Our Kuk Sool Blog about life, events, and activities at Kuk Sool Won of St Paul. We practice a Korean style of Martial Arts in the Minneapolis and St Paul Area. For more info and a free intro lesson call (651)645-1455, email us at stpaulksw@gmail.com , or visit our school homepage at the link below:
* True Account by Head Instructor Steffen Kellogg from Kuk Sool Won of St Paul, Minnesota
I have always loved stories of Kuk Sool being successfully used in self-defense. But until recently I had not been in an altercation that went to the extreme of actual physical confrontation. I had always been able to talk my way out of confrontation or just project enough of an aura of confidence to deter attackers. Last night that all changed…
First a little back ground on the philosophy of self-defense that I teach. Seth Hicks Pu Sa Bum Nim (Kuk Sool Won of Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University) and I were once discussing how we teach self-defense. We were both in agreement but he had the better presentation; so I stole his presentation idea. Since then I’ve taught the three pillars of self-defense: Etiquette, self-control, and lastly, the physical techniques of self-defense.
Etiquette
Self-Control
Physical Techniques
I tell my students that 90% of possible confrontations can be avoided with good etiquette. And that of that 10% left over, another 90% can be avoided simply by being able to control our body, breathing, and emotions. Projecting confidence, being assertive, and not letting your anger get the best of you are all parts of self-control. Each one helps to deter potential aggressors. Finally, the physical techniques are used in the last extreme to protect ourselves or others when we have tried everything else and getting away without risk is not an option.
The True Self-Defense Story
I have been apartment caretaking for about 5 and half years. In that time I’ve handled countless complaints, noise disturbances, and belligerents. So last night at 3AM when I was woken by pounding on a door and bellowing in the hall, I was more annoyed than surprised. I quickly put on my dobak pants and went out in the hall to calm things down. What I found was a man trying to kick down the door of one of my tenants. Another of the tenants had already called the police and was trying to get the belligerent to leave from a safe distance away. I could smell the alcohol on this guy from 20 feet away. I quickly interposed myself between the drunk and the door. At this point it had gone beyond caring what the drunk wanted, I was worried for the lady behind the door. I didn’t want this guy getting to her.
So I took up a conciliatory natural stance. I had both hands up feet set beneath me with my knees slightly bent. He backed off from the door, and started making odd squaring off gestures like he wanted to be in a fighting stance but had only seen one in a Bruce Lee movie. That didn’t bother me as long as he was out range and not armed. I started trying to calm him. Calling him sir, trying to tell him the police were on the way (he thought they would help him), telling him that he needed to either leave or calm down, that there was no way he was going into that apartment. Normally this is all it takes. The guy had nothing to lose, he didn’t have friends watching, there was no face to lose, but he still wouldn’t leave.
His next tactic was to mock me. Self-control was the name of the day. I don’t lose anything by accepting mocking (Especially by someone that drunk). He started to advance on me and I dropped my left foot back enough to be in a more defensive stance. Still at this point I did not want to hurt him. I just wanted to stall him until the police could get there. Unfortunately, for me he decided to play with the fire alarm. I pulled his hand away from the alarm, and that is when techniques came into play.
One of the things I especially love about Kuk Sool is the wide range of options we have. We can go for real damage, strict defense, or restraint. I went for restraint.
Kuk Sool Techniques and Armbars
As soon as I removed his hand from the fire alarm he went for me with a wild overhand flail. I blocked his arm and drove him back a couple of steps. I quickly swept his feet (Ki Bon Soo 9), and slid on top. While he was flailing away I slid my leg around his arm and pulled him into an arm bar using my whole body as a fulcrum (a black belt ground sparring technique) I now had him pinned the ground with one leg holding his head down, and the other holding his body down. His elbow was mine to break or not. Still he struggled. Two light heal kicks to the ribs (warning shots), and a verbal threat to increase the kicks until his ribs broke and I was able to completely restrain him until the police arrived.
The whole physical episode had taken less then thirty seconds. When he was properly subdued and in custody, I took stock. My tenant was safe. My heart was pounding but my breathing was completely under control. I could feel the adrenaline rush, but never did the adrenaline control me. I had successfully used what I had learned in Kuk Sool over the years without seriously injuring the belligerent. He was bleeding from a ripped open suture in his hand (he had apparently had an operation on his hand the previous week), and I only had some minor scratches on my calf from his fingernails. And I had managed to do everything within the confines of a 4 foot wide hallway. The mental and physical techniques, that I have practiced for so long in Kuk Sool worked beautifully.
When I first meet people interested in joining Martial Arts, especially in a city, they usually ask whether or not we teach Self Defense. Here in Minnesota Pu Sa Bum Nim Steffen (3rd Degree Black Belt) will do a Self Defense type class from time to time focusing on Self Defense moves, strikes, or kicks that would be efficient in Self Defense.
