The Path of the Guardian by KJN Ronald Stone

The Path of the Guardian by KJN Ronald Stone

In reality there are four levels or paths to be traveled and completed during ones journey to become a true martial artist.

      1)   The Path of the Protected

The first path to walk is that of the Protected. They witness the effort and work of the Guardians or Protectors who do have martial arts skills. The protected in turn gain a desire to learn skills but still lack sufficient training and experience.

       2)  The Path of the Guardians

The second path that one must travel is that of the Guardians. These are the protectors of themselves, their family, and friends. They are apprentices under the Warriors.

       3)  The Path of the Warrior

The third path to follow is that of the Warrior. He is the trainer of Guardians and first line defender of the tribe, the government, and country.   Because of their training and experience they can be sent off to wage war in defense of those things they hold so dearly.

4)  The Path of the Scholar

The fourth path is to walk the way of the Scholar. The Scholar is a trainer and mentor of Warriors. This person was a great Warrior in their day and is now in charge of using their knowledge, research, and life’s lessons to train the Warriors.  These warriors in turn are expected to eventually be superior in skill to their mentors, because in addition to their own experiences they will be given knowledge based on the experience of their mentors, knowledge that the warriors did not have to personally endure in order to learn from but that they can add on to their own.

Since the martial arts have their origin in developing and teaching fighting skills, the Martial Arts have their roots in military culture and combat.  Just as a soldier progresses in both knowledge, ability, and rank based on training, combative experiences and later teaching of those acquired skills so too does the martial artist.

Just as a raw army recruit or “boot” has little if any combative skills and must be taught to develop them through rigorous and structured training, so too must the martial artist progress though the lower ranks until gaining both proficiency and confidence.  The lower ranks and their families would be the protected. And they lean from watching and learning from the Guardians.

The second path that one must travel is that of the Guardians. These are the protectors of themselves, their family, and friends. They are apprentices under the Warriors.   In military terms they would be the everyday soldiers.  While they too can still learn and progress up the ranks to become a true warrior, they have sufficient skills to help with basic instruction and to help fight the good fight with those more heavily trained.

After having passed through the lower ranks and completed the basic training required of a guardian, such individuals will have been instructed with a code of honor or ethics.  As the saying goes, with great power comes greater responsibility, and by the time the guardian level is reached besides technical skills individuals have learned what is expected of them morally, legally, and ethically.  While a guardian would not truly seek confrontation, he or she is no longer afraid to face it and will use their skills to serve and protect.

By this we mean to serve their community and protect the innocent or helpless.  A classic example of this would be the end of the now iconic movie “A Few good Men” when the two marine noncoms who are accused of killing a fellow marine are acquitted of murder. But still convicted of conduct unbecoming.  One of the pair turns to his sergeant the other and questions the verdict.  The sergeant turns to him and replies that they were Marines, and as such had a duty to protect the weak and sick not punish them.

While guardians still have much to lean and are led, instructed and in turn protected by the true warriors they still have had sufficient training to have developed physically and emotionally.  Confidence comes both with knowledge and experience and this is true of the Guardians.

While in military terms we all know of the capabilities of our Warrior special forces (Rangers lead the Way), the truth is that due to time, expense, and difficulty of training, these elite warriors are limited in numbers.  We need them to fight difficult opponents, to develop new techniques and to train and lead the Guardians.  However our countries depend on the main body of simple soldiers for its defense.  So, it is with the martial arts guardians.  While less than 1 in 100,000 students advance up to black belt level (and a far lesser number to Master rank), it is the Guardian level students who maintain the arts and help instruct new “recruits” in the benefits, advantages and desirability of becoming a true martial artist.

About the author: R.W. Stone is currently a practicing veterinarian in Central Florida. He is an avid equestrian, a master ranked martial artist, a best-selling western author, and a firearms enthusiast. After joining a martial arts school in 1970 Stone started studying Yudo with a Korean grandmaster. He eventually became a member of the Judo team of the University of Illinois. It was at the University that a Korean classmate and friend introduced him to Tae Kwon do. After graduating veterinary college, he found the martial arts becoming too sports oriented and eventually after moving from Miami to Central Florida he sought out a Hapkido grandmaster. Currently Stone is ranked 8th dan in Haemukwan Hapkido, 4th dan in Daehan Yudo and a second dan in Kukki Taekwondo. He is the Hapkido instructor at the American Dragon Martial Arts Academies.

Be sure to follow us on social media.

• Like our page at https://www.facebook.com/usahapkidounion
• Subscribe to our channel at https://www.youtube.com/worldhapkidonews
• Join our group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/koreanmartialarts
• Follow us at https://www.instagram.com/wmamediaofficial