If there was a unique theme that played out this past year, it was probably the importance of culture in the martial arts. No doubt some of our students and parents wonder why we are so particular on learning the proper Korean terminology for techniques, etc. This year turned out to be a good example as to why.
This previous semester I had the chance to work with Miss Eddie Kim, who as an intern from Yong In, South Korea and sat in on some of my courses at IU. She is a 3rd dan in MooMooKwan Hapkido. Because of my strong background in very traditional, Korean Hapkido and TKD, I had a better understanding of where she was likely coming from and could serve as a bridge between her martial arts and the more “Americanized” martial arts and self-defense she would be observing in our classes. We compared notes. She corrected some of my Korean, helped me buy a book in Korean, and taught me more commands to yell at my students in Korean. Her English is pretty good, but I still got to teach her words like haymaker and slobber-knocker. There were many times, however, in discussing techniques or what I wanted her to review in class, when the most expedient thing was simply to use the Korean terminology or closest approximation.
This semester at DPU, we had several black belts transfer in from around the world: China, India, even Milwaukee. Other students were from Japan, Germany, and Thailand. In fact, the majority of students are NOT American. Sometimes, the biggest differences were not in language or culture barriers but a chasm in their TKD training. It was clear many had learned TKD only as a sport. No one steps, no breaking. Forms were only a thing you crammed right before you promoted, and then to be forgotten again. One student admitted as such when I was confused at how an upper rank colored belt didn’t know the beginning form. The girl from Milwaukee insisted she was a Kukkiwon black belt, and she may very well have the certificate, but she didn’t know any of the Kukkiwon curricula but instead did the ITF forms. Admittedly, this is not unheard of. And none of this is their fault. Most appear to be good kids and dedicated students who just happened to have a different teacher.
But the bigger thing that struck me is how in theory we should have been able to precisely communicate in the language/terminology of taekwondo. Apkubi is an apkubi (front stance); sonnal makki is always sonnal makki (knife hand block). Sometimes that worked. Often it didn’t. Again, as international students their English is much better than my Chinese (different dialects), Thai, Japanese, Indian, or even Wisconsinian, but if they had been more prepared in the lexicon of TKD, life would have been simpler getting them up to speed with the way we do things.
That is why I value my upbringing in very traditional training and try to remain close to those roots. That is why events like our first ever Korean Cultural Night, in conjunction with the IU East Asian Studies Center, is important to our students. And because we value these things, we gain opportunities like having our demo team perform at Korea night at IU—showcasing a Korean martial art to about 300 Koreans. As we prepare to take 15 black belts back to Korea next year and train among other nationalities in some of the mecca’s of Korean martial arts, I hope that we are better prepared to communicate at least while on the training floor by speaking the common language of TKD.
Gentry Martial Arts--the rants of a martial arts eccentric 