TEDxDaejeon - YongSoon Park - Korean traditional hawk hunting

Nice to meet you I'm Park Yong Soon, the 8th person for intangible cultural assets in Daejeon, preserving falconry in Korea Everyone seemed to be dozing off a little while the first two speakers were sleeping but woke up as they saw my falcon on the stage I will do it one more time.Falconry is a dynamic sport that you can enjoy with nature I will wake you up from sleep one more time "Here it goes~" Are you up? Actually, this is my first time in front of the crowd, of course I've done it in front of students but not at an official place So I'm more natural with hunting... it feels a little strange... so I thought you will be given a table on the stage and read from the paper I wrote, so I worked on it for 3 days without sleeping and filled 10 pages of A4 sized paper but it was taken for me before I came up the stage. Hahaha so now I will tell you the story of 40 years of my life with the falcons When I was in elementary school, grade 5, I went to play in the mountains and found a smaller version of a real falcon and I brought it home and raised it, and that's where it all started and until this day, I'm over 50 and I'm still in love with the birds ormally if you get into a hobby, you keep doing it for a year or two out of curiosity and when others push you to do it, you have to quit because the environment I think it's like a shaman, you just have to do it. It's given to you It's like a disease, you can't do anything about it all my friends.. .. Please understand, it's a natural thing. haha Anyways, all my friends hold a high position in companies they work in and if they asked me to trade places with them, I wouldn't do it Of course the pay would be better, more stable But if I were stuck in a concrete walled office, not being able to do what I wanted, I would die from sickness or something Human is somewhat I guess..it's like a habit it's like a habit My heart still beats fast when I look into the falcon's eyes It means I still feel that pounding in my heart like I did the first time when I saw the falcon in grade 5 Heart that does not change And next you have to categorize what you want to do and what you're good at So when there's something you'd like to do and you're good at it you take interest in it and try to get used to it while you're young and not think of it as a job as I would have quit already if I thought of this as my job You just enjoy it You don't get sick of things when you enjoy it. You get the willpower to do things and get creative ideas while you enjoy it Actually, I had a paper that contained the history of falconry but i don't have the paper with me now so I'll talk about it as much as I know Falconry started from B.C. 4000 from the middle Asia and started spreading to the west east area It has a very long history and every empire that had a meat eating culture and power in the royal family had enjoyed this sport So we have a paining on the walls that had a drawing of a falconry while horseback riding in Goguryeo time period And the Shilla also enjoyed falconry Baekje's King Ashin, Shilla's King Jinpyeong is told that they enjoyed falconry in the book of History of Three Kingdoms It's told that falconry is a royal sport Golf is common now but back in the days it was a royal sport Likewise, falconry took place between the royal family And then now into the Joseon dynasty, Lee Sung Gye who built Joseon enjoyed falconry For one example, the princes fought so in despair, Lee Sung Gye leaves to Hamheung And then the people sent messengers to Hamheung to bring him back but none of them came back because they were all killed Until now we still use the term "Hamheungchasa" to describe the people who were given something to do but has no replies Anyways, so they prepared a special messenger named named "Muhak daesa" and "Namje" They played smart They knew Lee Sung Gye enjoyed falconry so they didn't ask him to go somewhere but instead they asked him to go falconry in the nature and then brought him back successfully Lately, President Lee visited UAE for oil business and the prince there was holding a falcon The Arabs also enjoy falconry They even have falcon pictures on their dollar bills At the right timing, President Lee pointed out that we also have falconry People feel close to each other when they know they have something in common, such as a hobby So I heard that also helped the business run smooth between Korea and UAE So falconry isn't just for hunting rabbits and phesants now and then We still use falconry for foreign affairs. And when we look at the culture, do you know the term "sichimi ttenda" ? Here the tag on the falcon is called "Sichimi" and it goes on the falcon with a bell and a name tag And once a while when we hunt, sometimes the creature the falcon is hunting flies or hides under other people's houses They even dive in the water in an emergency So in the house owner's eyes, a small bird comes in Fences in suburb area are quite low enough so falcons could just fly in and also did pheasants So, I was going to catch a phesant only but when I get this falcon, I want to keep it Then he takes off the "sichimi" from the falcon and when the real falcon owner asks if he's seen his falcon and then the house owner would ask back if it's his falcon That's how the word 'Si-chi-mi'was made We still use that term Our falconry is an ethnic sport which was enjoyed from the royal family to commoners And there are people who thinks that our traditional culture is boring but they should know that we have dynamic sports also So it's very fun Teenagers these days are indoors based They only exercise their fingers in a closed space So cyber-bullying happens and they think that killing people is also easy in real life like in games. They treat life like a fly Then they get aggressive Too aggressive that they can't judge what's real or not And when they repeat it over and over they get brain washed and then when their parents ask them to turn the game off, they simply get very angry and kill their parents This is reality But if you want to take care of a living creature, you have to have affection for it If you just beat the falcon it will either die fast or just fly away But if you make it fly in nature, it will come back to its owner Because you have given it love and affection Falconry is not just about skills, it's about love, patience and