A diagram illustrating the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

Whilst Vygotsky’s ideas typically refer to cognitive development and the effective acquisition of new knowledge, there is also space for the theory to be explored with regards to physical development in martial arts training.

In Kuk Sool, the main vehicle for knowledge acquisition is physical training; even the deeper philosophical ideas such as the Theory of YOU-WON-HWA and exploration of Korean traditions are first presented through how we conduct our movements in traditional forms and self-defence techniques, for example. Whilst Kuk Sool’s curriculum encompasses an immensely diverse scope of ideas and skills, physical training sits at the forefront of it all, and so developing your physical ability is an integral part of progressing in your Kuk Sool journey.

When instructing, be it a whole class or just a small group of students, Vygotsky’s ZPD can be implemented to promote the development of students’ physical ability, thus rendering your teaching practice effective to the development of your students.

In many aspects of martial arts training, students benefit from having greater muscle flexibility, and kicking drills are a great place to develop this. Vygotsky’s ZPD can be implemented here to aid the development of students’ flexibility when kicking, through the use of pads or targets which provide students with a goal – something to aim for when kicking. The holder of the pad is also the holder of responsibility in recognising and utilising the student’s ZPD to aid their development. When holding a pad or target for a student to aim at, the holder can gauge the student’s comfort zone (i.e. the height they can comfortably kick to) through some initial diagnostic kicks, and – from here – the holder can begin to get a feel for the student’s ZPD and begin to push them into it.

The significance of the ZPD comes in two parts: the fact that it is outside of the student’s comfort zone, and the fact that it is achievable. For reasons already alluded to, practising outside of the comfort zone promotes development and progress in whatever is being worked toward. The fact that the ZPD has a top end though is significant and must not be overlooked, because pushing a student beyond their ZPD with unrealistic or unachievable goals in short timeframes can serve as a demotivator and cause frustration, which could in turn negatively affect the student and their development. It is important that students are still able to succeed, in order to stay motivated and to want to progress and develop further. Vygotsky’s ZPD recognises this and thus serves to push students at a steady and realistic pace to allow them to progress.

A more traditional manifestation of Vygotsky’s ZPD in Kuk Sool Won is in the learning and teaching of traditional forms. Consider a newly promoted yellow belt, for example. It’s their first class after promoting, and the instructor asks you to get them started on Cho Geup Hyung (초급형). If you just show them the first move and have them repeating that for 10 minutes, they won’t progress; you’re keeping them inside their comfort zone. Conversely, if you show them the entire form, they’ll be overwhelmed; you’ve pushed them too far and provided a cognitive overload. A sensible way to go about the task of introducing the yellow belt to their new form would be to start off just with the first few moves and to scaffold up through part 1 – maybe going only little or no further than the double palm strikes, depending on how the student seems to be getting on. If they’re getting through it with ease, then take them a bit further; but if they’re struggling to remember what you’ve shown them, you may have given them too much to think about and extended them beyond their ZPD. You must find a balance here to allow the student to effectively learn and progress.

In Kuk Sool, everyone can be responsible for each other’s progression – pushing each other and recognising each other’s strengths and areas for development. Vygotsky’s ZPD provides an excellent framework for effectively supporting each other’s learning and skills development in martial arts. So, next time you’re training with a partner, see if you can recognise their ZPD, and try to push them into it. In Kuk Sool, everyone can be an instructor, and everyone can learn something new – so try it out.

Bibliography

Vygotsky, L. (1980). Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.

In Kuk Sool, as with most martial arts, we learn not only how to counter-attack as a form of self-defence, but we also learn how to effectively absorb or redirect oncoming forces should they be unavoidable. This can come in the form of redirecting or blocking strikes from an attacker, or – more obscurely – protecting ourselves from the impact of a fall should this be unavoidable, whether this be in a self-defence situation or in an every day occurrence where we may lose our balance.

A key element of Kuk Sool, taught right from beginner level, is Nahk Bup (낙법), or falling principles. Nahk Bup are essentially set ways of exiting a fall which prevent injury and protect the body – both inside and out. This is accomplished through the dissipation of the energy and force of impact, protecting our vital organs when we fall or are knocked over.

