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Have you noticed a young woman in classes taking pictures recently? Julia has been visiting Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul taking pictures for the University Avenue Project. Photographer Wing Young Huie, in collaboration with Public Art St. Paul and with funding from the Joyce Foundation, is creating a six-mile gallery of 360 photographs in 2010 along University Ave. The photographs, including those taken at our dojang of our students and facility, will be projected on store windows and building surfaces along University Ave. at night, and large photographs will be displayed on building and windows that can be seen by day.
If you’re curious about the project, check out Wing Young Huie’s website at http://www.wingyounghuie.com/. Or check out a Minnesota Public Radio article on the project here.
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* The Video includes all quotes, but we also typed them out below because they scroll a little fast. Enjoy the great advice from Sun Im Kwan Jang Nim.
Kuk Sool Won Practice Basics:
- Memory
- Strength
- Stretch
- Center Balance
- Stamina
- Power
- Connection
- Meditation
- Speed
Kuk Sool Won Practice Principles:
- Stop Leads the Hyung
- Low Stance
- Power Hands
- Look Straight Ahead or At Your Hands
- No Emotion
- No Expectation
Punch is always lower than shoulder. Thumb stays on the outside. Stance is always 90 degrees. Balance is always center. Eye contact is always straight ahead or at your hands.Keep your head level when you connect stance to stance. Your head should remain at the same height, or level.One who connects the stance fast without power looks sloppy, and will have poor results.Practicing with stops refines your power. One who goes fast, and the form still looks good, has been practicing correctly.Without thinking about the principles and technical details during practice, you may have a fun and a good workout, but you will never understand martial art.Stop longer is correct practice. Concentrate on every basic principle and technique and eventually get there fast.Trying not to waste time is trying hard. Concentrate hard so people can feel the beauty. Concentrate on your hands and absorb yourself in your art. Artist concentrate on giving their soul into their art.After your strikes and between each stance, let the connecting movement go. Like dropping a coin from your hand.Do not practice with emotion. People feel your emotion. Lead your hyung technically, following basic principles.Save your emotion for self-defense.Your opponents should feel your stance hard like a rock, and they should be afraid from your force.Because attacking offense has emotion and powerful preperation, if you wait until someone attacks you, you will be in trouble from the force against you. So if you want to defend yourself against that kind of power, you should prepare twice that strength against your opponent.Self-practice and self-motivation is difficult. Think light and try to begin easily without pressure. Then you can practice continuously and consistently. Begin lightly and get going as you sweat. Starting your practice is everything. Without starting, you go nowhere.Before practice, do not make too many plans. If you have too many expectations, you will burn out before you even start. Just think about every stop. Think about principles and techniques. Then you will enjoy practice and time goes fast.Everyone should practice a lot. It is difficult to learn correctly as a white belt because there is not enough muscle memory and mental experience. If you have been practicing for a while in regular class, then Kwan Jang Nim can correct easily.Once you practice over and over again you will feel the difference. Even if you do not have abilities at first, you will find out you do have confidence. As long as you practice with proper techniques and quality principles, you will reach your goals. Everybody has the same chance. As long as you practice correctly, you could be the best.Hard practice surpasses the need to work on patience. You pass patience and are able to forgive anything. You can pass through anything that stresses you. Because you can taste dying, you can forgive anything.With hard practice, you will have a positive, kind mind. You can solve problems. If you have negative mind, practice harder. Practice for dying.
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From guest blogger, Mel JKN:
There are times in Kuk Sool when we’re not part of what’s going on. We may be waiting for the class before ours to finish, we may be waiting while our instructor teaches a technique to our partner, we may be watching a tournament, or we may be sidelined due to an injury. What do we do with that downtime? Turn our brains off and drift into La La Land? Of course not. All of those scenarios are important learning opportunities. We can learn a great deal from actively watching our fellow students. Things that my instructor has told me time after time suddenly become clear when I see someone else making the same mistake. When I listen to him explain a technique, I always hear something new that I missed when I learned it the first time around. Every time I watch my peers do a form or practice their weapons, I find myself learning from watching. I see the things they do well and desire to emulate them, and I see my own flaws mirrored back at me and am reminded of where I need to work. Every moment spent in the dojang is an opportunity for learning, whether we’re actively involved or simply sitting on the sidelines.
