The way I treat me

This post is motivated by things my friends and family have mentioned to me.

I treat myself very differently then I treat my friends and family. I treat myself "worse" then I treat them: I can seem rather self-deprecating. I don't view the tendency to judge myself more critically and harsher then I judge other people as bad. For one thing, I'm me and you're you. Kinda obvious I know, but still that is the chief difference. Anyway, I know what and why I do things, what my motivation is, and the circumstances I'm in and have been in. You, not so much. I judge myself more harshly because I know that I have a tendency towards being conceited, self centered, and rather diva-ish. I use this system of self-critiquing as a way to check these harmful attributes of my personality. However, I do recognize when I make a major accomplishment and when I have success, but I don't wallow in self-praise. This may seem odd towards our very ego centric western society, yet it works well for me. I always remember there is room for improvement and growth. I do not believe there is such a thing as perfection; however, we should strive towards improvement of self. This is a fairly common concept in Eastern belief and philosophy. I think this ability to critique myself and use that critique to strive towards improvement comes from my four years of martial arts training. Admittedly, I'm not the best of martial artist (I have a lot of room for improvement) yet I'd like to think that I've learned how to implement many of the concepts taught by my instructors and the art itself.

In Tang Soo Do (my martial art) we have 7 tenets:

1. Integrity
2. Concentration
3. Perseverance
4. Respect and Obedience
5. Self-Control
6. Humility
7. Indomitable Spirit

These 7 tenets mean this to me: Integrity - no matter what, I must remember that I have value and that people have placed value in me and that I must not disappoint them or myself, Concentration - I must focus on what I'm doing at that moment and it's outcome, Perseverance - ok, in the words of the Cobra Kai "never give up, never surrender," only applied to self improvement and improvement of technique etc, Respect and Obedience - there is always someone who is better then me at something, this means that in some way everyone is my superior; therefore, deserving respect I give obedience to those that are in leadership over me, Self-control - not smacking down that person that just really pissed me off, Humility - know that no matter how good I get I can always improve, Indomitable Spirit - always getting up and continuing to fight and improve no matter what.

We also have 14 attitude requirements. Most are very long so I'll include the three that most apply to this blog entry: 3 - All out effort: everything gets 100%, 8 - Do not be overly ambitious: basically don't try and learn black belt techniques at white belt, and 9 - Frequently inspect your own achievements: this shows where I can improve and where I have made progress.

Atop all 21 of our other core philosophical concepts are 5 codes:

1. Loyalty to country
2. Obedience to parents/ instructors and seniors
3. Honor friendship
4. No retreat in battle
5. In fighting choose with sense and honor

4 and 5 get interpreted a little more abstractly now; such as, being applied to school work and personal struggles as opposed to their literal definition.

I have been surrounded by these philosophical concepts for four years and had to study them and know what they mean and how they are applied to my life and my art. They have become an integral part of my character. If you ever wondered how people functioned without a god inscribing in stone what they should and shouldn't do, these 26 concepts are good evidence. There is no god punishing those who do not implement these concepts properly or rewarding them if they do. There is only the pride of their family and themselves. This is trained into us at my Dojang (Korean term for Karate school): we make our instructors proud, our families proud, and ourselves proud when we do right. We dishonor the afore mentioned people when we do bad. This shame principal is pretty much nonexistent in modern protestant cultures. I feel that this system is superior because it has immediate determinable results: someone shows they are displeased with some action now as opposed to some abstract future date. In the end, I'm different. I need to do different things to be a better person and improve myself.