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TaeKwonDo Times Magazine Traditions Column by Master Doug Cook January, 2012

The Demon of Self-Doubt

Remember your first tae kwon do class? I will never forget mine and I am confident most of our readers will not forget theirs either. The experience was like meeting a new love for the first time. I felt an instant connection to the art and as the years went by, a blossoming of passion that remains with me to this day. And just like a successful marriage, that early infatuation has matured into an enduring bond. Yet I do not feel unique. Many of you certainly share similar emotions. So, how do we explain the actions of those who initially concur with this line of reasoning yet impulsively terminate their training at some point for no apparent reason?

Anyone who engages in a serious study of traditional tae kwon do can tell you it is a difficult pursuit. There is no elevator to success; you must laboriously scale each step to the top. Every class represents a challenge of some sort coupled with the fact that the tae kwon doist cannot help but experience peaks and valleys in the course of their practice. Tae kwon do mirrors life and, just as in daily life, things are not always perfect. Certainly, there are times when you will enjoy an exemplary training session, one where every stance flows smoothly, where every kick is well placed and strikes exhibit unstoppable power. However, if that were consistently the case, everyone would be a master. Instead, it is more likely that days will be endured when techniques refuse to come easy, when you seem to be digressing rather than advancing. It is times such as these when the true spirit of tae kwon do must materialize allowing indomitable will to trump faltering action.

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Paying Tribute to a Legend: Honoring Grandmaster Richard Chun by Master Doug Cook

Tae Kwon Do, the traditional martial art and Olympic sport of Korea, is an inheritance; an art handed down from venerable master to worthy disciple over the decades. Since its official inception in 1955, evolving from a disparate collection of fighting styles to the most popular martial art in the world today, the discipline has grown, overflowing the borders of its native land. Through an ingenious process of standardization introduced during its formative years by the Korea Taekwondo Association, Tae Kwon Do has today become unified and transferable wherever it is taught, flooding the globe with the physical and philosophical principles it resolutely promotes.

Yet, as students of Tae Kwon Do in America, we are largely indebted to five great masters who, in the 1960s, emigrated from Korea to the shores of this great nation with the distinct purpose of transmitting the heritage of the art on to others deserving of its virtues. Among these vanguards were Ki Whang Kim, Son Duk Sung, Sijak Henry Cho, Jhoon Rhee and Rhin Moon Richard Chun. Two are no longer with us while three of the original five continue to vigorously represent Tae Kwon Do today.

Sadly, not every Tae Kwon Doist was given the prospect of training under one of these remarkable men. Yet, as providence would have it, we of the United States Taekwondo Association and, subsequently, the Chosun Taekwondo Academy, have been afforded that singular opportunity through our close association with one of the original five – Grandmaster Richard Chun.

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Chosun e-newsletter archive Volumn 3 #1 January, 2012

14th Annual Awards Banquet and Dinner Dance
Honoring Grandmaster Richard Chun December 10, 2011

Grandmaster Richard Chun, Mrs. Chun
& USTA Grandmasters and Masters

A TAEKWONDO NIGHT TO REMEMBER!

Members of the United States Tae Kwon Do Association and the Chosun Taekwondo Academy, paid a long-overdue tribute to Grandmaster Richard Chun on a recent December evening in the midst of the holiday season. In attendance were over 200 students and masters who happily traveled many miles to participate in the historic event. One of the many highlights of the evening was a retrospective of Grandmaster Chun's life thus far produced by Chosun Black Belts, Mary Sudul and Laura LoForese. The festivities continued with the annual Chosun Taekwondo Academy awards presentation.

Kyosanims Pamela Pyke and Klye Roeloffs were the recipients of the 2011 Student of the Year award. Congratulations to all 2011 Chosun Taekwondo Academy award winners!

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