Kuk Sool Won of St Paul | Twin Cities Martial Arts with Classes for Kids, Adults, Families, and Workouts

Know your Super Seminar schedule!

• Tuesday, June 15 is testing for all Black Belt candidates.  No regular classes.  Testers must be at the school and warming up by 4:30pm for a 5-8pm test.
• Wednesday, June 16 is our Super Seminar (no regular classes).  We’ll be at the Groveland Recreation Center and all participants should arrive at 4:30pm.  The Seminar and promotion ceremony will end promptly at 8pm.  Parents are welcome to watch from the sidelines!

Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul is thrilled to be hosting Kuk Sa Nim and the high-ranking Masters who will accompany him to teach our fourth Super Seminar.  Eligible Black Belts and Dahn Bo Nims will be testing on Tuesday, June 15, and the Super Seminar will be held on Wednesday, June 16.  Specific times will be announced soon, but these events will be replacing normally scheduled evening classes.  Every student is invited to attend the Super Seminar, regardless of rank; in fact, attendance is considered mandatory with only death or dismemberment counting as acceptable excuses!  Clear your calendars now.

I took the opportunity this year of tagging along with Steffen PSBN on his annual trip to Houston for Instructor Training at the World Kuk Sool Headquarters.  Although I wasn’t able to participate in the official Training, there was still plenty to do and learn “from the sidelines” as Mel JKN has put it. 

The first thing I learned was that, despite our grumbling as his students, Steffen PSBN is NOT actually a testing maniac compared to other school owners.  In fact, the word from on high was this:  testing is good practice and we all need more practice.  At dinner with Master Jeff Green and Sa Bum Nim Ben Mitchell, we got the wonderful idea of giving practice tests to black stripe students who aren’t quite ready to test for Dahn Bo Nim.  I got to see our first two students take practice tests on Saturday, and, as an instructor, I’m convinced that they will significantly help.  As a mom, it was a little heartbreaking — one of the practice testers was my son, and his emotional unreadiness was obvious.  But by practicing, I know his readiness to test will improve.  Besides, we came home with testing plans that will be affecting all our black belt testers, and my turn will be coming.  It’s always only a matter of time before testing begins to affect you personally. 

I also had the pleasure of seeing Pu Sa Bum Nims and Sa Bum Nims testing.  It was awe-inspiring, as usual.  It also reinforced the practicing of odd-side forms at black belt.  Master Daniel Jolly emphasized this point during Houston testing in October — as black belts we must practice forms on both sides equally.  And Su Suhk Kwan Jahng Nim Harmon certainly reinforced it during this test. 

I got to meet a delightful group of women from the San Francisco Bay area who have trained under Sun Im Kwan Jahng Nim Suh for years.  These “California girls” are the students who took up the mantle of school owners when their head instructor moved.  None of them went into Kuk Sool with the plan of school ownership, but when the need arose, they jumped into the role.  We swapped ideas and stories, compared notes on training pre-schoolers, and had a great time.  I look forward to next year and the chance to reconnect with them. 

The one thing that I missed that I wish I had been able to witness was Master Daniel Jolly’s speech about loyalty.  There are some organizational changes going on in the big wide Kuk Sool family, and, as with any change, there are some grumbles, worries, and doubts.  Master Jolly spoke about his loyalty to Kuk Sa Nim and the loyalty that is returned to him in kind.  It occurred to me that, ultimately, we are all Kuk Sa Nim’s students.  I know how I feel about my students and the lengths I would go to for each one of them, and I trust the same is true of Kuk Sa Nim. 

So I am sitting in Houston Airport waiting for my flight (we’ve been delayed three hours so far), and I’m trying not to let the frustration ruin what has been an outstanding weekend.

I have spent the last three days with my fellow instructors at the Kuk Sool Won annual instructor training. There were instructors there from all over. One even came from as far away as Japan. We were trained, helped, and coached by Kwan Jahng Nims Barry Harmon, Choon Ok Harmon, Alex Suh, and Sun Jin Suh. It was, once again, a wonderful opportunity to get ideas, learn, and correct a wide array of martial arts and business techniques. But the high point had to be Kuk Sa Nim’s speech.

Every once in a while I catch a glimpse of just how truly awesome Suh In Hyuk, Kuk Sa Nim really is. Of course, I have always known that he can do astounding things, but every once in while it hits me on a visceral level. It can be mind blowing.

This time it was Kuk Sa Nim sharing his philosophy of martial arts instruction. He said that the main points of a true martial arts instructor are: “like, love, respect”.

When he said this I was blown away. Not because I was surprised, disbelieving, or in disagreement, but because I realized that this man lives this philosophy. It is part of who he is. And we are all richer for it.