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Master's Father Teaches Class: Day One
07/02/07
Master's Father Teaches Class: Day One
From Joanne:
* * *
(That quote, by the way, is not at all related to the rest of this post.)
Tonight's class was awesome. Master is at a training session, so his father is teaching three classes. Most of the time his father was very quiet and calm, watching more than lecturing or teaching, but he did do three things I found very interesting.
First, he spoke to us using the -sumnida form. That's the respectful form you use with people you don't know well, generally people older or of a higher status. I found it interesting that he used it with us when all of us are so much younger (and lower ranked) than him.
Second, he taught all of the black belts 일려 (Ilyeo, not sure of the Korean spelling), the highest black belt form. The ninth degree black belt form. Why he did this, I have no idea. But I stood there thinking, "I am so grateful that Master had me test, I am so grateful I have the opportunity to learn this." It's a fascinating form for a few reasons. First, it's in the shape of a Buddhist swastika. Second, it favors one side of the body over the other. It's not as symmetrical as I'm used to.
Third, he called me over and worked on Koryeo one on one with me. We gave me some good advice but also a lot of praise. I am glad he gave me some praise, because I was working hard to make that uniform snap. Again, for some of the moves I learned yet another (that's a third way in as many months) way to do some of the moves.
Moreover, the way this man carries himself... He just exudes this calm energy. Good Man taught me the Korean word for that trait: 기가 느껴지다.
I am looking forward to the next two days of class!
4 comments
It's not too surprising to me that your Taekwondo instructor used the -sumnida form. It's actually what we call "formal speech style." You may be thinking of the honorific speech style (-seyo), as in "annyeong haseyo" 안녕 하세요. This is the speech style used with people you don't know or who are older than you. The formal speech style, on the other hand, is used in very formal situations such as at an interview, in the office, in the police, and in the army.
Respectfully,
David
Usually Master (this man's son) uses -yo or banmal (yo with me, sometimes we switch to banmal when we're drinking together, but we're the same age). Whenever I've worked with Master's Brother, he's used -yo. When I temporarily trained at another studio....it was all -yo. So I am surprised.
John, generally speaking there are 8 color belt forms and 10 gups (color bel/pre-black belt levels). Most schools (WTF) teach Taeguek series, but some may also teach the older Palgwe series. There are 8 official forms and schools come up with something for the other two gups. There is one form for each dan rank, so 9 dan forms. So that's 17 forms, but many people may know more. I went to one school that taught both WTF and ITF forms....
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