Warrior’s Path – Walking with Death

The Warrior’s Path

Walking with Death

“I guess it comes down to a simple choice really – get busy living or get busy dying.”

The Shawshank Redemption

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Grandmaster Taejoon Lee faces off against Jokyo Simon Lee

I had a student come to me and ask for a private lesson to show him how to execute a jump spin kick. Of course I feel that it’s long overdue and he should have asked me many months ago when he was first introduced to it as a Tae Soo Do (TSD) Brown Belt. Nearing his TSD Black Belt graduation where he must complete the final part of his Black Belt Testing Requirements by successfully breaking five boards with kick combinations, finishing with a jump spin/low spin kick break, he felt the need to get some extra help to ensure his success. It’s a good thing he was proactive in trying to control the future outcome by increasing his preparation, but what really motivated him? We’ll come back to this. As we continued his private session, he was having a terrible time fixing his old habits. Finally I blurted, “What are you afraid of, what?!”

He answered, “I am afraid of falling.”

I replied, “You have been here almost three years, learned how to fall properly, you are standing on two inch thick mats, and yet you are still afraid of falling? Well, that’s it then. You must become unafraid and accept the worst outcome before you can move forward or perish (not in so many words).”

Human beings are motivated strongly by fears; mainly fear of injury, pain, hardship, embarrassment, and of the unknown. We try to balance our fears by creating comfort zones of predictable patterns to limit our uncertainty, deluding ourselves to think that we have some grasp on our lives.

We try to balance our fears by creating comfort zones of predictable patterns to limit our uncertainty, deluding ourselves to think that we have some grasp on our lives.

As we are taught in Hwa Rang Do to never retreat in the face of the enemy, we must first clearly define and understand this enemy of ours, essentially that is our fears. Let’s think for a moment what that is. Fear is an anticipation of negative results from a particular event, action, or set of conditions that has been learned from past similar events. The important thing to understand is that fear is not real. It is imaginary. It did not happen, and might never happen; it’s only our imagination, our mind which creates images with emotional and psychological attachments that become so real that we create our lives, our responses, and our choices based on fear – our imagination.

There are two types of fear discussed here: let’s describe them as good fear and bad fear. Good fear causes motivation for action and bad fear creates reasons for inaction. Good fear prompts proactive behavior while bad fear immobilizes our minds, causing either no response or complete abandonment – quitting. The good fear prompted the student to take action to prevent the negative result that he was anticipating with planning and preparation by deciding to take a private lesson. The bad fear prevented him from creating the necessary changes for betterment and advancing. He took refuge (as many do) in the comfort of what’s most familiar. Whether that’s good or bad, negative or positive, self destructive or self enriching has no bearing on the decision. Just as a hermit crab hides in their shell, so do we also hide in what’s most familiar. The student was not willing to give up what’s familiar and clung to it like a safety blanket (however old, filthy, or smelly it may be), fixating only on the potential negative result rather than focusing on the possibility for growth and change for the better.

Once I helped the student think through the worst that can happen to him – a broken leg, perhaps, maybe even death (highly unlikely but let’s give our imagination the benefit of the doubt) the student was willing to move into unknown territory. Where before he kept doing the same wrong movement, once he accepted the worst-case scenario, he began to try different ways. Finally after almost an hour of what was to be a thirty-minute session, he made some progress. However, something very interesting occurred. He made some advancement, but quickly regressed to his old ways when he felt he was losing control, uncomfortable with the new body positioning. I think he even fell once. Well, that confirmed it. His fears were right – he did fall. Fear is not logical, it’s not just mental or emotional, it’s all consuming, and it’s powerful. Fear cannot be underestimated, and the demon that has taken a lifetime to take root and grow cannot be defeated in a single brief encounter.

Fear is not logical, it’s not just mental or emotional, it’s all consuming, and it’s powerful. Fear cannot be underestimated, and the demon that has taken a lifetime to take root and grow cannot be defeated in a single brief encounter.

Furthermore, fear cannot be eliminated and should not be. Everything serves a purpose and so does fear. However, like all things, we must learn to control it, using it as fuel for action and exercising caution in making decisions. Being able to do this requires strength, which in turn increases our self-confidence, and enhances our self-image. These are all necessary weapons when facing the demon of fear.

Primarily, we need the strength to accept the worst-case scenario. If one cannot, then they must quit their task and hide from fear, as many people try to hide from death. The problem is that death will come and we have absolutely no control over when or how. The only thing we have control over is life. Hiding is only a temporary solution. Also, have you noticed that when we quit things, or give up on dreams, that in our minds it’s perfectly justified and we have all the right reasons to do so? Of course we do! How could we live with ourselves if it weren’t the case? This is how our mind works for self-preservation. Letting go of these justifications and delusions by being true and honest to oneself is the first step in battling our fears. As warriors then, by definition, we must train ourselves to be unafraid of confrontation and engage our enemy. We must accept and embrace death as a guest, a friend that walks next to you with life on the other side. Only by embracing death, by truly accepting it, can we begin to appreciate and respect life. Not to abuse our life and live recklessly, which would be disrespecting death, but by honoring life so that our deaths become more meaningful.

As warriors then, by definition, we must train ourselves to be unafraid of confrontation and engage our enemy. We must accept and embrace death as a guest, a friend that walks next to you with life on the other side.

This is the beauty and the power of Hwa Rang Do. We exercise dealing with fear on a daily basis as we take on physical, mental, and emotional challenges set by the art, fellow students, and me (the teacher) in a controlled safe environment. Hence, realizing our limitations, weaknesses, and the truth about ourselves, we can practice taming our personal demons and making them our friends that we may call upon for help – sources of motivation. As the protagonist, Andy, in the acclaimed film, “The Shawshank Redemption,” was forced to make a decision when all hope was lost, so do we – either to get busy living or get busy dying. After losing all hope, when facts were revealed that could prove Andy’s innocence were brutally suppressed by the prison warden, Andy was forced to contemplate the meaning of life. Hopefully, we do not need to be in such extreme conditions to realize that the choice is ours – to live or to die, to be living or to be dying.

Hopefully, we do not need to be in such extreme conditions to realize that the choice is ours – to live or to die, to be living or to be dying.

Death is inevitable and tomorrow may never come. To live life by allowing fear to force our hopes and dreams into hiding, never realizing our full potential, is slavery epitomized. We must look deep within and bring to the surface our innermost fears, confronting them face to face as we do our opponents, sparring until imminent victory. The fear you suppress most that lurks in the dark crevices of your mind is what enslaves you and it’s that enemy that we must overcome in order to truly live life with freedom. I hope to continue gettin’ busy living with all of you for many more years to come.

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With gratitude to death in making our lives more fulfilling,

Taejoon Lee

Grandmaster/WHRDA President

Giving Thanks

This is the inventory of thanksgiving which I chose for the message I delivered to my students on Thanksgiving of 2008.

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Things I am thankful for – Thanksgiving as an Umyangian:

I thank God for giving me ‘this’ life with all of it’s twists and turns, ebb and flow, joys and sorrows.
I thank my father for giving me the opportunity to carry such a worthy legacy.
I thank my mother for all her unconditional love and support in time of good and especially in times of bad.
I thank my lost brother for giving me the sorrow of losing a brother.
I thank my brother-in-law for loving and caring for my sister.
I thank my nephews for helping me to once again feel the excitement of learning the Hwarang Way.
I thank my Black Sashes for giving me hope that amongst the many quitters that there are a few that feel, cherish, and submit to the strength and power of the Hwarang Spirit.
I thank my spiritual friend for helping me to discover my spirit and inspiring me to follow it.
I thank my friends for helping me to practice our Third Hwarang Code – Kyo Oo e Shin (Trust and Brotherhood Among Friends).
I thank my enemies for always keeping me sharp and on my toes.
I thank the students who’ve quit who’ve taught me the feeling of loss and reaffirm the fact that the Hwarang Way is not for everyone.
I thank my cousins for helping me to realize the price of discipline.
I thank my Korean brothers for helping me to understand the hardships of being a big brother.
I thank all my hardships, sorrows, and sufferings for forging my character and entire being with such strength and conviction.
I thank my ex-fiancé for preventing me from making a life-long mistake and helping me to realize the true value of marriage.
I thank Americans for striving towards racial harmony.
I thank money for helping me to control greed and to realize that it’s only a means of achieving my dreams.
I thank my innocence to combat my corruption to understand the true value of life and for keeping my dreams alive.
I thank my love for always reminding me of the extreme pleasure and extreme pain of love.
And, lastly I thank strife for allowing love to exist and helping me to realize that love is the greatest power of all.

No Excuses!

Please do not disregard.  No matter what, please bear it and read to the end.

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Supreme Grandmaster Dr. Joo Bang Lee delivering a flying spin kick from squatting position over 10ft. in the air (1965 Seoul, Korea)

When I first opened our school in 1994, we gave the choice of choosing Tae Soo Do or Hwa Rang Do to the students.  Of course they all chose, Hwa Rang Do even after they were told that it was more expensive and it was harder. And, most of them never achieved Hwa Rang Do Black Sash.  I think there was only a couple.

Before Tae Soo Do, the 60s through the 80s, a 5 year old student had to start as a Hwa Rang Do white sash and had to learn 8 basics, a long form, 30 three-step sparring techniques, 2 kicking tests, and had to memorize the entire Hwa Rang Do Mengsae which included the Nine Doctrines.  They did all this for their Orange Sash test in 4 to 6 months.  Compared to now, a 5 year old student only learns 4 basics, only one of the Hwa Rang Do Mengsae and it takes them on the average 3 to 4 months.

We now have two programs: Basic Training where one learns only striking techniques with no weaponry and grappling and Warrior’s Path which includes everything – striking, weaponry, grappling.  We have no students in Basic Training.

