Practitioners: What Makes Us One?
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PRACTITIONERS: What makes Us One?
[2006-02-24 Phil Duncan]
While we typically associate being a pracitioner with the act of physical training, does it not also apply equally to the those who embrace and embody our philosophy in their lives and their example, whether they are physically training or not?
I observe that our art has an opportunity to better embrace those who cannot physically train in a dojang REGARDLESS of why they are not active on the floor. (work, personal schedule, finances, personal challenges, distance to instructor, differences with the only local instructor, physical inability, etc.)
The reality is that MANY physically active practitioners become non-training former members. This fact is evidenced in the drop out rate of students.
While operating several dojangs, I suspect (strongly) that I was often guilty of unintentionally creating a sense of alienation or provoking a feeling of "less than" in those members and/or former members who could not train --or who chose to cease training-- physically in one of my dojangs. Perhaps I was compelled toward that attitude and behavior by my own personal fear of "losing students" and/or the practical "need" for students to continue training and financially support my dojangs with their tuition. Perhaps that "negative motivational technique" was my way of seeking to control the behavior of my students and get them to continue training. Today, I realize that I missed the opportunity to creatively consider all the other ways those non-training students could still be valuable "practitioners" and possibly still support my dojangs even though they were not active on the floor. As a result of my limited perceptions and lack of creativiity in this area, I missed the opportunity to guide them in ways that they could continue to constructively contribute to the art andmy dojangs even though they were not training in them.
As time passed, certain events in my life sensitized me to the inner struggle that we encounter when we are unable to be a "physical" practitioner in the capacity we may have previously been accustomed to. Over time, I came to understand that finishing what we start, requires flexibility in our thinking, and compassion in our internal perceptions about our own abilities and contributions.
I began seriously contemplating this aspect of our art's philosophy at age 25 when my father passed away in 1983. In 1992 I became even more sensitized to this issue when my wife Jean (a Sam Dan) began working with senior citizens in a local nursing home. She created a special program for them called Golden Years Soo Bahk Do. THAT was a whole other education in seeing the future lying in wait for us all... and in seeing unrealized mission opportunities that our art had yet to seize. Her work in that environment reminded me that while we may get to choose the path we follow, our destination was chosen for us before we took our first step.
While I acknowledge that there are many circumstances other than age that can contribute to a student being inactive and ceasing their training at a dojang, (physical disabilities, loss of interest, time conflicts, finances, personal challenges, etc.) one certain reality for every practitioner is that in time we will not be able to physically perform and/or be as active as we once were.
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Sa Bom Nim Del Sordo owner of Hwang Soo Bahk Do can testify that many |
Conversely, practitioners who have previously been very physically active and then encounter activity restrictions (schedule, disabilities, etc.) that limit their physical training face the mental challenge of "positively re-thinking" their internal perception of their now limited physical training and/or abilities.
Even when physical disability is not the cause of a student ceasing their physical training, the internal perception challenge they face is very similar. I observe that we do not currently teach coping skills for this mental challenge to our students - perhaps for fear that we might be helping students to build excuses to quit training in our dojangs? The facts are that students quit training anyway and if we did teach them such coping skills, the only difference would be how they feel about "coming around" after they are no longer physically training in the dojang. I know many former students (and I bet you do, too) who have said to me, "I don't come around the dojang because I feel bad that I am not training in the dojang." Hmmmmmm.......
Certainly, age is no excuse for not training, in fact Jean's 1st student in the nursing home was Mr. Brian Risinger Gup ID 048464 who was 94. He is pictured below with some of Jean's other students in the Golden Years Soo Bahk Do club.
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Brian Risinger (center with white cap) and Douglas Rogers 80 (white cap far right) along with other members of Jean's Golden Year's |
Mr. Peter Orth, Dan 40788 age 79 also tells a marvelous story about his training here.
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. James Barry Gup ID 057565 displays an insightful attitude about aging at age 76. |
When life circumstances descend upon us that cause our physical training to diminish significantly or cease altogether, whether as the result of an injury, an illness, failing health, age, or just a lack of motivation; how we frame our situation in our mind will have a tremendous impact upon the reality we continue to live in and the contributions or support we continue to give to the art - or not.
