, taekkyon, subak, etc. Despite the different
names, the styles did not differ much from each other.
In 1955 the name taekwondo was used for the first time by
General Choi Hong Hi. The name came from
taekyon + do (= way of life) and in 1965 all the schools used the
name Taekwondo.

The next federations followed each other:Korea Gongsudo Association during the war (c. 1951) Korea Dangsudo Association (c. 1955)
Korea Taekwondo Association (1959)
Korea Taesudo Association (1961)
Korea Taekwondo Association (1965)

A trip to North -Korea in 1966 of Generaal Choi Hong Hi wasn’t appreciated in the South so he resigned as president from the KTA. He founded the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). In January 1971 Uy Kim became the Seventh President of the KTA. On 7 August 1978 the ten halls united in KTA whose head was Uy Kim. Later the KTA was transformed into the WTF.

The WTF and the ITF still exist. Both of them have different methods and alsothe way of sparring is also different. The ITF does semi-contact and punches in the face are allowed. The WTF does full-contact and only kicks in the face are allowed. WTF therefore lays even more emphasis on the kicking techniques.

In 1988 the WTF Taekwondo was introduced as an Olympic sport at the Olympic Games in Seoul. Since then the WTF Taekwondo has become an integral part of it.

In the spirit of a novice, there are a lot of opportunities

In the spirit of a specialist, there are only few...



Zen

3. Philosophy

By studying the martial arts that originate from the East we need to go in detail into the principles of the Eastern philosophy and its differences with the Western one. The Western thought is above all based on the philosophy of the ancient Greeks, the Eastern one is based on the philosophy of ancient China. We need to hereby take into consideration that the Chinese culture dates much further back in time than ours. The first chi-gong exercises date back about 5000 years ago. The book of Tsun Wu, “The Art of Warfare” was written around 400 B.C. The marital art was also an important part of the Chinese philosophy while it was not so in the West. Each Chinese philosophical work includes a chapter on tactics, strategy and martial art. The Western thought treats everything separately, the Eastern one treats everything in its entirety. That is distinctly evinced in medicine. Western medicine treats the man as parts of the human body. If there is some problem, it is examined which part is affected and needs to be treated or eventually removed. The Eastern medicine treats the human body as a whole. In case something functions in a bad way its links with the other organs are examined, examining its functioning inside the body. Therefore, the Eastern medicine treats the body rather as a whole.
Where does this different way of thinking, these different views come from?

From ancient times the man needed to explain the world around him. He wished to create order out of the chaos so that he could understand everything. The man needed to explain the meaning of life. Why are we here, where do we come from, where are we going, what is our role in the whole, what is the meaning of suffering.

At the time of Plato and Aristotle, the Classical Greek thought
was dominated by the “theory of the two worlds”–the world
of reality and the world of change, what creates and what is
created, what orders and what is ordered. What sets the things going and what is set going. Later, in the compilation of the Greek philosophy and the Judeo Christian tradition, this dualistic view was deeply rooted in the Western civilization as a dominant paradigm (=a coherent system of models and theories that forms a mental framework, through which 'reality' is analyzed and described). The belief in something that created order in the initial chaos. As the first world stipulates the second, the first is taken as the original source, a creative, determinative principle that is easy to translate in a Jewish-Christian God, which creates both natural and moral order in the chaos.

Therefore, our early tradition contains both cosmogonic (= based on an original creative act, a beginning) and theological (= assumption of an ultimate goal). God created the world and the life of the human gains meaning because the creation of God has a goal. From this principle of destination we are leaning to an explanation of the events in the world which refers linearly and causally (= causality of the law of the cause and the consequence points out to the assumption or the theory that events occur as a result of certain other events which have happened before that.

A cause precedes an effect. In such cases we can assume that there is a causal relationship between two events. The man is in the two worlds. The soul belongs to the creative and sustainable world; the body belongs to the realm of phenomena.The secondary world is completely dependent on the primary world. It is a complicated explanation and it would bring us too far to discuss it in details but our Western thought is becoming determined by this.Reality / phenomenon, knowledge / opinion, truth / dishonesty, to be or not to be, creator/created, soul/body, feeling/experience, reason/effect, objective/subjective, theory/practice, nature/culture, form/matter, universal/personal, logical/ rhetorical, cognitive/affective, male/female, etc.