Before our school, we used to have only two classes – one for juniors and one for adults, 6 days a week. The students came as many days as they can, averaging at least 3 to 4 days per week.  Now, even with a mandatory attendance of 2 days per week, less than 50% of our student body meets the 8 classes per month requirement.

What has changed?  Did people get dumber?  Is global warming frying our brains?  Did people get more lazy?  Did time speed up and so we have less time?

Are there too many distractions? Absolutely…

I have been observing people and their pattern of living for the last 30 years.  What I have learned about human behavior is through my students and the lessons are many.  The countless excuses and explanations of why they can’t do this or do that from literally thousands of students for the last 30 years have made me sort of an expert on the subject.

And this is what I have learned about excuses:

  • Everyone has one and they all stink. (There’s a military version of this.)
  • They all think theirs is original.
  • They all think the other person doesn’t understand.
  • They all say, “I don’t want sympathy, but …”
  • They don’t realize that they are wasting the other person’s time.
  • It’s a waste of time to listen to other people’s excuses because there’s nothing of value.
  • One shouldn’t hang around with people full of excuses, because it’s contagious.
  • There is no such thing as a valid excuse because in the end the validation is not given by the listener, but must be validated by the self, which of course no self in their right mind would validate; hence the need for the listener.
  • Making an excuse to avoid consequences or trying to make yourself out to look good is not the same as explanation.  Explanations are given to inform and to improve in the hopes of changing one’s situation as to not repeat the same offence.
  • Giving an excuse is not an apology.  An apology starts with I am sorry. An excuse starts with, but or because.
  • An excuse does not waive one’s responsibilities.  Because you missed a class does not waive your responsibility to know what was taught in that class.
  • Time does not repeat, so if you missed something, you must make it up in a timely manner.
  • In the end, the people with the most excuses only hurt themselves and have lost the most valuable commodity in the universe, TIME.

Yes this might seem a little harsh, but why think of it any other way.  If at the end of reading the bullet points, if you were able to refute or think that there’s something to refute because surely there are good excuses, then you’re not in the right frame of mind.  Of course there are always exceptions, but why waste time thinking about them, especially when it’s not going help you in a positive light.

Oh and what about medical excuse.  Surely that’s a valid excuse.  If you think this, then your mind is still in high school.  How many times did you make yourself feel sick to convince your mom so that you can stay home, which didn’t help you in the long run?  You are your own judge and you must self-regulate.  You know when you are too sick or too injured to perform and restrain yourself from training because you are so eager to get on the mat, right?  Doctors are not gods.  They are not always right and they have to be concerned about malpractice suits.  Sure, with a broken arm in a cast you can’t do things with your one arm, but you still got one good arm and two legs.  Yes, I have been injured.  I was bed ridden for a week after a 50 foot fall onto my neighbor’s concrete driveway and three weeks later, I made my first film.  There was no way that I was not going to do it.  What I did was nothing; be like Prof. Randy Pausch or Lance Armstrong.

Point being, yes there are medical situations that limits us, but we can always find a way if we really want it.  That’s the key – how much do we want it!  That’s always been the key, the secret, or whatever other fanciful word you want to use.  The key to unlocking life’s treasure chest is first, knowing what you want and more importantly, never relenting in its pursuit.

Please realize that time is finite for us, human beings, as we will all certainly die.  The only question is when and how.  We have no control of ‘when’ without being damned and/or cowardly, so definitely not a choice as a warrior.  However, we can control ‘how’ by focusing on how we will be remembered.

This is my mission, my passion to help others reach their full potential and get the most out of life.

And, even if you disagree with everything thus far (which I don’t see how, but I am sure one can find a way), you must agree that nothing is accomplished by thinking about it.  It’s only through action that anything is achieved.  Not just action, but 100% commitment to the action without reservation.  One foot in and one foot out will get you exactly that, one shoe or a pair of mismatching shoes.

There is so much I want to say and soon I shall, in the way of a book on life as a warrior is the 21st century.  But for now, I want to get back to what I originally wanted to tell you.

Everyone has an ego and that ego always tells them that they can do more, be more, and just more of everything.  So, they come to us to do more, to do everything, to participate in one of the most demanding martial art programs in the world to be comprehensive, all around, balanced, complete.  However, soon after they start training, they realize that its hard work and the romantic superhero created by the mind soon diminish as doubt sets in. Often it’s not even doubt, but one regresses to infancy and just plainly says to the self, “I don’t like it.  I don’t know what it is, but I don’t like it.”  How can they even know that they like or dislike when they have nothing to compare it to?  And, wasn’t it trying out something new the motivation for starting in the first place? When doubt sets in, it’s all over.  The mind’s imagination takes over and gives credence to the doubt and sugarcoats the idea of quitting.

“No, it’s not quitting” and with that, the gun fires and excuses start racing to see which excuse appeases the ego most.  Please understand that I know this best from self-reflection.  We are all in it together and together we must support what is true and strong and fight against what is delusional and weak.

This last Saturday’s New Year’s Bootcamp is a perfect example.  Less than 50% of our students participated in what was a mandatory event.  I am sure many who were present were anxious and frightful of what was to come as I and the Instructors have fed their imagination throughout the entire week.

“Oh you’re all gonna die,” I said with a smile.  “Hope you guys can make it through without getting sick.” “I am jump start you for the entire year!” etc., etc.

With that we started the class.  The class of about 50 students went through everything I could muster.  It was reminiscent of my college years when we conducted a week long hell week, which was later renamed T&T week for Trials & Tribulations.

This is what they had to do:

  • 100 punches/shuffling
  • 100 punches/shuffling with 100 climbs in push up position
  • 1000 punches, 200 blocks, 100 punch/block combo all in horse stance
  • Approximately 1000 kicks all together
  • Punching, parrying, trapping 1000 times
  • 20 duck/under pickups on each side
  • 400 sped kicks
  • Partner training: leg presses, multiple one leg kicking, speed knees and jumps, ducking, side falls
  • 20 forward hip movement drill, forward hip slide several time across the mat, rear hip slides
  • And, 100 group sit-ups… (this is all I can remember at the moment)

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We did all this is 2 hours.  Although there were about half dozen people who had to frequent the restroom, everybody made it through.  Come on, when in your wildest dreams did you ever think that you can do all that?  You can absolutely do more, just like your ego says, but instead of just thinking it, I am here to help you achieve it and when you finally do, there will be no need for the ego.

So, this is my challenge to you for the New Year and evermore.  Don’t think you’re strong – be strong, don’t think you’re intelligent – be intelligent, don’t think you’re not lazy – get busy, don’t think you’re doing enough – do more, don’t get humiliated – be humble, think less and do more.  Remember the more you do the more you want to do; the less you do the less you want to do.

We have all the classes you need, to be what you wanted to be when you first started.  So, let’s get busy.

Fighting Fit: Tu & Th 8:15pm ~ 9pm  – This class is open to everyone, juniors and adults, and to the general public.  So, you can drag your spouse, your mom or dad, your friends anytime without joining the full program. This is a great addition to your training to gain greater knowledge in striking full contact, build greater stamina and strength.

Gumtoogi:  Sat 11:30am ~ 1pm – This class is a must for all Hwa Rang Do Students and Tae Soo Do Brown Belts.  However, any student can participate with permission.  Also, this class is open to the general public.  In this class you will learn all sorts of weapon fighting with the foundation of Hwarang sword fencing.  Important Note: I must reiterate that this is mandatory for all HRD students.  If you have not yet done so, start now.  The HRD students who do not participate will force me to take action of negative consequences.

Friday Fight Night – All of you should be practicing at home, but for additional training with supervision you can’t pass up Fight Night.  First of all, it’s a great way to form friendships with your student body as it is an informal setting where everyone is helping out each other.  And, it’s the closest thing you’ll get to a private lesson without paying for it as it is supervised by Senior Instructors.

So, if you’re up to the challenge and follow my advice, you will achieve great things in 2009, but most importantly you will be better.

That’s the best gift I can give you.

With love, Hwarang Forever!

Grandmaster Taejoon Lee

Inside the Black Sash Conference 2009

During our annual Hwa Rang do Black Sash Conference (held this year from July 24 through August 1st, 2009), Black Sashes (1st Dan & Above) from across the globe, gather at the West Coast Headquarters in Los Angeles, CA USA for rigorous training of the mind, body and spirit, led by founder Dr. Joo Bang Lee and his eldest son, Grandmaster Taejoon Lee.

Throughout the conference a great deal of knowledge is passed down to these Hwarang Knights from the more than 4,000 techniques available through Hwa Rang Do. In addition to the physical, a great deal of time is devoted to the personal growth of our Black Sashes and that of their own students, in their respective home states and countries.

The pictures in this slide show were taken during these 10 days of private training with the founder, Dr. Joo Bang Lee and Grandmaster Taejoon Lee. The quotations were quietly recorded in a notebook by one of the Black Sashes attending from Italy, during the conference and later shared with all other Black Sashes, as a philosophical summary of her experience.

We would now like to share these quotes from Dr. Joo Bang Lee and Grandmaster Taejoon Lee with you…

End-Dependancy (Five Stones)

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Each month the Teuk Gong Team (TGT), our instructors and assistant instructors, gather for dinner to share ideas and develop greater bonds. In February, Antonio Goodwin hosted the dinner at his home in Ladera Heights. The adults were in the living room, conversing about our school and students, while the juniors ranging from 7years old to 11 were in Dominic’s room, Antonio’s son.

After a short while I decided to go check on the children and what I saw was truly the sign of our times. There were five kids in total and each was doing their own thing: reading a book, playing on a Gameboy, watching a movie on a portable DVD player, playing with an iphone, etc. None of them were speaking, playing, or engaged with each other.

I could not believe what I saw. I had to do something. I said, “What are you guys doing? Put that stuff down and follow me.” I proceeded to walk outside as the kids followed, puzzled and somewhat reluctant. I walked over to a small patch of dirt field (which was not easy to find) and went hunting for rocks. I found one that was the size of a marble and raised it up, “I want you guys to find rocks about this size.” The kids were even more puzzled, but soon they were laughing and excited to find a rock that fit the profile.

