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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

On Ethics: Tenaciousness and Thoroughness once action is started

This is the last posting in this series about ethics in martial arts.  The last of the eleven tenets is to always finish what you start.  While it sounds like a good idea on its own, this last concept in the set offers the inverse sensibility compared to all the others we've talked about up to this point.  By examining the idea's other expressions, the substance of the idea, and in context with the others, this tenet really takes on the intensity that it demands of the martial arts student.

In some translations of this tenet, it is stated differently than to always finish what you start.  For example, when I was a Taekwondo student, this idea was conveyed as "never retreat in battle."  While a strategic retreat can be a good thing, the idea here is to be unflinching in the midst of a conflict.  Other schools have interpreted this differently instead to say to always finish what you start.  While the idea is sound, the wording "to always finish what you start" fails to convey the intensity of what is being expressed when compared to "never retreat in battle."  However, saying to never retreat in battle fails to recognize the need to adjust strategy in order to achieve the larger objective - to be willing to lose a battle to win a war.  While imperfect, the expression to always finish what you start is the one I've used at Han Mi Martial Arts.  I haven't found a better way to express it myself that is a fuller explanation without being too long or imprecise.

Finishing what you start is vitally important in martial arts.  This idea manifests on many different levels in training.  If your goal is to get a certain technique down, then you practice as much as it takes to get the technique.  You do so without a care about how long it will take or the effort expended; you get it finished.  If your goal is to reach a rank, then you do what it takes and you get it.  In sparring, it is vital not to hesitate when attacking.  You must do it fully and only make adjustments - never second guessing yourself.  Hesitation is a huge enemy to success in sparring and this tenet addresses that.  Kendo, for example, describes fear, doubt, surprise, and confusion as of the four poisons of the mind when sparring.  These distract people from finishing what they start and, in that way, point to the same sensibility.  If your goal is to make a certain number of classes per week, then you do what it takes and you make that happen.  Life will always pop up and get in the way of training.  There are a million reasons not to work and be good at martial arts, but none of them are helpful for that goal.  If it is worth starting it, then it is worth finishing it.

When examining this tenet in context, you see that it moves in an opposite direction to all the others.  Each of the others encourages restraint and good judgement.  They all ask for the student to think things through clearly, to use restraint, and to be resilient during the trails of life.  Each one encourages the martial artist to align themselves with good mental health and to have a clear understanding of their place in society.  To always finish what you start means that once all these other sensibilities have been met and intelligence dictates that you must act, that it is imperative to do so swiftly, without hesitation, and to complete the goal clearly, cleanly, and without any disharmony.  In other words, be a person that is whole and without fragmentation psychologically, be passionate and open to learning, be willing and able to accept defeat while knowing that you will grow from it, and then move decisively with sufficient will and power and complete the goal.  In this idea, there is also the recognition that simply knowing what to do isn't enough.  If it is important enough to start, then it is important enough to see through to a definable goal.  If we are compelled to act, then we must do so until it is done.  Having that worldview makes the martial artist less apt to be involved in whimsical efforts.

Post Script:

This last posting finishes the series on ethics as laid out in Korean martial arts.  I hope everyone that has read this has found it illuminating and helpful to them in their own studies.  The wonderful thing about exploring this topic for me is that the real question it seems I'm trying to answer is "What is objectively true?  What is real and practical?  What has value and is beautiful?"  These are questions that always yield new understanding and, in my mind, are the only real worthwhile conversations I could ever have.  Thank you for reading these thoughts and considering them.  Don't be afraid to explore these ideas for yourself and don't be shy about your constructive criticisms if you think I've missed something.  Besides, these topics are far too large for any one person to express in their totality.  If you're inclined, have this conversation with me or anyone else interested in these ideas.  It is only through these relationships that we get to really learn.

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