Nahk Bup may be divided into two basic categories:

• Hard Falls;
• Soft Falls.

Examples of hard falls include front breakfall / ahp nahk bup (앞낙법), back breakfall / dee nahk bup (뒤낙법), side breakfall / yuhp nahk bup (옆낙법), and front-side breakfall / ahp yuhp nahk bup (앞옆낙법). With hard falls, the technique works to use parts of the body to absorb impact without causing major damage. Some key principles of hard falls which aim to achieve this are keeping the chin tucked to the chest to avoid head injury, and hitting the ground hard with the arms in order to dissipate the energy of the impact force and divert this away from vital organs. We must also ki-hap (기합) before impact to strengthen and protect our insides.

Examples of soft falls include cartwheels / poong chah (풍차), and the rolling breakfall / hoe juhn nahk bup (회전낙법). These seek to redirect the energy of a fall, avoiding a force-on-force collision and utilising Kuk Sool’s philosophy of YOU-WON-HWA.

Through practising nahk bup repeatedly over time, we do not only prepare ourselves for the eventuality taking a fall and landing safely, but we are also conditioning our body to better withstand strikes and other impact forces. Repeated practise of nahk bup strengthens our internal organs, and tones connective tissues such as tendons and ligaments – in effect, tightening the body.

Repeated nahk bup practise also conditions the mind, allowing the body to respond reflexively to falling situations, and subsequently allowing you to subconsciously adopt a safe falling position when needed – reducing cognitive load and allowing you to stay present in what is happening around you. This is especially useful in a self defence situation, as your unfazed awareness of the situation will be advantageous in better allowing you to formulate a plan of how to respond to the situation and protect yourself from danger.

For your movements and techniques to be effective and efficient in Kuk Sool, you must apply the underlying theory of YOU-WON-HWA, which translates into English to mean Flowing-Circle-Harmony. When practised correctly, these three elements embody what Kuk Sool is all about and provide foundation for its application. In order to practise properly and truly apply the theory of YOU-WON-HWA to your training, you must first develop an understanding of the three key elements.

The Theory of YOU

YOU refers to the idea of flowing, like water. Water always flows downhill and is guided by natural forces exerted upon it. It doesn’t fight the forces to which is subjected, nor any objects or obstacles it may encounter – it merely follows the flow and goes around anything in its way. If water encounters an obstacle too large to go around, it remains patient, collecting until its rising level allows it to flow over or around it. Water is also very adaptive and dynamic by nature – it has no shape and can adapt to any situation or environment it is subject to, whilst in many senses staying the same. Water symbolises many things: adaptability, softness, and – at the same time – great force.

In Kuk Sool, huge emphasis is placed on flow in our movements. In traditional forms, our movements flow as water does. There are no start-stop movements but rather we are in constant motion. In self-defence techniques, we utilise flow and redirection of forces to use our opponent’s force against themselves, instead of meeting force with force. When we are pushed, we pull; when we are pulled, we push. We flow, just like water.

The Theory of WON

WON refers to a circle – a perfect geometric figure. A circle has no sharp vertices and no straight edges; it is one constant, flowing edge which smoothly curves around to create a loop. Everyone has their own personal circle which they seek to protect. Perhaps this is your own personal space; the family and friends to whom you are most loyal; your moral values; your most prized possessions. The list goes on. Kuk Sa Nim says that the best form of self-defence is to remove yourself from the situation of danger, and this can be extended in thinking about defending our personal circle. It is only necessary to defend against attacks which intrude on our personal circle. There is no need to defend against an attack which falls short of this, as to do so would be a waste of effort or energy and could actually be perceived as an act of offence rather than defence – potentially creating unnecessary trouble.

If an attack does enter our personal circle, we should not meet the opponent’s force with our own. Instead, the theory of YOU should be applied in conjunction with WON to meet the offending strike with a flowing, circular defensive motion. If this is a physical strike, this refers to a literal flowing, circular block which seeks to redirect an opponent’s force against themselves. If the attack is not physical, resolve should be sought through constructive means. Instead of meeting an opponent’s negativity with further opposing negativity, you should instead attempt to redirect the negative energy to constructive conversations in order to achieve resolve and restore order.

