The Chosun e-newsletter Archive Volume 7 #12 December, 2016

Dear Martial Arts Enthusiast,

Welcome to the December edition of the  Chosun Taekwondo Academy e-newsletter! As 2016 winds down, we look back over a year of many changes and successes for the CHOSUN Taekwondo Academy. We have settled into our new home and continue our journey as a community of dedicated martial artists. In this spirit, we celebrate our shared achievements at the 19th Annual CHOSUN Awards Banquet & Dinner Dance this weekend! Please take note of the CHOSUN HOLIDAY SCHEDULE and the 2017 CHOSUN Test Dates below...

Check out all upcoming CHOSUN events on the events page of the CHOSUN website!

View the 2015 Chosun Taekwondo Academy Retrospective 

Kamsahamnida,                                                                                                            
Patty Cook, Editor www.facebook.com/chosuntkd 
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah

                                                                                                                                        
Chosun Taekwondo Academy celebrating 19 years!

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Subscribe at: www.chosuntkd.com

The Chosun e-newsletter Archive Volume 7 #1 January, 2016

Dear Martial Arts Enthusiast,

Welcome to the January edition of the Chosun Taekwondo Academy e-newsletter! The month of January takes its name from the Roman god, Janus who is depicted as having two faces on one head; one looking ahead toward the unfolding future and one to the past. The many successes we have shared as a school body over the years have laid a strong foundation as we take this very important step into the future. We count our blessings and proceed with confidence and resolve.
Please take note of 2016 Test dates listed below...

View the 2015 Chosun Taekwondo Academy Retrospective

Kamsahamnida,
Patty Cook, Editor www.facebook.com/chosuntkd
Happy New Year! 새해 복 많이 받으세요
Chosun Taekwondo Academy celebrating 18 years!

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I Found My Kihap in Korea

by Elissa Maynard

Since I was a white belt, I have always struggled with finding my own kihap or martial cry. With a variety of training and cultural experiences, it was this pilgrimage to South Korea that allowed me to leave with a bag full of treasures, to include a newly found kihap and a warrior spirit.

Training at Geumgang Taekwondo with Master Ryan Ahn

Treasures in Jeju Island:
I left Jeju Island with confidence and sense of great appreciation after visiting the Fist Tower.

Treasures from Bulguksa & Golgulsa Temple:
To remove the clutter and appreciate what really matters. To not waste or take anything for granted, especially my body.

Treasures at the Taekwondowon:
To always have joy when I train, teach, and practice Taekwondo. There was an abundant amount of joy in the instructors leading us in what seemed like coordination and stamina building exercises. Then to balance that experience with a class by Master Cook was even more so inspiring because I see his love and passion for Taekwondo and it too is infectious. Taking a class from Master Cook at the Taekwondowon was amazing. It was fitting to have him teach us there.

Treasures from Master Ryan Ahn:
It was in his dojang that at the end of a form I did a kihap and it was a sound I had never heard and a release from within I had never felt before. It was on my birthday that I got the greatest gift of all… The kihap I had been searching for since white belt. This is a moment I will never forget.

Treasures from the Kukkiwon: 

To always appreciate the root and the foundation. To stand where many masters have trained was an honor and I am forever humbled.

Treasures from Grand Master Kyu-hyun Lee:
To garner tradition, foundation, and pay attention to detail. I will heed the advice he gave Timothy: To always keep looking forward, to keep training hard and to never give up, and of course to come back and visit him.

The Korea 2014 pilgrimage was one of a lifetime and I will be forever changed. I finally found my kihap!!! The color of my black belt changed on this journey just the same as my Taekwondo spirit!

Chosun Taekwondo Academy 2014 Korea Training & Cultural Tour Retrospedtive

Training with Grandmaster Kyu-hyun Lee in the Homeland of Taekwondo by Master Doug Cook

In July of 2014, I lead thirty enthusiastic teens and adults on a journey to Korea, the epicenter of the Korean martial arts. Our martial pilgrimage - because that truly is what it was - found us training throughout the entire Korean peninsula from Jeju Island in the south to Seoul City in the north and everywhere in between. Training venues included Dongyang Taekwondo in Jeju, Golgulsa Temple in Kyongju, the all-new

Master Cook and Grandmaster Lee

Taekwondowon in Muju, and the Kukkiwon and the Kumgang Taekwondo Center in Seoul. But perhaps the most enlightening feature of this adventure was a visit to the dojang of Grandmaster Kyu Hyun Lee situated in the tiny village of Yangsu-ri, an hour’s drive west of Seoul.