“Master Lee, like this one? Is this it?” Each one of them came over to show me what they’d found. After collecting a handful of rocks, I picked the best ones and we all went inside. I had them all sit in a circle and I taught them Korean jacks, “Gong-gi.” It’s similar to American Jacks, but a bit more difficult, requiring greater hand/eye coordination. After I demonstrated what needed to be done and how to keep score, I had each of them try. It took some effort, but soon they were getting the hang of it. They were having a blast, laughing, talking – engaged in each other’s performance. I belted, “This is playing. Keep it up and if you have any questions, come get me.” With that, I went back into the living room.

In the living room, I found some of the adults on their laptops, surfing the web, checking email, etc.
The laughter and the excitement continued to escalate in Dominic’s room and it soon overwhelmed the chatter in the living room. Some of them came back out to notify me that they passed another level with intense excitement in their voices. I was very delighted, yet perplexed what our children are becoming and where our society is heading.

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier and better by providing faster and more efficient means of doing our work, giving us more time for the real valuable things in our lives like family, relationships, and self-development, right? I mean that is what’s promised to us: faster, easier, better.

Then, if they have so much more time to do other things, why can’t my students maintain regular attendance of only twice per week? 20 years ago, students attended a minimum of three Hwa Rang Do classes (there was no Tae Soo Do) per week and most came every day. We had classes daily for both children and adults. Ah, but now they are doing things that are more meaningful – like what I ask you? Do they have more enriching relationships? Do they maintain greater familial bonds? Have they acquired higher consciousness?

In Korea there is a contest to see how fast people can text messages. There’s also an epidemic of children not knowing how to spell words properly because everything is shortened and abbreviated. I think that’s the same here. I have students working in corporate America who spend most of their time at work online – chatting, social networking, surfing the web – that has nothing to do with their work, but they still get paid the same or more. They are finishing their tasks sooner due to technology, so they have more time, but is that time being used for something meaningful? They spend it being distracted, because thanks to the same technology, being distracted is now that much easier and that much more interesting. Instead of twiddling their thumbs or spinning their pens, they spend their spare time on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. We must reconsider, rethink, and reorganize how we manage our workforce, and how we are spending our lives.

A while back Yahoo Magazine did a comparison between using the Internet or the Yellowpages for finding items for purchase. Almost at every instance the Yellowpages was faster, but now the Yellowpages has become a dinosaur. When you are searching online, there are so many other distractions that you might have intended on buying some table settings and come out having bought a car.

With all of our advancements in technology we cannot seem to create anything that lasts. The History Channel recently aired a documentary answering the question of what the world would be like after human beings. One of the things that stood out for me is that the world’s ecosystem would be fine without any human beings and that in a matter of 500 to 1,000 years, all records of our existence would have been erased completely from the face of the earth, except for some ancient monuments like the Pyramids of Egypt or the Stonehenge.

Do you not think that with our technology we cannot come up with anything that lasts more than a few years or find a cure for cancer, AIDS? Even if we could, do you think we would?

Everything is fast and quick and replaceable with upgrades – new and improved is the motto. Just recently I lost a phone charger and went to Best Buy, the all-in-one electronic store which is shutting down all its competition. They had all kinds of chargers but nothing worked for my phone. Finally, the salesman after digging through stacks of boxes found one that would work. I belted, “Why couldn’t they just have one adaptor that fits all?” Of course I knew the answer, but I needed to vent.

The salesman replied, “They couldn’t make money that way.” It irritates me that the newly released movies come out on dvd format first, a few days before the Blue-Ray. A couple of times I was suckered into it and bought the dvd because I could not find the Blue-Ray. I do not watch TV, and only see films of my choice. After I purchased the dvd, the next week I went in, and behold, I saw it on Blue-Ray. Now I own the VHS tape, the dvd, the high HD version, the Blue-Ray disc, and let’s not forget the extended version, the unrated version, and the director’s cut. I wonder what other versions they’re going to come out with next? Recycling the same content over and over again in different formats, newer, improved, faster, smaller, and I am just as guilty as any other consumer, but of course nothing lasts. One of my students who is in marketing told me that there is actually a term for this. It’s called “Chaos Marketing.”

Back in the 80s when the pager was the thing, I remember how I hated seeing these guys in suits with two and three pagers on their belts, accompanied by a key chain that would out do any janitor (definitely overcompensation for some other deficit). Then it moved to hand phones and now the same is true.

I really don’t get too many calls on my hand phone. Just from my immediate family and in case of emergencies. Recently, I was very ill and couldn’t think straight and lost my phone for the first time. I am the guy that had the first cell phone (not hand phone because there’s no way to fit it in one hand) that was the size of a small brief case. For about three days I was completely lost and all day in the back of my mind, I was thinking about my phone. It consumed me. Finally, I found my phone in my bathrobe pocket. I checked what messages and texts I missed and there were only a few and nothing that was earth shattering. I felt so relieved, whole again. I had to sit back and think about this for a bit.

How insane is that?

It’s getting out of control. This type of thinking has infiltrated every part of our lives where each individual thinks of only their own pleasure, their own personal gain, regardless of others. Or if they do care about others and global social events, then they’re too busy, too occupied with following someone else’s life or spending time enhancing their profile and sharing their party pictures with the rest of the world that they have no time for their loved ones, their self development, real social issues, and their spirit. The distractions have become their lives; being constantly connected to the media 24/7 like an umbilical cord connected directly to corporate America, the 1% has constant access to your mind and pockets. It is the Matrix.

I had a student, a graduate of Harvard Law School, who loved gadgetry and technology. He once said that if the world lost power and we had to revert to manual mechanisms that he would come to my dojang. I pride on myself that I am self-reliant and resilient. That is the foundation of Hwa Rang Do’s training, but lately I also have been caught up in this dependency on technology; a physiological, emotional, and psychological dependency that affects my self-being, our society, our humanity. Unbelievable.

So, when I saw those children in a room together, all attached to their own gadgetry and not socializing with each other and playing like kids should, it affected me to my core. And, imagine – only five rocks that cost me nothing brought the greatest joy and unity to these children.

All things, good and bad, are necessary and can be useful. As Hwarang and warrior/scholars we must learn self-control and utilize those things around us as well as all aspects of our ‘self’ to maximize our lives and the lives of others. However, we cannot become dependent. We must be our own masters. At this rate, if the world did run out of power, the Amish would reign and we would once again be dependent on something, someone other than ourselves.

Let’s think for moment: Who does this dependency serve? Who does this advancement in technology really serve? Does it serve us, the people, the common folk? Or, does it serve the wealthy and the powerful? The disbursement of wealth across the globe is getting worse each day as the percentage of the people possessing the majority of the wealth is getting smaller day by day. Big conglomerates, big corporations, multi-billionaires, governments don’t care about common misfortune caused by disasters, war, or other tragedies. To them, every situation is an opportunity for greater economic/territorial gains, and ultimately a means of greater control.

Look at the absurdity of our existence. Water is a natural resource, but they put it in a bottle and sell it and we buy it: For what? The cleanliness and purity? So that we can live longer and healthier? Water is almost 8 times more expensive than gasoline. We pay over $1 for a 16oz bottle of water and there are 128 oz in a gallon and at most we only pay $3 for a gallon of gasoline. Why don’t we just drink tap water? Because we have a collective notion that the water is somehow impure or contaminated. This is not Mexico, and yes I know because I have experienced Montezuma’s revenge. And who created the pollution that contaminated the drinking source in the first place? Of course, it’s the big companies in the pursuit of increasing dividends and governments all in the name of saving tax-payers money. Do you get the picture? They cannot lose. They will continue to make money and take advantage of every opportunity to make more money by continuing to create dependencies and creating new markets, new frontiers to exploit. The real world is not enough so now we have the world wide web and virtual worlds to exploit. What will they do next after they pollute the air to the point where it’s not safe to breathe? They will sell us bottles of filtered air or oxygen of course (this is happening already).

When has faster, quicker, easier been better? The pyramids of Egypt have lasted for 5000 years and will continue for thousands more. In the past, if it did not last and was not durable, then it was not valuable. The martial arts industry has also been impacted by this type of thinking. You cannot build a fortress out of marshmallows. Strength in training, self-discipline and self-reliance are what create strength of mind, body and spirit. There are martial art organizations that market gun and knife disarmament as their primary method of attracting the public for self-defense. And it seems to be working. One of the main keywords in Google search is now ‘Krav Maga,’ – not martial arts, karate, kungfu or even MMA. Yes, they are doing a great job marketing their product. However, what they are selling is something that bears consideration. Even the most experienced martial artists who have consistently trained for decades are reluctant to disarm a weapon in a real scenario. More important than the physical techniques is their ability to maintain calm and think clearly to create opportunity for escape. But, even then it’s risky and only should be attempted as a last resort. A case in point: I was invited to Fort Benning, Ranger School to meet and instruct some of the most elite law enforcement and military personnel from Mexico, Central, and South America. There I had the privilege of having a discussion over dinner with the people in charge of creating and instructing the Army combative for the entire US Army Corp.

They told me a story. The Rangers were performing a military exercise within the small town near the Fort. At the time some of the Rangers were learning a special hand-to-hand combative system created by some Hapkido master. One of the Rangers in the exercise was approached by the town policeman, who at gun-point told the Ranger to drop his weapon, which the Ranger did. Thinking that this was part of the exercise, the Ranger sought this opportunity to practice his handgun disarmament technique on the police officer. Unbeknownst to him, the policeman was not part of the exercise and as the Ranger attempted to disarm, the policeman shot and killed the Ranger. Sure, weapon disarmament is a viable option and there are proper techniques to increase the odds of success. However, learn it easy and quick in a few months or in a seminar, and chances are as the military men say, “you learn just enough to get yourself killed.”

