Ancestral Skills in Korea: Why?

The first weekend of January, I taught my first group of students a primitive skills program at Mulme Healing Farm, in Jeju. It was a great experience for those kids who practiced a series of exercises and games that brought them awareness about themselves and brought them more comfortable in nature.

Primitive Skills are too often associated with survival, but the indigenous people who are born doing it thrive from them. Also, primitive skills are too often associated with machismo and that distracts them from the wisdom of indigenous people. Machismo is not what they have to offer as often their societies respect the feminine and their crucial role in the community. As a whole, the one's remaining are connected to the land in a way that is way beyond survival, struggle and suffering. According to anthropological studies, they have more leisure time.

I prefer Ancestral Skills as a description to give the reference and respect to the ancient traditions and practices of people living close to the earth. They incorporate stories, games, philosophy as a way of life in Nature and the making and use of tools that require sustainable harvesting and a caretaking philosophy.

The goal of the class was to help the kids find the forest that they where to spend time in comfortable. By the end of the weekend, they had gotten a great start. This teacher had great students as these stellar kids were hungry for it.

During the introductions, I asked the students why I did what I did. To help them I asked the farmer to give me a lighter. He gave it to me and I placed it next to the fire making kit. I asked them what is more destructive of the two: the lighter or the primitive fire kit?

After a conversion on this question, I re-asked the question.

A student named Molly said, "To remember."

And their teacher, Sunny said, "You are a true environmentalist."

Though Sunny was too nice, both Molly and her were right.  I want to understand Ancestral Skills so I can understand sustainable. It also helps me to understand my place on this Earth and keeps me humble. But more than this is the joy I get from sharing these with children. The rewards are great for children who are hungry for this. Like many places , Korea is no different for children.  Children are alienated from the land and often taught to fear the wildness of the world. No place encourages this like the city. And in Korea, where I am living, children spend day and night inside studying.

These kids need this so badly because understanding their land base will help them understand how to nourish it as well as themselves. Starting earlier then myself, they can grow to a deeper understand of the land base than I can achieve in my lifetime.

Getting back to the class, I  made a simple fire to light the incense for the introductions.





We went around and gave introductions. I was impressed by the high level of fluency of Sunny International Homeschool's students. Sunny their teacher had taught them well. They were an intelligent and comfortable with a foreigner, continuing good signs of a great weekend of sharing.



From left to right are a braintanned bag, a gourd canteen and a knife in a bambo cut holder.

They were at the Farm from Friday to Monday morning. Saturday morning we started the forest activities to get them comfortable in the forest. After the activities we sat in a circle and journaled and waited for the last student to stop writing. Often it took over 40 minutes for them to finish writing, they were so struck by the activities.

Here are some of the activities:

SIT SPOT: We walk along a trail surrounded by forest. One by one students are directed to move into a place in the forest they like and sit until they are called for.

The children shared how scared they were in the beginning of walking into the woods and how comfortable they began to feel. One student dreamed of building her own home in the woods. Another transformed hereself into an animal and starting walking around.

I was surprised by how quickly they became comfortable in the woods.



Taking picures of students while they do their sit spot in not a great idea, but the person who took the picture was sneaky enough.

String stalk

Students have their eyes taken away as

 they learn to walk using their bare feet with only a string to help lead them. Students practice Fox Walking which I had taught them in a previous exercise that allows them to walk using their feet to feel what is in front of them.





We had to make time for fun games that reinforced balance and skills. 

Along the way I introduced them to Barapo, a horse at Mulme Healing Farm. 

Meeting Barapo.

Relay Race

Rope Games

Our Night Relay Race,

 before mediation ended in laughs and fake falls.

Skipping forward to the hard skill we were going to work on this week is the fire saw. I was expecting this to be homework as the students could require hours of practice to understand how to make it work. 10 minutes could be the time it would take for a decent practictioner.

The awareness Games give a taste of the comfort but the hard work of the hard skills honors the vision to learn sustainable skills. 

We worked on Bamboo Fire Saw the method of fire making used in many places where bamboo found.

     

               I showed the students how to make a tinder bundle, the small fuzzy pieces that will be blown into flames.

Like many methods of creating fire using natural materials, friction creates a coawhich

In all friction fire making, friction creates a coal that will be put into a bundle of flammable material and blown into flames. 

