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

Master Choon-Ok Harmon is the highest-ranking female martial artist in the World Kuk Sool Association and author of the memoir, The Iron Butterfly:  The True Story of a Mermaid’s Daughter.  Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul is thrilled to announce a special evening event with Master Harmon on Wednesday, September 28 at 7pm.  Master Harmon will be presenting stories and lessons from her life at St. Catherine University’s Jeanne d’Arc Auditorium.  The event will also include Korean dance and drumming demonstrations by Mu Gung Hwa Dance Academy and the demonstration team of Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul.  Tickets are $5 each — please call 612-578-5797 for more information.

Everyone is invited and welcome to join us for our annual Open House on Saturday, September 25, 2010 from 12:00pm to 3:00pm.  We will have games, mini-classes, and demonstrations by our Demo Team.  If you’re a student, bring a friend and come and enjoy the show.  Curious about martial arts in the Twin Cities?  Feel free to come by and see what we do.

We’ll be volunteering at Feed My Starving Children this Saturday, July 10 from 4:30 to 6:30 at their Chanhassen location.  We still have a few spaces, so sign up today.Click here for directions and more information about Feed My Starving Children.

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 love open houses.  I love the idea that we open our homes (or businesses) to the public, invite folks in, let them look around, share a snack or a meal together, and share a little bit about who we are and what we do.Here at Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul, we’re having an open house on Saturday, September 26 from 11am to 3pm.  Yes, anyone is welcome.  Yes, you can look around, yes, there will be treats and snacks.  And the best part is you can come in and not just see what we do, but try it out yourself. Already a student?  Come in and play a game with us, maybe try a mini-class and review an old skill or learn a new one.  And watch a demonstration by our most advanced students and instructors and get an idea of the amazing things that can be done by any student who puts in the time and training.  Not yet a student?  Come and tour our school, meet our instructors and current students, learn a little bit, play a little bit, and get all your questions answered in person about our school and the system of martial arts called Kuk Sool Won.  Everyone is welcome.  Our “house” will be open, so come see for yourself some of the best martial arts in the Twin Cities.

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.

Yeah, I’m talkin’ about roller derby.  But it’s not what you think.  I went to my first bout not really knowing what to expect, and what I saw was a fast-paced, hard-driving sport that owed as much of its appeal to truly gifted athleticism as to the admittedly fun dramatics.  Yes, the girls throw around some ‘tude, and yes, the uniforms lean toward short skirts and fishnets, but the skating is, in some cases, world class, and the game is played with strategy and skill, not just shoulder checks and cat fights.  What does roller derby have to do with Kuk Sool?  Well, Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul will be the opening entertainment for the MN Rollergirls on Saturday, March 21, 2009. We’re thrilled to be asked — it’s a chance for us to show off what we do in front of 2000+ people who really like seeing athletic women do impressive aggressive stuff.  If only Steffen Pu Sa Bum Nim would let me wear a skirt….  Want to know more about the MN Rollergirls?  Check out their website at www.mnrollergirls.com. 

Steffen PSBN and I were talking business the other day — an activity that we call a “meeting” and that usually involves large quantities of bubble tea.  We were talking about demographics:  who is our market?  what are they like?  what DO they like?  how do we reach them most efficiently?  And we stumbled upon a great truth:  martial artists read.  Looking at our current student population, former students and instructors, we determined that Kuk Sool apparently appeals to bookish word nerds, ourselves included.  (Yes.  It’s a fact.  Any conclusion reached under the influence of a strawberry kumquat black tea with pearls is an idea of great wisdom and undoubtedly true.)  So we decided to make our upcoming Open House that much more fun by sharing some of our favorite martial arts books with our students and guests.  We’re going through the bookshelves and hauling out, among others, The Art of War, The Art of Peace, Varjak Paw,  and The Miracle of Mindfulness.  We’ll set them out on tables, give folks a chance to see some of our recommendations for good martial arts reads, and, we hope, learn about some new titles to go check out ourselves.  Do you have recommendations?  Throw your comments out there — we’d love to hear what you think of as a good book about or relating to martial arts.   And if you’re in the area, come by and visit:  Saturday, September 13 from 11am to 3pm.  In addition to the books, you’ll find us playing games, teaching mini-classes, and eating treats.  Nothing like books, martial arts, and cookies for a good time.

Thanks to Scott Wood Hohng Di for forwarding a link to this site.  Here are some fun facts about Mr. Norris.

• When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
• There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
• Outer space exists because it’s afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.
• Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
• Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
• Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.
• Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
• There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.
• When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.

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.