Totally Tae Kwon Do

This month's issue of Totally Tae Kwon Do (Issue #28) features my contribution "Saju Jjireugi and Saju Makgi: A Techno-Philosophical Exploration" (p. 13-15) based on a blog post I wrote in April.

Another interesting read, I think, is Master Doug Cook's essay "Preserving Tradition" (p. 17-20). In it he argues the value of tradition in a time when everything has become diluted, mostly due to the extreme emphasis in sport. This reminded me of the discussions I had in South Africa with some instructors about the unhealthy emphasis on the sport aspect of Taekwon-Do these days. While I'm definitely not for keeping tradition just for the sake of tradition, I admit that there is value in it and that an over emphasis on sport comes at a price, as I've argued before.

The article "Reality Check: Edged Weapons" (p. 23-26) by Jon Mackey is indeed a reality check and concerns the brutally violent and deadly knife culture that is prevalent in Ireland and around the world. I have not written much about knife defence on this blog, but SA-ITF members may be aware that we have discussed this topic on the eSAITF email-forum in the past.

I'm yet to read all the other contributions in this issue, but am sure there will be food for thought in them too.