The companies hit a jackpot when we all logged on. In the computer age, it has become a given, an accepted standard, the norm, for things to become out-dated in a matter of six months to a year. Everything must be upgraded. How fantastic is that? It’s a never-ending market of continual consumption – a created dependency and continual supply of new and improved products that will offer greater performance and enjoyment. Sound familiar? This is how drug dealers push the newest drug on the market. Get you hooked and then offer better highs.

And schools are becoming pushers for the pharmaceutical companies. This is another topic for another time, healthcare in the United States. However, I did want to bring attention about what the schools are doing to our children. I laughed when nursery schools were banning musical chairs because it was too competitive. “Why should only one kid win and 20 others lose?” Last time I checked we were a capitalist society and the nature of capitalism is competition. Now, they are not even keeping score playing regular sports like baseball, soccer, basketball, and football. That’s just plain silly and I am not laughing anymore.

The nature of children is attention deficit and hyperactive. They are full of energy and have very little attention span. It is not a disorder, but the norm. Jim Thorpe, a Native American, who was named the greatest athlete of the first half of the twentieth century by the Associated Press and a gold medalist in the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, was challenged to mimic everything that a two year old child did physically for an entire day. The 2 year old won and laid Jim Thorpe out, exhausted. This 2 year old was your average child, not one with a hyperactive disorder. Of course, some kids may need more attention than others, but by no means do children in their formative years have a disorder – they’re just being kids, curious about the world and eager to participate.

So, since technology has helped us to do work in less time, then parents should have more time to spend with their children, their family, hence improving focus, channeling energy and aggression, and enhance both their intrapersonal and interpersonal development, right? Wrong, very wrong. We have become a society of people who feel entitled to everything good life has to offer, without any sense of accountability and self-sacrifice. We blame everything wrong on others and take credit for everything good, however trite and ridiculous it may be.

The schools, the classrooms are overcrowded as government continues to cut funding toward our educational system, which is a short-sightedness that I predict will have dire consequences in the future. But, who cares right, as long as I am living well now, what does it matter? It matters a lot if you feel you are part of humanity, which we all are whether you like it or not, but I guess that’s one of the problems: we are more connected than ever with each other, but we feel less humane. Our sense of community has been diminishing city by city, town by town. In the 3rd and 4th grade, one of my favorite parts of the day was walking over to my friend’s house and walking to school together. Not in a small midwestern town, but in the heart of Los Angeles County – Downey, CA. There’s something awfully wrong when we can’t allow our kids to play in the streets, walk to school, or be out of a parent’s sight and ears for any length of time.

When a child in school has problem focusing on his work, not paying attention, talks too much with others, and forgets what he/she was told to do (all things that all kids do, some more/some less), the teacher sends the potential problem child to get an evaluation. Once the evaluation is complete then the parents are brought in to discuss options and this is how it’s said to the parents, “If your child has problem seeing, would you not get your child glasses to see better?”

“Sure,” the parent replies.

“Well, then by medicating your child, he/she will be better focused, which will increase his/her grades and enhance his/her chances to get into a good college for a better life,” school counselor. What parent would not want to help their child by increasing their chances of doing better in school so that they can get ahead in life? However, this isn’t a pair of glasses. It’s chemicals which are altering the child’s mind from normal development in the most rapidly growing stage of the child’s life. I am not a scientist or an MD so I will not attempt to get into the negative physiological affects of medicating children with mind-altering drugs in their formative years, but what I will address is something that is even more sinister.

I had a female student who has been medicated since elementary school. She is now in her late 30s and she cannot function without the drugs. When posed by me with the hard decision of giving up the drugs and rediscovering herself through hard self-examination and martial discipline, she chose to quit training and continue to take the drugs. This was after 3 grueling years of Tae Soo Do training, and embarking on the Hwa Rang Do way for the rest of her life. What’s more disturbing, she is also medicating her child who’s only 8 years old.

Ah, you say, that she doesn’t fit the timeline. She started taking the drugs in the early 80s. I think that just goes to show how long this has been practiced and how much more rampant it is today. I just had an 18 year old come up to me at my last seminar in Minneapolis in March of this year, saying, “I have been on all types of medication since I was 5 years old and after joining Tae Soo Do, I decided to quit taking the drugs to find out who I really am and see what’s really wrong with me.

Well, it’s been two years now and I have never felt better in my entire life and I am beginning to truly get to know who I am.” All we are doing is creating a pattern of dependency for the rest of lives and once again, who does that really serve?

How can we blame our kids for not being able to learn? That’s all they do, is learn from the world around them and by following, mimicking the actions of others. If a child does not learn or did not learn, then we have failed as parents, as teachers, as a society. I thought that cats were un-teachable. I was proven wrong. Recently, in a variety show, I saw a man who had cats doing what trick dogs do; jumping through hoops, walking on wire, going across parallel bars, all on command. I was blown away. I don’t know if you have ever tried to teach your cat to sit or come on command, but I have. I had both dogs and cats as pets and believe me dogs are far easier to teach than cats. I have never successfully taught a cat to do anything on command, but just let them do what they want, including petting them. So, when I saw this man having all these cats obey him and follow his every command, I realized that it was me and not the cats. So, if he can teach cats, then we can teach our children; don’t you think?

I don’t mean to demean our children or even humanity by comparing them to our pets, but only to illustrate how absurd it is for us to give up on our children and resort to drugging them to be more compliant. These cats were only getting tasty bits of food for reward and no drugs to induce compliance. I remind my students that our greatest weapon, greatest tool is our mind, which is undeniably unique only to the human race and it is this that we must cultivate. Furthermore, the greatest advancements in our culture, society, sciences, arts, and everything in between have been accomplished by people who thought outside the norm, the status-quo, and challenged conventional thinking.

It is not enough that my country of birth, South Korea, has risen from the ashes of war and poverty to one of the economic powerhouses in the world in less than 50 years, which now enjoys the luxury of giving their children plastic surgery as a high school graduation gift, making girls look very similar to each other. You marry a girl because they look so fine and end up having a child that looks nothing like the mother. Of course, I am being facetious, but it’s not far from the truth. Now, in my homeland, the United States of America, we drug our children for compliance; appease the children by removing competitive spirit; appease the masses by submersion in distractions; drug the elderly to keep them around a little longer to medicate them a little longer; and drug the rest of us for being sad or depressed at times, which of course is not acceptable; and lets not forget being “Politically Correct” which in effect is a gag order, preventing anyone from speaking their mind; oh and did I mention that we are a military state where the government can arrest and detain any civilian indefinitely?

I don’t know if the rest of the world is blind or just silent, maybe appeased and drugged already by the media and technology, but the few who are in power and possess the wealth are blocking entry into the club and continue to expand their market at exponential rates, thanks to technology and globalization. Is this a new phenomenon in our human history? Of course not! It has always been here as we continually struggle for power, territory, control and influence. However, the difference now is that due to our technologies, it is easier and faster to globalize and expand for companies and for nations. I am not interested in blaming the people in power or organizations of power for doing what they’re meant to do – survive, thrive, and conquer. I’d be doing the same thing I have been advocating not to do. But, hopefully they will act responsibly and wisely, which I know is a lot to ask.

In self-defense one of the most important things is awareness. To be focused on what’s immediately in front, but being completely aware of your surroundings. That also applies here. I am pleading to the world, to our community, to my students to be informed and aware. Furthermore, in our training we learn that we cannot control anything outside of the self and the only thing we have control over is the self. We learn that we are only as strong as our weakest self. Therefore, we learn to be extremely self-critical, seek out our weaknesses and fears to overcome them, increasing our self-control, then and only then can we help others. As I have said earlier, we are all affected, including me. In the same way we can live life or be victims of life, we also have a choice here. We can choose to self-regulate ourselves and control our addictive nature or we can choose to fall victim to our own ignorance.

I am not advocating complete abstinence. I have never advocated abstinence in anything as I feel that is not the solution – going to one extreme has the tendency to build repressed potential energy to swing to the other extreme. To me, as in Hwa Rang Do and as an umyangian, the answer lies in balance and self-control: being in sync with the rhythm of the internal self and the external world, with the material and the immaterial, with the microcosm and the macrocosm. Then, hopefully we can be in harmony with nature and the universe.

A few months ago, my family purchased a cabin in Big Bear, as one of my passions is snowboarding. Our family, Hwarangdo family, and my nephews spent the weekend for the first time at the cabin. Being a skateboarder during the founding years when skateboarding took off with the invention of polyurethane wheels some thirty plus years ago, I enjoy playing ‘Skate’. One of my instructors, Joey Klein, one visiting black sash, Brett Spoehr, my 9 year old nephew Jeffrey Kim and I played PlayStation3 together until 4am (would have gone longer if I wasn’t going boarding in the morning) and had the best time ever. The game brought together and bonded a group ranging in age from 9 to 40+. How great is that? As a matter of fact, Joey and Brett could not contain themselves and broke out into a contagious laughing fit. Soon, we were all laughing so much our bellies ached the next day and managed to keep our Hwa Rang Do Founder, Dr. Joo Bang Lee, up all night. Even he did not come down and shut us up, as he knew how special it was to have his martial sons and grandchild enjoying each other’s company.

I believe there’s a time and place for everything. It is up to us to utilize all the things life has to offer, all our faculties, all our God given gifts to get the most out of life by doing and experiencing all that we can live a full life.

This is one of the best eras in all of history. We have so much information, knowledge, and technology to unify and join all races, nations, and people of all ethnic backgrounds, offering the means of living a better life than ever before. It is my hope that corporations, conglomerates, and nations utilize their powers to bring greater unity and racial harmony so that we can move forward by expanding our individual and collective consciousness to really live life focused on the important, valuable things – our relationships, humanity, and our relationship with the infinite. Not continually treating the human race as infantile children, controlling us with repressive fear tactics and increasing dependencies, but rather liberating ourselves from the confines and limitations of material goods, base emotions and greed.