Eventually it comes down to the fact that the Western people are beginning to consider things more objectively.They do things out of context and observe them regardless of their surroundings. The Western thought is based on a mathematical way of thinking.



The Еastern thought treats everything in one world. There is only one continuous, concrete world, which is the source and the scene of all our experiences. According to the classical Chinese ideology, the order is in the things themselves, as the fiber in the wood, the veins in a leaf and the grooves in a stone!

The world is thus its own direct cause. It is strongly dynamic, self-generating, self-organizing, sensible, alive. This world consists of an infinite amount of chi’s. Chi is a typical eastern concept. Western science is the thin line between mass and energy, and vice versa, which is explained by the Quantum theory. For the East there is a driving force in everything which can be found in everything.
Let us dwell on the principle of yin / yang. TAO is the Universe,
everything that is but also everything that is not.

The TAO cannot be known or to understood, but shows itself is
two antagonistic but complementary forces: yin & yang. Literally
yin means shadow side and yang means sunny side. Yin is absorbing and yang is giving. Thus yin is feminine and yang is masculine.

These terms are relative and dynamic. Absolute immobility does not indeed exsist. The one thing refers to the other. In every moment the one thing is to a greater or to a lesser extent the other. It is therefore not the black and white but the constant transforming from white to black and from black to white.
The classical Chinese ideology treats everything as a whole. Each individual exerts influence on another individual as it is in a large family. Each event is a consequence of some other events and causes new events which in turn influence and cause other events.

From such views religions are founded. In the West we have the Judeo Christian religion, in the East they have Buddhism, in all its forms and Confucianism.

At first sight, these Western and Eastern religions may seem completely different but if they are more closely examined, they seem to be very similar and especially the Western and Eastern views make the difference.

In the Christian and Jewish faith, we have a God who is the driving force of our world. In the East everything comes from the man, from the individual itself. Such differences are fundamental but the questions and answers in these religions are very similar. They are all trying to find an answer to the question why we are here, why we have to suffer. They are trying to understand this suffering and to find solutions of it. They tell us to be good for each other and thus to make a better world. In the West people pray and in the East they meditate. Meditation can be done in various ways and praying is actually just another way to meditate.

What a complete religion learns you is to think about things (meditating, praying) and then to let them go. Not to get too attached to worldly matters because this is often the cause of many suffering. Not to get too attached to this life and to accept death as a new beginning.

They teach you to live now. Not to deal too much with the past and you do not have to worry too much about the future. The time now is a gift and the only thing that counts. A fully-fledged religion dares to question itself and encourages you to think.

If the basic rules of each of these religions are observed and compared we can see that they are actually very similar.
The Jewish, Christian religions have stated their Ten Commandments:
“1. You shall have no other gods before Me (or Above all love one God)
2. Swear not conceited, curse nor spot 3. Remember the Sabbath day
to keep it holy 4. Honour your mother and father; 5. Do not kill,
give no irritation; 6. Do never what is immoral 7. You shall not
commit adultery (or Do not steal and cheat) 8. Also the backbiting
and the lying 9.Be always moral in your mind 10.Never love the property of someone else


The manifest line of Confucianism is: "What you would not wish
for yourself, you should not wish for someone else”. Does it not
sound familiar for a Christian person?
The Confucianism has its 6 virtues:
1.Humanity (Ren=仁): of compassion; 2.Childly obedience (Xiao=孝): the love that a child is obligated to give to his/her parents is considered as the backspine of the confucianism; 3.Justice (Yi =仪): do not act out of self-interest if it is not in the interests of other; 4. Decency (Li=礼): to handle correct on the right moment; 5. Faith (Chun): faith in your country but also in your family, parents; 6. (Shu): form of mutual respect. Dalai Lama from Tibet claims that he brought the religion of love
and friendship.
Is it not what the new testament of the Christian belief is about?
It includes its five regulations which are further extended according
to the further developments in this religion:
1.I stick to the regulations requirement to refrain from killing living beings;2. I stick to the regulations requirement to refrain from taking what is not given;
3. I stick to the regulations requirement to refrain from sexual misconduct ;
4. I stick to the regulations requirement to refrain from incorrect talking;
5. I stick to the regulations requirement to refrain from the use of narcotics such as alcohol and drugs, which cause anaesthetising distraction.

