The 3rd Eye

Many people when they first start training give away where they are going to attack, before they even attack.  How, usually by intensely looking at their target.  Your leg, or stomach, or head, etc… they look first and then they attack.  But this gives your opponent more time to react, plan, block, and get out of the way.  In other words it makes your attacks less effective and in some cases even useless.

They are so busy looking at your body, that they could be missing the bigger picture.  My master ( Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim ) recommends looking at a spot on the forehead between the eyes (This is called the 3rd eye, or anjun).   Dr. Tae Yun Kim also recommends learning the technique of “looking softly, but seeing everywhere".  Normally when you look intently at something, all your focus goes there, and that is all you really see.  But if you learn to look at your opponent’s anjun, “looking softly”, and open your awareness at the same time, you can learn to see the person’s whole body, even though it looks like you are looking into their eyes.  You can be aware of there every movement.  It takes practice and time to be able to do this, but it will help you tremendously.  It is like driving to drive a car, and you want to look at the brake or the accelerator.  That would be silly, but the martial arts is very similar. 

Another big advantage, is you can see into their eyes, without looking into their eyes.  This allows you to keep your emotions from getting dominated, but you can see their emotions as they change.  Are they angry, or calm, or frustrated, etc…  Their eyes are the gateway into their mind and soul, so as you get better and better at this, you can tell a lot about your opponent as the fight continues.  You can prevent them from seeing into your mind, but you can penetrate into theirs.  This is a very advanced technique, and takes years to perfect, but why wait?  If you are serious about self-defense you should know about this, and start to practice right away.  It takes years to develop, and the more you practice the more you will see.   As you get better and better you can even jump to another level and see your opponent's energy.  But remember, if you don’t really practice, and seek to improve and discover, it won’t help you.  

Have a great day, and always strive to be the best you can be.  :) 

The Importance of Blocking

                In the martial arts and in most fight arts, when people are learning, their tendency is to focus on offense and attacking.  Usually people ignore defense and blocking.  But, Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim emphasizes that we need to focus on perfecting both offense and defense equally.  Think about this.  If you can block really good, then you don’t have to worry as much about getting hit.  Your confidence goes up, and you can control the situation better. 

Of course the best defense is to avoid dangerous situations all together.  But when that becomes impossible, it is good for you to know how to defend yourself and your loved ones.  I learned from my master (Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim) that when we learn martial arts, we should always use it only for self-defense, and to protect our loved ones.  And of course train in the martial arts for self-improvement, but never to bully others. 
            My master (Dr. Tae Yun Kim) emphasized to me that blocking is really about the redirection or reflection of energy.  If strong force is coming at you, you have several choices.  You can step out of the way, or you can redirect the energy so that the blow misses you, or you can use their energy to throw them off balance, or you can reflect it back to them.  Any of these can be very effective.  It comes down to a keen understanding of these concepts, your own capabilities, the size and weight of your opponent, and of distance and timing. 

As you get better at blocking, deflecting, and redirection, you can block and draw your opponent out.  You can make your opponent tired by playing with him.  You can give your opponent the feeling that you are less aggressive and they will attack you more, all the while, you are studying their strengths and weaknesses.  Then you can choose when you are ready to attack.  You can block and create openings.  You can learn to throw your opponent off balance.  You can frustrate your attacker by remaining calm, and deflecting their attacks.  You can confuse your attacker because their attacks don’t get through.  You will have the element of surprise.  You can plan your attacks and look for your openings.  But when the time is right to attack, give it all you have.  Attack with speed and forcefulness.  Ki-up loud and strong and surprise your opponent.  If possible put fear into them, and put them on the defensive.  Blocking will increase your control and confidence, and will increase your chances of successfully defending yourself.

                In the real world, when people are trying to attack you and really hurt you, a good defense, and good blocking techniques can turn into your offense.  You can block to deter, or injure, or break something.  The same motion that redirects a kick from your vitals can turn into an attack on their leg.  You can use your elbows to inflict pain to their toes, shin splints, knees, or pressure points.  It won’t take many of those to get them to stop kicking you.  

                One of the most important things is to train regularly to build up your energy, courage, endurance, awareness, technique, and a humble attitude.  Never use what you learn to bully or take advantage of people.  Use it only in self-defense.

Train hard, feel good, help others, and smile and be happy.  :)