in the land of the morning calm

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In the land of the "Morning calm"

By: R.K. Shivachandra Singh

It was in the month of November 1992 when I had gone to South Korea "Morning Calm" for the first time for a month long Taekwondo advance training Course at Seoul, the capital City. I had never traveled alone to any of the foreign countries except to Tammu in Myanmar, bordering Moreh in Manipur, India. Traveling alone always evoked a special feeling and moreover the trip itself had been a long awaited cherished dream for me. As a Taekwondo boy, being trained in Korea is always considered a part of the privileged class and everybody in Taekwondo always longed to visit Korea at least once in their lifetime. I took my flight from Calcutta by Thai Airlines, which was considered to be the cheapest of all the flights during those days. It enroutes through Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei and I had a journey break for about a week in Thailand to visit one of my Korean instructors running a Taekwondo Class in Bangkok.

Author of the article posing for a photograph at the doorway of KUKIWON, Taekwando Head Quarters in Seoul, South Korea.

On reaching Korea, the chilled air almost froze me. The icy wind blew so hard that it almost swept me away. I got my relief when I took a taxicab. The taxi driver who ferried me through the city streets to locate the Secretary General, Mr. Lee Kyu Suk of the Asian Taekwondo Union, humorously praised me for braving the korean winter in a thin summer jacket. Locating Mr. Lee Kyu Suk was not an easy job in a big City like Korea and I was told that it would be difficult to meet him without a prior appointment. After having waited for about an hour or so Mr. LeeKyu Suk called me inside his office chamber.

He shook my hand and I reciprocated with a 'bow' to him. He was rather astonished seeing me by face and enquired in disbelief if I was an "Indian" at all. He could not be blamed. Earlier at the Kimpo Airport, I was advised by a Korean Immigration Officer to take the Korean queue while I was in the foreigner's line. And at the Hong Kong Airport, I was held up for about 10 minutes on suspicion. The Indian passport I possessed had little to satisfy them and their questions never ended. I had to finally reach out to a 'World map' to show them where I belonged. Ultimately they bade goodbye amidst speculating within themselves that either my grandfather or granny must have been a Chinese descent. Thank god that they helped me to negotiate my way amidst the crowd to reach the Cathy pacific Counter. I boarded the Aircraft quietly as if I was an offender. But it sometimes sounds so funny - a Chinese face Manipuri packed in an Indian Cabinet. It is a funny mixture. I sometimes wonder if we were a TV or computer set, we might cost very less for being "assembled", thus.

Koreans are a very friendly people with high morale ethics. The Genesis of Korea and Meiteis are found to be very similar in some historical records. Manipur, in the ancient times had been divided to the distinguished Meitei clan and Kings. On the North hills, the Moirang Achouba clan reigned. On the western hills, the Luwang Kings were supreme with their capital at Loiching. Mangang clan reigned at Lamangdong over the southwest hills. Thangjing was the domain of the Moirang clan. On the eastern hills, Angom ruled at the Nongmaiching. Khuman Mayek Pakhangba reigned at Sugnu covering the South Eastern hills.

Taekwondo class in progress in Kohima conducted by the writer. 1985

Ultimately all these distinguished clans united and amalgamated as Meiteis. Koreans too had a dozen of countries formed in many part of the present Korea with distinguished dynasties. But only Koku Ryu, Baekchae and Silla dynasty succeeded in marching forward to form ancient Countries. The three dynasties, which often collided but sometimes cooperated, developed their kingdoms competitively dividing the Korean Peninsula into three distinct parts. Later, all the three dynasties unified as Koryu under the influence of the Kogru dynasty and it is believed that the name Korea comes after the Koryo dynasty. The same way the whole of the Manipur's different dynasties came under the nomenclature Meitei. Korean culture is based on conservative Comucian principles such as respect for authority, order, obedience, patience and progress through hard work, self-sacrifice, and the social status of having a good education.