I will never forget my first exposure to Grandmaster Lee. Paging through an early edition of the Kukkiwon Textbook in 1994, I took notice of a severe looking martial artist chosen to model the unique and effective techniques of taekwondo by virtue of his long experience and skilled attention to detail. Again, in 1998, this high-ranking practitioner would appear to me as a staff instructor in a promotional video for the Organizing Committee for Taekwondo Korea 2000. Seeing Grandmaster Kyu Hyun Lee in action rather than on the printed page convinced me beyond the shadow of a doubt that I would one day seek out his instruction. As destiny would have it, this was more difficult than expected.

In planning the 1999 United States Taekwondo Association Korea Tour with Grandmaster Richard Chun, I had inquired if Grandmaster Lee would be one of our teachers and was informed that his schedule did not coincide with our visit. Subsequently, in the initial planning stages of the 2004 Chosun Taekwondo Academy Training & Cultural Tour, I once more requested his talents; “Unavailable” was the response from Korea and so, disappointingly, I turned my gaze elsewhere. Then, a few short weeks before our departure in June 2004, I received a surprise email from our travel agent in Seoul stating that the grandmaster had accepted our group for a day of exclusive training provided we allow his senior instructors to assist. This stipulation took all of one minute to consider. Rather than a condition, it was truly a bonus! Since then, training with Grandmaster Lee has become a required component of our comprehensive itinerary and we have done so in 2007, 2010, 2012, and then in 2014.

Following breakfast at the Somerset Palace Hotel during one of our stays, we boarded a luxury motor coach and began the journey to Yangsu-ri. Our training in the “Land of the Morning Calm” to date had been challenging and highly rewarding, balanced between the martial art and combat sport of taekwondo. This day’s training, however, would focus on precise basic technique and the pursuit of excellence in poomsae, the formal exercises unique to taekwondo.

The metropolitan scenery flashed by as our guide directed us to turn our attention to several key points of interest along the way. Slowly, the urban sprawl began to thin as rice fields replaced the seemingly endless array of high rise apartment buildings. We exited the freeway and snaked our way through winding country roads barely wide enough to accommodate the width of our bus. A tiny, picturesque village eventually materialized with a gas station, restaurant and shops selling fish, garlic cloves and red peppers coupled with an assortment of daily needs.

Crossing a well-maintained concrete bridge minus guard rails that spanned a swiftly running brook, we went as far as our bus could take us. As the doors opened, I was the second person off after our driver who

Rice paddies in front of Grandmaster Lee's dojang

was animatedly chatting with two gentlemen standing next to a Hyundai (pronounced “shunday” in Korea) sedan. I was suddenly overwhelmed with awe as I saw the grandmaster we had traveled over six-thousand miles to train with before me. Single file, my students lined up and bowed. It is then that the stern face I had only witnessed in photos and on film erupted into a broad, welcoming smile and Grandmaster Lee invited us to follow him and his instructors up a rutted dirt road. We passed a squat, single-story dwelling on our left that is his home, and then continue on a few steps to a red brick building with two sets of double doors thrown open to the outside that houses the grandmaster’s dojang and is headquarters to the World Taekwondo Instructor Academy. Inside, it was cool in stark contrast to the humid air that weighed heavy in the basin of the small valley. Instantly, we were enchanted by our surroundings. The floor was set with green puzzle-mat bordered in orange, and the walls adorned with memorabilia from a lifetime devoted to the Korean martial arts. In a neat row, over the doors, hung circular brass plates, tarnished with time, inscribed with the names of the original kwans, or martial arts schools established in the 1940s and 50s before the discordant styles were united to form taekwondo; names like the Moo Duk Kwan, Chung Do Kwan, and Oh Do Kwan, leapt out reminding us of the tenure and seniority Grandmaster Kyu Hyun Lee enjoys in the taekwondo community. Suspended on the far wall, in a black wooden frame, hung a scroll written in hangul characters reading: “A National Sport, Taekwondo”. Fifty of these icons were purportedly painted in the personal calligraphy of the late South Korean president, Chung Hee Park, father of the current president, in March of 1971. The majority, such as the one that was displayed before us, reside within the borders of Korea while the remaining few were distributed to master instructors throughout the world. One was exhibited in the New York City dojang of my teacher Grandmaster Richard Chun for over thirty years and, subsequently, was presented to our school as a treasured gift.