affection You also need time to build trust between two human beings, You have to give something sincere Like when you open your heart when you have trust falcons also need trust At first it's scary for them because you will seem like a monster which is really big and which grabbed them and took them home But you have to be extra careful so it's not surprised and then after the next 2~3 days they're fed nice things so they start trusting you Because of love They come back to human because of that Humans are also like that We live together even though we say we hate each other but we have that affection between us Falcons don't fly away because of that affection Anyways, I brought up the story with teenagers, I believe they can revive their exhausted energy while they play with the live creatures and live a life with the nature They will walk through the plains and not think of animals as a frozen meat or a trapped animals in a zoo but think of them as a creature that can fly freely and hunt As Mayor Yeom said "It's the hawk that catches the falcon" just don't pay attention on how you do it but think of getting it done and that is the best solution That term also comes from falconry And the term "Chicken instead of falcon" and "떼꿩에 매낭" means when there are too much things to hunt, the falcon would hesitate and then it would lose all the chances So it means you can't catch it even if you have many chances and not take a blow at the right timing There are some more ‘Fierce, obstinate, solid’ –(These words have its roots in the word, falcon in Korean-translator’s comment) In Chinese, falcon is ‘應.’ In the word, ‘Song-gol-mae’, ‘gol’ also means falcon So ‘Ong-gol’ means somebody or something’s shrewd like a falcon. The word is originated from falconry. So, falconry isn’t just about hunting rabbits and pheasant but a part of our history of culture and our life One may learn wisdom through falconry. To tame a wild falcon a falconer must be patient, devoted and concentrated on a falcon Next is that, there’s no free lunch It’s always ‘give and take’ This falcon may come to me because I kept my words by giving it proper compensation I was scolded big time from my teacher before. Whilst learning falconry a falcon just flew to me with no food since it was all tame by then But when a falcon actually comes to me it kind of disappointed because I have nothing to feed it It’s not sincere After a couple of times of trying with no compensation, the falcon would never come to you In society of humans, we need sincerity and time to trust each other You cannot expect someone to trust you in a short time. You need to be patient, keep trying in order to have solid trust with other people just like when you’re training a falcon. Then everything’s going to be fine Now, I’m going to share about my life with you Buddha said, ‘in the whole world, only I exist.’ Even if it’s between identical twins, there’s something different if you look close at them There is only one ‘I.’ That’s why we all are precious and live your own life Now people live in the same standardized apartments, ride on the same company’s cars and live like a squirrel going around its race Rousseau said, ‘Humans, go back to the nature.’ He knew something significant Now humans are getting further away from the nature and it causes them diseases, some are even newly made. Like the female mountain-climber said earlier, once you get far away from the nature, you may become vicious and subordinated by materials Our infinite motherhood is nature; we come from the nature, live in it and go back to it I’m not saying you have to do falconry just go back to the nature, go to mountains and feel trees at least once a week, Pine trees belch something called phytoncide and its good for us. With the energy and smells from soil path, no matter how vicious one may be, one shall be good. It’s good for your both physical and psychological health. I wish it to be a turning point for you to like the nature ‘Goshawk, a genius of timing.’ This will be my last story. I’ve been hawking for 40 years, and I flew this bad boy, goshawk to a magpie We don’t hunt magpies a lot usually we hunt rabbits and pheasant And there were many magpies sitting on its nest, but it all flew away Since magpies are smaller, they can react faster. Just faster. They don’t have endurance. And, goshawk was just sitting there like a stuffed one, not flew back to me Other magpies flew back to its next, but my goshawk didn’t seem to attack them. why? When magpies are prepared for an attack, goshawk can never get them So, it sat still and waited for magpies to be distracted. Then the goshawk ambushed the magpies So, we humans can learn something here, timing In Buddhism, we say that to make a relation you need a right timing. There’s timing for everything Those who get the right timing are successful, and if you’re dull with timing you can’t get it even if the chance’s right in front of you So, develop your ability for good timing As I mentioned earlier, I love Rousseau. Go back to the nature Living isn’t breathing but doing. He said so. Breathing is just an act of living in terms of biology Humans do something, something creative, meaningful and with one’s will That’s what makes human distinguished from animals If you live for 100years just breathing, it only means you live for a day There is a saying ‘Everyday’s a new day If you think, ‘It’s the same Sun yesterday, today or tomorrow Same old stuff.’ you live only a day For those who are trying to find some changes with an eye seeking for new, you’re living a day like it’s two Everyday’s new to them Life’s so boring and it’s all routine, then you won’t be progressed at all Be open and alive, live with your identity and appreciate yourself In the whole world, only I exist You are precious and because you are precious, you need to live your life meaningfully. Even if falcons are the strongest in the nature I observed it, and it only succeeded once or twice out of ten times of trying 10~20%. And even that’s when falcons do their very best Old people said that even a lion should do its best to catch a rabbit Do your best when you have a chance, and don’t be arrogant Be loyal to every moment and that’s the way you live forever Each moment makes infinity Buddha talked about absorption. Be proud of what you are doing, focus on it and do your best That’s what makes a good life Thank you