CHIN MU KWAN TAEKWON-DO

Progress Diary by Master Lenny Young

Goals

                         Master Lenny Young 7th dan from Bellefont Pennsylvania is this seasons author, Master Young's profile is found under Senior Master Instructors. Master Young has a long and impressive profile and a top form performer. His students rank as some of the best form practitioner in CTF. The following is an excerpt from his Master's project on setting Goals.

Setting Goals

            One of the best methods of reaching your goals is to write them down. A written goal represents a real commitment and without a commitment, a goal will likely not be achieved. Having a goal enables you to focus on designing ways to attain it, i.e. an action plan.

                When you set your goals, make them a specific and measurable as possible, specific goals, help you create specific action plans with measurable results. Do not set a goal that is too difficult. You can always refine your goals as time goes on and circumstances change. Set small achievable goals and work day by day to reach them. In this way, you will have a feeling of accomplishment and therefore be motivated to continue.

Smart Goals

S Specific

M Measurable

A Attainable

R Relevant

T Time-bound

            The CTF Progress Diary can assist you in setting, tracking, monitoring and attaining your goals. In the book are some examples of how to use the progress diary. In the back of the book you will be able to list the events and functions you have attended to check and see how they have assisted you in reaching your goals.

            For the younger student this could be of great benefit by having your parents and instructors being involved with the setting of an action plan and ultimately the attainment of your goals.

            For the older student this could be of great benefit just by helping you prioritize and keep track of your training especially with all life throws at you. There is also fifty-two motivational/inspirational quotations listed that just may help you along the way, one for each of the 52 weeks in the book.

            Hopefully you will find this book helpful in setting and attaining and exceeding your CTF or any goals. More information can be attained by clicking onto TKD Info.

Etiquette - Modesty

            Proper etiquette is important; most of you did not know that you had made an etiquette faux pas. You were never told so you did not know. Now you will know the proper salutation.

The term master is a given title, which means you do not use it yourself. You never call yourself master or introduce yourself as master. If your spouse calls you "snuggle bunny" you do not introduce yourself as John Smith snuggle bunny or snuggle bunny John Smith. It is the same with master. In Asia, the master never would  address themselves as Sabumnim, sifu or sensei. It is what others call you. Nobody has ever heard Grandmaster Kang introduce himself as I am Grandmaster Kang. He has always introduced himself as Howard Kang. We address him as grandmaster and introduce him out of respect and to honor him.

When you hear other people address themselves as Sensei Smith or Sifu Smith or Master Smith, just laugh inside at their inflated ego.

            When introducing yourself in a school situation you say, "I am John Smith, I am the master instructor of the school". Your students should tell new students to address you as master. If need be you may say "My name is John Smith, You will or May address me as Master Smith." In National settings when you introduce yourself in front of a group, especially on the test board, they already know you are master, so even more reason not to use the term, just use your name. If you noticed at the CTF test the senior masters never used the title master, they just introduced themselves by their name. If you are introducing somebody, then you will introduce them with the honorific title, grandmaster, executive master, senior master, or master. When addressing higher rank, you will only use grandmaster or master, no need for executive or senior, unless your introducing them. Stay humble, you are who you are. It is an honor that you have been bestowed with a title, let others use it, you don't need to use it.

            When signing on stationary or correspondence, you should sign it:

John Smith 5^th dan "or whatever your rank is"

Or

John Smith

Master Instructor

But Not

Master John Smith

The only time you would use master in front of your name is in official reprimand of a lower rank, to remind them they have failed in a situation and their conduct will no longer be tolerated and to remind them you have the authority.

HANJA

Part 3

By Master K. Hatabe

Who Are We?

      Ok bear with me: this gets complicated. Some words mean the same thing, but some are only used for martial art purposes and martial art context.  SO there is teacher, instructor, tutor, educator, trainer, professor, coach, mentor, in English all are about the same in an educational setting. What we had to do was remove the non martial art words, which took a long time,

老師

GRAND MASTER: The character is made up of 2 characters 老 translates, old, aged, experienced. The second character 師 means teacher, master, specialist, multitude or troops. In the martial art context it can mean a sage, grand master or mentor. It is a person through many many years of training has gained wisdom and knowledge and mastered an art well above anybody else. They freely give that experience and knowledge to those who seek it.