The Theory of HWA

HWA refers to harmony – having our mind and body act as one, which is a central pillar to martial arts training. In Kuk Sool, when we learn a new technique, we often feel that our mind has learnt, but our body has not. We practise new techniques countless times and over long periods of time in order to unify our mind and body and to embed the technique into our second nature. Once mind and body unify and we are in harmony with new techniques, we develop the ability to perform them almost without thinking – our mind and body just naturally know what to do when it is needed. In a self-defence situation, this is advantageous as thinking time becomes negligible and we can pounce into action without having to actively decide what to do. Our mind and body work harmoniously to our advantage.

We are at our best when we are at harmony with our environment. A sailor does best when they are at one with the sea; a swimmer does best when they are at one with the water; a martial artist does best when they are at one with themselves. To be at one with yourself, you must find harmony in your family and in society. The concept of Eum-Yang (known more commonly by its Chinese name, Yin-Yang) features heavily within Korean culture – so much so that it is the centrepiece to the flag of South Korea. This is the idea of the harmonious co-existence of naturally opposing forces as a single entity: good and bad; man and woman; day and night. All exist to allow for the other to exist, and would not exist without each other. They exist in harmony, as a martial artist should with themselves, and as their body should with the mind.

The Taegeuk symbol from the flag of South Korea, representing the “great duality” of Eum (negative, in blue) and Yang (positive, in red).

The manifestation of the Theory of YOU-WON-HWA is that as flowing water seeks to be in harmony with its surroundings, adapting effortlessly to external influences, we should also maintain harmony within our personal circle and redirect any disturbances with equal magnitude to the force which they introduce.

Bibliography

Suh, In Hyuk (1993). Kuk Sool Won Traditional Korean Martial Art Textbook Volume 1. Magnolia, Texas: World Kuk Sool Association. pp. 98-99.

For most, the first further aspect of training which gets exposure is the importance of good etiquette and respect. These are key principles in Kuk Sool, and most other martial arts for that matter. They really are the most important things to the point that they are the first thing that appear on every grading sheet in Kuk Sool – even for senior black belt gradings. It is upon this realisation that you begin to see that martial arts training is just as much about your attitude and mindset as it is your physical ability.

When you progress a bit further into your martial arts training, you may begin to hear people talking about the “black belt mindset”. But what is this? To those unversed in martial arts, a black belt may be a piece of fabric which represents the ability to beat someone up. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Although, yes, the person wearing the black belt may posses the skill to do this, the black belt shows that they won’t. In the words of Miyamoto Musashi, “The ultimate aim of martial arts is not having to use them”. This is a part of the black belt mindset, and among a whole host of things, I think this is one of the most key parts. But what else is there?

In martial arts, the phrase “mind, body, spirit” is thrown around a lot, but not many people dissect this to see what it is actually referring to. When you get to thinking about it, it’s not actually too hard to see what this means. Through martial arts training, your mind, body and spirit should work in harmony, and you should be able to take and adapt almost any aspect of what you will learn within martial arts to anything in life, martial arts related or not. A good example of this came to me in our recent “basic principles” class. JDKJN Martin (our school owner and seventh degree black belt) talked about how in Kuk Sool, our techniques work in a flowing, circular motion (See You-Won-Hwa). While this is true, it is within the black-belt mindset and the martial arts spirit to seek a deeper, allegorical meaning in this.

For me, it is apparent that this particular example can be applied to every day life, with almost anything that is thrown at you. Almost everyone has inconveniences and negative happenings thrown their way on a daily basis. Instead of meeting these head on, force-on-force, we should seek to redirect the energy from these events to solving them harmoniously and peacefully, and dealing with other things. In doing this, we are allowing ourselves to grow and develop as martial artists and as people. We should not waste energy on something which is trying to hurt us or distract us from our own progression and development. We should redirect such things and spend our own energy as well as the energy from these negative happenings on better things, which are more worth our time and effort.

There are many examples of concepts and principles in martial arts which we can see to have a deeper, allegorical, philosophical meaning which can be applied in our every day lives to make us better people. To me, this is what the martial arts spirit is about; this is the black-belt mentality; and this is why we train in Martial Arts. We don’t learn to kick and punch and to beat people up; we learn to improve ourselves and to make the world a better place.

