REAL EMOTIONAL CONTENT

Henry’s Corner October 2011 (1)

Dear Friends

Real emotional content! Can anyone guess who uttered this line in which movie? ………. It was Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. Whatever criticism we can make about the quality of the acting in his films there is no doubt that Bruce Lee was a special individual and his skills in martial arts were extraordinary. Sorry, my friends, but I am sure you can agree that it is difficult to write regularly on the topic of martial arts without at least once dwelling on this individual and his enormous contributions to the popularisation and propagation of our discipline.

Unfortunately, due to various factors such as the need for commercial appeal, return on the investment made and lack of funding, the art got buried in commerce in Bruce Lee’s movies. He was avant-garde in his approach, a pioneer and an innovator. He had an intellectual and unbiased attitude to martial arts that transcended all boundaries and was both entirely practical and philosophical. Even though the cinematic qualities of his films were low grade they maintained an element of realism by not resorting to the fantastic and unbelievable stunts of “Kung Fu flicks.” At least Bruce Lee’s tales were underpinned by some moral and theory behind the techniques. Gee, I feel like a movie critic now!

There are two lines in Enter the Dragon which have remained in my memory. The first one is what I mentioned above and the second was “Power is the value that makes all other values possible.” This second line was said by, not surprisingly, Han, who was the bad guy. This statement did not stay in my memory because it was in any way palatable but because it represented the extremely pragmatic view of an amoral person who sought dominance over others rather than harmonious co-existence. It succinctly expressed the naked ambitions of a person whose beliefs are the very antithesis of what a true martial artist should hold in his or her heart. What an apt statement from the bad guy!

Needless to say, I am not intending to focus on Han’s view of life today but what Bruce Lee said to his protégé in the beginning of this film. Real emotional content! For those of you who haven’t seen the film, this took place in the beginning at what was supposed to be the Shaolin Temple. Bruce Lee was instructing a student and suggesting that he allow his emotional content to propel his kick rather than let it be a purely mechanical movement or let anger be the driving force.

In one of my previous contributions, I asked if you ever wondered what drives that kick and punch, whether you have ever considered the emotional content of all the moves you make in a dojang.

Let us consider the anatomy of a kick or punch. The dissection reveals two different seemingly opposing parts, the physical and the emotional, which in fact complement each other and interact as parts of a dynamic system. Here you are finding the concept of yin and yang operating within a single martial art technique.

When a technique has the proper mechanical components, that is, if the physical execution has been carried out with the correct stance, angle, coordination, etc., maximum force will be achieved. Correct? Of course not! What really propels the technique to achieve maximum effect is the emotional content of the practitioner.

The correct physical execution of a technique will result in a quantifiable and calculable amount of force. It is the emotional content which provides the impetus that propels that kick or punch to achieve far greater force beyond the mechanics of the move.

Then, what is this emotional content? It is the raw energy derived from the focus which is achieved by the clear objective we have in mind. I do not mean the objective of simply executing a proper technique so we can break that board or tile, but the more profound raison d’etre of a martial artist, the tenets that we uphold, the belief system which gives us our identity as Taekwon-Do practitioners.

Let us draw an analogy to sales. When I train sales consultants, I always remind them that purchasing decisions are not ultimately based on rational reasons but emotions. Utilising product knowledge and convincing clients of the benefit of a product or service is simply the basic mechanical step, which undoubtedly has to be handled well, but if you do not get them emotionally involved in your offerings you will not close the sale. The ultimate objective of this process is for the client, the company and sales consultant to all win.

Likewise in Taekwon-Do, the mechanics of the technique is the skeletal component, but the flesh and blood is the emotional content. It is when the practitioners are practicing with the spirit of the art, the emotional content, in mind that they are able to execute the techniques with much greater effect and relish the noble pursuit of building a better world.

Do you remember this aphorism? “It is all in the mind!”