In the late 90's, I first was exposed to the concept of ethical tenets in Korean martial arts. Like many Americans with a Judeo-Christian background, seeing the words "10 Commandments" on the wall tends to grab one's attention. The slightly de-emphasized "of Taekwondo" afterwards just added to the curiosity. The first one read "Be Loyal to your Country." Many people read this and just accept it, but I am interested in being thoughtful about this and dissecting it. I'd like to share the results of this process presently.
By looking at the evolution of this tenet, considering the historical context, and examining the counter point of this idea, I hope to explore the implications of this statement to be loyal to one's country and find a universal way to express it. I want to do this in a way that is respectful to everyone that is community minded and works either through law enforcement or the military to try to protect the country and community that I live in. While their dedication is important, I think that the dedication often transcends borders and national identity. I think that is a value that can also be encompassed within this tenet.
Originally, the first tenet of the Hwarang was to have fealty to the King. This meant that you would be fiercely loyal to the king with your life. Looking at the time period in which the Hwarang existed, the three kingdoms era on the Korean peninsula was a tense time. There were any number of minor skirmishes up through all-out war between these countries as they attempted to dominate the area. Complete devotion was necessary to defend the kingdom from outside invaders.
As martial arts training moved into the 20th century, these ethical tenets were re-examined in order to state them in a way that made more sense to the changing times. There were no more kings in Korea. While the peninsula was once again divided by either Japanese occupation or from the civil war between what is now North and South Korea, it was important to be devoted to your country in order to keep out the invading forces from across the sea or the 38th parallel. In order to be strong, a country must be unified. It is very easy to see that the goal of this tenet is to have a strong country in order to deal with outside aggressors. This is something very easily and commonly accepted.
While this view has obvious merits, there are aspects that beg for a closer look. As was alluded to in the last paragraph, division brings about disharmony, chaos, and violence. The country divided inwardly cannot deal with a threat outwardly. As this is true with a country, it is also true with each individual. A person with constant conflicting thoughts will not have all of their energies directed towards dealing with an external challenge. Wouldn't the same be true of entire world? If a country acts only in its own self-interest, won't that have consequences for the other countries in the world? We see many examples of this in world economics, the starting of wars, and in inaction during atrocities. Merely being loyal to one's country isn't always enough. Divisions between countries yield conflict in the same way as divisiveness in a person; there is no unified movement and there is friction.
When I took my third dan test, I wrote a paper on this. In that paper, I described these views in detail and came up with another way to state this concept that captured the idea of supporting one's community while being a member of an increasingly global society. It was to always "be devoted to the greater community." This allows for a broader range of contexts. Within a group, one needs to be concerned with the functioning of the group as a whole and work to facilitate that. In my my province or state, I must be aware of the local issues and be an active positive participant in promoting common health and unity. In my country, I must do the same and not let my smaller community's interests be an unnecessary drag to my fellow Americans. As an American, I cannot let my country's interests be a detriment to the health and security of the entire world. This concept transcends politics into race, religion, or any other issue. To be ethical, one must be willing to see the larger context and consider that when choosing how to spend one's time and energies in life. Not doing so would be selfish, careless, anti-social, and unintelligent.
In discussing this with others, there have been two arguments that have come up that are counter to this. One, is the idea the a soldier should not question the orders of a superior officer. This is a very understandable thing to say; orders are given and often the impact of those orders should not be questioned because your failure could cause injury or death for many other people. Again, the value judgement of thinking of the larger community comes into play and a person must use their intelligence here. We would all agree that following orders does not make someone innocent of their own bad choices. Being devoted to the larger community can compel someone to do something that is immediately distasteful in order to end a conflict. The other argument is along the lines of ideas put forth by people like Ayn Rand; that selfishness should compel a person when thinking of the greater community and that altruistic behavior is actually self-defeating. While there is a valid point made that a person need not self-martyr themselves for others that may be unwilling or uninterested in doing work for themselves, every civilization has only been made possible by all the individuals deciding to be concerned for their neighbor over their own immediate self-interest. Even in other animals, we see communal behavior being the only way to move the species forward and the ones not adhering to this idea quickly becoming food for others. To me, this interpretation still stands in spite of these arguments.
So, that is a look at my exploration of the first tenet of martial arts. I do genuinely encourage comments or thoughts from others on this topic. I usually get them via email or personal message, but I enjoy a public discussion of this as well. If you are comfortable, please feel free to do so!
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