“Dae ryun is not fighting, nor the conquering of
others. Rather dae ryun is an advanced, sublimating
form of training with mind, body and spirit together.
Training mind, body, and spirit with a partner is the
true definition of dae ryun.”
others. Rather dae ryun is an advanced, sublimating
form of training with mind, body and spirit together.
Training mind, body, and spirit with a partner is the
true definition of dae ryun.”
- Jae Chul Shin
While no
discussion of a Black Belt Curriculum should be without a section on the
concepts of dae ryun, it is important
here to recognize that Grandmaster Shin has already written a comprehensive and
definitive work on the subject. To
attempt to rewrite what he has already done is redundant, and this author shall
not attempt to do so. Instead, I direct
anyone who is developing a martial arts curriculum, even one specifically
geared towards black belts, to read Traditional
Tang Soo Do Volume III: The Dae Ryun by Grandmaster Jae C. Shin. Concepts and ideas I will only touch on here
are presented in greater detail in this work, and it is one I cannot recommend
strongly enough to instructors of Tang Soo Do.
With that said, I do feel that there are some Advanced and Basic
Concepts that we can safely examine within the scope of this thesis. For our purposes, this chapter is meant to be
inclusive of all the various forms of dae
ryun, including ja yu dae ryun (free
sparring), il soo sik (one steps),
and ho sin sul (self defense), but
will focus primarily on the idea of dae
ryun itself, rather than the techniques which comprise it.
Step
1: Identify an Advanced Concept
While we have established in our
previous chapter that falling is
fighting, dae ryun most assuredly is not. This may seem counterintuitive, and to some readers may even be
viewed as false or contradictory. The
truth is, that while the practice of dae
ryun will surely provide one with the skills needed to fight, fighting
itself is not dae ryun. Whereas the goal
of a fight is to win, by escape or by domination of the opponent, the goal of dae ryun is a free exchange of technique
between partners. In a fight, the
welfare and success of one’s adversary is secondary to one’s goal. In dae
ryun, the welfare and successes of one’s partner are of paramount
importance, for free exchange cannot exist without them. Dae
Ryun is a process by which we come to know ourselves, and by which we can
learn to know others. In the movie The
Matrix Reloaded, the character Seraph says, “You do not truly know someone
until you fight them.” I maintain that
this is true, if we phrase it slightly differently: “You do not truly know
someone until you engage in dae ryun
with them.” This is actually a statement
that is derivative of Sun Tzu’s classic work, Sun Tzu Bing Fa, or at is commonly known to the English-speaking
world, The Art of War. Sun Tzu said:
Know
yourself and know your enemy.
You
will be safe in every battle.
You
may know yourself but know the enemy.
You
will then lose one battle for every one you win.
You
may not know yourself or the enemy.
You
will then lose every battle.[i]
While dae ryun is not truly a battle, and
one’s partner is not an enemy, we can nonetheless use these ideas to
extrapolate our Advanced Concept:
Dae ryun is a path towards
truly knowing oneself, truly knowing others, and allowing others to truly know
you.
Step
2: Uncover Basic Concepts
If we accept this premise as our
Advanced Concept, how can we even begin to deconstruct it to the point at which
it becomes a drill for our black belts?
The journey towards knowing oneself is an incredibly difficult concept,
even in the attempt to express. It is the basis for many branches of philosophy
and religion, and the answers cannot be found by merely engaging in a martial
arts exercise, can they? I do not
pretend that I can fully answer that question.
I do maintain that dae ryun
can provide one path towards self-knowledge.
It is up to the instructor to show students the path. It is ultimately their own decision whether
or not they choose to walk it. Rather than attempting to explain how dae ryun leads to ultimate knowledge of
the self and others, then, we will
instead examine how instructors can reveal the path.