There is so much more to martial arts than what you may see now and this applies to everyone, from complete starters to the highest ranking masters in the world. There’s always a new take on something you’ve done for years, and there’s always something more for you to discover on your martial arts journey. When you reach the peak of one mountain, a magnificent view of the other mountains yet to be climbed is revealed. The journey never stops and there is always more to be explored.

Every three months in Kuk Sool, we progress to our next grade at colour-belt level. Whether this is a full belt or just a stripe, it signifies progress and achievement, but what does it mean in terms of your training? I like to think of a new under-black-belt promotion as a new chapter to the book that is your Kuk Sool Won journey.

When you begin training, you begin writing the first chapter of your Kuk Sool Won journey. You don’t entirely know what you’re doing, where you’re going or what it’s leading to. You require a lot of guidance to get you going. It’s easily the hardest part.

Then your first promotion comes around and you get your yellow stripe. Although you’re still very much a beginner, you begin to get a feel for what’s going on, who everyone is and what is happening. You begin to find your feet, and you gain a little more fluency in writing your Kuk Sool journey.

At each stage, you gain more, you discover more, and you improve. You gain confidence, new skills, and new abilities both mentally and physically. You grow as a martial artist, and this often reflects in who you are as a person in everyday life too. You become a better person. At every stage and every promotion, more depth and outcome become evident in your Kuk Sool journey, and you are responsible for it all. After all, you are the one writing the book.

Through the coloured belt stages of Kuk Sool Won, it is often easy to focus on what’s next in the Kuk Sool journey. For many though, it is not until they reach black belt that they see the most important revelation of the Kuk Sool journey: it’s not THE Kuk Sool Won journey, it’s YOUR Kuk Sool Won journey. There’s no definitive pathway. Everybody has a different starting point, and so the Kuk Sool Won journey is not simply a linear path that everyone takes. It’s filled with ups and downs, and it has many depths to it which vary immensely on an individual basis. Ultimately, it’s about reflection and looking back as much as it is about looking forward for what is next, just as it would be if you were writing a book.

My instructor, and seventh degree black belt, JDKJN Martin Ducker repeatedly tells us to train in a mirror, saying that we will learn more from our reflection than we ever will from another instructor. Whilst he may be talking about a literal reflection in a mirror, I like include reflection on our past selves in this too. By reflecting and reviewing our Kuk Sool journey so far, we can see what we are proud of in ourselves, what we’ve achieved and what our next steps and goals really need to be.

A promotion brings a perfect time reflect on your journey so far, so what will your next chapter in Kuk Sool Won be about?

Don’t let the shiny uniforms and masters or instructors sat at the front faze you. If you’re training right, a grading is just another class.

A few months ago, I took part in my first grading toward Pu Sa Bum Nim (third degree black belt), having not graded since my promotion to Kyo Sa Nim (second degree black belt) in June 2015. You may expect that I would have been nervous for my first grading in four years, but I wasn’t, and this is just down to my perception of what a grading is.

Many see a grading as the day of judgement; the day for you to impress the instructors; the day for you to shine out above everyone else; the day of pass or fail. In my eyes though, while you do want to impress the instructors, a grading is for your own self-improvement more than anything else. It’s for you to see where you’re at, for you to see what you need to do next, and for you to be YOUR best, not THE best.

Of course, the instructors and masters are looking to see if you’re where you should be and what you can do well, but they’re not looking for you to have every detail nailed flawlessly. They’re looking to see if your standard of training is in fitting with your rank level, they’re looking to see that you’re giving it your best effort, and they’re looking for that indominable Kuk Sool Won spirit.

A grading is a time to reflect on your progress over the past three months and to see what your next steps are. A grading isn’t a time for fear, a grading is a time for confidence in your ability and pride in your effort. A grading is just another class.

Over the years of training Kuk Sool Won, you will be faced with many magic moments: moments of realisation that you can; moments of inspiration; moments that stick in your head for the rest of your life. Everyone has these “moments”, but everyone’s are different and unique respectively.