This discourse started with my wanting to talk about kids being attached to technological gadgetry rather than being attached to each other, and ended up with me spilling my frustrations with our current society. I am not done and I have much more to say. I hope one day to follow it up with a book. However, I hope this has at least sparked some thought and will motivate you to take action.

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With love and compassion and the belief that we can change the world – one person at a time,

Hwarang Forever,
Grandmaster Taejoon Lee
A Humble Servant to Humanity
www.hwarangdo.net

Danbong – Short Stick (Black Belt Magazine – March 2003)

Danbong – Short Stick
Descended from an Ancient Musical Device,
It is Now a Signature Weapon of Hwa Rang Do
(Black Belt Magazine – March, 2003)

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At first glance, the short stick appears to be one of the most innocuous parts of the hwa rang do arsenal. Measuring only about a foot long, it carries none of the visual shock value that a baseball bat or even a carpenter’s hammer would have in a dark alley. It’s not made of any exotic materials, and it’s not wielded with any kind of flashy movements. However, when it’s used right, the short stick is rudely effective. Perhaps that’s why I figures so prominently on the crest of Joo Bang Lee’s World Hwa Rang Do Association, the group responsible for bringing the comprehensive Korean self-defense art to America and the world.

History

The dan bong, as it’s called in Korean, descended from the drumsticks that Buddhist monks used-and still use-to beat the large drums that sit in every temple in the nation. In olden days, the priests would pound the instruments for prayer services and during emergencies when an alarm needed to be sounded in the monastery.

Use of the drumstick for self-defense became popular in the secular world during Korea’s Koryo dynasty, which lasted from 935 to 1392. “Policemen who were weaker and couldn’t rely on sheer physical force to overcome criminals used it as a tool to subdue their opponents,” Lee says.

The effectiveness of the weapon enabled those early law-enforcement officers to neutralize any advantages the hoodlums had without inflicting mortal injuries. And its small size meant it could be easily concealed or stowed when necessary.

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Construction

Then and now, the typical dan bong was a cylindrical piece of wood approximately 1 inch in diameter and 10 to 12 inches in length. A hole was bored in one end to allow the attachment of a tether, which could be wrapped around the martial artist’s hand and thumb to ensure a more secure grip.

Lee’s elder son, Taejoon Lee, himself a seventh-degree black sash in hwa rang do, extrapolates on the short stick’s structural practicality: “Most of the uninitiated view the dan bong as a joke. They squint and see this small wooden thing barely jutting out of the palm of your hand, and they laugh.”

Indeed, the dan bong in nondescript and can be partially concealed in the palm, but that only helps the bearer swing it into action with the element of surprise on his side. And as hwa rang do practitioners love to demonstrate, the simplest item or movement can have the greatest potential in combat.

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Application

According to Taejoon Lee, the simple structure of the dan bong conceals five major fighting tools: the edge, the forward tip, the shaft, the pommel and the tether. In battle, those features can be applied in a number of devastating ways-which is in accord with hwa rang do’s concept of applied combat versatility, meaning that the maximum number of effective applications must be derived from every weapon and body part.

The edge of the stick, especially when not smoothed or rounded, provides an angular surface that is not dissimilar to the blade of a knife. It can be used to gouge, cut into or scrape off an adversary’s skin. Further versatility comes from the fact that one edge lies at each end of the weapon. If an opponent deflects a dan bong head strike, a simple twist of the wrist can enable you to redirect the edge so it makes contact with his face, injuring him and leaving him open to a follow-up strike.

The forward tip of the short stick is employed much like the tip of a hammer-using thrusting, stabbing and hacking motions. Additionally, the sides of the forward tip can be used with a flicking action of the wrist. Taejoon Lee explains: “You hold the dan bong loosely between your thumb and forefinger, and power it with the rolling action of your fingers. That allows rapid alternation between pronating and supinating your wrist, making the forward tip much like a heavy whip.”

When it comes crashing down on a joint or other hard body part, the bone underneath will shatter. That kind of whipping motion is clearly seen in hwa rang do’s dan bong blocks and strikes, making defense potentially as painful as offense. Indeed, Joo Bang Lee is fond of demonstrating the myriad of uses to which the short stick can be put by answering an opponent’s kick with a flicking tap to the shin. The adversary’s face inevitably turns white with pain after the seemingly effortless strike makes contact.

The dan bong’s shaft exemplifies versatility. While most arts teach students to use the body of an impact weapon only for blocking and striking, hwa rang do does not encumber its practitioners n any way. “The shaft of the dan bong can be used as an additional appendage,” says Joo Bang Lee. To demonstrate his point, he blocks a punch to the face, then deftly flips the shaft over his opponent’s wrist and grabs the tip with his free hand. The slightest downward force drops the opponent in a screaming heap. Lee then points out that joint manipulations are an essential part of combat and that the short stick’s rigidity makes it the perfect tool for creating additional force on the targeted joint or pressure point. Additionally, he says, the shaft serves to stabilize the fingers in a fist, much like a roll of quarters that is held wile a punch is thrown.

The short stick’s pommel can function as an excellent striking implement. When the forward tip is blocked, the pommel can whip around and hammer home a punishing strike-to the collarbone for instance. In close-range fighting, the pommel is often used as a shorter tool for augmenting the power of a joint manipulation. “Many times, someone will grab your weapon arm,” says Joo Bang Lee. “If that occurs, you don’t have to forgo a joint-manipulation technique simply because one of your hands is occupied with a weapon.” In such a situation, the pommel of the stick can easily circle the opponent’s wrist to effect a lock, and the lock can be more painful than an empty-hand lock because it uses the wooden surface to simultaneously pinch down on the pressure points in the wrist.

The dan bong’s tether is actually an important offensive tool, despite the fact that most observers see it as merely an apparatus to keep the stick from flying out of your hand. It can also be used to assist you in restraining an opponent’s wrist during a lock or in choking him afterward. Additional utility comes from being able to use the tether to create a flexible weapon: You grasp it while you strategically fling the dan bong into your opponent’s face, then yank it back into your palm. The skilled practitioner also knows how to link two short sticks together to create a makeshift nunchaku.

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Extrapolation

Martial artists tend to think of wooden weapons primarily as impact devices, but the hwa rang do short stick is obviously different because it enables you to strike, cut, lock and throw. “That gives you the full gamut of fighting techniques so you’re not limited to just beating wildly on someone like a child with a stick,” Taejoon Lee says. “The problem for many people lies in failing to achieve an adequate understanding of basic empty-hand combat, which can make bearing a weapon a detriment.”

If you decide to train in the use of the short stick-or any other hwa rang do short-range weapon-you must learn how to use both hands in a coordinated fashion, blocking and striking in a figure-8 or circular pattern, Taejoon Lee says. “Maximum damage is the goal of both empty-hand and weapons [techniques], so a solid understanding of pressure-point striking is also necessary.”
When it comes to self-defense, the most important thing to remember is that dan bong techniques can be done with a plethora of household items. Whatever is handy-be it a coke bottle, wrench, cell phone, flashlight or TV remote control-can be wielded with the same authority.

“As long as it is semi-cylindrical and fits in your hand, it will have most of the [features] mentioned above and can be applied with dan bong principles,” Taejoon Lee explains. “While hwa rang do teaches the use of some ancient Korean weapons, it is all applicable to modern life and modern conflict.”

Aerial Kicking (Martial Arts Combat Sports – May 2002)

Extreme Hwa Rang Do®
This Korean Art’s Aerial Kicks Push the Human Body to Find The Maximum Range of Physical Expression Part 1 by Hyung-Min Jung.

In the past few years, the hwa rang do system has stayed out of the spotlight. But that dormancy has come to pass, and hwa rang do is coming out of its cave like a hungry tiger with an appetite for conquest. At the forefront of that charge is Taejoon “Henry” Lee, the elder son of hwa rang do’s founder, Dr. Joo Bang Lee.
Taejoon Lee is one of the most colorful figures of Korean martial arts, and his insights into the system founded by his father are no less exciting than the man himself.

“Hwa rang do is a compilation of my fathers martial expertise that came on the scene in the 1960s in Korea,” explains Lee. “Many people look at some of the techniques that Korean martial arts are known for, and they credit them to styles like taekwondo and hapkido, but the reality is that many of those techniques showed up in other systems after my father started teaching publicly in Seoul. From Seoul, the instructors that trained under my father spread out to influence other systems and schools.”

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KOREAN FOOT-FEST
One such branch of techniques is the amazing aerial kicking that the Korean martial arts are well known for, and hwa rang do kicking in particular may be indeed at the vanguard of the Korean foot-fest.

“If people just talked to anyone who trained with my father back in the 1950s and 1960s, they’ll know that hwa rang do practitioners were doing some of the 540 and 720 spin and combination kicks that some tournament forms competitors started doing only in recent years,” says Lee. “When I was a little kid back in Korea, there used to be footprints on the ceiling of my fathers Dojang (martial arts school) from the jumping dora chagi (spinning kicks) that his students used to practice.”

“Hwa rang do’s radical flying foot attacks fall under the heading of tuk soo jok sul or special kicking methods. Within tuk soo jok sul, there are a wide variety of kick attacks. Including in this category are jumping kicks, spinning jump kicks, flip kicks, flying kicks and kicks to multiple targets while airborne. This kind of extreme kicking is in keeping with hwa rang do’s philosophy of pushing the human body to find the maximum range of physical expression.

Careful consideration is required before “jumping” into this kind of training. According to Taejoon Lee, “people have to realize that this kind of training isn’t for everyone. The Hwarang warriors were the elite soldiers in ancient Korea, so they trained and developed skills that nobody else could do. Part of the reason that these Hwarang warriors were so feared is that during the time when Silla people fighting to unite Korea, their Hwarang knights would leap into the air and kick the mounted enemy soldiers off their horses. One of the most famous warriors in Korean history was named Kwan Chang. During the war with the Baekche tribe, Kwan Change leapt into the air and killed a mounted Baekche cavalry commander with a kick!”

