It was a marathon race event, somewhere in the hintherlands of Lagos, Nigeria. The crowd of participants was multitudinous. They came in all shapes and sizes. The fit, the not too fit and the totally unfit. They brandished all manner of documents postulating how qualified they were for this tasking event. The prizes promised by the sponsors were too alluring for even the economically stone hearted to ignore. At the sound of the starting gun, they all took off like world champions. To be or not to be. No retreat no surrender. Marathon races are not for the chicken hearted nor for the dreamers. Thousands are called, but even half way into the long ordeal (42.6km), only few will be in a possible physical, mental and psychological state to pronounce their fathers name correctly. One hour later and all the boys and most of the men have dropped out of the race. Only the real men with visions and missions continue the race. It is not the crowd that start the rumpus that matters, but the few that have the liver, doggedness and will power to keep moving on despite the tasking odds and destabilizing circumstances. That is the story of our life. That is the story of the martial arts. That is the story of the progressive hiccups of TAEKWONDO. Not the millions of practitioners worldwide, not the thousands of blackbelters, not the many instructors, Coaches and Referees that abound really know the story of the MARATHON RACE. Not many have the staying power to stay in the real path. The true martial arts Taekwondo. Not many will last. Most have thrown the real ethics and values overboard. They have become temporary sports practitioners. Wither they goest, they knowest not. Real lasting martial arts gusto, passion, fire and brimestone practice is dying. The real theories, the indepth seogi, makki, jeorugi, tchigi, tchirigi, tchagi, poomsae, hoshinsul, kyopa and then kyorugi practices are disappearing. Short cuts are the vogue now. It has become a mad ego tripping rush for medals and laurels, dans and certifications, and then retirement into disillusioned oblivion for most, and before you say Jack, the fountain dries up. The World Taekwondo Federation and the Kukkiwon should wake up to some real revitalization of the traditional electrifying technicalities of real Taekwondo side by side with the sporting development aspects. Kudos to the WTF, the Olympic movement and all the world wide promotional hype. Nevertheless the cosmetics is getting too bizzare and before we know it, nothing of the real traditionally hot and explosive Taekwondo we love so much will be left for the coming generation. Verily I say unto you, it be not the rush to start that matter, but be you prepared to make the long, tasking and selfless sacrifice to self mastery and self realization in your art. It is a MARATHON. The journey has just begun. ...GM(Dr) Osi Ferguson Oluigbo.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:06:39 +0000
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