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.

There will be colored belt testing this Saturday from 3-5 pm at Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul.  It should be a big one — I think we have over 30 people testing for everything from yellow stripe to our brown belt/black stripes who are “practice testing” for the privilege of being invited to test for Dahn Bo Nim.  If you’re going to be there, we’ll have a potluck immediately after, so please bring a dish to share.

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. 

In June and July, our Grand Master, Kuk Sa Nim Suh In Hyuk travels the US and Canada on a Super Seminar tour.  He and other Masters speak and teach at the schools along their route, and we here at Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul were honored again to host a Super Seminar.

For us, the excitement began on Thursday, when Steffen Pu Sa Bum Nim’s instructor, Tim Seitz Kwang Jahng Nim, arrived.  Master Seitz and Steffen PSBN taught special classes all day on Friday to our most highly ranked students.  The Dahn Bo Nims joined in a very exciting dahn bong (short stick) seminar, and most of them were introduced to this weapon for the first time.  Kuk Sa Nim and Masters Suh and Harmon arrived Friday evening, ready to visit our close neighbor, Mirror of Korea, for dinner.

Saturday was packed.  All black belts, including our frequent visitor, Mike Monahan Kyo Sa Nim, got a special practice time with the visiting Masters all morning.  After lunch, it was test time.  About a dozen black belts and black-belts-to-be sweated and pushed themselves in front of Master Suh, showing what they know and learning new and painful ways to do push-ups.  For most of the testers, this was just one test during the year (or years) of their testing process, but for three students this was the final test, promoting them to the next level of black belt.

Remember when I mentioned the Seminar?  That was Saturday afternoon.  Every student, from white belt to black belt, was invited to come, and the crowd listened as Kuk Sa Nim spoke about his philosophy of martial arts training.  Then, Master Harmon led the school through a kick-intensive seminar, focusing on safe, fast, and effective roundhouse kicks.  It was a hot day, but the kicks kept coming, fast and furious, and our students showed their best etiquette and enthusiasm.  Master Harmon later complimented Steffen PSBN on our students, especially the children, for their attention and focus.

By the end of the day on Saturday, everyone involved was exhausted and exhilarated.  The weekend was a great success.  Thanks to every student and instructor who was involved, especially those students who came for the Seminar.  To continue to attract guests like this, we have to show our school’s best side, and every student who attended helped to show Kuk Sa Nim that we are a school of students eager to learn.  Stay tuned to the blog for pictures, courtesy of our student Audrey Wiley, of the testing, promotions, and seminar.