Why should one study the Sword (Siljin Dobup) in the modern age of Firearms?

Why should one study the Sword (Siljin Dobup) in the modern age of  Firearms?

Written by  Jin K. Seong

The question gets commonly asked: Why should we study sword training in the modern age of guns? What is the purpose of sword training? Exercise? If so, one could do other other sports , such as running, or weightlifting. Perhaps the reasons lies in the spiritual aspects of sword training.

The purpose of the sword arouses concerns since the sword is capable of  threatening  one’s life and thus arouses mixed feelings of nervousness, fear, bravery and desperation as he or she encounters in  a life or death situation. In sword training (Siljin Doup) one trains by imagining oneself in such a situation and experiences the emotions that one would encounter under these extreme circumstances.

Life or death is a simple and basic concept. One becomes desperate to survive when he faces death. Wealth, honor, social class or occupation does not matter when someone is about to die. Life and death mark the beginning and the end and when in a situation of facing death one empties and lets go of concerns. Through the art of the sword one hypothetically situates oneself to be in an extreme situation where his life is threatened and tries to release all  concerns.

Interestingly, our brains do not distinguish between what we see and what we think. The practioneer imagines himself in a life or death situation perhaps in a different historical time period, depending on the quality of his practice, his imagination could produce the same effect as facing this type of situation.

Running and weightlifting are solely physical activities that do not deal with the spiritual aspects of dealing with life and death. In the practice of Swords the spiritual aspect  is achieved by training with the concept of  life and death.

Through the practice of Sword ( Siljin Dobup), one trains himself to control his own emotions and seek mental freedom.