전통 사상의 구현 관점에서 바라 본 태권도 정신

Abstract

In the West, martial arts have traditionally been understood as the concept of fighting skills outside the spiritual realm under the frame of mind body dualism. In the East advocating the idea that body and mind are one, however, martial arts have not been considered bodily activities outside the spiritual realm and efforts have been made to melt spirit into martial arts. For example, in the phrase ‘Susin Jega Chiguk Pyeongcheonha’(修身 齊家 治國 平天下：discipline the own body, manage the family, govern the nation, and rule the world) in Daxue(大學), ‘Sin (身)’ does not simply means the physical body but is a person as the unity of body and mind. Furthermore, ‘Sin’ is the subject of personal discipline and, at the same time, the subject of social practice. In this sense, martial artists are demanded to have responsibility as a practical subject based on the right understanding of our traditional thoughts. Taekwondo, which is widely admitted as the Korean representative traditional martial art, is also imbued with Korean traditional thoughts, and taekwondo people’s responsibility for social practice is also expressed in diverse areas including education and international exchange. However, it is not easy to answer the questions of specifically how our traditional thoughts are fused into taekwondo and what similarities and differences taekwondo have in comparison with martial arts in neighboring countries such as China and Japan. It is because all the three countries belong to the same cultural region of Confucianism, and it is not easy to identify traditional thoughts melted in martial techniques or styles in each country. This study reviewed traditional thoughts fused into taekwondo and discussed attitudes that taekwondo people should assume based on the ideas that the body is a means to express spirits and one’s character can be cultivated through physical training. According to the results of this study, Kukkiwon’s explanation about ‘taekwondo spirit’ as a traditional thought melted in taekwondo was merely a list of words that are considered important in traditional thoughts. This is not helpful to establish the uniqueness of taekwondo, and can be an obstacle to the globalization of taekwondo. Accordingly, further in depth research is required on the spirit of taekwondo.