Vimaladevi Rajakanthan, 2nd Dan
March 2025
In my 12 years of training as a martial artist, my profound learning has been about the two separate forces that exist within a human being: logic and emotion. Every one of us has experienced this in our lives in some way. Going for a test or an interview, either we had anxiety and stress, or we prepared well and stayed relaxed. The force we give authority to defines the whole experience. In this document, I will share the process of learning and developing the discipline to consistently give authority to the logical force in my living to become a logical person.
LOGIC
Logic is reasoning using facts and reality. The brain is the physical organ we use to reason. It is a central organ of the nervous system whose main function is to process information, solve problems, and make decisions. The mind is a place where the brain is housed. The mind can be compared to a traffic intersection. An intersection is where the traffic lights regulate all the traffic flows. Similarly, the mind is where the brain regulates all the thoughts through reasoning.
A study found that an average human being has about 60,000 thoughts(mostly repetitive) per day. These thoughts are triggered from memory. When the mind is constantly bombarded with these thoughts, it can’t focus on reasoning. That is why it is important to quieten the mind to become logical. Corrective breathing, meditation, and forms are some tools available to develop mental discipline for a quiet mind. The brain weighs about 2% of the total body weight, but it consumes about 20% of oxygen even at rest. So deep breathing helps the brain to function properly.
The prefrontal cortex of the brain does most of the logical reasoning and planning. Even though a 3-year-old can reason, the prefrontal cortex matures only in the mid-20s.
EMOTION
Emotion is defined as a state of feeling. It is accompanied by physiological or behavioral changes in the body. Spirit is where the emotions are housed. Even though a baby is born with a pure spirit, over time, emotions from life experiences are accumulated in the spirit. These experiences develop likes/dislikes, wants/don’t wants, and other habits to become part of the spirit. The basic survival instincts of love, care, anger, fear, reproduction, etc, are also part of the spirit. What I predominantly see in my spirit is how I see myself. But, how one wants to be seen creates conflict and keeps them in an emotional state.
When faced with an uncomfortable or challenging situation, associating this situation with a past experience triggers the reaction. The reaction is either a fight or a flight response. The most common fighting emotions are fear, anger, blaming, complaining, and resisting. The flight response is finding an escape or running away from the situation. The limbic system processes emotions and habits. But emotions are very much a part of us, and we can’t ignore them. So, what can be done? Breathing is the only known physical connection to our spirit. Since emotions are housed in the spirit, we take a few deep breaths that help to calm the spirit and dismiss the emotions.
BALANCE
When there is a conflict between logic and emotion, we are imbalanced. In that state, the body goes through physiological changes like tension in the body, shallow breathing, and release of toxins in the blood. Shallow breathing slows down thinking in the brain. The person also goes through behavioral changes of living in a survival(fight or flight)mode, reacting with emotions, and doing senseless things. Staying in this state for a prolonged period leads to chronic pain, diseases, feelings of victim, guilt, and low self-esteem.
Whereas when we are in a balanced state, the brain is clear, focused, and rational. The body is relaxed, energetic, breathing deeply, and emotions are stable. In this state, it is easy to recognize the emotions but not be controlled by them. Being in the balanced state leads to high self-confidence, high self-esteem, and keeps one in a peaceful, joyful state.
Balance can be experienced instantly through the corrective breathing technique. In corrective breathing, you bring the mind to the body by visualizing inflating both the lungs during inhale, and deflating the lungs during exhale. The inhale is through the nose with lips closed, and the exhale is through the mouth, controlling it through the esophagus. The inhale supplies oxygen to the brain and muscles in the body, creating a mind-body-spirit connection. This gives mental clarity to look at the situation logically in real time and act accordingly.
To maintain a balanced state, we need a balanced lifestyle. To create a balanced life, we define a structure giving place for our needs and responsibilities. The structure ensures that we don’t make choices impulsively, disrupting our balance. Moral values guide the way of living.
MARTIAL ARTS – USING FORM AS A TOOL TO BE BALANCED
Tang Soo Do is one of the traditional martial arts systems, preserved and handed over for generations. It is a thorough fighting art to study the whole person. I appreciate Master Bell’s way of teaching the art and connecting it to personal development.
Form is telling the story of a solo battle. It engages the mind to focus on every inch of the body. When a form is practiced with humility and integrity, it brings the mind, body, and spirit together. A form starts with an attention stance (Cha Ryut Ja Seh) and then moves to a ready stance (Choon Bee Ja Seh). These two stances in themselves have so many details to focus on that the mind becomes quiet. This section focuses on the first technique of the first basic form, Ki Cho Hyung Il Bu.
The first technique is a low block in front stance(Chon Kool Jhase Ha Dan Mahk Ki) to the left. All moves in a form are initiated by a sharp head snap, create an opponent, and establish a place to step. The opponent is the same height as the practitioner in a black do bohk. Establish eye contact with the opponent, reading them from head to toe.
The opponent executes a low front snap kick(Ahp Cha Ki) with the right leg to the groin area. The practitioner counters the attack. During this move, take a deep, sharp inhale and the left fist comes close to the right ear with the palm of the fist facing the ear. The right fist comes in front of the body, protecting the groin area. Both hands are close and slightly touching each other at the elbow joint, protecting the solar plexus. Lift the left leg with the knee at or above the belt level, and the right leg is slightly bent with the body weight supported on it. Pivot on the ball of the right foot and turn until facing the opponent, and execute a low block in front stance (Chon Kool Jhase Ha Dan Mahk Ki) with an exhale from the abdomen.