SERIOUS INJURIES
But as a result of attaining such height, there is also a long drop back to the ground. This is where a great deal of injuries can occur with martial artists. There are countless incidents where aspiring martial arts students are sidelined by serious knee of ankle injuries sustained while practicing jumping kicks. Yet Lee has a quick answer for this situation.

“Injuries are a mark of something missing in the training, whether it be an issue of technical explanation, proper demonstration or safety precautions,” he says. “In many cases, it’s a situation in which the student isn’t taught the proper method for jumping and landing. Anyone can jump up high with a little practice, but are they prepared for the landing?”

RIGOROUS TRAINING
To prepare his students, Lee has a rigorous training regimen that builds muscular strength to attain height for the jump and power for the kick, while also building ligament and tendon strength to be able to absorb the impact from the landing. He begins from the most simple duck-walk drills to build leg strength and progress to practicing the components of the most complicated of hwa rang do’s kicks.

Following are some tips that are really important to remember when you’re jumping and landing, explains Lee.

You have to land “like a cat, not like a sack of bricks,” he says.

Your feet should touch the ground toe first, then follow with the heel.

Some people land heel first after jumping kick, and the shock of those landing goes straight up their legs to their kneed. If you land with your forefoot first, the ankle and knee together will absorb a lot more shock and give your body more time to decelerate. That prevents the kind of jarring injuries sustained most of the time with jumping kicks.

Also, it is important to tighten your dan jun or lower abdomen when you’re performing these jump kicks. When you tighten your lower abdomen, it’s like you’re making you body more compact, lighter, so that when you jump and spin, your center of mass isn’t spread out all over the place. When your center of mass is smaller, it’s easier for you to maintain your proper posture and positioning in the air, much like it is when you see a professional figure skater do a jumping spin and land on the ice.

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JUMPING, FLYING KICKS
Once the basic jumping and landing skills have been mastered, the next step for a hwa rang do student is to progress through a series of jumping and flying kicks, starting from the simple standing jump kicks, to the flying single kicks (usually for breaking), and then aerial combinations kicks. Lee was one of the first martial artists in the United States to popularize the flying sidekick breaking techniques, taking a running leap over several people to shatter a stack of boards. The aerial combination kicks progress in difficulty from double jumping front kicks (where both legs kick out at two separate targets simultaneously), to combination kicks in which the kicker strikes and opponent three times after leaving the ground.

Another type of tuk soo jok sul is the wol jang jok sul or kicking techniques after stepping or pushing off an object with the foot.

“You know the kicks you see a lot of action stars doing in films?” asks Lee. “In hwa rang do, we do many of those same kicks that you see on the screen, but without the wires to hold us up.”

To emphasize his point, Lee stands up and positions two of his students with kicking targets, one at chest height and the other at head height. He sprints towards the wall, leaping up and pushing off the wall with one foot, changing direction towards the first target and kicking solidly with his other foot. With the same foot, he spins in midair and nails the second target-some six feet away from the first target-with a spinning round kick before alighting on the mat again.

“That’s the essence of wol jang jok sul, says Lee. “We use this kind of foot technique to attack multiply targets and change direction in midair. At the beginning levels, students learn to take a few steps off a wall and then push off the wall to kick a target that’s a few feet away from it. Later on, at higher levels, we can use an aerial kick as a means to change direction and strike the next target. Just know you saw me jump up the wall and hit the first target using the wall as a means to push off and change direction, but I used the force from the first kick to propel me backward so I could kick the second target.”

Such flying techniques may seem almost unbelievable to the untrained observer, but this kind of technique is simple physics, biased on inertia-the propensity of an object in motion to remain in motion and an object at rest to remain at rest. Each time the foot touches a stationary object; there is resistance to motion. For instance, when Lee begins to sprint towards the wall, his body is accelerated into motion. When it hits the first target, the target provides resistance against which his kick pushes to propel him backward and upwards into the next target. However, don’t let the simplistic explanation fool you. There is a great deal of physical coordination required for such maneuvers.

ASKING FOR TROUBLE?
This kind of kicking may seem as if it would offer ample opportunity for an opponent to grab an outstretched leg, but Lee merely grins at the suggestion.

“If someone were lucky enough to grab a leg, part of wol jang jok sul training is to use the free leg to kick your opponent with a telling blow, and free your leg,” says Lee. “In addition, we set up our aerial spinning kicks, like the 540’s with both legs, using one leg when you first leave the ground to gage the distance or create a diversion, and the second kick has the finishing power from the spin.”

“Agility is defined as the ability to change directions rapidly,” he continues. “Wol jang jok sul requires a great deal of agility – twisting the upper body, balancing in mid-air, and torque from the waist – to create the proper angle and motion for that kind of aerial combination kicking. We are basing out movements one the harmonized motion of proper breathing, leg strength, waist twisting and torso alignment to create powerful movement in different directions while airborne. Its physics combined with ki power to make the body lighter is such a way as to facilitate the jump and following kick. That’s the wirework you see in movies, but done in real life, with real kicks and real people. This is part of hwa rang do’s basic philosophy of maximizing human potential. It’s not just about training the simplest techniques for combat, but more to challenge yourself to achieve options that are unthinkable for the average person.”

Black Belt Magazine – July 2001

Taejoon Lee
Hwa Rang Do®’s Golden Child
Prepares to Lead the Korean Art into the New Millennium

(Black Belt Magazine – July 2001)
By Hyung-Min Jung

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The conflict between traditional values and modern living is an issue in many cultures these days. The martial arts have also become a battlefield for this conflict, with many practitioners wondering whether to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors or tread a new path. In an era when old-fashioned values are increasingly falling by the wayside, there are exceptional few who manage to retain the strength of the old ways while improving, growing and adapting with modern society. Taejoon Lee, chief master of the World Hwa Rang Do® Association, is one of them.

Personal History
The eldest son of Lee Joo-bang, the supreme grandmaster of the World Hwa Rang Do Association, Taejoon Lee has seen both sides of the tradition-vs.-modernization and has constructed a path for his students to follow. Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised under the strict eye of his father, Lee under went an often painful forging process in his early years. “Children have life a little too easy these days,” says the seventh-degree, “Go talk to older people. Most of them went through things that would be considered child abuse by modern standards, yet the vast majority of them didn’t exhibit the kind of disturbing behavior we see so commonly in today’s youth, like breaking into their father’s gun cabinet shooting their schoolmates.”

Once when Lee was 4, he threw a temper tantrum in front of his parents. His father left him on the rooftop of their building in the freezing snow barefoot and in his underwear in the middle of the Korean winter until he realized the impropriety of his manner. “Doing that is illegal these days,” he says. “You’d be thrown in jail in a heartbeat, and your kids would be put in protective custody. In Korea, we called that discipline.” For most the story would end there, but that’s not all. The real clincher is: After sometime has passed, Lee’s father tells the mother to go let him in. When his mother approaches and tells Lee his father has given him permission to come in, Lee refuses and defiantly remains in the snow.

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The opponent (left) controls Taejoon Lee with a head lock (1). Lee activates a pressure point behind theopponent’s right knee to prevent him from stepping backward, then slides to his left so he can position his right arm for the escape (2). Lee scrapes his ridge hand and forearm across the opponent’s face as he arches his back and neck, thus loosening the head lock (3). The hwa rang do expert continues to bridge backward as he wraps his right arm around the other man’s neck and cranks it (4). Lee continues to roll the opponent and pull him off-balance as he steps forward with his right leg (5). To finish, Lee drops to one knee and tightens his hold on the opponent’s neck and hair (6).

Through daily menCombo2atal training like the aforementioned experience, Lee grew and learned within the Hwarang warrior tradition. “People, especially in the United States, think of discipline as a form of punishment,” he says. “It’s seen as an impairment of freedom, limiting the free expression of another human being. To the followers of the Hwarang tradition, we understand that without strong discipline accompanied by effective consequences, a human being cannot grow to full potential. The discipline and forging we undergo in our youth gives foundation on which to really grow mentally, physically and spiritually.

Yet there’s a caveat to those would misinterpret what Lee is saying. “Discipline isn’t punishment,” he cautions. “Discipline should come from love. Punishment comes from hatred. Children have to be guided with care and love, not with an abusive heart.”

The freedom Lee speaks of can be seen in everything from his beautiful West Los Angeles dojang (training hall) to the effortlessness with which he takes flight to kick. The spacious hall that houses Lee and his students offers the best in modern training equipment, complete with polished equipment, hardwood floors, comfortable mats, stereo sound and computerized attendance and bookkeeping systems. Yet there are reminders of traditional virtue all around in the shape of beautifully carved, wooden Chinese characters representing the qualities of perfect conduct as written by his father: humanity, justice, courtesy, wisdom, trust, goodness, virtue, loyalty and courage. Under the junior Lee’s strict guidance, such a training environment gives students the foundation on which to build their mind and body.

The physical discipline of Hwa Rang Do is another aspect of Taejoon Lee’s expertise. Speaking of the spectacular kicks for which his art is renowned, he says “A lot of people look at a kicking demonstration and talk about how much they want to learn that. But when it comes time to really practice, really train, really sweat push hard, their hearts might not be into it. Physical excellence isn’t something a credit card can buy. It’s one of the best B.S. detectors you can find. Someone who really works hard, really puts in the effort will be superior.”

In Hwa Rang Do, kicks abound, and the degree of difficulty is often underestimated by novices. “New students love to see advanced students practicing the aerial and spinning kicks, often trying to imitate them,” Lee says. “But the discipline it takes to stay focused on really perfecting the basic kicks and develop the leg power from stance work can seem boring to novices. That’s when I have to explain to them that every hour they put their whole effort into perfecting the kicks and stances will make it easier to learn the more difficult techniques later on.”