If we accept that dae ryun provides a way to help us find
this path, we must start by examining ourselves. No one would deny that people come in various
types, whether this is physical differences, gender differences, or differences
in personality and personal ideology. If
dae ryun helps all of these different
types of people to know themselves and each other, then we can begin to
extrapolate our first Basic Concept:
There are different types of dae
ryun that correspond to different types of people.
Our exact method for clarifying and
classifying these different types of dae
ryun does not matter, nor do the labels used. Classifying them in some way is important though, in order to help
our students towards realization of the Advanced Concept, even if we go into
this process knowing that the classifications we use are, ultimately,
artificial. I suggest that each instructor find a classification system that
works best for him or her. Here we will
classify the different types of dae ryun
into four elemental styles. This classification system uses the
classical Greek elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air, rather the five
classical Asian elements, but the Asian elements could be used as well. This
system is not a new one, and most likely traces its roots to Miyamoto Musashi’s
classic text, A Book of Five Rings,
in which the first four rings match the Greek elements. However, it was probably the animated
television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender,
which best introduced most of the modern western world to this idea. In doing so, it helps instructors convey some
very difficult ideas to a younger generation of black belts. The different styles of dae ryun, then, are:
Earth
Earth is mostly
patient, solid, rooted, and defensive. When it does attack, it waits for the
right opportunity, then attempts to land one massive strike with maximum speed,
force, and effect. When one thinks of Earth as a style of dae ryun, one must envision a rock.
Ideally, trying to attack someone using this style should be like trying
to hit a rock with one’s bare hands. The defender merely absorbs the energy
directed at him, while the attacker is more likely to injure himself than he is
to affect the rock-like defender. When
Earth is used as a form of attack, the defender should, ideally, feel as if he
is trying to withstand the force of a landslide. Earth’s attacks are not easy to predict, as
they come infrequently, and are difficult to avoid because they come with great
speed and intensity.
Fire
Fire is mostly quick,
aggressive, unrelenting, and offensive.
Fire rarely takes a defensive position, but when it does, it is not in
the classic sense. While Fire may block
or evade, it is always looking for the next opportunity to attack. When one thinks of Fire as a style of dae ryun, one must envision, obviously,
flame. Ideally, when one attempts to
attack Fire, one gets burned. The attack
itself is of little concern to the defender who uses Fire, and he will attempt
to strike the attacker multiple times in response. When Fire is used as a form of attack, which
is almost always, it relies on an aggregate effect, rather than attempting to
land one specific strike. Fire’s attacks
may be more predictable than other styles in some ways, but they are so quick
and constant that they will often find their intended target anyway.
Water
Water is mostly
adaptable, flowing, changing, and balanced in terms of offensive and defensive
techniques. When one thinks of Water as
a style of dae ryun, one must
envision water in all its forms, whether filling a container, surrounding a
sinking object, falling from the sky or pounding the shoreline. It is both the raindrop and the storm; both
the puddle and the tsunami. When one
attacks Water, one should have the sensation of being surrounded and
immobilized, a feeling akin to floating, sinking, or drowning, depending on the
intent of the Water stylist. When
attacked by Water, one may be pelted by a thousand raindrops, or assaulted by
one enormous wave. Water’s attacks are
always changing in number, intensity and focus. Bruce Lee was a proponent of
this style, and his quote regarding this became famous: “Be water, my friend.”[ii]
Air
Air is mostly evasive,
intangible, elusive, and enveloping.
While it is often mistakenly classified as almost purely defensive, it
is actually a relatively balanced style in terms of offense and defense. When one thinks of Air as a style of dae ryun, one should envision not only
the air we breathe and pass through every day, but also the hurricane and the
tornado. When one attacks Air, one
should feel as if the defender is not even there; that their attacks are never
able to reach their targets, and that attack itself is useless. When air attacks, it attacks quickly, and may
be either penetrating and forceful or enveloping and neutralizing.
