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

We’ve opened a new class day and time for our youngest (and cutest) students.  Our Pre-Martial Arts class is specifically designed for children ages 4-6 years — those who are curious and enthusiastic about martial arts but too young for the Kuk Sool white belt (beginning) curriculum.  We’ve been offering a class on Fridays at 5pm for nearly 2 years now, and that class stays consistently full.  So, we’ve opened a second class time on Tuesdays at 5pm.  Class will last anywhere from 30-50 minutes, depending upon the age and experience level of your child.  Please call 612-578-5797 if you have questions, or feel free to just show up with your child, ready to try our Pre-Martial Arts class.

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.

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.

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 Continue Reading…

I homeschool my kids.  Steffen PSBN homeschools his kids.  Well, technically, we homeschool them all together most days, in a group effort wherein one of us pinch hits for the other when time or temper is running short.I was very pleased to recently learn that another of our students is being homeschooled, and even more pleased that I learned this by reading a lovely blog entry authored by his mom.  Carrie Pomeroy’s blog “Playschool” is a mothering memoir in real time — day-to-day thoughts and questions, tales of pride and admissions of shame.  Carrie wrote about a day in her son’s Kuk Sool class that struck her, and she has give us permission to reprint it here.  If you’d like to read more of Carrie’s blog, visit www.playschooling.blogspot.com.My son is lucky enough to take martial arts classes twice a week at Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul, a very family-oriented Continue Reading…

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 Continue Reading…

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 Continue Reading…