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The Warriors of Korea lived by an ancient code of honor. One that was taught from the day the child was old enough to learn . It has been written about in history books for centuries. One of the key components ingrained in the culture of Korea was described as choong-sung. A similar story from Japan is that of the Forty-seven Ronin. It is one of the most famous stories of choong-sung, familiar to many within the martial arts, and worth reading if you've never heard of it.
The translation and definition of choong-sung are very hard to put into western words, but put simply, it means "dedication to ones master, parents, and family, at any cost."
No matter how successful one becomes, how rich, how famous, how proficient at martial arts, they should always remember their roots. If you could look at your past life through a time machine, see all the lessons you learned, the decisions you made because of them, and how your life changed as a result, you would be amazed. Without those influences, your life might have turned out vastly different. A great example of this concept is explored in the movie The Butterfly Effect, starring Ashton Kutcher. This movie explains how one simple change can alter your entire existence. It is impossible to see from the present how a single lesson from our parents or teachers may benefit our life, or how missing that lesson could hurt us. This is reason for choong-sung.
A student always is indebted to their teacher, a debt you can never repay. Even in hard times, life-lessons are being taught to those individuals. Whenever you are mad at your parents or your teachers, lessons are being learned, in spite of the teacher or the student. Choong-sung is hard to understand and live by, and loyalty is a dying word. Never fall into the trap of forgetting from where you came from, and who helped you to achieve get where you are.
It is very easy to forget, and takes a great deal of strength to remember the reasons why you become who are. I had a student who trained with me for a very long time, he had a drinking problem initially when he started and his life was spinning out of control. I helped him stay focused, and by teaching him the martial arts, he gained the strength to never drink again. His life was changed forever - this student dedicated his time helping around the school doing construction, cleaning and many other appreciated tasks, and couldn't stay away. He went on to achieve his black belt, and run his own school. In fact, he even met his spouse at the school. Some years later, he decided he was being taken advantage of, and thought of all his time with me as wasted. Normally I would allow the person to slip away with out talking to them, hoping the lesson would eventually be recognized. This time I was not willing to do that.
When we spoke I asked if all of the benefits he had received over the years had disappeared? I wondered how he was looking back at the past only to see it as being a waste. After all, the very fact that he was making this decision from a clear heart and mind, having avoided alcoholism, possible death from drinking and driving, regained his health, learned so many valuable lessons, gained the respect of his peers, not to mention all the years of fun, excitement and camaraderie, was because of choong-sung. It is very easy to forget, but hard to remember, where we have come from, and those that helped us to achieve what we have. We live in a WIFM - society, "what’s in it for me" - what is in it for you is the lesson, the development, of one's spirit and life. This is another reason for choong-sung - undying dedication to the teacher, to your family, and even to those who hurt you. Sometimes our worst enemies can teach us the most profound lessons. For this we are even in debt to our enemies. From the message of choong-sung we learn compassion and empathy. I hope you understand this lesson, and use it to develop your choong-sung toward others.
©2010 Allie Alberigo
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