Harmony Theory
The way of the martial artist is to strive to achieve harmony between his mind, his body and his Ki (energy) with his surroundings in all aspects of his life. When your mind is out of harmony, it is unable to effectively direct your actions. This typically happens when you are distracted or thinking about something other than what you are doing. When your body is not in harmony, you might know in your mind what you want to do, but have difficulty physically doing it. This often happens when learning a new skill. You may know what you want to do, but your body just won’t cooperate. And without bringing your Ki, your energy into harmony, the effectiveness of your actions is limited. This is akin to just “going through the motions.”
It’s important to remember that we are not only trying to keep these three elements in harmony with each other, but we’re trying to keep them in harmony with our surroundings, as well. It would not be appropriate to execute kicks in the middle of a history class or to throw someone in a business meeting! In those cases, you still want to bring those elements into harmony, but by taking action appropriate for the location and situation you’re in at the moment.
By achieving this level of harmony between yourself and the universe, you may also be able to avoid conflicts and never have the need to fight. In a situation where a conflict is unavoidable, however, rather than struggling against an opponent’s attack, it’s better to join with the force of his attack and redirect it to use his energy against him.
When all of these elements are in harmony, thought and action merge into a single purposeful act rather than having to take time to evaluate and then react. The Hapkido techniques become as fluid, continuous and instinctive as walking is. When you walk, you don’t have to think, “Pick up left foot, move it forward, set it down, shift your weight to that foot, then lift up the right foot,” and so on. You just walk. Hapkido techniques should be executed in the same way. The Woodcutter is an excellent story that explains this principle simply.
In Korean, the Harmony Theory is spelled 화 or 和, both of which are pronounced “Hwa.”
“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.”
– Marcus Aurelius
It’s important to remember that we are not only trying to keep these three elements in harmony with each other, but we’re trying to keep them in harmony with our surroundings, as well. It would not be appropriate to execute kicks in the middle of a history class or to throw someone in a business meeting! In those cases, you still want to bring those elements into harmony, but by taking action appropriate for the location and situation you’re in at the moment.
By achieving this level of harmony between yourself and the universe, you may also be able to avoid conflicts and never have the need to fight. In a situation where a conflict is unavoidable, however, rather than struggling against an opponent’s attack, it’s better to join with the force of his attack and redirect it to use his energy against him.
When all of these elements are in harmony, thought and action merge into a single purposeful act rather than having to take time to evaluate and then react. The Hapkido techniques become as fluid, continuous and instinctive as walking is. When you walk, you don’t have to think, “Pick up left foot, move it forward, set it down, shift your weight to that foot, then lift up the right foot,” and so on. You just walk. Hapkido techniques should be executed in the same way. The Woodcutter is an excellent story that explains this principle simply.
In Korean, the Harmony Theory is spelled 화 or 和, both of which are pronounced “Hwa.”
“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.”
– Marcus Aurelius
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