Có rất nhiều người nói về Đạo trong võ thuật hay trong nhiều thứ nhảm nhí khác như một sự mơ hồ, hay một cách hiểu rất ấu trĩ về đạo đức hàng ngày như kính thầy yêu bạn, thờ mẹ phụng cha ... Đó là cái Lễ, chứ không phải là Đạo.
Viết về Đạo cho bọn em chã thì rất dài và mất thời gian, tôi xin giới thiệu bài viết của Oleg Khodko, một đồng nghiệp lập trình cùng công ty của tôi thời 2007 ở Boston, Massachusetts. Thời đó Oleg còn là một vận động viên đai đen một đẳng Tang Soo Do (Đường Thủ Đạo), một nhánh tách ra từ Hwarang Do (Hoa Lang Đạo) của Hàn Quốc. Nhánh kia là Taekwon Do.
Võ đường Tang Soo Do mà Oleg theo tập là một trong những võ đường có kỷ luật nhất ở vùng New England. Từ đai đen trở lên, mỗi lần thi lên đẳng, vận động viên phải viết một bài luận về nhận thức võ thuật và trải qua ba ngày thi thể lực, quyền cước, giao đấu ở một trại huấn luyện riêng biệt ở ngoại thành, mới được xét duyệt lên đai.
Đây là bài viết của Oleg để thi từ đai đen nhất đẳng lên nhị đẳng Đường Thủ Đạo.
Hiện giờ Oleg đã mang huyền đai đệ tam đẳng. Anh đã nhiều lần đoạt giải Vô địch Tang Soo Do New England (13 bang miền Đông nước Mỹ). Mấy lần gần nhất có thể xem tại đây:
Grand Champion 2011
Grand Champion 2012
Grand Champion 2014
Hồi tôi còn ở Boston, Oleg có vô địch 2007, 2008, 2009, nhưng không tìm thấy link.
Cả 2013 và 2015 cũng không thấy link.
This essay is dedicated to my mentors –
Master Klacko, Linh Chau and all people around me
helping, teaching and guiding me in this world.
Tang Soo Tao
Taoism. The word "Taoism" refers to a Chinese philosophy based on the teachings of Lao Tzu (c. 6th-4th century B.C.) and Chuang Tzu (c. 399-295 B.C.). The central theme of Taoism has to do with harmony with the "natural flow" of the universe. Letting nature take its course is believed to be the key to happiness and fulfillment. Taoists therefore say that life should be approached with the goal of "taking no action that is contrary to Nature."
Wing-Tsit Chan, “A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy”
Tao
There are many way of self-development. Some can reach it by yoga, some by calligraphy others by painting. Martial Art and Tang Soo Do in particular is a great way to learn about yourself, about people, the world around you and your place in this world.
Many Martial Arts carrying in the name the word Tao: Tang Soo Do, Karate-Do, Aiki-Do. The last word “Do” in the name is another way to pronounce Tao - “the way”. There are many ways to say it and many more understandings of it. Mostly interpretations and descriptions of Tao are portraying attributes of it and that’s why Lao Tzu - a philosopher of ancient China when described Tao in 6th century BC, started his book with those two lines:
The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name…
For long time Tao for me was just another foreign philosophical concept. Later I took external and simplistic interpretation of it, when “The Way” symbolized for me the path of development like the line on the map. Just recently Tao was given to me in very plain way, to which I can closely relate my personal experience and values.
I believe it is hard to understand Tao because people like to put “Tao” on pedestal and worship it, surrounding by scientific, mystical or religious rituals and explanation, when Tao is a very simple thing which is around us, like water and which we using in everyday’s life unconsciously.
Second problem that Tao is like Déjà vu – you will understand or recognize it only when you will stumble upon, not before. Words can say as much, but the person will not understand the meaning of it until his inner world and development can match those ideas. Therefore in search of Tao the one shouldn’t look for the words and interpretations, but rather feeling and meaning of it. For example, there is a punch technique, which can be described as fast extension of the hand closed into a fist. But what makes it a punch is a meaning, coordinated work of muscles and joints and most importantly spirit behind of it. There are a lot of articles how to make a great punch technique, but only with hard work and with time, and better if with good mentor, the practitioner who is looking for perfection will understand the guidance of the words when he will feel it inside, or get closer to that level.
Tao can be recognized as “The Right Way” and as a Flow in the same time. We all use Tao everyday in our life without referring to it as a Tao. When we dancing and feel like we are connected with partner, with music and we are going with flow – it is a Tao. When we enjoying a beautiful picture – it is a Tao. In Martial Art when we practicing technique thousands times and suddenly it clicks in and it “Feels Right” – this is a Tao. When we are in connection with the Tao it feel effortless, easy and “how it is supposed to be”. And after that we can realize how much unnecessary struggle and effort we trying to put in our everyday’s life.
Mind
The Master observes the world
but trusts his inner vision.
He allows things to come and go.
His heart is open as the sky.
The enlightenment can be seen as an attempt to connect with the Tao. The difficulty is that we can connect to the Tao only with our unconscious mind, or Back Brain, but understand, recognize and analyze this event with front lobe, or Conscious Mind. Back Brain cannot connect directly to reality, but only through the Conscious Mind, which process and analyze signals from the receptors; it controls and approves most of the signals from the Back Brain. Our body is a precious instrument which connects our mind to the real world, but our Conscious Mind doesn’t know how to use it effectively, how to listen to it and how to control it. When we can achieve this, we will have undistorted view and concepts; we can better understand and may be find our place in this world and harmoniously connect Tao to reality through ourselves.