I was put-up in a Korean Gymnasium in the outskirts of the city known as Chichuk. The Gym was a government sponsored one and it's Taekwondo players are employed in the Subway terminal. Many seniors of the Gymnasium warmly welcomed me and I too reciprocated. They had organized my lodge and I was asked to take rest. After a long and tiresome flight I shrunk myself in the bed and soon hit the sack.

RK Shiva with his senior students during their training period at Johnstone Hr Sec School, Imphal, 1985

The table clock alarm woke me next morning. One of the Korean friends hinted me to dress-up quickly to take a run outside the gymnasium. Mr. Bon Su Huan was the in-charge in the Gymnasium. He was a 7th dan Black belt with a very calm face. All the members in the Gymnasium hardly speak a sentence in English and communication was carried through the help of one Korean-English dictionary. The dictionary was my savior. That morning run was really a long winding one, which I had never experienced in my life.

We ran towards the snow-capped mountain and the snow had begun falling consistently. By the time we returned back to the Gymnasium, it was eleven o'clock in the morning. The evening session was fully emphasized on kicking practice that lasted for hours together. To my amazement many of the Korean friends could linger, practicing even in to the late nights.

In our gymnasium, there were varieties of juices and sandwiches available. However the rice though sticky, was found to be quiet nutritious. People enjoyed soups more and it was a compulsory item in every meal. I always envied the Korean people for their "firm commitment" to their nation and pride on being Koreans. Their undying spirit and sense of oneness incubating towards the development of Korea, is really praiseworthy. In Korea, egoism is always considered to be of a foolish nature. Attainment of the status of master in Taekwondo is of a respectable status in the society. Many Black belt six dans and 4th dan holders never hesitated to come to the Gymnasium for practice so as to enable themselves ameliorating the skill in Taekwondo.

In Manipur too, the system could have been developed and there were ample chances where we could produce giants in Taekwondo. This tiny sate once dominated the whole of India in Taekwondo. In many of the National Championships, it has been a wish for a player from the rest of the country not to run into a Manipuri competition in their first bout. Nobody could really explain what makes the Manipuris so fast in their movements and is a question frequently asked from every quarter. Hence during the early 1982s Manipuri were nicknamed 'Koreans in India' by the observers of Taekwondo all over India. Besides the male category, females too played quite well and predictably all the weight categories belonged to Manipur women in all the leading tournaments. However such stories are short lived and now Taekwondo is passing through the twilight phase in Manipur. There was a time where every meadows and empty Mandavs in all the Leikais allow Taekwondo being practiced and every morning the air was filled with the echoing shouts of 'Hu-ha..'. These were coming from the children practicing Taekwondo. All these children are not to be seen around these days.

Many a talented player who had bagged golds in the junior category for three consecutive years always degraded soon as soon as they entered the senior league. This is not a good sign. In many sport events, discipline between the junior and senior doesn't seem to be congenial and this may contribute to the root cause in weakening of any Sports in Manipur. This is not to be so in Taekwondo where Discipline is the foundation stone. We are told that our forefathers had the best discipline and our greeting and salutation to the elders were always considered to be the best world over. Now we have become so weak in this particular area. Now-a-days there are people flocked together in many of the localities in Manipur and consuming alcohols, creating problem in the area later. Vulgarity among them could be heard loudly from a distance. The other day in my locality, some of the local thugs all in their drunken moods intruded a humble family and assaulted the head of the family and his son without any reason. Those intruders were mostly at their 20s and reportedly they committed it under the influence of alcohol. No one in the locality dared to say anything against them for no one is brave enough to face these anti-socials. During my days in Korea, one day, I came across a quarrel between two Koreans in one of the subway train platform. Passers-by hardly paid any attention and went on in their own without even a slight glance on them. The scene was quite interesting to me for that was the first time I had seen Koreans quarrelling. Suddenly an old man who seems to be in his 70s came in between the two and caught the hair of both with his strong grip and started banging each other's head two or three times. The two aggressive Koreans reduced themselves to the mice before a big cat. Though I couldn't follow the language I could understand that he is advicing the two young men. He made them stand in the right posture and made them embrace each other. The duo humbly bowed down to the old man several times and pleaded for forgiveness promisng that they will never commit such mistakes. The elderly Korean directed them to leave the place. Seeing this episode my mind suddenly goes back to my Manipur. I wondered, had the old men acted the same way in any of the quarrel occurring elsewhere in Manipur the fate of the old men may be two broken teeth. I am not trying to offer a scholarly overview. Rather, it is a reflection of what I think and know about our common past, and this short write-up humbly attempts to standardize Taekwondo in Manipur towards the dream of a well-established social set-up both in sports and discipline.