The block, foot, and breath should all be in sync. The blocking fist stops just above the knee about a fist distance, with the power of the technique coming from the waist. Remember the spine needs to be erect through the transition(the turn or pivot done with the inhale) and during the execution of the block. The head should be as though suspended from a string. When the block is executed, the left fist comes to the outside of the right hand with a push, and the right fist is retracted to the chamber with a pull. The push and pull are balanced, with the fists crossing and changing direction at the midpoint. At the execution of the technique, the weight is equally distributed on both legs. The toes of the front leg are pointed forward and parallel to the wall on the left side. The back leg’s knees are locked and toes pointing at a 45-degree angle with its heel buried into the floor. The hips and the shoulder are squared parallel to the front-facing wall.
At the end of the technique, the mind, body, and spirit are all in sync, if done right. One feels a complete presence and balance. Repeated practice of the form and the techniques with such a level of attention strengthens the mental discipline. This increases the self-confidence to handle situations logically.
Being a creature of convenience, one can give in to bad habits. Example of bad habits:
Executing the technique by not locking the back leg(not engaging the body), shallow inhale (spirit not completely involved may be due to laziness), aggressive exhale(over-exerting spirit), not creating the opponent with a head snap, and looking down while executing the technique. All these convenient bad habits indicate emotions are given authority.
Perfecting a form takes a lifetime. The form serves as one of the best tools to study oneself.
BECOMING A LOGICAL PERSON
Being an orchestrator of the family, to keep things in order and moving, I had a lot of things to take care of. Not prioritizing myself over the things that I need to do kept me in an imbalanced state. Since I lived with an imbalance, I was easily disappointed. I carried the disappointment to the dojang where the Master addressed situations that I brought up.
When a message was given to me to handle the situation, I listened, defending my way of living, because it was not supporting what I already knew. My cup was full, not having space for something new. I resisted and put up a fight against the message that disrupted the idea that I already had. This was emotional listening.
Master persisted and pointed out my defensive listening. That brought my attention to focus on my logic rather than my emotion. I humbled down and listened for the complete message, setting aside what I already knew. My cup was empty to learn something new. This is logical listening. I came to understand later through my training in the martial arts that listening was also a tool to bring a person to a balanced state. Logical listening requires a person to set aside their emotions and connect to the logic of the person communicating the information. The result is no conflict between their logic and emotion.
The tools, like corrective breathing, jumping jacks, calisthenics, floor exercises, and drills, had details to bring the mind to the body and engage the spirit with the breathing. I experienced being balanced in the dojang but could not maintain it outside of the dojang. Learning that class structure provided balance, we defined structure for our family so we could live orderly. The structure and morals kept a check on my impulses and gave me time to prioritize myself. I progressed, developing mental discipline to keep me in a balanced, logical place.
Still, I was thrown off in some situations. What was keeping me from being a logical person consistently? I thought my emotions were triggered due to someone or something outside. I never took responsibility for my emotions, though that was one of the important lessons I learned. “My emotion is my responsibility”, irrespective of the situation. It took me many years to completely acknowledge that my emotions were my responsibility. When a situation unfolded, I associated it with my past experiences, triggering emotion.
All the baggage from my past had covered up my pure spirit. To resolve it, I went through the process of dissecting those experiences and putting them in perspective. These are the clarities that I gained from the process.
The entire process of putting the past in perspective released me from the emotional trap I was in and started healing me.
I had a broad understanding of emotions like anger, fear, disappointment, laziness, procrastination, agony, anxiety, ego, arrogance, selfishness, greed, lying, manipulation, etc that zapped the energy and kept one from being logical.
Through the art of CHI-KUNG, I became aware of the energy changes in my body due to different emotions, especially the negative emotions. If not aware, this low energy provides space for past bad habits to seep in.
Master had mentioned many times that art can be as deep as your need. I had the experience of the art rescuing me through my challenges of life-changing events like losing my dad, recovering from a car accident, and losing my younger sister’s husband. Through these tough moments, the discipline gained from the training helped me to put aside my emotions and handle the situations logically based on what was needed in reality. I believed in the arts that I trained and took the logical experiences from that training, which gave me the strength to uplift my spirit, think logically, and act.
I was able to provide emotional support to all the loved ones. I was able to pull them out of their emotional state by giving them a realistic way of thinking through the situation. I was able to show their strengths by connecting to their best self and giving them confidence in themselves.
The profound understanding of myself through the process of personal development was not always comfortable. At the same time, I feel blessed to have learnt so much about the person inside me. As Master has mentioned many times, I need to be kind to myself on this path. So I cherish the goodness about me and humbly accept that being logical is a way, not only when there is a need.
CONCLUSION
I appreciate Master Bell’s continuous input in my growth. My life situations and Master’s 30,000 feet view forced me to go to different corners of my spirit, understand it, put it in perspective, and heal. This writing cleared my understanding of logic and emotion. I appreciate my family being part of my growth to become stronger.
To become solid within myself, I’m pledging to live by the tenets of integrity, respect, and humility. I admire Master Bell’s consistency and the joy in what he does. I look forward to living consistently with the best I know and keep growing. As I step into the next level of Dan promotion, the consistent way of being logical is the path I see as the movement forward.