Let's take a step back-Taekwondo as a mental exercise.

[ETinCYQX]

Let's try and remember that all of us are here for one reason-our love of taekwondo and our search for knowledge. When I really think about it, it occurs to me that some of my exchanges have been...less than productive towards that goal.

I am just as likely, if not more so, to start arguments, so this thread is for my benefit too. Here's to a new year in Taekwondo.

Anyway, so this isn't an empty thread...

Lately, I've started doing yoga. I did this mainly as rehab on my knee-the place I go to practices in a 105 degree room (roughly 41 celsius) and the heat let me run through the ROM of my knee much easier and safer. I've found this incredibly valuable, as well, as a mental exercise and a psychological reset switch, and it got me thinking. What about using Taekwondo the same way?

So lately I've been choosing one poomsae and practicing it three or four times. Always one I know well, so it's less about learning and more about engaging in the practice, and always one I like. Taeguek 7 is out . Pyongwon in particular is my favorite. I do a quick warmup, more to get myself into a Taekwondo mindset than any physical reason, and a quick cool down when I'm done to go back to the day. I tend to get frustrated occasionally and this often gives me a new perspective and a better sense of what's really important. I find I don't always get this while sparring honestly.

How about you guys?

 

[rlobrecht]

Lately, I've started doing yoga. I did this mainly as rehab on my knee-the place I go to practices in a 105 degree room (roughly 41 celsius) and the heat let me run through the ROM of my knee much easier and safer.

Our school's master was doing a hot yoga for a while (I think he said it was 115F) for flexibility. He said after a session of hot yoga, he's way more flexible than after a normal stretching session. He suggested I do the same, but couldn't afford the time or money for it. My office has free yoga (not hot, since there's no shower facilities) during lunch. I was going, but got too busy, and got out of the habit. I should start making myself go again.

 

[ETinCYQX]

The heat really reduces chances of injury. One of my other sports is powerlifting and hot yoga is the only reason I can work on my squat on Monday morning and still be on the mat the next day.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

To me it is a mental exercise but for altogether different reasons than you've mentioned.

Everyone has accepted that there are other people who are more (blank): more intelligent, more attractive, more athletic, etc. You get older, settled with your job and spouse, and tend to forget about that. I joined TKD and found that like in other sports as a kid, I am more natural than some, and less natural than others.

So I find it an exercise in humility and self acceptance, when talking with those less adept, and those more adept, respectively. And hence it is an opportunity for personal growth.

 

[zDom]

Why only three or four times?

 

[StudentCarl]

I figure mind, body, and spirit are all connected. I think it's important to have quiet 1:1 time with my TKD too. The time that I'm away from seniors, peers, and juniors is often when my light bulb switches on and I make a connection I'd missed before. I slow down more on my own, literally moving in slow motion and/or breaking movements into parts and looking at them in new (for me) ways.

What you ask also carries alongside it the question of Taekwondo as an exercise of spirit (not 'spiritual', but 'spirit'). Not to hijack, but it's interesting to consider.