THE TEN ARTICLES OF FAITH ON SOO BAHK DO TRAINING

In a structured society, laws are created to bring about order, keep the peace and protect the individual members. In a perfect society, this would not be necessary because its members would share a common set of guiding principles and ideals. Throughout history, specialized groups have been formed whose membership was carefully selected and trained to ensure that they possessed the right character to uphold those ideals in service to the ruler and community as a whole.

One such group was the Hwa Rang (Flowering Youth), an elite warrior class created in Korea during the Silla Dynasty around the 6th century A.D.. The institution they formed was the Hwa Rang Do. They were generally young and well educated, coming from the noble class and with good moral character. As Hwa Rang, they received instruction in literature and the fine arts and were taught the art of warfare. They were also given a code of ethics that were divided into five doctrines and nine virtues for correct living called Hwa Rang Do O Kae and Hwa Rang Do Kyo Hoon.

The following are The Ten Articles of Faith On Soo Bahk Do Training:

1. Be loyal to your country; sacrifice yourself for your duty to your country and your people. This is based on the spirit of the Hwa Rang Do.

2. Be obedient to your parents; children should be dutiful to their parents, and parents should be charitable to their children.

3. Be loving between husband and wife; love and affection between the sexes develops mankind’s happiness and harmony in life.

4. Be cooperative between brothers; hold together with cooperation and concord.

5. Be respectful to your elders; protect the rights of the weak with courtesy and modesty.

6. Be faithful between teacher and students. Learn the truth through practice of duty and affection.

(Continued) 7. Be faithful between friends. Be peaceful and happy with harmony and faith towards each other, regardless of race, and towards all mankind.

8. Be discreet in killing; be able to distinguish between good and bad with fairness and rightfulness.

9. Never retreat in battle. Sacrifice for justice with capability and bravery.

10. Always finish what you start. Move to action with sureness with hope.

TEN ARTICLES OF FAITH ON SOO BAHK DO TRAINING