Therefore, the religions which are at the core of the Eastern martial arts are very similar to our Western religion.

In my opinion, the principles and the objectives are the same. Is it so important whether there is a God, or whether after this life we go to Heaven? I think it is not. You should live in the present, what comes after this life is the future and it is thus at this moment insignificant. The principles of a better world now is what is of importance. The Heaven, or anything after death is for tomorrow.The true practitioner of martial arts should adhere to these principles.

He is working on making the world better, accepts his own death as it comes and sees the way it goes further. He is not plagued by the mistakes he made in the past. He learns from those mistakes and applies what he has learned in order not to make same ones again.

The martial art is thus part of the philosophy of the East. It is influenced by their religions but for the true practitioner of martial arts it is a religion itself and a way of life which is reflected in his deeds.

We need to make a clear difference between the martial arts and the fighting sports. The fighting sport is primarily a physical contest between two athletes, it is a game according to certain rules. Martial art is the art of acquisition in any way. Violence, but also diplomacy are the means to obtain what is wanted.Many modern teachers tell you that they are teaching you martial arts. They speak of the beauty of techniques, its effect on health, etc. They train techniques which are not applicable to the daily life but are supposed to bring in harmony body and mind. Like those who practise combat sports, kickbox, free fight, taekwondo, judo, etc., train only a small part of the martial arts. There is nothing wrong in such a way of training. It should only be correctly named. The way of the warrior is a difficult road that does not apply to many people at present. The different cases which are mentioned can help us in becoming and in being better people nowadays.

The idea of the traditional martial arts is best described by a quote
from the "GO RIN NO SHO" (the book of the five rings) by
Myamoto Mushashi.
A warrior has only one purpose "to destroy the enemy by what is ever
means necessary".
Remember, the main idea behind becoming a warrior is learning
how to destroy the enemy. Without destroying the enemy you are
playing a childs game. Destroy the enemy at any cost, even if it mean
yourself may possible be hurt in the exchange. Think of nothing
but of cutting the enemy down.
Even when a large army goes into battle, their main attitude must
be to destroy the enemy, otherwise they will lose and be disgraced.
There is no other reason to be a warrior. From this text you could assume that martial arts is about destroying an opponent that is the way of killing another person or persons. Even though the true practitioner of martial arts would not hesitate to kill if that is necessary, it is principally about the own mortality of everyone. Combat art is primarily showing how to die yourself and how to live with your own mortality, the accepting of one’s own death as a certain fact.

In the Hagakure (the book of the samurai) by Yamamotot Tsunetomo (1659-1719), the following nice quotation can be found:

Everyday we should think about the saying “then is now” and should keep it in our minds. It is strange indeed that we can go through life thoughtless. So the “way of the samurai” is, day after day, the practice of dying, for which we consider whether it will be here or there. Where we imagine in our minds the nicest way of dying and to be determined for our final destination. Even though it is really hard, if you want to do it, it is possible. Even if it is really hard you can and want to do it. There is nothing for which you can assume that it would not be possible.

The way of the warrior thus teaches how to die in an honorable way. We begin to die from our birth and from the moment of our death we will be born again. That is the yin / yang principle. Nothing is 100 percent, everything is about the one in the other. Life and death is one.
The same views can be found in the Western natural laws. Nothing is lost but everything is about the one in the other. If we think of our own mortality in every moment, we will enjoy more intensively our lifes. We will have more respect for our own life but also for that of the others. The nonchalance of things ensures that you stand still on a more profound way. You must live as if every moment was your last one.In combat the martial artist has already given up his life. He is not willing to die but he has already died. From there comes the quotation: “an avoided fight is a won fight”. In the West we see it like the biblical “if you get slapped, show your other cheek”, but it is not 100% the same meaning.The fight is only won if you have reached your objectives. This is possible without a fight. The martial artist had so much irradiation, chi, that nobody dared to attack him. How can you beat someone who has already died? He was prepared to go to his limits. His goal is to die with honor in a combat. So an avoided fight is a won fight if the opponent gives what you want without a combat. To reach this, your inner strenght needs to be huge. The look alone of such a person gives so much fear that the opponent gets paralysed and does not think about fighting anymore.The true martial artist has an eye for all facets of life: art, religion, science, skills, etc. Many martial artists also walk different paths for gaining a broader outlook on life. A martial artist can reach his complete strength 100% only if he understands life. Myamoto Mushashi drawed and composed poetry a lot.This is again the yin / yang principle which is applied to life, the idea that everything must be balanced. The training of the destruction of life must be accompanied by enjoying the beauty of life. In this way, the respect for life remains and you will do nothing which you will regret later.

