Um-Yang
The Um-yang symbol can be seen clearly in our club badge and also in the Korean flag. This is very symbolic within our training especially within self defence movements we practice, when we are diverting energy through the use of a parry or attack.
Um-Yang is the Korean word for Yin-Yang in Chinese. It is a theory of Eastern metaphysics. It states that in nature, there exists an equal polar dichotomy, which co-exists to form everything within nature. The ancient scholars believed that:
“In the beginning there was only vital energy, Ki, consisting of Um and Yang was pushed together and since there was no outlet for this, it consolidated to form the earth in the center of the universe”.
It is the interaction of these two forces, which articulates the dynamic movement and shape of the variety of life that we see around us. The symbol of Um-Yang is a circle with a squiggly line through the middle, which overlaps both halves, equally. It is said that the symbol of Um-Yang is a representation of two dragons swallowing each other in a constant rotation, never ending without any beginning. It is important to understand that the symbol is not just a circle divided into two halves. However, they interact to form different degrees of Um and Yang, but as a whole the opposing forces are equal. In order for one to exist, there must also exist the opposite to one: Light and dark, heaven and earth, right and wrong, love and hate, good and evil, strong and weak, microcosm and macrocosm, stability and flexibility, finality and eternity, etc. All things co-exist and one must learn to create a harmonious balance to develop the ultimate good within the universe.