Chon-Ji

Chon-Ji . . . the first pattern we learn as a white belt aspiring to low yellow. It faces the four basic directions which have always been associated throughout many cultures as being spiritually significant. Additionally, it's broken into two similar yet distinctly different parts, one representing heaven, the other earth. Yin and Yang, both halves balanced and in harmony. General Choi tells us that "Chon-Ji means literally 'the Heaven, the Earth'. In the Orient, it is interpreted as the creation of the world or the beginning of human history, therefore it is the initial pattern played by the beginner. This pattern consists of two similar parts; one represents Heaven and the other represents Earth."

In North Korea is an extinct volcano callled Mount Paektu. Translated from Korean, Mount Paektu is White Headed Mountain. Lake Chon-ji fills the crater on top of Mount Paektu. Chon-ji is a natural lake that was formed in the crater created by a volcanic eruption. Its area is 14.4 square kilometres and its maximum depth is 384 meters, the deepest in the world. Thirty percent of its water consists of underground water gushing out from three springs and 70 percent is made up by rainfall. This extinct volcano is Korea’s highest mountain, rising to 2,744 metres (9,003 feet).

Called "Paektusan" (White-Headed Mountain) by Koreans, Mt. Paektu is situated on the northern border of Korea with China. As its name indicates, its mountain top always looks white due to the snow clustering around it. The mountain is inhabited by various animals including tigers, leopards, bears, wolves, wild boars, deer, musk deer, and wild birds such as black grouse, owls, woodpeckers, and hazel grouse.

According to "The History of Taekwondo Patterns" by Richard L. Mitchel, Paektu Mountain is said to have been the first residence of the legendary founder of Korea, Dan-Gun. Further, the first book of the classic I Ching, which explains all processes of growth and change in the natural world, life is based on a changing changlessness in which all aspects of reality possess the elements of their opposites. According to ancient philosophers, the universe came into being through the interaction of two opposing elements, which, when combined, formed the basic elements of all matter in the universe. The philosophers concieved that nothing in life is permanent, yet nothing is destroyed. The beauty and simplicity inherent in the pattern Chon-Ji is reflected in the clear waters of Lake Chon-Ji nestled on top of Mt. Paektu, where heaven meets earth.

**Photos are courtesy of White Mountain Backpacks @ http://www.white-mountain-backpacks.com**