English      Old / Grand Master

Korean       Seuseung

Japanese     Shihan / Roshi

Mandarin    Sifu / iaoshi

Cantonese   Shifu       

師範

GREAT TEACHER or MASTER The first character should be familiar to you as we just used it above 師means teacher, master specialist, multitude or troops. The right character 範  means pattern, model or rule. So it means "a person who teaches or show example of technique or skill" Originally a military term, soldiers were divided into 2500 as a division or team, the leader of this group was lead by (shi). This is the root for shifu, shihan, sifu and seu.

先生

Teacher, great teacher, master: Literal translation is "one who has gone before". The first character is 先, which means first, before, ahead, destination, 生 means lifetime or birth, therefore this means a person who has already experienced all the trials and tribulations before you, and can show you how to overcome them and guide you along the path (do).

Korean            Sun sen

Japanese          Sensei

Mandarin         xiānsheng

The three hanji above just about mean the same thing. We are familiar with the terms sifu and sensei and not so much the Korean terms, below are the more familiar Korean terms we use, even though the above Korean terms are acceptable to use. Remember we are not sensei or sifu in Taekwon-Do. If you want to use those terms then the Korean must be used, unless you are teaching a Chinese or Japanese art at the time. Below are the more common Korean terms used.

館長님

(관장님Kwanjangnim) kwan leader and owner: You should be getting familiar with these hanja. Remember 館 means kwan or school, 長 is jang  means chief, head or master of, 님 nim, this is hangul not hanja, it is a honorific term, meaning esteemed in a martial art setting.

師範님    

(사범님Sabumnim) Master / teacher: Look familiar? With the two hanja together 師範 in Korean the word is teacher, sabum. When you add 님 nim  the word becomes sabumnim.  Nim as we have seen is an honorific term for esteemed, thus Sabumnim, means esteemed teacher or master.

師範         

  (사범 Sabum) Teacher / Instructor: Sabu. Even though this is the same hanja for great teacher, in the Korean setting it now becomes just teacher or instructor, 님 makes it master in Korean context.

            Let's try to put this into KOREAN TAEKWON-DO context. There now is a hierarchy of teachers, as Master Po from the movie Kung Fu said, "In the Shaolin Temple there are masters, disciple and students."

In a CTF setting, Grandmaster H.Y. Kang will always be the Seuseung. Everybody else will be Kwanjangnim, sabumnim or sabu. At your own school the oldest senior master can be Seusung if you are very old, or a long time member of the AARP. If you are a school owner of master's rank you are Kwanjangnim. If you are you are 4^th degree and above, but not a leader of a kwan you are sabumnim. If you have passed an instructor training program and are 2^nd and 3^rd degree you are sabum. If you are black belt 1^st or have not completed an instructor training program then you are just disciples, maybe called assistant teacher, helper, or you may just be a called a student.

Remember no mater what rank you are, first and foremost you are always a student of Taekwon-Do. There is always more to learn. It takes a lifetime, maybe more as Master Po would say.

Taekwon-Do Training Objectives

Agility (speed + small space), Jumping skills, Attacking skills, Listening skills,Attention skills, Maneuverability speed + large space, Awareness, Memory recall,Balance through movement, Mental training,Blocking skills, Motor skills / Movement inhibition, Body movement (large), Muscular endurance / strength,Body strength (total),  Observational skills, Cardio vascular development, Patience, Combination development (techniques), Reaction time, Comradely, Rolling/tumble skills,Concentration, Self-control, Cooperation,  Self-defense skills,Coordination,  Self-responsibility,Countering,   Sparring skills,Decision making skills,  Speed / Speed Control, Dexterity (fine),  Strategy, Discipline,  Stretching knowledge, Eye foot coordination,  Target observation, Fitness (total), Technique practice, Flexibility, Terminology/history, Foot control / manipulation, Understanding commands, Fun, Upper body strength, ingenuity.........There is so many other subjects, what is your forte?