Purpose of this Blog

This blog will chronicle my experiences in Tang Soo Do. I am journaling my experience for my senior thesis at St. Mary's College of Maryland. The current title of my thesis is The Philosophical Influences of Gender on the Body.

In my thesis I plan to show how philosophy has physically shaped the body. I am particullarly concerned with how a certain philosophy on gender, the "failty myth," shapes the body. Usually when I present this topic to strangers I receive confused looks, so I will briefly explain what I mean.

The "Frailty Myth" is a philosophy about women that has been developing for centuries, but came to a head during the 19th century. It deals primarily with white middle to upper class women. The "frailty myth" encourages the physical frailty of women. In other words, ideas such as women are passive, a woman's place is in the home, and women are the weaker sex, are all part of the frailty myth. The myth encourages women to refrain from physical activity and prevents their bodies from developing fully. The myth still exists today, although many women are breaking free of it. If you want evidence of the ways in which the myth is still present today, drive around your neighborhood and look at the kids who are playing sports or doing any physical activity, and you'll probably notice that the majority of the kids actively participating are the boys. The girls are usually sitting on the sidelines or are not present at all. And people wonder why boys are stronger and more aggressive? Could it not be because the boys have the training they need and are also pushed and encouraged to develop their strength? This is precisely what my thesis is trying to show, but through a close evaluation of the philosophies that developed into the frailty myth. If you would like to read pieces of my thesis you can visit my other blog at www.kejarboe.blogspot.com. Also, if you are interested in this thesis I strongly suggest you read The Frailty Myth by Collette Dowling. This is the book which inspired my interest in this project.

I have chosen to begin a journey in Tang Soo Do to show how the frailty myth plays a part in my adventure with Tang Soo Do. Another reason is relevant but tangental to this blog, and that is to show how a dicipline, with it's roots based in philosophical ideas, shapes the body.

I will begin by explaining any physical training that I have had recently and as a child. A basic list should be sufficient.

* Gymnastics: 2 years
* Ballet: 1 month
* Modern Dancing: 6 months
* Horse Back Riding: 1 year
* Poms: 2 years
* Basketball: 1 year
* Volleyball: 3 years
* Softball: 3 years
* Knife and Hatchet Throwing (target sport): 6 years
* Yoga: 2 years
* Tai-Chi: 3 months
* Circuit training: 1 year and 5 months
* Self Defense: 3 months (one class a week)

I never considered myself terribly successful at any sport. I was pretty good at poms (I was co-captain), and in Softball and Volleyball I was a powerful server and hitter, but I seemed to loose steam towards the end of the season. I'm pretty good at knife and hatchett throwing too, but I've never had a teacher, and don't feel I have progressed much in the six years that I've been doing it (it's fun though). It seems that whatever physical activity I'm involved in I hit a plateau that I can never quite overcome. I believe this is partially due to a lack of encouragement and perhaps a lack of desire to be dedicated to my physical development.

I am currently in better shape than ever before. For the past year I have been doing circuit training, which is really more cardio than anything else, but I am toned and seem to have more endurance. I can run a mile or two and not feel completely winded. I don't believe I've ever been able to do that. Even as a child I hated running, but now that I've learned how my body works, that I need to breath at a certain rate, that I need to be aware of my stride length, and that flexing the stomach muscles helps to overcome stomach cramps I've been able to overcome those difficulties. However, I think Tang Soo Do will be more of a challenge, so to prepare for and to complement my martial arts training I have joined a "real" gym with weights and body sculpting classes. I plan on working on core strenght (abs), as this is where the majority of one's strength comes from.

I am slightly nervous about starting Tang Soo Do. I don't think I really know what I am getting myself into. I recently took a self defense class, but I came out more nervous than when I went in. I was mainly nervous because the classes were short and were only once a week, which meant I didn't get much practice. I'd usually forget what we did by the next class. For the final class we had to escape from an attacker. I was so completely nervous that I started hyper-ventilating. I got away from my attacker, but felt I could have done better. A little knowledge can be more harmful than no knowledge at all. The class shot down my confidence. But I've had a full 6 months or more to recover, and feel with practice (that's class time and personal time) I will do well.

The dojang that I am planning on studying in is called Miller's Tang Soo Do Institute. I will observe one class before I dedicate myself completely. I hope to rank at least once before my thesis is due to the registrar's office. Please feel free to comment on any of my posts.