ITF Taekwon-Do
The Tenets of Taekwon-Do
태권도 정신
How far a student gets in Taekwon-Do depends less on physical talent than on how seriously these five principles are taken and acted upon. They are meant as a standard to train by rather than a motto to recite.
Courtesy
예의
Courtesy in the dojang is practical rather than decorative. It is what allows a room full of people to train hard without friction, and it is the means by which a student builds character alongside technique.
Elements of courtesy to practise
- Give way to others readily, and expect the same in return.
- Be ashamed of your own faults rather than scornful of anyone else's.
- Treat everyone in the dojang with politeness.
- Encourage a sense of justice and humanity in yourself and in others.
- Observe the proper distinctions between instructor and student, senior and junior, older and younger.
- Conduct yourself according to the etiquette of the art.
- Respect what belongs to other people.
- Deal with others fairly and sincerely.
- Neither offer nor accept a gift where there is any doubt about the motive behind it.
Integrity
염치
Integrity here means more than honesty in the narrow sense. A student must be able to tell right from wrong, and - when in the wrong - have conscience enough to feel it.
Examples where integrity is lacking
- An instructor who teaches faulty technique, through ignorance or indifference, and so misrepresents both themselves and the art.
- A student who prepares the breaking boards beforehand so a demonstration looks better than it is.
- An instructor who covers up poor technique with an expensive training hall and flattery aimed at keeping students.
- A student who asks an instructor for a grade, or tries to buy one.
- A student who chases rank for the status or the sense of power it carries.
- An instructor who teaches and promotes the art chiefly for money.
- A student whose conduct does not match what they say.
- A student too proud to ask a junior for an opinion.
Perseverance
인내
An old East Asian saying holds that patience is itself a virtue, and that a hundred acts of patience make a peaceful home. Whether the goal is a higher degree or a single technique done properly, the method does not change: set the goal, then keep at it long after the novelty has worn off. Robert the Bruce is said to have taken his lesson in persistence from watching a spider that would not give up, and it was that quality that eventually freed Scotland in the fourteenth century. Of everything that makes a leader in Taekwon-Do, the willingness to outlast difficulty counts for most.
“One who is impatient in trivial matters can seldom achieve success in matters of great importance.”
Self-Control
극기
Self-control matters as much outside the dojang as inside it. In free sparring, losing control can injure both students badly. In ordinary life, taking on more than one's circumstances or ability allow is the same failing wearing different clothes.
“The term of stronger is the person who wins over oneself rather than someone else.”
Indomitable Spirit
백절불굴
Indomitable spirit shows itself when someone stands by their principles against odds that look hopeless. Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans holding the pass at Thermopylae against the far larger army of Xerxes are the classic illustration; the epitaph left for them claims nothing more than that they did as they were asked. A serious student of Taekwon-Do stays modest and honest at all times, but when confronted with injustice will deal with it without fear or hesitation, no matter who stands on the other side or how many of them there are.
“Here lie 300, who did their duty.”
“It is an act of cowardice to fail to speak out against injustice.”