Wednesday, July 10, 1985/The Battalion/Paqe 5
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Respect for life'sweet spot’of martial art
Photo by GREG BAILEY
Meditation, as illustrated above, is a major part of tae kwon do.
By ED CASSAVOY
Sports Writer
Athletes like to talk a lot about
that area of sports that’s hard to
classify concretely. Some call it
“luck,” a “streak,” or it’s man
ifested in the athlete’s talk of the
magical “sweet spot” on a tennis
or soccer ball.
The martial arts havetheir own
mystical mix of abstract and con
crete inextricably woven into the
fabric of the art.
Dr. Michael Trulson, head in
structor of the Texas A&M Moo
Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do Club,
says this Korean martial art offers
a person more than just protec
tion.
Trulson, a neurobiologist at
A&M, says the mixture of athlet
ics and meditation found in tae
kwon do appear to change the
way a person deals with the world
around him.
“The meditating is very impor
tant,” Trulson says. “We have it at
the beginning and the end of
each practice session.
“It serves a number of pur
poses. It makes you focus your at
tention on the exercise to come.
(It is necessary) because, if you
lose your concentration for a split
second, that’s all it takes. You
could lose a point (in competi
tion) or it could be a matter of life
or death.”
Meditation positions used by
the club members are either a
kneeling position or crossed leg
position. The meditation position
is important, Trulson says, be
cause any physical strain will dis
tract the student.
Each sense of the body is de
prived of outside stimulus to al
low for an inward focus, Trulson
says. Eyes are closed, the practice
gym is completely quiet and Trul
son tells his students to concen
trate on what is in their minds.
“Most are students that come
to the class,” Trulson says, “so I
tell them to forget about tests,
girlfriends and automobiles.
“I have them think of their
goals and why they are here. A lot
of people, after a couple of medi
tation sessions, find they can de
fine goals a lot better.”
Trulson has scientific research
to back up his own personal ob-
“The general public views
the martial arts as aggres
sive, violent behavior l
teach my students they
have a responsibility to
avoid'confrontation at ah
costs. ”
— Dr. Michael Trulson,
martial arts instructor
servations in the personality de
velopment of martial arts stu
dents.
His study indicates that martial
arts training leads to a positive in
crease in 15 measured personality
traits.
Trulson published the results
of his study in the January, 1985
issue of Psychology Today.
Trulson administered a stan
dard personality test, the Jackson
Personality Inventory, to mea
sure the change in some listed
characteristics. Trulson cautions
that the data collected will be fol
lowed up with more research.
Trulson tested high school and
college students, businessmen,
housewives, doctors and unem
ployed laborers.
The test subjects were not told
it was a study related to martial
arts.
The results, based on 15 per
sonality characteristics, found an
increase in the responsibilty of
the martial arts subjects.
Trulson says there was a posi
tive correlation between the
length of time a person had been
involved in martial arts (the rank
attained) and the strength of
their responsibility increase.
Trulson also found an increase
in self-esteem, social adroitness
(handling awkward situations)
and energy levef in the subjects
studied.
“I found a decrease in the will
ingness to take risks, they’re more
conservative,” Trulson says. “I’m
still studying it. I think it could be
related to the training (martial
arts students do) to protect them
selves.”
Trulson says the decreased
risk-taking is an obvious spin-off
of the tae kwon do training.
He says students are taught
that the best way to protect them
selves is to avoid situations that
might force them to use their self-
defense training, keeping their
guard up.
Linked with this tendency to
avoid confrontation, Trulson says
the subjects he studied showed
less aggressive tendencies, con
trary to popular belief.
“That’s less aggressive not
more passive,” Trulson clarifies.
“The general public views the
martial arts as aggressive, violent
behavior. I teach my students
they have a responsibility to avoid
confrontation at all costs.”
Scott Negron, a member of the
A&M club, says he’s noticed
changes in his own personality
that he attributes, in part, to tae
kwon do.
“Once you are up to a higher
belt,” Negron says, “you are, in
effect, a dangerous weapon.
“If you had a bad day or a bad
test, you don’t want someone to
blow his fuse and go out and
break someone’s rib or some
thing. It takes a whole lot to get us
(martial arts students) into a
fight. We can take a lot of humil
iation.”
Negron has been involved in
martial arts programs for five
years, and he will be testing for
his black belt in the fall. Negron
says one segment of the, testing
for the black belt is to See the level
of emotional pressure an appli
cant can take.
“Either I don’t fight at all,” Ne
gron says, “or I fight for good.”
The test subjects showed an in
creased in the respect for ortho
doxy, or a tendency of the sub
jects to be less “radical,” Trulson
says.
“(Students are taught) to have
a respect for traditional customs
and beliefs — the Oriental views,”
Trulson says. “That doesn’t mean
they go along with everything.
“There is heavy emphasis
placed on discipline and respect.
Students bow to instructors and
instructors bow back. It is a mu
tual thing.”
Trulson says tae kwon do tea
ches a person to respect human
life above all other things, a defi
nite “sweet spot” Of the sport.
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