Become one with the pattern

To become instinctive, movements must “flow.” Actors also must develop flow so their actions on stage appear instinctive and natural. Without flow, actions appear awkward and unnatural. Victor Turner, in his book From Ritual to Theater, describes how flow is developed in actors:

Action and awareness merge
Attention becomes centered
Ego is lost
One is in control of one’s environment and actions
There are no-contradictory demands for actions
Actions become autonomic, they need no goals or rewards outside themselves

When a Taekwondo student becomes proficient at performing a pattern, the pattern performance flows; the student and the pattern fuse into one entity. It becomes difficult to separate the student from the pattern performance. All the movements seem natural and easy to perform.

Patterns are ritual movements. Ritual movements in animal and in humans are redundant, repetitive, and exaggerated. Ritualistic movements depict violence and responses to violence in an effort to avoid or defuse violence. Watch two dogs as they perform their instinctive ritual movements that allow them to establish which dog is dominate without having to resort to a physical confrontation.

Ritual movements depict violence but they are used to purify violence rather than to elicit it. In rituals, the behaviors that may lead to violence and the actions that may be used in response to violence are acted out. The ritual movements send the message, “I am able to defeat you, so leave me alone!” The ritualistic movements in patterns help students learn to deal with the concept of violence, to defuse violence, and to take action against violence when all else fails.

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