Unfortunately, I observe that our art currently has plenty of guidelines and philosophy for encouraging members to participate in the physical activities related to our art and to be active in dojangs and other events or activities; however, we have an immense vacuum of useful guidance for practitioners about how to understand and still perceive themselves as legitimate practitioners even when they no longer train in a dojang or when they are unable to (or choose not to) engage in the physical activities that we all closely associate with being a practitioner.
Do universities "disavow" their students because they graduate and no longer attend classes? No, in fact former members of universities are very often significant supporters and financial contributors even though they may never set foot in a classroom after they have departed from the university. Can we learn something from this? Do we "look down" upon those who have completed a certain level of education and then choose to not to pursue a higher level of education? No, we don't. Then why would we do so with a student who has chosen to exit their education in Soo Bahk Do at a certain rank level? How does disparaging an inactive or non-training member or characterizing them as a "non-practitioner" contribute to our mission objectives?
Our art has the opportunity to create educational information that helps practitioners to better understand the TWO essential dimensions of being a "practitioner." Dimension 1 being physical of course, and dimension 2 encompassing all ways a person can be a practitioner other than physical. (being exemplary of our values, sharing scholarly insight about our art in written works, mentoring a fellow member - or anyone, being consultant to current members in professional areas of expertise other than Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan, etc.) We are the carpenters of our Federation and only we can make it the kind warm and comfortable home all practitioners can enjoy -- training and non-training, active and inactive.
Toward that end, articles, stories and guidance for inactive former members, Alumni members and/or aging practitioners need to be created from a source within our art and ultimately disseminated and worked into our organizational consciousness (via consistent newsletter presence, inclusion in training manuals, etc.)
Expanding our art's capacity for compassion and using our creativity to discover ways in which non-training practitioners can contribute to our art's future would be a high statement of our commitment to our mission. It would also be an important step toward the Kwan Jang Nim objective of "embracing all practitioners throughout their entire lifetime Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan career" --- whether they can be physically active or not. Is the warmth of a fire once felt, to be limited only to those near it now? Or shouldn't those who once basked in its glow be encouraged to take just as much pride in recalling their experience by the fire -- no matter how brief -- and actively sharing their story of its warmth with others?
The reality is that most practitioners cease physical training and that every practitioner will ultimately face the challenge of being unable to perform physical feats. When that occurs, how do they feel about it? How do they deal with their new reality? I have read much about these same challenges in the lives of professional football players whose career is typically over at 40, but who have a lot of life left to live. The one physical activity that drove their life pursuits until that time becomes something they can no longer do. Their own success can make it an even more devastating transition for them. Much of the psychology applied to helping professional athletes transition their lives from football players into their next career might be applicable to helping our practitioners transition from being dimension 1 practitioners into being dimension 2 practitioners (all ways other than physical, former members, non-training members, etc.)
I have observed that both dimensions of practitioners have tremendous opportunities to contribute to our art. I further observe that all of our art's practitioners will forever age and lose physical ability just as surely as students leave their dojangs. Does that mean either of these non-training practitioners should feel "less than" about themselves. Should inactive or aging practitioners feel "less than" as they mature in their career and transition from being a dimension 1 practitioner into being a dimension 2 practitioner? No, and we have the opportunity to diffuse that kind of thought.
Should the ebb and flow of life that brings waves of new students into dojangs and takes waves of current students out of dojangs cause us to cast a negative characterization upon a non-training practitioner who may still hold our art's philosophy in high regard even though inactive? Should the natural life transition of a practitioner aging weaken a practitioner's feeling of "connectedness" to our art? Should either of these practitioners willingness to contribute to our art be diminished because of some "conditioned" negative mindset that may have been inadvertently programmed into them during their physical training career and now that they are not-training physically provokes feelings of "less than" in them? Is such a legacy strengthening our foundation or weaking it? Is it in keeping with our mission?
Are we missing an opportunity to look deeper into our future --and into our mission -- and to better develop and prepare dimension 1 practitioners during their inevitable journey toward dimension 2? I observe that we are and I observe that we miss that opportunity almost completely because we ourselves are so consumed with being dimension 1 practitioners. In our obsession with our physical activity of the moment while healthy and capable, we fail to pause and look thoughtfully into the future when we shall become dimension 2 practitioners whether we like it or not. This became very apparent to me in the year of my father's death. "Where There Is Preparation."