Undoubtedly, most people will
identify with one style more than the other three. Instructors should encourage students to
explore this, but should actively encourage more advanced students to try using
all styles, rather than limiting themselves to one. In the end, they begin to
learn that while they are reliant on one style, pieces of the others will be
present as well. They will learn that:
While people may predominantly use one style of dae ryun, all styles are always present.
Step
3: Understand, Apply & Improvise
When they grasp for Understanding,
students are initially trying to find one style that best suits them as
individuals. Once this style is found,
they will be encouraged to explore other styles as well. They will begin to see that they actually
engage in a blend of all styles at some point, and that no style can truly be
separated from the others. In other
words, “it’s all the same.” When this
level of Understanding is reached, they will begin to identify the styles of dae ryun that fit others’ personalities,
body types, and ideologies. In so doing,
they will begin to know others even before engaging in dae ryun with them, and will be able to form certain expectations
when they do. When they can match a
predominant style with a particular body type, combined with personality
traits, they will begin to understand why certain techniques work better form
them than others, and will begin to identify how to use one style in both
opposition and complement to another.
As students learn to identify these
styles in themselves and others, they must also learn to effectively use them
in dae ryun. They will learn which styles are best used to
counter others, and in this process, will begin to adapt their own style based
on the actions of their partners. This
is Application. When students can
quickly identify another’s style, know what works to counter that style, and
know intuitively how to shift from one style to another, they are starting to
move from Application towards Improvisation.
At the Improvisation stage, students
should not only know when to shift from one style to another, but should also
attempt to create new styles by combining the characteristic features of two or
more styles. Thus they will uncover new
concepts, and will move closer towards synthesis, the Ideal Concept, and
nature. For example, a student may
attempt to combine Earth and Fire and create a new style known as Lava. Combining Earth and Water may result in Mud,
or Quicksand. Combining Earth and Air
will create Dust, or Sandstorm. Fire and
Water will create Steam. Fire and Air
will create Smoke. Air and Water will
create Mist, or Storm.[iii] Combining three or more elements will
continue to yield new styles and new concepts with new characteristics, and
combining all elements together into a cohesive union will perhaps yield
Spirit, which is sometimes identified as Musashi’s fifth ring, and the fifth
element in Japanese culture, although the fifth ring is just as often
translated as the Void, or even as Nothing.
Since synthesis cannot yield nothing, I prefer the notion of Spirit, but
in truth, I feel that:
The
union of all styles results in the Ideal style of dae ryun: Nature.
Dae
Ryun: Conclusions
While the casual reader may feel
that the above analysis is meant to cover only ja yu dae ryun, or free sparring, it is actually meant to encompass
all forms of dae ryun, including
semi-free sparring, one-step, two-step, and three-step sparring (pre-arranged
sparring), group sparring, tournament sparring, and ho sin sul (self defense).
For a more in depth discussion of each of these classifications, refer
to Traditional Tang Soo Do Volume III:
The Dae Ryun, by Grandmaster Jae Chul Shin, pages 5-7. Ultimately, while the elemental
classifications and their resultant combinations and syntheses work for me as
an instructor, it is up to every individual instructor to identify their own
system of classification and instruction. It is not the classifications
themselves that matter, but the concepts:
1.
Dae ryun is a path towards truly knowing
oneself, truly knowing others, and allowing others to truly know you.
2.
There are
different types of dae ryun that
correspond to different types of people.
3.
While people may
predominantly use one style of dae ryun,
all styles are always present.
4.
The union of all styles
results in the Ideal style of dae ryun: Nature.
Kick. Punch. Easy Stuff.
Kick. Punch. Easy Stuff.
[i] Sun-tzu.
(6th cent. BC) [Sun Tzu Bing
Fa, English] The Art of War Plus The
Ancient Chinese Revealed Seattle, WA: translated by Gary Gagliardi, p.41
[ii] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee
[iii] http://spoken-khatru.blogspot.com/2011/05/earth-air-water-fire.html,
http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Combination_rune
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