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At our school, Steffen PSBN, our head instructor, uses both the Korean and English names of kicks, hand strikes, forms, etc. in nearly every class. Yes, if there is a preponderance of white belts, he will certainly use much more English than Korean. But at some point every student (whether he noticed or not) has been exposed to the Korean names for nearly everything we do.
We also provide an extensive Korean vocabulary list in our Introductory Packet. And, now, I am slowly getting everything on the blog, so that when that day comes, our students are ready.
What do I mean by tbat day? I mean that day when you, flush with your shiny new red belt, stare at PSBN’s smiling face as he asks you to show him Ba Kkat Da Ri Cha Gi, and you have absolutely no idea what on earth he is talking about. And then there are push-ups.
Before red belt (or “Hohng Dee”), PSBN may quiz your Korean, but he doesn’t hand out push-ups when you don’t know. Those carefree days end at red belt. Are you sufficiently motivated yet? Fabulous. Let’s talk kicks.
The first seven:
Straight leg kick: Ap Cha Ol Ri Gi Cha Gi
Inside crescent kick: An Da Ri Cha Gi
Outside crescent kick: Ba Kkat Da Ri Gi Cha Gi
Low kick: An Kkum Chi Dol Ri Gi Cha Gi
Knee kick: Mu Reup Cha Gi
Back kick: Dwi Cha Gi
Front kick: Ap Cha Gi
The big three:
Roundhouse kick: Bal Deung Cha Gi
Side kick: Yeop Cha Gi
Hook kick: Bal Kkum Chi Cha Gi
And some spins:
Spin kick: Dol-A Cha Gi
Low spin kick: Ha Dan Dol-A Cha Gi
High spin kick: Sang Dan Dol-A Cha Gi
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In continuing adventures of Not A Linguist Or Korean Expert, I’m going to keep heading down the road of getting all the Korean that is contained within our Introductory Packet (remember that folder I gave you your first day of class?) up on the blog. Today’s lesson, boys and girls, is the name of your rank and your form.
Just starting out? You probably have a white belt. Been here a while? Check the color of that purty sash-thingie at your waist. It’s your belt, and it’s not just flair. Your belt represents how long you’ve been training and corresponds to a rank. What’s your rank in Korean? Read on:
White belt – Hin dee
Yellow belt - Noh rahng dee
Blue belt – Chohng dee
Red belt – Hohng dee
Brown belt – Jah dee
Brown/Black belt – Dahn bo nim
If you have a black belt, well, I expect you know your rank in Korean (if not, I suggest learning it quickly). So, we’ll stick with the colored belts for today. So, what is your form called? First of all, learn the word “hyung.” It means form, and Steffen PSBN will tell you collectively to “Go practice hyung.” Or you might hear, “Hyung joon bee,” or “Forms, ready (or first) position.” Either way, impress him by knowing that he’s telling you it’s time to do forms. For your particular rank’s form, see below.
White belt – Ki Cho Hyung
Yellow belt – Choh Geup Hyung
Blue belt – Joong Geup Hyung
Red belt – Goh Geup Hyung
Brown belt – Dae Geup Hyung
Brown/Black belt – Goh Muh Hyung
Homework this week for students at Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul: learn your rank and form in Korean. I guarantee it will be asked on a quiz sometime in your future.
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I’m lying. You can’t learn Korean in 5 easy steps, unless being born in Korea is the first step. But I do want to help everyone get past that blank, deer-in-headlights look when your instructor asks you to do “bahl koom chi cha ki” (all right, commentators — tell me what it is!).
We’ll start simple. How to count to 10 in Korean:
1 han nah
2 dul
3 set
4 net
5 dah set
6 yah set
7 il gohp
8 yuh duhl
9 ah hohp
10 yuhl
Okay, start saying that over and over. My kids learned it over lunch in one day, just counting again and again. Come back when you’ve got that, and we’ll talk about forms.
(Special thanks to Ken Pu Sa Bum Nim for promoting my screen name!)
