정신 소리지르
Ki Hap: More than just a yell
Kwan Jhang Nim Charles Ferraro
Reprinted from Mi Guk Kwan Kwan News - Volume #7 / Issue #5 - Spring 2002
The Korean word Ki Hap means to concentrate or focus the life force. You may have heard Ki Hap referred to as a "spirited shout". The spirit shout is, in fact, an important tool for learning to develop Ki Hap, but like so many aspects of modern day training the outward physical trappings of Ki Hap practice have become confused with the internal function itself by those who don’t have a clue as to what a Ki Hap is. The fact is, Tang Soo Do masters are capable of focusing their spirit through their weapons (hands and feet) without shouting. Some masters are capable of projecting and focusing the life force without even moving, much less shouting.
There is an old Okinawan story about a 19th century martial arts master who was challenged to a duel by another karate adept. They met at dawn in a field outside the village where they lived. Each man expected a fight to the death. As the master approached the field, the other man readied himself and assumed his fighting stance. The master, however, approached the scene standing relaxed with his hands at his sides. As the master came within fighting range, the challenger suddenly felt ill, and his knees nearly buckled. He quickly excused himself for a moment and sat down to regain his composure. After several minutes, the master asked him if he was ready to get on with it. The man decided that he was and got up to take his stance, but as soon as he looked into the master’s calm face and firm gaze, he felt ill again and had to sit to keep from falling. "Sir, I withdraw my challenge and apologize", he said. "I can see I am no match for you, and fighting would surely cost me my life."
This story may sound far fetched but when the Ki Hap is developed to its purest and highest form it is much more than a yell, rather it is a force capable of completely crushing an enemy without throwing as much as a single blow.
I have personally sparred with partners who were technically superior to me, but I could sense that they had inferior Ki Hap development and I was able through my will to dominate them and to render them totally helpless. Early in my martial arts career I have also been on the other side of the stick when I knew I was facing an opponent who had superior Ki Hap development and he was able to dominate me as easily as I did others later on.
In order to develop your Ki Hap you must work on the following attributes:
You must find your heart
You must develop an understanding of your Tangien (area two inches below the navel.
You should develop your "breath power" (control).
You should develop your "spiritual focus".
You should practice your hyung seriously.
Finding your heart means developing a specific mental attitude. In Tang Soo Do we refer to this attitude as "indomitable spirit", and it simply means to refuse to accept defeat. Of course, refusing to back down from a challenge or threat isn’t easy. We are accustomed to going through life avoiding conflicts, and seeking the path of least resistance. Always looking for the easy way. But sometimes you simply just have to fight, either figuratively or literally. Having heart is something we all have within us. We simply have to dig down deep and drag it out. Severe training and extremely hard challenges can serve as tools for developing this quality. But, no tool will work unless the student truly commits to conquering the challenge. He / She must throw their entire spirit into the effort. Survival isn’t enough; he/ she must triumph!
In order to develop a strong sense of Ki Hap, you must find your own heart. Make never giving up a habit. Always attack a challenge; never avoid or simply endure it. This is true whether you are facing a live opponent or a gut wrenching personal challenge.
Understanding your tangien (one point) is an essential ingredient in Ki Hap development. This is a spot that is located approximately 3 inches below your navel. This point is the physical center of our bodies. We tend to associate intuition and strong emotion with our gut. We’ve all felt fear, shock and grief gnawing there. Who hasn’t had a strong gut feeling about something or someone.
By focusing attention on their abdomens, Tang Soo Do practitioners are better able to tune out conscious thought, thereby freeing their minds to recognize the sensations produced by very subtle physical and emotional changes in their opponents. There is nothing mystical about this ability, it is a natural extension of a Tang Soo Doist’s ability to read his opponents. In order to fully develop an understanding of your tangien your must develop the following 3 attributes:
Learn to maintain your one point.
You must learn to relax.
You must learn to sink your awareness (weight) to its lowest point.
Maintaining your one point means putting strength in your lower abdomen and generate power for all your techniques from there. All movement must come from your one point.
It is important to learn how to relax. Learning to relax is harder than it sounds. Stress from everyday activities accumulates in our bodies, eroding our sense of tangien. Relaxation at key points in each technique aides the speed and flexibility that is necessary for generating true power.