If we as practitioners can pause a moment to look into our future, we might be able to craft some meaningful guidance for all practitioners who will follow us. Perhaps our guidance would be beneficial in shaping their understanding and acceptance of our art as being equally suitable for dimension 2 and dimension 1 practitioners. Perhaps we can better honor our past and create our future if we just pause long enough to contemplate how we can do so. Our goal of strengthening our foundation would certainly be supported by enlisting the support of as many as possible rather than alienating or provoking feelings of "less than" simply because they are not physically training.
There will always be more former members of the Federation who are not physically training than there will be current members who are physically training. As of 2006 Headquarters database has about 113,000 member records in it. Only 6,500 of those are physically training as dimension 1 practitioners. Imagine the contributions to our art and the strengthening of our foundation that could occur if we could creatively embrace the other 106,500 dimension 2 practitioners and somehow enlist their support, or rather NOT LOSE the support they are already demonstrating as active students, just because they leave the dojang and are no longer on the floor. How can we "transform" their existing support as a "practitioner" so that it can continue even though they are not training in a dojang? I observe most non-training students have fond memories of their experience and may be inclined to support the art in ways other than merely with their physical performance in a dojang.
Inactive former members and Alumni members are dimension 2 practitioners (all ways other than physical) and when we acknowledge them as such, the possibilities become infinite for embracing them and engaging them in our mission pursuit and our efforts toward the President's Vision for our art's future... or shall our lack of creativity or our mental rigidity one day leave us pondering a very troubling question about a haircut alone in the dark of night?
Any educational information or creative ideas spawned along these lines would potentially be extremely valuable for helping recruit the support of non-training former members and Alumni members who may have been inadvertently "conditioned" by the culture of our art to feel "less than" because they can no longer step out on a dojang floor - regardless of why they cannot do so - or choose not to do so. Why would non-training students avoid us and say things like, "I don't come around the dojang because I feel bad that I am not training in the dojang?" Why would they feel bad about coming around -- unless somehow they had been conditioned to feel bad when they were not training in their dojang? Where does that kind of negative thought come from -- except from our treatment of each other while we are physically training together? Are we able to change that negative attitude about non-training practitioners so they would be more inclined to come around, to stay connected even in their inactivity and to support as a non-training practitioner? If so, how? When you think about it, its really a challenge of creating loyalty in practitioners isn't it? What must we change in order to create a loyalty so strong that our non-training members will still come around, stay connected, and continue contributing to the art as dimension 2 practitioners even when they are not training in a dojang? Hmmmmmm...
If we could successfully educate ourselves and non-training practitioner about how they can still be legitimate dimension 2 Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan "practitioners" and serve as an example of our art whether or not they can be on a dojang floor, then their feeling of acceptance by the art could be enhanced; an "embracing feeling" to quote the Kwan Jang Nim. Would not this be an example of improved human relations; our mission in action?
Consider this, if 106,500 non-training, former practitioners have negative feelings because they are not physically training in a dojang and only 6,500 current practitioners (today) have positive feelings -- what mission in human relations are we really accomplishing? What legacy are we leaving behind? Have we damaged relationships with 106,500 who now avoid us simply because being around us compels them to feel bad about not training physically?
Every practitioner is on a journey to dimension 2 whether or not we are contemplating it right now. How will we feel when we arrive there?
Somewhere among our art's 6,500 physically active dimension 1 practitioners or somewhere among our art's 106,500 non-training dimension 2 practitioners, there must be one or two who can craft the words that can help all dimension 1 practitioners prepare for our own future as dimension 2 practitioners by sharing creative ways and means for us to manage our own transition and understand how we can continue our contributions to the art whether we are on a dojang floor or not.
I trust that when such words are eventually crafted, they will also reveal that compassion for, and the embracing of, former members, non-training practitioners and Alumni as dimension 2 practitioners is not a weakness, rather it is a strength within us waiting to be realized. Imagine that!
"Impossibility is only the figment of an insufficient imagination."
Phil Duncan
2006