The kids dilligently worked on their sets.

Though no one got fire, they learned so much about fire and learned what a gift it actually is. Once they learn it, they will get quicker and quicker at making a making a fire, but everytime it will be a gift. 

 



The students learned how to put together a fire. There was a two team competition to see which team could get their fire going. It turned into a boy vs girl competition. The boys won this time around.



These boys were the technical winners, but everyone won parts of themselves back.

Fire Making Class at Mulme Healing Farm

Mulme Healing Farm is proud to be conducting a primitive fire making class on Saturday afternoon at 1pm.
We will tap into a ancient form of firemaking used in certain Asian communities using bamboo called fire saw.
Taping into the ancient art of firemaking is rewarding process that connects people to the landbase in a practical way and forgos the use of lighters or matches that require great energy and cost to manufacture.It is a local material in Jeju, harvesting when dying By participating in this process you will gain an appreciation of this ancient skills.

The minimum time will take about an hour including a lecture on selecting materials, technique, and demonstration followed by practice on a kit provided. The finish time will depend on when you make fire.
Total Cost is 10,000 won cash for the farm owner, Yang Hejeon.
Sore muscles may result for those not use to the work. We will be using knives for cutting so there will be a knife safety demonstration for those involved.

Please RSVP by Friday evening by texting Greg Sandford at 010-2154-0829 : "Confirm Fire Making Saturday at 1pm, _________(name)."
Have a great day!

Demonstrating Bow Drill Fire with Gratitude

On November 24th, Mulme Healing Farm had a farm party for town guest and people interested in organic food and sustainable skills. We had a variety of visitors which included farmers, teachers, foreign English teachers, and government officials, office workers, friends, family.

I introduced friction fire, or fire without any matches or a lighter to demonstrate the wonderful gift fire is. I always love the wonderment and joy on people's faces when doing it. It's always the same process. Some are in disbelief. Some are excited. Someone usually jokes, "Got a lighter?"

The process has multiple step. First I burn a hole into a flat piece of wood called a fireboard. Some people expecting fire immediately walk away when they don't see fire. Then I carve on the side of the hole a pizza slice shaped notch. I create a friction in a hole by spinning a spindle.The spindle is attached to a bow string and using the bow I move the string back and forth. This spins the spindle. The friction is over 800 degrees when the dust from the wooden board fall below the notch and begins to glow. When I lift up the spindle there is black smoke from the dust that collected at the bottom of the fire board the pile of saw dust to begin to glow. 

The anticipation builds up from the crowd as I go along. . As I place the small coal that was created in the friction into whispy pieces of bark that looks like a birds nest people get excited. Those that had drifted away either in boredome or disbelief slowly come back. I shape the bark around the coal like a taco. I shift it around  as I blow on it slowly and increasing in power. The coal grows until the collection of natty bark bursts into flames. The crowd cheers. They have been entertained.

It may seem magical but this how fire was made by a certain group of people for thousands of years. 

Some of those people begin to understand how gifted we are with a lighter. It's not a necessary thing. It is a priviledge. Some of those people are reminded of the convenience it is. However, it is a priviledge with a high cost. 

Individual plants died to make the bow drill kit branch I cut from the tree, gathering the plant to make the rope, then knife which was convenient but not necessary to cut a hole, and the dead tree cut for the spindle and board.

How was the lighter used in a way that wasn't destructive? Or a match? From the plastic that was used to make it- it's thrown away when the fuel is spent in the case of the lighter. Or the men who work in the lung burning sufuric acid saturate air in the sulfure mine.

Yet, those costs are not here and while its important to keep these things in mind, that is not while I am smiling. I am smiling because I am able to much show people how to participate in a heritage when people interacted with their environment. Making fire using this materials reminds me how much of a gift it actually. It was earned by learning botany, identification and craft skills, and it was done with the humility of know what would happen to me if I depleted its resources by extracting to much.

In total, it took me 20 minutes to st get the coal. A master could take a lot shorter a period of time

Somehow it reminds me of the Dhamma- that all things are fleeting. Our innovations and conveniences are fleeting. This piece of material is just as temporal and materialistics as the lighter but at least it brings us closer to what life is and its costs. Someday we may return to this method again. Until then it's good to understand where we came from.

Thank you for reading.

Good day.