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My ex asked me the other day how we were faring in the face of the “mini-Depression.” It’s a small business, he figured, and we don’t exactly offer what most people consider a necessary commodity. And the bleak economy is affecting almost everyone at some level. I told him the truth: we’re growing steadily, retaining students, and continuing to invest in the business. Yep, I’m definitely paying more for gas and groceries, but so far the effects of the pinch on most folks’ pocketbooks aren’t translating into a loss of students. But it got me thinking. I know I cringed when I paid for my kids’ activities this fall, not because those prices had gone up, but because the price of so many other things has gone up, and I feel less and less like we can afford “extras.” So, why have so many parents (and other adults) continued or begun paying for Kuk Sool classes this fall? What are we doing right? The first thing that occurred to me is that once you see and experience what we do, you know we offer good value. No one can do this on his own — there’s no Kuk Sool for Dummies book available at Half-Price Books. Kuk Sool Won is an incredibly comprehensive system of martial arts, and it takes consistent lessons with highly qualified instructors to learn. Another possible reason is that Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul offers a lot more than just some of the best lessons in martial arts. Physically, we can challenge and support anyone becoming more fit, better balanced, more flexible. Mentally, we give students plenty to chew on, memorizing techniques and forms, and working to understand how the heck to convince your body to jump, spin, AND kick. We teach and model concepts like perseverance, compassion, and patience. We nurture and support introspection and mindfulness with regular meditation “workouts” and seminars. I hope there’s more. I hope we effect positive change in every student. I hope the relationships that form between students make a warm and welcoming environment. I hope that some of the blood, sweat, and tears that we shed for each and every student really makes a difference. Those are the reasons I do this, so I hope they affect our bottom line. What about you? Are you a martial arts school owner? Are you feeling the pinch in student loss or lack of retention? Are you the parent of a martial artist? Why do you keep paying for those lessons? Are you an adult student, watching your grocery bills climb, yet still shelling out the tuition fees? We usually know why we lose a student — sometimes they let us know loud and clear! But it’s rare to hear why students stay. Especially in the face of a “mini-Depression.”
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Thanks to Scott Wood Hohng Di for forwarding a link to this site. Here are some fun facts about Mr. Norris.
Oh, there’s more. Go to the site and read. I must confess that my personal current fantasy about the Republican National Convention coming to town does involve “accidentally” meeting Chuck Norris. Is he coming to Saint Paul, MN for the convention — who knows? Would he actually ask me to dinner to discuss our differing political views and mutual love of martial arts? Well, duh. So if you see me hanging around Rice Park in my do-bahk looking cute and approachable, yet with that indefinable air of “I have a black belt and I know how to use it,” please don’t come over and ruin it by jumping out at me and making me scream like a girl. Mr. Norris might be watching.
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Once again, our guest blogger, Mel Martin Jo Kyo Nim:
Two weeks after surgery I finally returned to Kuk Sool classes. It was great to be back in the dojang and to see everyone, but at the same time it was very frustrating. For the next five months I am prohibited from running, jumping, bending, or twisting. So I took a deep breath and told myself that this is the perfect time to work on my weapons skills. When I got home I started doing the math and I figured out that I only have to worry about being benched for about 50-60 classes, and really that’s not that bad. I smiled and thought to myself, “Now that’s the right attitude to have.” And that phrase, right attitude, brought me up short. I thought about it for a moment and I realized that I am back on the path that initially led me to black belt. The first week of my recovery was about fitness. Not in the way we normally think of fitness, pushing our bodies to make them stronger, but rather resting and getting out of my body’s way so it could work and heal itself. Once I was off crutches it was on to concentration. I had to focus on relocating my sense of balance, relearning my limits, listening very carefully to my body when it told me what it could and could not do. And now here I am, once again, at right attitude.
Once we reach black belt we tend to forget about the path the colored belts follow. We are more than happy to shepherd others along their way, but we forget how the path continues to apply to us. But then, like in the childhood game of Chutes and Ladders, something unexpected can happen that will knock us back to an earlier place on the path. So we stand up, dust ourselves off, and start moving forward again, learning even more than we did the first time we walked the road. I don’t think any of us, black belts or not, ever truly reach the end of the path. There are always setbacks, physical or mental, that send us back to an earlier place. The key is to never stop when that happens. Don’t stop learning and don’t stop moving. Each journey along the path is different. It may take a few moments or a few months but if we follow the route we know the end result is the same, we end up better than we were when we started.
I find great comfort in knowing the road that is before me. In my case, it’s going to be a long one. And that’s ok. My jool bong needs work anyway.
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