Ethics of Taekwondo

By Sir Nathaniel 3X Rhine

As in all martial arts, ethics are of great importance. One can look at individual ethics, treat a fellow-man right, or one can look at social ethics, as part of a whole.

Ethics basically all comes down to one point, the difference between 'good' and 'evil'. When one views the practice Taekwondo, it is often seen as an aggressive martial art/sport, but does this mean that we can be aggressive? Do we want to be aggressive?

While training and/or competing protective equipment is worn, because we don't want our opponent to be injured, nor do we want to get injured ourselves. Taekwondo is not a destructive and aggressive martial art/sport, but a comprehensive one. As I see it, taking part in a competition is not to hurt your opponent. Rather, it is an opportunity to demonstrate your strength, skills, knowledge and techniques.

Taekwondo students can improve themselves physically and mentally by training hard and regularly. The final goal is to achieve harmony with nature and oneself, not to get a black belt, like so many people believe. Balance is gained by controlling both evil and good forces. A true student of Taekwondo knows how to behave in all situations.

Moreover, Taekwondo is more for than improving one’s skills of self defence, strength and many other positive things. Taekwondo is a way of life. Practicing Taekwondo gives the student more self-confidence, but this should not result in a false sense of superiority.

There is much more I wish to share with you. In future posts, I will go further into details of some of the points just mentioned. Thank you for your time and enjoy your training.