For myself, I have had many moments in Kuk Sool, the most prominent of which being the moment of realisation that I could jump high. It may seem like a small thing, but to me this moment was huge and certainly one that will always stick in my head. I was in the coloured belt kids’ class, probably a blue belt and about 6 years old. We were doing our kicks and Master Martin – our school owner – was encouraging us to jump high when we changed stances. When we were doing this, he pointed out that I was able to jump significantly higher than anyone else, and from that moment on people referred to the jumping change as the “Shay change”. That was my magic moment in Kuk Sool, and it still has an impact on my training today. That moment made me see that actually there was something that I was good at, and over the years that has stuck in my head as motivation to continue working on that aspect of my training. As a result I am now able to do jump kicks quite high, all because of the motivation from my “moment” as a blue belt all those years ago.

This is just one of my moments, however I personally have lots of them, all of which have combined to give me passion and purpose and are still having a positive impact on my training to this day. Everyone has moments throughout training Kuk Sool and they come in all shapes and sizes and all have different impacts on you and your training.

JDKJN Martin says that one of his “moments” is the very first time he broke a board. He says “it just felt so good”. No doubt, this “moment” had a similar effect on him than mine had on me, and this moment in combination with all of the other moments he has had throughout his Kuk Sool journey have come together to ignite his passion and keep him going and wanting more from Kuk Sool.

What were your magic moments, and how have they impacted your training? Let us know in the comments section below this post.

Last year (2015), I promoted to the rank of second degree black belt (Kyo Sa Nim), after five years of practising as a first degree black belt (Jo Kyo Nim). What is the difference between these two ranks though?

To many martial artists, there is no immediately obvious difference between the two ranks other than the time put in and the experience taken out. This is completely valid, as the differences do in fact come as part of the journey rather than the reward; the reward being the promotion, title, and recognition from others. To refine the aforementioned evaluation of the difference between the two ranks, someone who has achieved both ranks may argue that the difference stems more from what this time is spent doing, and what these experiences are.

When I promoted to Jo Kyo Nim, I found that I had done so by doing only what was required of me by the syllabus and nothing more. I showed up to class 5 minutes before it started, I followed instructions, I went through the movements, and I left at the end. At the next lesson, I would repeat the same thing. This continued to be the case for about a year after my promotion to Jo Kyo Nim also, however I then began to change. I started coming to class over an hour early in order to get some practice before everyone else arrived and I helped out with the class before mine. This eventually led to my participation in the Junior Leadership Programme which involved both theory work which was to be done as homework over time, and practical work which involved getting over seventy hours of experience assisting classes completed and recorded in my log book. Not only did completion of this give me a certificate, it also gave me experience that turned me from someone who struggled performing, even in groups, to someone who can confidently stand at the front and take a class.

Also after promoting to Jo Kyo Nim I became a part of the black belt club, a program for those wishing to take their training further and go the extra mile. This allowed me to improve my training even further and allowed me to discover aspects of Kuk Sool which I’d never come across before, such as archery, accupressure, and the philosophical side of the art. Joining the black belt club also inspired me to start training at home and work on improving myself as a martial artist by bettering my knowledge of Kuk Sool all around by researching the art in my spare time both with books and the internet. Doing this allowed me to gain more of an understanding of certain concepts surrounding Kuk Sool and contributed towards pushing me forward as a martial artist and helping me improve.

Also, after three years of being Jo Kyo Nim, I took part in my first tournament. From this tournament I got a copper medal in the self-defence techniques category. Although I only won one medal I feel that I gained a lot more from the tournament than it seems I did. Most of this in the form of experience and improved training. On the build up to the tournament, my standard of training was raised and this never went back down again after. It remained higher and kept going up.

As a Kyo Sa Nim however, I feel that I have not done anything new apart from learning new material. So what have I done? I’ve improved upon what I already did. My instructing has become 10x better than it was when I was a Jo Kyo Nim, as has my confidence in other areas, such as performing in front of people and partaking in demonstrations. The material I learned as a Jo Kyo Nim and even as a coloured belt has all been improved upon and has become more refined and technical, also. So if I had to sum up the difference between being Jo Kyo Nim and Kyo Sa Nim in a few words, I would say this:

Jo Kyo Nim is about trying new things, pushing your training the extra mile and becoming more serious about Kuk Sool. Kyo Sa Nim is not about doing new things but about refining the things you already do and making them better.