“When students can postpone that urge for immediate gratification and focus on the task at hand, they’ll be successful in anything they do because they’ve learned what real persistence and diligence are about,” Lee continues. “These are people who push themselves to greatness—the self-starters that every company wants to hire.”

Taejoon Lee (left) readies himself for the opponent’s attack (1). The opponent charges and attempts to tackle the hwarang do stylist (2), but he intercepts the motion by wrapping his left arm around the opponent’s right arm and pushing his own right arm down as if to effect a guillotine choke (3). Lee then switches course and locks a figure-4 hold on the other man’s right arm (4). By placing pressure on the opponent’s triceps, Lee forces him down as he tightens the shoulder lock (5). Next, Lee drops to his right knee while maintaining pressure on the shoulder (6). He completes the defense by moving to the opponent’s back and immobilizing him (7).

Evolution
Hwa Rang Do’s techniques are not limited to just kicks, however. The system to which Lee’s family is heir is perhaps Korea’s most comprehensive martial art. Throws, locks, strikes and more than 108 weapons comprise the arsenal of modern hwa rang do warriors. Ancient techniques that have been handed down for thousands of years give students a distinct advantage on the street, but don’t think for a moment that the art hasn’t evolved over time.

“When the kingdoms of Baekche (18 B.C.-A.D. 668) and Silla (57 B.C.-A.D. B.C.-A.D. 668) were at war, firearms weren’t a major part of the equation like they are now,” Lee says. “But Hwa Rang Do has grown to meet the needs of every era. We now have gun disarms, weapon retention techniques and strategic shooting principles for the military and police courses we teach. “The base concepts on which the system was founded allow you to interpolate the proper attack or defense in any situation, regardless of which era you’re in,” he continues. “Koreans have been invaded more than any other country in Asia, but our culture and our ways have survived. We didn’t get that way by not being able to adapt.”

In the same way his art has evolved, so has Lee. When he arrived in America at age 9, he took the English name of Henry. While still young Henry Lee was known in martial arts circles as a child prodigy. He attended the University of Southern California and pioneered the Intercollegiate Hwa Rang Do Society (ICHRDS) during his undergraduate career. During those years, he ran as President of ICHRDS (which governed seven HRD university clubs: USC, UCLA, UCI, UCR, UCSD, CSLB, ASU) for over ten years, he managed to divide time between teaching at several campuses, running his own school, managing the international headquarters dojang and full-time academics—thus maintaining a delicate balance between the demands of Korean tradition and American college life. After he graduated, he made the difficult decision to abandon his pursuit of law and follow in the footsteps of his father, inheriting the family business with all the trials and tribulations inherent in a martial arts dynasty.

“Because he’s so completely focused on the development and maintenance of his art, my father let a lot of things go in his early years here in the United States,” Lee says. “His students would ask him questions about the history or lineage of Hwa Rang Do, and then they’d write articles on what they heard from him. Unfortunately, there were some inaccuracies that piled over time due to the language barrier, and my father didn’t really make an effort to put the situation in check.”

“When I made the decision to devote my life to Hwa Rang Do full-time, I questioned him about everything I wasn’t 100-percent sure about. But my father’s answers as well as through my personal research made complete sense to me, and now with the help of a bilingual individuals such as myself, we’re setting the historical straight for the public, and we’ll let the scholars verify it all.”

 

Future
Now Lee’s life is geared toward propagating his father’s art and continually bettering himself in preparation for the mantle he will wear one day as the Supreme Grandmaster of Hwa Rang Do. “All the happenings of the past few years have given me time to really digest what my place in this world is,” he says. “I am my father’s eldest child, the one who will support him and his art to my last breath because I see the greatness that he is and because I understand the truth that he speaks.”
“I made a conscious choice to accept the responsibility that comes with being my father’s successor in Hwa Rang Do,” he continues. “As warriors our strength is measured by the responsibilities we carry and our accountability to a higher cause. That signifies our worth to this world. My responsibility is to my father’s art and in setting an example for later generations of practitioners to follow.”

Part of that responsibility involves understanding Hwa Rang Do’s origins. Lee is publicly clarifying his father’s role in the development of the modern Korean martial arts. He has also grown comfortable with his Korean heritage, exhibiting a fierce pride in the accomplishments of his people. “Koreans have never been conquered; that’s why we’re called the indomitable people,” he says. “Our culture, our ways, our language all live on despite the horrifying cultural oppression of the the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945. To come from that kind of heritage is an honor. In recognition of that history, he has dropped his American name and now sticks to his Korean name: Taejoon Lee.

The junior Lee was practically raised in the dojang, he says.The chief master continues with a little-known vignette: “Years ago there was a Korean martial arts gathering in San Francisco. Hapkido masters, were there, taekwondo masters were there and kuk sool masters were there. When it came time for the masters to be seated at the head table, Ji Han jae, the man who is revered as the senior-most hapkido practitioner in world, was in the seat of honor. The older masters know their place with each other. When they get face-to-face, they know who trained with whom, what each other’s secrets are. There’s no hiding behind the media or a Web site. The man who sits first is the most-senior, most-revered person in that gathering. My father, my uncle [Lee Joo-sang] and I arrived late. When we walked in, Ji Han-jae got up, as did everyone else, and re-seated. My father sat at the seat of honor, followed by Ji Han-jae and my uncle. After them, everyone else sat. When I saw my father sit first, that told me everything I needed to know. Now it’s my turn to make sure the world understands the real deal with Hwa Rang Do and my father’s legacy.”

 

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Just as the Hwarang knights of ancient Silla had models like the legendary Gen. Kim Yu-shin, the modern followers of the Hwarang tradition will have a shining knight to follow in the 21st century. Taejoon Lee is coming out, ready to fight, ready to stand behind his art, ready to show the world what the strength of tradition can accomplish and ready to make waves. His life in Hwa Rang Do has given him the means to make the perfect synthesis of East and West, the traditional and the modern—finally attaining balance within himself and living harmoniously with the universe.

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Lee Joo-bang, the patriarch of Hwa Rang Do, sits with son Taejoon.

The Invincible Sulsa Warriors (Black Belt Magazine – June 1986)

By Taejoon Lee

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In the early 1970’s, Americans began to receive a wider variety of martial arts from which to practice. Among this vast array of choices was an innovative and dynamic style that would forever transform the perception of the martial arts: Hwa Rang Do® (way of the flowering manhood). Korea holds the roots of Hwa Rang Do, an 1800 year old martial skill-set originally known as UmYangKwon (combat skills of Silla Hwarang warriors), which at present is led by Dr. Joo Bang Lee. Within this esoteric art, which combines many facets of physical and mental development, resides perhaps the beginning of today’s warfare tactics and hand-to-hand combat techniques.

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Hwa Rang Do is a highly balanced martial style incorporating physical techniques with philosophy, academics and healing arts. It is divided into four categories: 1) wae-gong (external power), 2) nae-gong (internal power), 3) shin-gong (mental power), and 4) mugi-gong (weapon power). 
To demonstrate this idea of balance, Hwa Rang Do has two different, yet necessary, divisions of physical applications: Jung-do and Am-ja.

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Jung-do is the “way of the true sword and light.” It means fighting in battle with honor and dignity, dueling to the death, never retreating in the face of the enemy, and dying if one must in the process. In ancient times, the code of chivalry was up held at all cost, and the gentleman’s code was practiced sincerely. Jung do techniques require the ability to face the enemy in a fair match to demonstrate superiority of power. It involves the study of the way of the true sword, where one must call out the inner spirit. This is attained by eliminating all thoughts and emotions. One is like the wind, which moves from here to there, and in the movement there lies strength, with no inhibiting element to stop the current of air.


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BB-SulsaTech5Am-ja is the “way of darkness.” In this division, trickery, deception and cunning are the key elements of success. One must use whatever method, tool, or strategy is necessary to gain an advantage and defeat the enemy. In am-ja, the only honor lies in the ultimate outcome. Like the Machiavellian principles, the end justifies the means. In this school, one learns techniques in manipulating the enemy psychologically, physically and emotionally to confuse him, then move in for the final blow. In ancient Korea, the way of darkness was necessary for maintaining national security.

With the neighboring Korean kingdoms constantly at war with one another, espionage and counter-espionage were inevitable. Consequently, there emerged a group of warrior elite known as the sulsa (knights of the night). They practice the am-ja methods of warfare and infiltrated enemy kingdoms to gather information. 
The sulsa were selected from the best Hwarang warriors. They were Hwa Rang Do’s special forces, majoring in infiltration, exfiltration, intelligence gathering, assassination, and survival tactics. They used whatever means necessary to carry out their plan.

Unlike the ancient Japanese ninja, however, the most important asset of the sulsa was there ideal of hwal-bop, which encouraged the warrior to save lives, rather than take them. If one is able to kill, then one should be able to heal as well. The sulsa played a significant role in the unification of the Korean peninsula. Legend has it that the king of Silla province had a dream of producing the greatest fighting machine in history. Consequently, hwarang warriors were trained in all aspects of warfare, strategy, and combat. The very best warriors were subsequently selected and trained as sulsa. The chosen few possessed the characteristics of patience, loyalty, trust, courage, intelligence and cleverness.

Thanks to the sulsa’s selfless devotion to the kingdom, Silla’s neighboring provinces of Koguryo and Paekche were ultimately conquered, unifying Korea into one nation. Unfortunately, the unification also marked the decline of the sulsa. With Silla’s enemys in check, there was little use for the “knights of the night.” During their heydays, the sulsa were experts in un-shin-bop, a subdivision of Hwa Rang Do, which involves the art of concealing oneself in front of others. It employs a combination of distraction, suggestion, stealth, and camouflage. To be invisible, one must utilize what is visible. By controlling the elements that can be seen, one can appear invisible. We assume things are real by making associations with past experiences. We set expectations and anticipate the results before analyzing all the facts. When one can determine the boundary between reality and illusion, he no longer exists in the real world, but only in his illusions.