Conscious Mind has embedded-in filters to grade and judge the process. Some those filters have been given to us from the birth and other filters and concepts we are assume through our life. Those filters are important tools to establish safety, efficiency and perfection of the action, and suppose to be used for our benefits, but other filters, like acquired fear of failure, or fear of injury can stop the progress. Those filters interfere with reality and creating distorted signals based on which we create and operate new concepts. When we’ve been told to use imagination we trying to break those bad filters which holding us down. When we can’t break the board, those filters hold our motion. When we trying to visualize high jump, we actually jump higher, when we picture ourselves doing perfect technique, our technique getting better, when we feel the board is broken, it is broken even before we start move.
The most of the work to find the Way happens on the border between Conscious Mind and BB and it is possible to reach this state through only inner meditation, like Zen practices. The problem with this approach that you can easily fell to the state of delusions and convince yourself you are going in the right direction. To avoid wrong path you need to project your inner development outside and check it with reality. For example you can convince yourself that you have perfect technique and power, with which you can break thirty boards easily. The attempt to break real thirty boards will correct your filters and readjust your path, keeping you from chasing the mirages. Zen masters usually practice some external activities such as calligraphy or tea ceremony (chado –“the way of tea”) to keep in touch with reality. It is possible to develop unconsciously, like kids when they learn moves they don’t think about it, just follow the instructor. With this approach the person relying on his feelings to progress, or brain unconsciously will try to adjust the motion and postures trying to match the teacher. When this approach is obviously working and can get the person to the good level, the greater level can be achieved using conscious mind, which analyzes motions, names them, creates and organize those concepts. Having concepts will allow practitioner to understand and control improvement of that particular technique, look and apply those concepts in other techniques. Those concepts will help to improve practitioner and to develop and improve methodologies and methods teaching others students. It is very powerful tool and instrument, but concepts are not suppose to be fixed – just merely helpers to get to the next level and meant to be temporary support for the current stage. We have to open our mind to get to the next level - we need to overcome the static concepts which we already learned and which became roadblocks in our development holding from moving forward and into the right direction. In other words: every time you doing something – do it better or do it differently. It is painful and hard process to break familiar concepts and step out of comfort zone of it, but once you make it, you getting one step close to the real Tao and have a little less distortion in your views and operations.
Another practical side of the process when our Conscious Mind approves nervous signals from the Back Brain before process it to your muscles. Experiment on the correlation between electrical activity of the brain and movement (lifting a finger for example), reveals that the electrical activity precedes the movement by 200 milliseconds. It is proposed that the process of initiating a voluntary action occurs in a Back Brain, but that just before the action is taken, consciousness is recruited to approve or veto the action. In the 200 milliseconds before a finger is lifted, consciousness determines whether it moves or not. With state of “Empty Mind” we are moving our Conscious Mind from the way of the process to be less Controller and more an Observer. In that continues process when we consciously readjust our filters and concepts of Conscious Mind and teach back brain to get close and close to the real Tao.
Progress and Life
Legend says that Martial Arts was brought to Shaolin by Bodhidharma in 6th century AD and was given as an additional tool for self development. Practicing Martial Art as part of self development will allow practitioner to look deeper into himself, into the purpose of practicing and will set him to search for beauty and harmony of the one. Combat application and incredible amazing things, like breaking the boards, crazy kicks and ability to take down any opponents comes rather as compliments to your development – like flowers along the road. If practitioner goes with Tao, those great things will happen to him, but he would not seek for those things purposely. When student looking at Martial Art as a ultimate weapon, it will limit him to see the external side of it, and student would not be able to progress and realize it’s and his true power. In true masters we can see the calmness, humility, harmony, beauty and unbelievable power behind of them. For great Martial Artist who puts warrior at front of spirituality, we can admire his skills, but it would not make him a true master, neither brings happiness for him. This will set up such practitioner on the path to prove himself, his abilities, and his superiority to everyone else constantly draining him down and eventually he will lose to the better artist.
If we will look at Martial Art as self-development system, we can see the structure embedded into development of the student. When we start studying Martial Art we trying to follow the instructor unconsciously and operate with big bulky concepts given to us and which easy to understand. By the level of red belt we start to create own concepts and more consciously analyze our practice. When student reaches black belt he is required to teach other students and through that process can better formulate his own concepts, scrutinize and review his techniques and approach for training. Through that process student will better understand himself and the world around him, will force to have his mind open and to constantly have contact with reality. Student will have better feel of the “right” thing inside of him and outside in regular life.
Having better understating of the flow the person can reach the goals without efforts, and goals will be real ones which bring person the happiness and harmony. There are lot of example when people stretching to reach the goal, but when they get there they realize that it does not bring them happiness and chasing after other mirages trying to find it there. With Tao practitioner feels what is right and what is wrong, when to react, how much force and where to apply that force, would it be sparring, conversation, business meeting or choosing the career path.
Tang Soo Tao can help you find your way to feel and do what it is right, to enjoy and appreciate the life to the harmony, happiness and fulfillment.
