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!

Congratulations to our students who competed at the 2010 Midwest Tournament in St. Louis, MO!  Everyone did extraordinarily well, and we are very, very proud of you all:  Brian Berg (white belt, 40+), one gold medal, one bronze medal; Andrew Wyman (brown belt adult), one gold medal, two silver medals, and one bronze medal; Will Schuerger (Dahn Bo Nim adult), three silver medals and one bronze medal; Nicki Jones (First Dahn adult women) three gold medals, two silver medals, one bronze medal, and the Grand Champion winner in her division.   Also, we congratulate Mel Martin Jo Kyo Nim and Will Schuerger Dahn Bo Nim on excellent black belt testing!

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.

Thanks to all competitors, judges, and families who came on Saturday for our annual Kuk Sool Olympics.  This school-wide competition is always a lot of fun for everyone, and we’ll begin posting class scores today — how well did your class do in competition?  (Hint:  the more students from a class who attended, the higher the scores!)Calendar note:  We will be closed this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, March 4-6.

Our third annual Kuk Sool Olympics (the event formally known as “In-School Tournament”) is coming up.  Students, please turn in your registration forms and fees as soon as possible.  Parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors — you’re all invited to come and see our students, youngest to oldest, beginners to experienced, enjoy a day of friendly competition, great community, and outstanding martial arts.  Please join us Saturday, February 27 from 11 AM to about 5 PM.

Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul is hosting its annual Open House this Saturday, September 26 from 11am to 3pm.  We’ll be offering free mini-classes, playing games, and showing off some of the best martial arts in the Twin Cities.  Come meet our instructors and current students, try out some new moves, and get your questions answered about our school and the martial arts system of Kuk Sool Won.

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. 

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.

* 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.

I’m thankful that I co-own a martial arts school and don’t have to have a real job.

I’m thankful for every student who walks through those doors. 

I’m thankful for a family that loves and supports me, even if they can’t remember the name of whatever it is that I do all the time.

I’m thankful to work with other instructors who share a love of Kuk Sool and who make me laugh, inspire me, and add to the enjoyment of what I do every day.

I’m thankful to work under an instructor whose talent, energy, and ambition have made this school so successful in so many ways.

I’m thankful that what I wear to work is so darn comfy.

I’m thankful that I get to wear other, more flattering clothes too sometimes.

I’m thankful to have so many friends that I love and am loved by. 

I’m thankful for every day I live without pain.

I’m thankful that I get to spend my days with my children.  I’m thankful that I get a break from them sometimes, too.

I’m thankful that I live a life of abundance, without fear, surrounded by love, and full of joy.  I hope the same for all of you.