the tenets of tae kwon-do

Courtesy (Ye Ui)

Taekwon-Do students should attempt to practice courtesy to build up their noble character and to conduct the training in an orderly manner as well. Be polite to one another. Encourage justice and humanity. Handle matters with fairness and sincerity.

Integrity (Yom Chi)

One must be able to define right and wrong and have the conscience, if wrong, to feel guilt.

Perseverance (In Nae)

There is an old Oriental saying, "Patience leads to virtue or merit. One can make a peaceful home by being patient for 100 times." Certainly, happiness and prosperity are most likely brought to the patient person to achieve something, whether it is a higher degree or the perfection of a technique, one must set his goal, then constantly preserve.

Self-Control (Guk Gi)

This tenet is extremely important inside and outside the do-jang, whether conducting oneself in free sparring or in one's personal affairs. A loss of self control in free sparring can prove disastrous to both student and opponent. An inability to live and work within one's capability or sphere is also a lack of self-control.

Indomitable Spirit (Baekjul Boolgool)

A serious student of Taekwon-Do will at all times be modest and honest. If confronted with injustice he will deal with the belligerent without any fear or hesitation at all, with indomitable spirit, regardless of whosoever and however many the number may be.

Confucius declared: "it is an act of cowardice to fail to speak out against injustice." As history has proven, those who have pursued their dreams earnestly and strenuously with indomitable spirit have never failed to achieve their goals.

Reproduced from TAEKWON-DO (The Korean Art of Self-Defense), Third Edition, 1993.