Martial arts are therefore a religion on itself. It is the religion of dying and of living in the present days, more than any other religion. The true martial artist is not looking for enlightment to look for earning his heaven. Even though he has let go. The warrior lives at the present and for the dying in combat for a higher goal at the present and for the principles that he lives by. These principles differ from warrior to warrior. His independence of time and the place where he lives, and from the institutions he lives by himself.

Myamoto Mushashi presents the following behavioural rules to the people that want to follow his strategy:1. Do not think dishonestly
2. The road consists of practice
3. Get to know all the moves
4. Know the ways of all professions
5. In worldly matters, make a distinction between profit and loss
6. Develop an intuitive view and understanding for everything
7. Observe things that cannot be seen
8. Pay devoted attention even to the small things
9. Do not do anything that does not make any sense

Like all the religions the way of the warrior was and is misused for misleading people and making them follow you.

The samurais are a good example. The word samurai means serving. The Bushido, the code of the samurai, was written in order to create an invincible warrior but also to create a warrior who could be controlled. At that time the Mongols wanted to make a crossover to Japan in order to conquer it. Fortunately for the Japanese the boats of the Mongols disappeared in a storm. The dominator of Japan realised that his warriors wouldn’t be a challenge for the Mongols and made the Bushido. The result was an invincible warrior that was a slave of his owner. So he was the ideal warrior.
The samurai could be commanded at any time by his master to seppoeko (ritual suicide by opening the hara, don jon, the most important part of his body). Death was constantly present for him and life could fade away very quickly. Nothing could harm him because he was already dead. He had to regret nothing as long as he lives according to the bushido code.This is all good as long as the ruler has the best with the world but really dangerous if it is not like this. Like with all religions abuse lures around the corner. The true warrior is mentally strong enough to distinguish good from bad and to live according to his own rules. In this way he prevents abuse his talents.

when my house burned down,

there was nothing to obstruct my view on the moon...

Zen

4. What does this mean for the modern man?

How can all this be useful for the people who do not live like warriors, that is for the most people nowadays!

There are many reasons for following a part of a martial art. You can do it for the physical exercises, you can do it for health, you can do it for mental strength. The mainly training of physical exercises has led to various sports.

4.1. Martial arts as a sport.
The training of mainly physical exercises has led to the various sports. Taekwondo is one of those sports.

The application of the martial arts as a sport has a healthy and well balanced body as a result. In my opinion there are not many other sports through which the body is so completely trained.

People who regularly practise combat sports have a better control over their bodies. Generally they have a better sense of balance. Their body is strong and flexible through which they have less physical complaints.
Combat sports show people how to deal with stress. For those who participate in sparring, it is a healthy way to canalize aggression.

4.2. Martial arts for improving of health

A recent development of the last years is the use of components of martial arts as health exercises.

This is not surprising. The old fighting systems in the East were mainly based on the chi-gong. The working with energy.

In martial arts this is used to absorb the attacks and to bring huge power in the attacks, which could never be obtained by normal muscle power. If you point these energetic attacks to the acupuncture or organs it is destructive for the whole body of the opponent.
It is not surprising that the exercises of martial art or this kind of training are used at present as health exercises because chi-gong and acupuncture were originally intended for the health. It is proven that the regular practice of chi-gong improves health. It has positive influence on the bones and the general health of the body. The energy movement ensures that you do not need any muscular power during your movements. This type of movement is certainly very interesting for elderly people. One of the main principles of martial art is the principle of the "balance." Everything an individual does in life should be balanced. One’s physical position in a combat needs to be balanced. Being in balance of your body gives you a better health. The good balance prevents people for example from back problems.
Meditation brings alpha rays to the brain. These rays make the thymus grow. The thymus is an organ below the sternum (=the breastbone) in which our T-killer cells (disease resistance) are programmed. Therefore, the greater the thymus is, the better is the resistance to diseases.


