The Power of Self-Control

TKD & Korean Martial Arts
April 2003

After all these years of martial arts it is only now that I realize the true importance of self-control. It is an invaluable tool for students and teachers alike and something that sets the martial artist apart from the ordinary "weekend-street-fighter".

I encounter a few "real" situations where self-control helped me to create an outcome on the street, which I was not ashamed of (I will describe a couple of those situations I encountered later on).

Our Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi stresses the importance of this by mentioning the terminology "self-control/self-discipline" twice in the "Tenets of Choi Kwang Do" and in "The Pledge". "The Tenets" which we cite at the beginning of class go:

Tenets of Choi Kwang Do: Courtesy - Integrity - Perseverance - Self Control - Indomitable Spirit

Self-discipline - another word for self-control - is cited in "The Pledge" as follows:

My Pledge:
To set positive goals and strive to achieve them.
To apply self-discipline to further my personal development.
To stand for justice and honour my word.
To promote friendly relationships amongst all people.
To use what I learned in class in a constructive manner.

On the street one could go in hard and fast as a response to and attack - or as an alternative I found (as I did on several occasions) - one could asses the situation very quickly - analyze it and respond accordingly : using only the bare "necessary" force required. An experienced martial artist with many years of study behind him/her could do this.

Let me give you a "real" example describing an incident in the street. When a friend and I went to a party I told him after a while that I thought we should leave as I could see/feel that something was "brewing up". He did not believe me and was oblivious to the change of atmosphere that was occurring. After a while he agreed and he and I started walking towards the road. I saw people coming out of the house but I chose to ignore it - which was mistaken thinking as I had to find out (this goes against my own teachings to be always aware of one's surroundings).

All of a sudden my friend was pulled down from behind onto the floor and kicked by this real tall guy. I immediately performed a palm strike on him (my favourite technique) with only about 70% of my usual strength (on purpose!). He then returned performing a head-butt, which I avoided, followed by a punch to my face, which I avoided also. Instead of countering with another strike I simply flung my finger onto his nose very quickly shouting at the same time "Stop". Now this could have easily been a punch onto his face and he knew it! He stepped back in amazement not quite knowing what to make of this when I went into my Choi Kwang Do right-front stance. He just carefully retreated.

One cannot expect this kind of self-control from somebody who just started in martial arts and I would rather advise new students to defend themselves with whatever technique they know. Even an experienced martial artist has to "think twice" before being so generous to his opponent. I would also like to point out that this is my personal opinion and that every situation is very different. But in the above example it was the right thing to do as I can explain if I continue with the above story.

After the attacker retreated I helped my friend to get onto his feet and we walked away seeing that quite a fight broke out amongst many of the partygoers. We later found out that by the time we left the scene some people got arrested (if we had stayed and I had been further involved in the fighting I do not know what mess there would have been afterwards - it's hard to prove one's innocence nowadays). Also because I did not fully retaliate the party-organizers were satisfied in the knowledge that we did nothing wrong and that these guys simply wanted to fight for the sake of it.

On another occasion I was sitting down with a couple of female friends when some drunk emptied the rest of his pint onto my head without provocation on my side (in fact I didn't even know the guy). I got up and before I could say anything he flung his fist towards my face. As he was drunk this was extremely easy to block for me. I simply gave him a hard push instead of countering, smiling at him and advising him to think carefully before doing anything else. A couple of his mates stopped him and that was it. "Self-discipline" (or self-control) held me back again. A full retaliation would have made the situation worse (and a mess of him) - probably ruining my friends evening at the same time.

Self control is also useful on a smaller level: If I am not in a particularly good mood I believe I should not let my students have a bad class because of it. I have to overcome this and "empty my cup" beforehand as Grandmaster Choi puts it. Students can apply this too: If they do not feel like they want to attend class because they are not in the mood or because there is a favourite TV programme during class-times they will have to ask themselves: Is the TV programme going to help me gain inner strength, give me more self-assurance on the street, make me a more confident person etc. Surely not - so it's a case of mustering self-discipline again in order to go training!

The above does not cover all aspects of self-control and I could probably write a book about it - the subject is quite vast.

I believe we are all students of life and for my part I certainly think self-control/self-discipline can help us improve ourselves on a personal level as well as the quality of our martial arts training.

In my opinion everyone who studies any form of martial arts has certain responsibilities. Self-control is the tool that makes not only our bodies but also our minds stronger - and a more valuable and responsible citizen in the process too.

"Pil Suhng" (translated from the Korean: Certain Victory)

Download TKD & Korean Martial Arts Article: The Power of Self-Control

Page 1   Page 2

To view these files you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Dowload Acrobat Reader for Free by clicking the link below.