With reverence, we quietly prepared to train by changing into our doboks and lining up, four across. Finally, there before us was the man the Kukkiwon had endorsed as the standard against which all practitioners of taekwondo should be compared for excellence in basic motions and poomsae. Moreover, Grandmaster Lee and his colleague, Master Kook Hyun Jung, were chosen by the World Taekwondo Federation and Kukkiwon to model in a series of instructional DVDs aimed at standardizing the Taegeuk and Kukkiwon-series black belt poomsae. These DVDs are intended to be used as reference tools in training referees, coaches, instructors and competitors to participate in the WTF Poomsae World Championships. Since then, Grandmaster Lee has gone on to earn numerous medals and citations in senior competition.

Both in the media and in person, Grandmaster Kyu Hyun Lee cuts a striking image; with a shock of white hair centered over the left eye, in concert with his drill sergeant demeanor, his presence is unmistakable. Although now in his early seventies, he moves like a cat. His flexibility, enthusiasm and strength are in direct proportion to his long years of

Grandmaster Lee and Chosun students

dedication to the art of taekwondo. He is currently president of the World Taekwondo Instructor Academy. From 1990 to 1998, his abilities earned him the position of Chairman of the Training Subcommittee, Kukkiwon, and prior to that, from 1973 to 1982, he was head of the Kukkiwon Demonstration Team. Knowing this, I respectfully approached him and offered up a letter of greeting drafted by Grandmaster Chun introducing me as one of his senior students and briefly describing my qualifications. He accepted it with the humility one would expect from a man contented and secure with his place in the universe. Returning to my position in line, I assumeed the joombi posture, bowed, and the training session officially began.

The tension our group was projecting immediately shattered as the grandmaster, smiling, began to wiggle from side to side, shaking his arms up and down in an effort meant to relax our taut bodies. Then, reminded to breathe, the standard warm up and flexibility exercises began in earnest. It appears that many of the more extreme postures were borrowed from the ancient discipline of hatha yoga and we began to perspire as the heat from our bodies warmed the room. We continued by working on technique that many would accuse of being far too simple in exchange for a six-thousand mile journey. Nevertheless, my students and I were so intrigued when the grandmaster reviewed the process of making a proper fist that we photographed the precision with which it was accomplished along with the wear and tear that was a result of striking solid objects for many years. Happily, our training did not stop there; front stance, back stance, middle blocks, knife hand blocks, front kicks, round and side kicks, are all scrutinized under the microscope of experience. A common thread running through the execution of every strike or block was the constant reminder to relax in our delivery and to tense at the point of impact, penetrating the target. The phrase, “relaxation and POWER!” was repeated over and over again by the instructors present reflecting the Korean martial arts doctrine of shin chook.

After several hours of uninterrupted training, a break was called and we congregated in small groups to compare notes and review what had been demonstrated. Some gravitated to the water cooler situated in a corner of the room for a sip of much-needed refreshment. There, the conversation turned to differences some were noticing in the fabric of instruction. However, before I could gain a better understanding concerning the root of these questions, we were commanded to reconvene. 

At the close of the opening ritual, we again separated into groups according to belt rank and prepared for poomsae practice. Clearly, for black belts and color belts alike, no banquet had ever been as bountiful as that day’s forms practice; each student was afforded the opportunity to refine the basic skills contained within the poomsae unique to their belt level, either under the intense scrutiny of Grandmaster Lee or one of his accomplished instructors. I was working on poomsae Jitae while other black belts were focusing on Koryo, Keumgang, Taebaek and Pyongwon. I could still not believe that I was receiving private instruction from Grandmaster Kyu Hyun Lee who patiently explained the practical application of each movement of my form in conjunction with its proper

