FIND A WAY

"First is victory over self . . . next is  victory over lesser men."

FIND A WAY TO WIN! 

 

This photo was taken at Supreme Grandmaster Chun's first taekwondo school in Youngstown. It was called MASTER CHUN KARATE (the name taekwondo was unknown in the USA, we practiced Korean Karate) and located at  3328 Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio.  This pic was taken the Monday after winning my first grand championship. I'm pictured here with my instructor, Supreme Grandmaster Chun Kae-bae, Grandmaster Charles Stepan and young Steven Willis, an amazing martial artist. 

 

This tournament took place 6 months AFTER I was injured and I could no longer kick. This was quite devastating considering that kicking with my front leg was my specialty. In fact my front leg kicking had been dubbed by Grandmaster Stepan, taste-the-toe, because you didn't see it, you just got smacked." 

About half of the students went to Canton for Grandmaster Kim Soon-ho's tournament, but I didn't go. I stayed behind to teach class. It was funny/strange because I told the other student's: "I'm not sure if I'll go later, but if I do I'll win."  I was never more certain of anything in my life. 

 

So I was cleaning up the school after class and Mr. Stepan (grandmaster Stepan) shows up and asks: "so do you want to go to Canton?"   I though for a moment, and than said, "Okay, lets do this!"

So I fought my way thru the eliminations pretty handily and then it was time for the grand championship fight. It was me against Tom Fetterly a student of Grandmaster Kim Il-kwan of Cincinnatti who was an amazing kicker. And me trying to FIND A WAY to fight without using my kicks. So when the fight is over I've won 2 to 1. BUT WAIT! There is a powwow at the front table and they come up with, "This is such a prestigious championship, it should go two rounds."  Master Stepan comes up to me and says: "they're doing it to you, they want a taekwondo kicker to win, nothing personal." In the second round I won 3-1.   Despite their best efforts, I WAS THE GRAND CHAMPION.
 

At the celebration dinner that night one of the Korean masters sitting at our table said, "he (Tom Fetterly) was a much better fighter than you." I responded: "Yes, but if I hit him on the head with a rock, he's still dead!" The master looked at me stunned. In Jidokwan we have a concept, NO CHOICE. Which means FIND A WAY, life is not a rehearsal!

The martial arts school is called dojung (dojo in Japanese) and should be a spiritual place. Sometimes called, "the death field", because day-after-day, in every class the student makes mistakes and "dies little deaths" over and over again. This as opposed to a the battle field where you may only die once. 

"First is victory over self, next is victory over lesser men," . . . . GoRinNoSho.  

 

In the studio each day we are learning to find a way to control the body, to find a way to make our emotions work for us, to find a way to defeat our opponent and ultimately to still the mind, called victory over self.  

The SPIRIT OF MUDO is the THE SPIRIT OF NOT BEING DEFEATED . . . of FINDING A WAY.  This does not mean we never lose, it means we are indomitable . . . UN-defeatable . . . because there is no quit . . . there is only find a way, or die trying.

The martial arts were not developed so that only elite jocks could defend themselves. They were developed so the weak and handicapped could protect themselves against stronger, better armed opponents. THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON IS in life there will be obstacles, find a way to survive, find a way to win, FIND A WAY! 

In the spirit of wisdom 

Childan Sam Naples