The 1975 Taekwondo poomse textbook describes Sipjin as follows:
"The decimal system is the standard numerical value of hundred,
thousand, million, billion and so on. In this sense 10 is the symbolic
figure which means endless development and growth. but the growth
is always affected by systematic and orderly rule. The life of Sipjin
lies in the supreme change and orderly discipline of the decimal
system. Stability is sought in every change of movement."
The new Kukkiwon Textbook describes Sipjin as follows (slightly
different from the older explanation):
"The word 'sipjin' was derived from the thought of 10 longevity,
which advocates there are ten creatures of long life, namely sun,
moon, mountain, water, stone, pine tree, herb of eternal youth,
tortoise, deer and crane. . . . Sipjin symbolizes these things. . . .
The Chinese letter meaning ten is the form of the poomsae line, which
signifies an infinite numbering of the decimal system and ceaseless
development."
Sipjin is the poomsae for 5th Dans and the form symbolizes the
exponential growth that many 5th Dans experience. After sacrificing
his own development for the sake of the development of his students
and his own teaching style as a 4th Dan, hopefully the 5th Dan has
developed students who can help teach, which frees up the 5th Dan
to go back to earnest hard training.
And when the 5th Dan does go back to training, for some reason, he
or she undergoes a magical transformation, one of the telltale
signs being the ten fold increase in knowledge that accompanies this
period of development. One new concept gets turns into ten new
ideas or techniques, and so forth. It is at this stage that a
practitioner starts to develop his own style, based on his or her own
interests and areas of discovery. He takes the techniques and
principles that were taught to him, and creates new methods which he
can call his own.
That is what the ten fold increase is all about, seeing all of the
possibilities, developing one's own style, one's own signature on a
particular system. At this point, the practitioner becomes his own
teacher, going within himself on the beginning of a journey of true
self discovery, what Musashi would call "all things with no teacher."
However, one must concentrate and remain grounded during this
period of extreme growth and expansion. Otherwise there could be
negative ramifications on the practitioner's future progress. Sipjin's
emphasis on stability is a reminder, and a warning, on this very
point.
The changes which occur during Sipjin, like Pyongwon, are mostly
mental in nature, as opposed to physical like in the earlier dan
levels.
The 5th Dan is a very important and very exciting time, but the
experience will be directly proportional to the foundation that was
built before it, during the lower dan levels. If one skips or failed
to fully learn the lessons at the lower level, then there will be no
exponential growth and no tenfold increase in knowledge, ability and
awareness.
Once the 5th Dan fully experiences this exponential growth, then he
or she is ready for promotion to 6th Dan and the lessons to be
learned as embodied in the poomsae Jitae. The ten fold increase will
always be with the practitioner, as a mark of one's passing through
the threshold of mastery.
Without it, the journey will remain linear in nature, rather than turn
quantum, and it will be like going where no man has gone before, on
impulse power, rather than at warp speed.
"The decimal system is the standard numerical value of hundred,
thousand, million, billion and so on. In this sense 10 is the symbolic
figure which means endless development and growth. but the growth
is always affected by systematic and orderly rule. The life of Sipjin
lies in the supreme change and orderly discipline of the decimal
system. Stability is sought in every change of movement."
The new Kukkiwon Textbook describes Sipjin as follows (slightly
different from the older explanation):
"The word 'sipjin' was derived from the thought of 10 longevity,
which advocates there are ten creatures of long life, namely sun,
moon, mountain, water, stone, pine tree, herb of eternal youth,
tortoise, deer and crane. . . . Sipjin symbolizes these things. . . .
The Chinese letter meaning ten is the form of the poomsae line, which
signifies an infinite numbering of the decimal system and ceaseless
development."
Sipjin is the poomsae for 5th Dans and the form symbolizes the
exponential growth that many 5th Dans experience. After sacrificing
his own development for the sake of the development of his students
and his own teaching style as a 4th Dan, hopefully the 5th Dan has
developed students who can help teach, which frees up the 5th Dan
to go back to earnest hard training.
And when the 5th Dan does go back to training, for some reason, he
or she undergoes a magical transformation, one of the telltale
signs being the ten fold increase in knowledge that accompanies this
period of development. One new concept gets turns into ten new
ideas or techniques, and so forth. It is at this stage that a
practitioner starts to develop his own style, based on his or her own
interests and areas of discovery. He takes the techniques and
principles that were taught to him, and creates new methods which he
can call his own.
That is what the ten fold increase is all about, seeing all of the
possibilities, developing one's own style, one's own signature on a
particular system. At this point, the practitioner becomes his own
teacher, going within himself on the beginning of a journey of true
self discovery, what Musashi would call "all things with no teacher."
However, one must concentrate and remain grounded during this
period of extreme growth and expansion. Otherwise there could be
negative ramifications on the practitioner's future progress. Sipjin's
emphasis on stability is a reminder, and a warning, on this very
point.
The changes which occur during Sipjin, like Pyongwon, are mostly
mental in nature, as opposed to physical like in the earlier dan
levels.
The 5th Dan is a very important and very exciting time, but the
experience will be directly proportional to the foundation that was
built before it, during the lower dan levels. If one skips or failed
to fully learn the lessons at the lower level, then there will be no
exponential growth and no tenfold increase in knowledge, ability and
awareness.
Once the 5th Dan fully experiences this exponential growth, then he
or she is ready for promotion to 6th Dan and the lessons to be
learned as embodied in the poomsae Jitae. The ten fold increase will
always be with the practitioner, as a mark of one's passing through
the threshold of mastery.
Without it, the journey will remain linear in nature, rather than turn
quantum, and it will be like going where no man has gone before, on
impulse power, rather than at warp speed.
