Breathing from the Center of the US Master Jeong-hwan Choi Kouksundo

There is a saying: Losing money is to lose little, losing reputation is to lose much. But in losing health, one loses everything. In the modern society where the belief that money can fix and buy everything is rampant, people all too often realize that money isnt the panacea only after they have cost their health in their struggles to obtain money. As theres even a saying Guard your health while you are healthy, health has been a crucial, and timeless topic to humans. As such, in order to guard our precious health, people have often utilized many means such as exercise, mental training, food, or dietary supplements. As peoples physique or personality differs from one another, everyones secret to good health is probably different. This month, we meet Master Jeonghwan Choi (41), who is working on his PhD in Human Resource Development, and hear about guarding our health through Koursundo, and the Leadership that he is studying with interest. Our newspaper has readers of various nationalities, so there may be quite a few who have heard the name Kouksundo for the first time. First of all, is Kouksundo a form of martial art like Taekkyeon or Taekwondo? Or is it more like yoga?

Kouksundo (Sundo, Bark-Dol-Beop, Chung-Gak-Do) is a holistic self-development practice system which aims to develop the ultimate physical-strength, the ultimate mental-power, and the ultimate spiritual-enlightenment. According to Chung San Guh Sa (Chung San), who came down from the mountains of Korea to spread Kouk Sun Do in 1967, Kouk Sun Do was originally developed over 9700 years or so ago in the present-day Korea. At the time both the martial and the healing arts were taught, until a decision was made to promote only the healing aspect of the arts. The core feature of Kouksundo practice is the deep abdominal energy center breathing known as Danjeon (Dol-dan, lower part of the abdomen) Breathing (or hypogastric breathing) which enables the practitioners to breathe in the universal life energy, Ki, into the body. Through practice, the practitioners are able to gradually accumulate the Ki in the Danjeon, and learn how to circulate the Ki throughout the 365 Ki channels in the body. This is achieved through DanjeonHaenggong, which unifies the three Danjeons of our body: Jung (lower Danjeon), Ki (upper Danjeon), and Shin (middle Danjeon). Danjeon-Haenggong is abdominal breathing with special postures and meditation resulting in the simultaneous training of the body, mind, and spirit. It is the way to become the unity of you and me, of heaven, earth and man, and of all things. It seems then Kouksundo focuses on the importance of breathing. Why is breathing so important?

Respiration, specifically, has a relationship with the health of the mind and the body. First, there are expressions that the mind is fleeting, scattered, and gathers. When one calmly concentrates and breathes soundly, the mind becomes stable and gathered, letting it focus on what needs to be done. Second, when one breathes deeply and soundly, especially with the Danjeon, it aids in smooth circulation of vitality through powerful contraction and expansion effect. As a result, it can help improve and prevent many diseases that derive from circulation problems. Where does Danjeon refer to? How much training is needed to enable breathing with Danjeon? The Danjeon in Kouksundo refers to the entire area below the bellybutton, and to breathe with Danjeon is to utilize the hypogastric area to practice deep breath. Danjeon breathing is a way that everyone breathed when they were infants, so it isnt anything special. However, as we age we forget that we had breathed deeply down to our lower belly, and gradually breathe with our upper belly, then our chest. To be able to breathe deep with our lower abdomen as we have in our infancy, it takes about 3-6 months of focused training, and after about 3 years, we seem to be able to feel the vibrancy of the vitality, and the smoothness of its flow in our body. Mr. Choi, you are a master and wear a black belt. How many stages are there before becoming a master, and what do each stages signify? In Kouksundo there are three main stages, and then 3 sub stages in each stages, totaling nine stages. These stages are in the opposite direction of what is Win-win in oriental philosophy. Put another way, it means going against what has been created to return to the original place. The uniform differs in each stage as well, and they reflect Mu-geuk, Huang-geuk, and Tae-geuk the opposite direction of the order that everything was made in and the yearning of Kouksundo training to return to the origin. In order to become a master of Kouksundo, one first completes the first major stage, the stages of Chung-gak-do, and after evaluation of fixed leadership education and experience, one obtains the certification of a Master from the Kouksundo federation. Getting to the final stage of Kouksundo probably means becoming an ascetic. What would being an ascetic mean? My training has not reached the profundity to comprehend the stage of being an ascetic. However, if theres something Ive felt from watching practitioners who have spent 30-40 training in Kouksundo, what is certain is that as the depth of training grows, there is a growth of healthy body, serene mind, acuity in vision, hearing, and intelligence, and vitality in everyday life. For example, a Master in Yeosu is well past 80 years of age, but I cannot keep up strength or his intelligence and liveliness. Furthermore, every time I seek his guidance and open up my worries and troubles to him, he provides clear answers and shares his wisdom. In my opinion, perhaps this averageness is more appropriate of an ascetic than the conjuring, weather calling sort. Youve published Communional Leadership in 2009, and its been said that youre studying on leaders and leadership. How can the leaders required in the secular world connect with the master of Kouksundo? And what kind of an individual should a leader of a country become?

My teacher, monk Kyung-taek Lim, often says the leaders of the future must be ones who can breathe for at least a minute. Breaths that are a minute long means that they arent forced, but rather, comfortable, natural breathing that span a minute per breath. With average perseverance, it is difficult to scale the 1 minute mark. This is because there are primal greeds such as basic instincts, selfishness, and obsession for life. Only after overcoming these most basic greeds is the minute-long breaths possible, but to overcome these limitations, one must have the mindset of great filial peity and try to emulate the heavens, and must take the stance of giving oneself up. This essentially means that a person who gives themselves up to prioritizes public interests of their group, and further, all people and living things, should become the leader of the society. After overcoming the 1 minute mark, the conflict between logic and emotion disappears, and the sequence and the apt moves for the task at hand become apparent. With both the US and Korea facing election, it is my hope an individual, as mentioned above, who possess the mindset prioritizing the interests of the public, the desire to give oneself up to save everyone and all living things, one who can fully utilize their wisdom and creativity, warm heart and healthy vitality to accomplish the above way, becomes a leader. Im curious, what is the future that you dream of? I was just an engineer, but through Kouksundo training, I have found a lifetime goal of leadership development, got to work on my MBA, and after working as management consultant, Ive come to study Human Resource Development here at the UIUC. My goal now is to develop leaders that as Kouksundo speak of, have the characteristics of those who surpass 1 minute breathing. For this purpose, the leadership center (http://leadershipcenter.tistory.com) was formed, and literatures are being shared. In the days to come after graduation, I hope to contribute in training leaders that the world currently needs, through development and application of various programs that will help promote true leadership, and specifically, put my efforts into cultivating the first generation prepared for the quickly approaching Korean Unification. Kouksundo training: Every Friday 5: 30PM at the Illini Union. Contact: jeonghwan.choi@gmail.com Hope you become the individual that you dream of. Thank you. Marie Hong/Editor in Chief - See more at: http://cuasiantimes.com/?page_id=198#sthash.qKEK3KMV.dpuf