Whatever I had expressed is just one side of the coin that is for the player. If we see the other side of the coin, our Taekwondo players who had brought maximum laurels to the state are not looked after properly. Undoubtedly Taekwondo is one of the highest medal prospect in any games meet for Manipur, yet these players are the most neglected one too. They brought laurels for the State but what do they get in return? A certificate along with a meager amount distributed and lots of false hope. I also have seen with my eyes the day an Assamese boy returned home with the glittering gold medal after the 4th National Games Meet in Pune 1994. He was warmly received by the then Sports Minister of Assam and announcing on the spot that he would be conferred a service under Assam Tea Board. In Manipur too, we have lots of such gold medalists but authority always negotiate the value of the medal. We have lost quite a good numbers of players for lack of proper care. The authority concerned always put them off the track. A sports person cannot be expected to dedicate his whole waking hours in his sport. They also have a family that needs to be looked after as anyone else does. One can't remain a gold medal hunter throughout his life. I also remember one Mr. Laishram Priyo who bagged a coveted gold medal in the International Sagarmatha Taekwondo World Championship at Nepal. He was running from post to pillar in search of a job but to no avail. Ultimately his importance was realised by Mr. Sanghaliana, IPS the then Divisional Organizer, SSB and absorbed him in the SSB as constable. Never did the concerned Sports Department discuss about Mr. Priyo to be absorbed in the State service, which could have given hopes to our players. There were a lot more who had been deprived despite having won a dozen of medals? As long as this phenomenon goes on, producing good sports personalities may be a very difficult task. In Korea a National gold medalist in any of the event need not necessarily worry over his career. The medal itself would turn his fortunes and the Government will definitely offer him a job to support himself and the rest of his family.

My version doesn't necessarily mean that all the sportsperson should get a government job but the most needy and best one should never be deprived of what they are supposed to be entitled.

I had gone to Korea again in 1994 to participate in the 2nd Ambassador International Taekwondo Championships held at Seoul. In the two years time, Korea had developed leaps and bounds in all aspects. The youth of Korea are faced with a challenge where they are uncertain about their future economically, socially and politically. Their Country is becoming a world industrial power and the old ways are changing. The ultra-modern Hyundai silicon chip factory employs over 25,000 people. Korea is now an amalgam of the old and modern. A country that has been dominated by its larger neighbors throughout the history now stands ready to control its own destiny on an equal economic footing with those neighbors. I cannot but think where the Manipuris are heading now? A lot of potentials which are yet to be discovered, a strong mutual unification among various communities and self dependent economical means are still at a far reach.........

During my second visit, I had the privilege to stay in the Gymnasium of Master Chang Seng Dong, a renowned master in Korea and instructor of Mr. Jimmy Jagtiani, the founder of Taekwondo federation of India. By the grace of the God I could come back with a gold medal in the bantam weight category. The former Governor of Manipur and Nagaland His Excellency Shri O.N. Srivastava awarded me a cash award of Rs. 75,000 (seventy-five thousand) at Kohima in a solemn State function giving emphasis to my dedication in Taekwondo and specially for promoting this art in Nagaland.

After such a gap of time, watching the recently concluded World Cup Soccer at Korea suddenly brought my mind back to the Koreans and their industrious nature. The hard work and love of their motherland had made them enter the Semi Final of the prestigious World Cup. This is a record for any Asian Country. The spectacular football stars and heart throbbing matches might have little to show to the World. Rather, the red shirt clad Koreans with joy in their hearts and tears on their faces were indeed a valuable show. Korean lost to the Germans yet they have proved their perseverance and won the heart and applause of the world.

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