Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Ultimate Goal of HMK – To Know Ourselves, To Better Ourselves -- Chief Instructor's Blog April 2020


If you asked Mr. Kim why we practice martial arts, his response was “To Know Ourselves, To Better Ourselves”.
 
I have discussed in several blogs how a martial art at its true essence trains the mind, body, and spirit.  It supports your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual growth.  At its true essence it trains us To Know Ourselves, To Better Ourselves.

There are many activities out there that can help you improve physically and when adding in focused intention can help you improve both physically and mentally (running, weight lifting, cycling, motorcycle riding etc.).  There are activities that can help you spiritually like meditation.  There are activities that can help physically mentally, emotionally and mentally like yoga but even this is not provide the same benefits as martial arts training.   

Don’t get me wrong - I am not advocating that other activities are not beneficial to you or you should not bother to take part in enjoying them.  I, along with many of you partake in many of these activities and recommend you continue to do so.

But I contend, no activity is better than martial arts when it is taught and practiced for its true essence To Know Ourselves, To Better Ourselves.

Why do I believe this?  A self-defense based martial art like Han Moo Kwan trains you to perform under the most stressful times…when you are potentially in fear (getting hot, injured), when someone may be emotional and yelling at you trying to push your buttons, when there is chaos around you.  At these times, you must be in control of yourself.    You must stay grounded and balanced at these times.  You must stay focused and be able to be at your best physically.  At these times, you must be able to get past the emotions and fears.  No other activity trains you for this – to learn about ourselves and to better ourselves not just through our own internal convictions but while there is external opposition.
 
When you are in control mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, you have the power to make better choices and have clarity in those choices.  With that clarity of mind body and spirt can come wisdom and the ultimate of knowing ourselves and bettering ourselves.
 
While this may sound simple and easy when written as a one-page blog, I am not saying that at all.  In fact, there are days when you feel in complete control, and then you have an emotional trigger you were not aware of, and you realize you need more training.…and hence why practicing a martial art is a lifelong journey.
 
Regards,
Kelly

"Fear comes from uncertainty; we can eliminate the fear within us when we know ourselves better." Bruce Lee (1940 –1973) American-born Chinese Hong Kong martial