4.3. Martial arts for mental education: the acceptance of yourself as you are and improved social skills.

Finally, martial arts can be used for obtaining greater mental resistance, and for learning how to better cope with the bad luck and the problems of life. We live in a society where stress management and the mastering of aggression are gaining importance.

We already discussed the physical balance but also the
mental attitude must be in balance as well. A good mental balance ensures that you would never feel remorse or regret actions you did. If you are nevertheless sorry about something, that is an indication that the balance of life at this moment was not in harmony. Then you made a mistake. Don’t stand still too long with your mistakes, learn from them and go on with your life. Live in the present.The life in the present is very important and can prevent many people from depression. The modern man is too concerned about the mistakes he made in the past. He is too concerned about what the future will bring to him. In mind fulness (what actually is a modern variation on zen with a western psychological influence) is very well defined as: " Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the Present.”
Martial art learns you to how to accept your own mortality as a certain fact and that you should not get too much attached to worldy matters. To let go of life but also to let go in general. To let go is not the same as to repress. By repressing we act as if it has never happened. It is surpressed somewhere in our subconciousness with the intention not to think about it anymore. Unfortenately our conciousness does not work like this. The hidden and not processed emotions stay alive. A harmless event can be the trigger to recall these emotions and to cause an unreasonable reaction, for the ignorant environment.
To let go means that you think about things that happen to you, that you look for solutions, but you do not keep on worrying about them. Things just happen and afterwards you can change them. You can learn from them and then you let go. You know it happened and you include it in your life and then go further with your life.

Martial arts teach you to be devoted to a goal. It does not matter if your goal is not reached, as long as you did your best. This is another typical difference between the Western and Eastern way of thinking. We often have respect only for the winner. In the East most heroes do not reach their goals. They are heroic because they set a high level and have done everything to reach it. Having achieved the the goal or not is then only a detail.

Everything that you do in a fight you do by 100%. If you doubt and hesitate, you will be destroyed. Like it is in the real life.
Take a decision, then stick 100% to it. Do not hesitate because you will fail. That does not mean you have to do things without thinking about them, but once a decision is taken you have stick 100% to it. And again, do not to dwell on the success or failure. Learn and move on with your life.

To look for the weaknesses of your opponent by studying him is an important part of martial arts. In a battle these weaknesses we will use to defeat our opponents but in the daily life it is these weaknesses that makes people humane and beautiful. Martial arts teaches to have respect for other people, also and maybe especially for their weaknesses.
Martial arts also ensure that you know yourself and you accept yourself as you are. With your talents and advantages but also with your lacks and disadvantages. “Self-knowledge is the beginning of all wisdom! "Your personality consists of three persons: the person you would like to be, the person others think you are and the person you are in fact. These three people would be principally the same.

Last I would like to give you a wise piece of advice of the ancient Chinese masters: “revenge is pointless, you have to survive so you can piss on the graves of your opponents …”

Do not hate because hatred requires a lot of energy. Hatred often provokes impotent anger that also requires a lot of energy without achieving anything with it. Be compationate, even with your enemies because life itself will be your revenge. It all sounds philosophical but it is, like in martial arts, very practical. The one who reaches for the sword will die by the sword, even though people are not ready for it. You get what you deserve. But the best real truth is that different types look for their evens.

People who live with a bad mentality will be avoided by the people with a good one and will end up with other bad people. Someone who is very violent will be avoided by people with a good character and will end up in a violent environment. Sooner or later he will meet someone or some group that is stronger than him.

Have you already noticed that people who cheat on their partners are most likely to be very jealous? People who steal are scared of being robbed themselves, the same is with swindlers. Even though it does not happen to you, these cases would cause you a lot of stress and will shorten your life drastically.

Being friendly and good is a very selfish act which is especially good for yourself. Humanity and discretion are the important qualities to happily go through your life.