Our style, Kuk Sool, teaches defense for any number of situations from being choked, to having your clothing grabbed, to being bear hugged. Here are some pointers on what you should think about in regards to Self Defense with Kuk Sool or any Martial Arts style:
1. Efficient Striking
You are most likely in close with a Self Defense situation. So try and stick to using your close strikes likes elbows, knees, and quick kicks. They hurt and are very fast. Remember, if one strike does not work throw another. * Do not try and back up to strike if you are already close, you will waste your energy and time when you could have already thrown a number of strikes to free yourself and escape
2. Fight Dirty
Yeah, I said it. Your life may be at risk. There might be a very large man attacking you. If you are new to Martial Arts or defending yourself you should not even think twice, you should fight dirty. Gouge the eyes, Kick the Groin, Rake the face with your nails, kick the knees, bite the ear (be careful of blood, you may want to bite and tear). Anything you can think of that would help you escape till you are safe.
3. Don’t Freeze
This is probably the biggest worry of anyone, that they will freeze when confronted with a Self Defense situation. While this could obviously happen to most people, you should be aware and realize you need to act. Everyone will have a moment of realization and “Freeze” per se, but I believe everyone that reads this blog can realize they need to un-freeze and do what needs to be done to defend and escape.
4. Combos Combos Combos
Don’t stop by trying to kick them in the groin and it not working. Immediately try to poke their eyes or palm strike their nose. Always do more than one strike. Don’t trap yourself in the mindset of only doing one strike.
5. Worries & Confidence
If you are still worried do some common situations and practice like a bear hug, getting choked (lightly at first), being grabbed by the shirt, pulling your purse, or something of the like. This will help build some confidence. The more confident you look and act the less likely you are of being attacked. Sometimes life is tough and you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but a lot of the time someone will not mess with a really confident person.
+ Bonus
There are so many techniques in our Martial Art Kuk Sool Won, once you get to a high enough belt you know techniques for almost every Self Defense situation. If you are that high of rank make sure to practice effectively. Don’t just walk through the motion. Lock the joint, hit the pressure point, throw, and finish.
[+] Videos
We have also produced three quick videos to get your mind going:
* Feel free to email this article to anyone who might benefit from reading it by going to the top of this post and clicking the “Email a Friend” link underneath the title of the post. Be safe and I hope this blog post helps.
Great stuff this week, especially the videos, make sure to check it all out. * This Blog is updated Daily and you can subscribe on the right via Email or RSS
Kuk Sool Won at West Point is always talked about in a lot of schools but I personally have never seen anything about it. That is, until today. Big Thank You again to Kwan Jang Nim Gene Gause again for releasing another great video. Three big Kuk Sool names make appearances in this video and they are Kuk Sa Nim, Kwan Jang Nim Sims, and Sa Bum Nim Tim Challans.
It is a big deal that Kuk Sool was the only Martial Art chosen for this elite Military Academy. It speaks wonders about the comprehensiveness of Kuk Sool and how easily it can be applicable to real life situations today.
I don’t know if this was the whole club or just a featured group of the students at West Point. If anybody has any more info feel free to leave a comment.
We have done an update to our Media Gallery page on our main website. We are now displaying all our Videos and Pictures from our Martial Arts Dojo and Studio serving the Twin Cities.
The last of our first 3 videos we have produced for our first self defense series. This videos covers how to defend yourself if someone is not taken some hardy hints to leave you alone and it is escalating where you don’t want it to go. Remember, as with nay self defense situation do anything you have to to get away safely. Some ideas beyond this video are to poke / gouge the eyes, aim for the groin, and cave in the knee. Enjoy the video and here are the links to the previous two videos in this series:
Video 2 of our 3 part first-time self defense series. The first video from yesterday can be found here about Defending Against a Grab from Behind. Today’s video is a basic defense against someone grabbing you and trying to strike you with a punch.
Remember, in regards to self defense, do anythign possible to get away. Including but not limited to scraping/gouging the eyes, groin strikes, yelling and screaming, stomping the foot, etc…
We teach self defense classes right along with our regular Kuk Sool Won style classes for the people of Minneapolis and St Paul and the entire surrounding Twin Cities area.
Part 1 of 3 of our first Self Defense videos we have recorded. We have recorded three different situations you may face in a self defense situation. We present an escape and three quick moves to effectively take down an attacker and get away.
This first video presents the dilemma of being grabbed from behind aka in a “Bear Hug.” Remember, if you have an escape before this situation happens always take it, and never be afraid to fight with everything you have (gouge eyes, kick the groin, screaming, etc..)
We do teach self defense for the people of the Minneapolis, St Paul, and Twin Cities area along with our style of Kuk Sool Won. Feel free to contact us with interest. stpaulksw@gmail.com
If you have any videos or ideas you would like to see on our blog go ahead and leave a comment.