Finally learning to sink your weight to the lower part of your body is extremely important in developing your understanding of your tangien. When you can maintain your one point and keep yourself relaxed your will get a sense of your weight sinking to the tangien. You will feel rooted but agile. You will feel powerful, yet calm. Any fluid naturally settles to the lowest point in a container. Your body is mostly water, and when relaxed, the weight of all parts of your body will naturally settle to their underside. In this state, you are very stable and therefore, very rooted and powerful.
Development of "Breath Power" (control) involves using your breathing to coordinate the contraction of your muscles so you can use your physical strength most effectively. Breath control works with understanding of the tangien to provide the Tang Soo Do practitioner with extraordinary strength. To develop breath control, relax and breathe deeply into the abdomen, not the chest.
There are two important rules for breathing in combat:
Never empty your lungs completely. Breath is strength; always maintain a reservoir of it.
Don’t puff or snort. In sparring or combat don’t expose your rhythm to your opponent. Don’t let you opponent get your timing. Keep your breathing silent.
Developing Spiritual Focus is yet another element in Ki Hap cultivation. This is the glue that holds all the other facets together. It is the focus that literally defines the Ki Hap’s "focused life force". It is "spiritual focus" that directs the Tang Soo Do practitioner’s mind during conflict, giving him or her the tactical advantage over a less refined fighter. It is his/ her spiritual focus that fuses the Tang Soo Do practitioner’s will. In order to develop the attribute of spiritual focus one must focus their entire being in achieving their objective. This level of commitment must be physical, as well as, mental. For a Tang Soo Doist that means putting every bit of speed and every ounce of strength possible into each strike.
For the Tang Soo Do practitioner spiritual focus is a critical ingredient of the Ki Hap. It is the focus that concentrates Ki, the energy produced by the life force. Also important in the cultivation of spiritual focus is the "spirit shout" or the actual yell that accompanies the Ki Hap. A pathetic trait in many modern dojangs is the feeble, patronizing grunts that students pass of as spirited shouts.
The spirit shout is one of the most valuable tools for developing spiritual focus and subsequently Ki Hap. A well trained Tang Soo Doist will explode with a deafening roar at the crucial point of focus, the point of impact with his/ her target. The shout will erupt from their abdomen, and it will help them to focus that simultaneous burst from all their muscles, essential for generating the crushing force they desire. The spirit shout is a tool. It is an audible device the Tang Soo Doist uses to coordinate and focus his physical, mental and spiritual energies.
Finally, in order to properly develop strong spiritual focus practitioners must develop their eye focus. Practitioners who understand the use of the Ki Hap will keep their gaze large. They will rest their gaze on the portal of their opponent’s spirit, their eyes. As for the mechanic of vision, you can still see your opponent’s feet while pointing your eyes at his, and with your spirit focused, you can tell a feint from a real attack even before he starts it. So keep your gaze broad. Your face and eyes must be relaxed but firmly committed. If you go into battle truly committed to die for the opportunity to kill your enemy his spirit will read it in your eyes and he will be crushed. This is the essence of spiritual focus and the heart of the Ki Hap.
Serious Hyung Practice is the purest form of Ki Hap training. I am not referring to flashy competition forms. I am talking about good old fashion, traditional and classical hyung training. Proper hyung training provides a vehicle for practicing all the essential elements for developing Ki Hap. It emphasizes the proper stances and correct movements that build proper understanding of the tangien. A qualified instructor will always stress moving from your one point, relaxing at key points and lowering your center of gravity. Breathing in hyung always centers in the tangien. It is properly coordinated with techniques. Therefore, breath control grows with each time your practice. But most importantly, hyungs is absolutely the best exercise for developing focus. It emphasizes coordinating and focusing physical energy in each technique and teaches the student to concentrate his mental energy and focus it into the physical movements. Properly disciplined traditional hyung training even conditions the practitioner to commit and focus his or her spirit through commanding the directions in which he points his eyes.
If you want to develop a strong sense of Ki Hap, if you want to learn to destroy attackers utterly and completely, if you want to defeat an enemy with a single glance, you’ll practice hyung with utmost seriousness. Through many years of arduous hyung practice the seasoned martial artist arrives at the understanding that the Ki Hap is much more than a yell but until you arrive at this point I would suggest you continue to yell as loud and spirited as you can.
Power Control - Him Jo Jeol. (Him Joe Juul)