Yet another aspect of Hwa Rang Do is its subdivision of am-ja into three catagories: jham-bok-sul, jham-ip-sul, and bo-bop.

Jham-bok-sul is the study of camouflage for hiding for long periods of time. It focuses on techniques of hiding by adapting and immersing the body and spirit into the environment. To hide as a rock, one learns to be a rock, study its characteristics, take on its spirit, and become totally engulfed in the reality of being a rock. One must not only be able to hide on land, but also in water, under ground, in trees, and in all different types of terrain. By knowing every situation and every environment, one achieves that balanced state where differences no longer exist and all things merge into one.

Jham-ip-sul is the study of infiltration and exfiltration techniques. In this subdivision, one has to analyze the enemy’s personality, so he can live among the enemy. Techniques in traveling swiftly, climbing, acrobatics and stealth are also taught. Intelligence – emphasis is placed on sneaking behind enemy lines to collect information and relay it back to the generals. Camouflage is also an important part of jham-ip-sul. Many aspects of shin-gong (mental power) are taught: bok-shin-sul (the power to read minds); in-sul (the development of patience); choe-myun-sul (the technique of putting a person to sleep); and sa-sang-bop (study of human types).

BB-Sulsa4BB-Sulsa7Bo-bop is the study of stalking, stealth and fast movement. There are many ways to walk, depending on the type of surface. The art of stealth is taught for sentry stalking and removal. Utilization of dan jun ho heup bop (the study of breathing techniques with active ki power) assists in body relaxation. There are incredible stories of sulsa warriors flying through the air like sparrows, from tree to tree,and rooftop to rooftop (much like todays free-run

ning). These training tactics and the application of over 4000 hand-to-hand combat techniques made the sulsa an awesome fighting machine. Another aspect of the sulsa’s prowess was its weapons expertise. There are 108 different weapons in the study of Hwa Rang Do, which helped make the sulsa an enemy feared by all. The spirit of the Hwarang warrior links sulsa of every generation.

One of the most famous hwarang warriors of the 20th century was Michael D. Echanis, who through his master Dr. Joo Bang Lee, brought the ancient ideals of the Hwarang combat skills into the American military system. Echanis, who was killed in Nicaragua in 1978, left his mark in the training programs he instituted for the elite forces of the American military. One of the first Americans trained in Hwa Rang Do and the first American given the title of Sulsa by our Founder, Dr. Joo Bang Lee, Echanis took the techniques practiced by the art’s early warriors and applied them to modern-day unconventional warfare by creating the first unconventional warfare tactics school in Fort Bragg, NC.

The advancement of battlefield technology has decreased the need for hand-to-hand and special weapons experts, but there still situations where the strategies and techniques of the sulsa would be most effective. As long as there are nations with opposing views, there will be battles and wars waged where the foot soldier is utilized. The method of warfare may have changed over the past 1,800 years, but man’s desire to live remains the same. Putting aside all the strategy, weapons, and military jargon, we are all human, even the invincible sulsa. The Hwarang spirit has not endured 18 centuries because its techniques are superior, but because people who cherish the art understand the value of harmony between man, nature and the universe.

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The 20th Century Prisoners – Knights of Present Longing For Warrior Past (Inside Kung Fu Magazine-April 1986)

By Grandmaster Taejoon Lee
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Once the hwarang knights were a loyal and relentless fighting machine. The rules were simple: obey your king, follow your heart and you will gain immortality. But the standards of the 20th century have created special problems. Rather than enjoy life, they feel trapped in society. They are prisoners of their own art.

In the mist-bound woods of a far-off land , where tigers roam and rivers flow with perpetual current, a warrior quietly contemplates a battle he has dreamed about for 16 years. His armor is in place, his chin raised and firm.

He reviews step-by-step the training he has received at the Academy of Hwa Rang Do, for now as a hwarang ( flowering knight). He has earned not only the respect and admiration of his countrymen, but also the opportunity to display his loyalty and courage to his king.

This young warrior, Kwan Chang, is the son of famed General Pumil. In his training as a hwarang, he had to endure great tests of will and character. Now it has come to this.

In this brief desolate moment before battle, he must harness the dragon’s breath, sun cut through the mist and bounce off a sword which hangs from his waist to his ankle. The first commander slowly approaches, careful not to disturb the great warrior in his final moment before battle.

“The Baekche Army is approaching, sir. We must attack now or chance losing our western front,” the commander warns.

Kwan Chang nods and begins the long walk down the mountain to his horse. Once on the steed, he rips a sword from his scabbard, raises it defiantly over his head, and adresses his mighty troops.
“Let us die as we were born. A man among men, a brother among brothers, a warrior among warriors. Let heaven and the tiger’s claws and the cold wind of the north. He must face the enemy – not with fear, but with disdain. The hwarang believe the display of fearlessness in battle opens the door to immortality.

Kwan Chang rises and several rays of earth be witness to our glorious triumph.”
With Chang in the lead, the army thunders across the open plain and into the heart of the Baekche Army. But the enemy is too great in both skill and number and Chang is captured.

Since his high-ranking battle crest indicates that of a general’s son, he is taken before the Baekche general. Lifting Kwan Changs war helmet, the Baekche general is shocked at the youth of the prisoner. Thinking of his own son, the Baekche general decides against execution and sends Chang back to the Silla lines.

“Go back to your father, young one. Go back in peace,” the general says in a fatherly tone.

After returning to his father, Kwan Chang asks permission to return to the front. There is no answer; the question is moot. The young Chang takes a sip of water, mounts his horse and charges back into the fray. After a long day of fighting, Chang once again is captured. But after being disarmed, he breaks loose and kills two guards by hand. He then attacks the gerneral’s second in command. With deadly grace and speed, Chang spins 540 degrees in the air and delivers a killing heel kick into the general who sat on his horse, a full nine feet from the ground.

Finally subdued, he is taken before the Beakche general. Much distressed over the loss of his commander, the general says, “I gave you your life once because of your youth. But now you return to take the life of my best field commander. For this you will die.”

Kwan Chang closed his eyes, bent his head toward the earth and prepared for the end. “I may die,” he says to the general,”but through my death the spirit of the hwarang will live forever. Life is like a feather. Loyalty is like hard steel.”

Late that night, Chang’s head and horse returned to the Silla lines. General Pumil respectfully untied the head from the saddle and cleaned the blood which had been dripping from the severed veins.

“My son’s face is as it was when he was alive,” he said, shouting to his men and holding the head for all to see. “He died in the service of the king. There is nothing to regret.” The king rode back into battle and eventually defeated the Baekche general. This legend became the basis for a hwarang do sword form.

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In the 20th century, where does the battlefield lie for the hwarang warrior? Where is the honor in dying for a country or an ideal? How does this dying breed of warrior survive in the concrete jungle where ethics and morality are forgotten concepts? There are wars and fueds among nations, but they are too politically contaminated by the needs of a few. Is there a war today that demands the human essence – his spirit, his honor, his loyalty? These warriors do not fight with M-16’s, .45-caliber pistols or submachine guns. Instead, they fight with the human spirit. They face their enemy with the extension of their soul, a sword, a bow, a knife – weapons which take skill to master. Tragically, the warrior is trapped in a society that deprives him of his dignity. People no longer respect and admire the warrior for his courage and bravery.

The warrior of this century must fight a new type of enemy – one who dresses in a three-piece suit, carries a leather briefcase, strives to expand his capital budget, and destroys his competitors with corporate takeovers. How does a warrior who only knows the blade and martial ethics of the Orient fight against this mighty foe? Are we to adopt his mode of attack and face him at the 20th floor of his corporate headquarters?

No. The hwarang wants to experience life, replete with its rewards and disappointments. Life – failing and succeeding, making mistakes, falling, erring – this is human and this is the greatest joy of a hwarang. He wants to help the seeds of mankind blossom into a beautiful flower, which is the epitome of perfection because it possesses natural beauty.

However admirable this golden concept, it is not practical in the 20th century. Martial arts teachers struggle to keep open their places of worship. They must compete both mentally and physically.

The hwarang’s ancestors never needed to pay rent for a training hall; never dealt with loan companies or the federal government; never were hit with lawsuits or had to pay liability insurance; and never paid college tuition.

Imagine a time when all people had to do was train their minds through meditation, their bodies through thousands of hours of techniques and their spirits through yogic concentration.

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The mind is at the core of hwarang do training. The brain, practitioners say, is divided into four distinct quadrants. The first quadrant measures 0-90 degrees and signifies the range of human behavior. At the 90-180-degree level is a quadrant that covers the range of extraordinary human powers. The third quadrant, running from 180-270 degrees, includes the realm of supernatural powers. The final quadrant is in the category of Buddha, where the body becomes one with the universal ki (internal energy) and is transformed into pure spirit and vital force.

All humans possess the potential to enter the fourth quadrant, but how are we to get there when we can’t even concentrate our minds to exercise daily activities? How are we to overcome the stress and find enlightenment? Is the answer to ignore responsibilities to family and society and search for a hidden monastery in a remote corner of the world?

Maybe…

The conflicts and frustrations are many to a traditional warrior like the hwarang. Imagine you are a man who cannot see, hear or speak, but somehow has witnessed a great revelation. How can you tell others of this great news?

You can’t. And the hwarang feels the same frustration in his heart. Like the blind man, the hwarang is trapped by social convention. The ignorance of society blinds the eyes. Polluted noise deafens the ears. And foul language twists the tongue.

Today, the forgotten hwarang preside in hundreds of dojang (training halls) throughout the world. They are preparing for a battle that will someday set them as free as Kwan Chang was upon his death. The trials and tribulations of these warriors arise from their need to escape linear time and return to an age where knights and warlords ruled the world. They long to recapture the bliss of knowing life is being lived as it should. And that one is only confined by one’s imagination.