A number of years ago, a friend and I began discussing what worked with teenagers and what did not. His idea was to have a small group of kids, a small farm, a place to train them in martial arts, and a small staff to support them in mindfulness, self-care, and good health practices.
We talked off and on about this for several years. We both had backgrounds in social work, psychology, education, and such things. He had studied a particular martial art, Shim Gum Do ("mind sword path"), for a number of years and had become quite accomplished.
Most importantly, the art sprang from the experience of one Chang Sik Kim, a Zen master and brilliant swordsman from Korea who followed his teacher, the famous Seung Sahn, founder of the Kwan Um School of Zen. It would take a person far more knowedgable than myself to illustrate what differences and similarities there are between Kwan Um and Shim Gum Do. They are both Zen, both Korean. So they must have some things in common.
The significant difference is the highly extended and complex system of forms that each Shim Gum Do student begins to study. One form may take about 2 minutes to execute- be it sword, karate, long stick, short stick, or self defense- and each is a very syntactical sequence of blocks, flourishes, attacks, turns, and leaps that meet all points north, south, east, and west. A form takes at least 2 months to learn well enough to be tested on, but much, much longer to understand well.
Each is an effective defense. Each is a tai-chi like arrangment of energy. Each is a mantra, an object of meditation. This last part is called "mind-training". During meditation each student observes themselves practicing each form, usually in sequence. For advanced students, this is the only practical way to keep the dozens of forms in a state of clarity. It is also productive of significant cognitive and emotional benefits.
There are 15 forms in the first black belt. This is what my oldest son (age 12) tested on this weekend. It takes about 2-3 years to get that far. There are 33 levels of black belt in both sword and karate (known as shin boep).
The purpose of the test is two fold. One, of course, is to demonstrate a level of mastery. But this is clearly evaluated in the days before the test. It is highly unusual for anyone to fail a test. The reason being that no one who is unready is allowed to test in the first place. The second is to call up one of the great frustrations of mental life: why, for instance, am I sedate as an oyster while I practice at home, and edgy as hell when I am about to test?
The answer? My mind. There is no real difference, only the difference that I bring into it. One of the great contrasts that this sort of study calls up is between "test-mind" and "practice-mind". And of course, the test is itself an expression of a large, supportive, and diverse community, young and old, male and female.
(Let me make clear the limits of my understanding: I am a junior student, having studied Zen Sword for about 10 years. My experience in Buddhism is limited to my meditation practice, my martial art study, my private readings, my retreats, and the extraordinary intimacy of the teacher-student relationship in the Zen tradition.)
My son tested and did very well. The snow was piled up outside, and the air bitterly cold. Winter light was warmed by the great stained glass windows in the practice hall of the old church where Shim Gum Do has it main center and the furnace rattled through the big iron radiators. Afterwards we celebrated at a fine Korean BBQ place nearby.
We started our school because we felt that the experience of being a student is far more profound then most young people ever recognize and that a place that emphasizes Zen techniques of self-awareness, good food, community, agriculture, and the liberal arts would slowly get the strugglers and stragglers to take a long and gentle look at themselves while teaching them valuable skills.
Eventually, it evolved into a high school. There is more to write. Later for that.