Master Cook and Grandmaster Lee

trajectory and chamber. From the corner of my eye, I glimpsed my students receiving equal attention in analyzing the various Taegeuk poomsae, albeit with some minor alterations from what they have become accustomed to. Although the Palgwe set is not given any credence, the eight Taegeuk, in tandem with the mandatory Kukkiwon black belt series poomsae, were thankfully addressed in great detail. One refinement that I found of interest was the first preparatory motion in poomsae Koryo consisting of a pushing block, or momtang milgi makki. Having performed this form both in class, in competition on countless occasions and in the new DVD on the topic featuring Grandmaster Chun and myself, I had become use to projecting my hands forward with palms facing outward, thumbs a fraction of an inch apart, describing a triangle of sorts. Instead, Grandmaster Lee directed us to extend the hands forward as before, but with the palms turned inward and the thumbs slightly hooked similar to where they would be placed when executing a knife hand technique, or sonnal. Although the practical application of this block is to intercept an incoming head butt, it has several less obvious functions as well. In our DVD and in his autobiographical book, Taekwondo: Spirit and Practice, Grandmaster Richard Chun states that this technique, which he refers to as “barrel pushing block”, is a physical expression of firmness and resoluteness, demonstrating the confidence and strong will of the Korean people.

Yet, another surprising variance came in the form of the footwork used in front stance, or ap koobi, when stepping forward in combination with a variety of blocks and strikes. Rather than the crescent-step that is commonly taught in traditional taekwondo often resulting in a sweep, the instructors of the World Taekwondo Instructor Academy suggested that we move in a more linear fashion vaguely reminiscent of the sign-wave motion subscribed to by practitioners of the International Taekwon-Do Federation. Furthermore, when teaching the dynamics of the inside middle block, or ahn momtang makki, Grandmaster Lee’s execution can be defined as economy of motion. Manipulating our wrists with hands inculcated with knowledge, he described the proper height and fist rotation that adds to the efficiency of the technique. 

Suddenly, as the day progressed, a potential dilemma began to gnaw at me as it must many instructors from time to time, and I sensed what it was my students were referring to earlier as “differences” in curriculum. Grandmaster Kyu Hyun Lee, as well as personnel from Kukkiwon and the Taekwondowon are attempting, at least on the surface, to introduce a subtle shift in the dynamic principles of taekwondo technique based on an advanced understanding of physics as it relates to body mechanics. A modern approach, authored by these entities, is being applied to footwork, power ratio and chambering while attempting to maintain the value of traditionalism at least in Grandmaster Lee’s case. That day in a small village surrounded by rice paddies, we were being exposed to technical variations that faintly contradicted the manner of execution we had become familiar with, forcing my students to politely ask: “What do we do now?” Buried in that question was an important lesson both for me and my colleagues. Traditional taekwondo is a cultural treasure chest; a vast mosaic filled with effective self-defense skills supported by a virtuous philosophy. Although the Korean discipline contains immutable tools such as the round kick, back fist and knife block to name a few, the manner in which these are performed may vary slightly from master to master. This fact does not corrupt the basic principles of taekwondo; rather it adds color and individuality to something that is an art rather an absolute science. Consequently, it is my desire to expose my students, at least those capable of sustaining an open mind, to the diversity inherent in taekwondo whether it is at home or abroad, resulting in what I hope will be perceived as an enhanced training experience overall. Having said this, however, it is to the teachings of my instructor, Grandmaster Richard Chun, that I remain faithful. 

Finally, in comparison to prior visits to Korea, I could not have been more delighted with the direction our training was taking during this extraordinary martial pilgrimage. Thinking back, in candid discussions with several Korean practitioners during previous trips, I was told of a movement initiated by local masters to return from a strictly sportive approach, to a more holistic style of training including formal exercises and self-defense drills. Our experience at the dojang of Grandmaster Lee, and the days previous at other venues, confirmed the reality of this trend.

Training in the Land of the Morning Calm, whether under the direction of Grandmaster Kyu Hyun Lee or at other renowned institutes, is an experience the martial artist will embrace for a lifetime. Traveling to

Chosun Taekwondo Academy students pose with Grandmaster Lee

South Korea on seven separate occasions has provided my students with insights that have significantly amplified their cultural worldview and technical skills hopefully eclipsing the potential for provincialism. It is a journey every practitioner of taekwondo should consider making at some point during their never-ending quest for ancient wisdom in the martial arts. Those interested in joining us on our eighth martial pilgrimage to Korea in 2016, should contact us at info@chosuntkd.com. Our training tours are open to all taekwondo practitioners from anywhere in the world.

Master Doug Cook, 6^th dan black belt, is head instructor of the Chosun Taekwondo Academy located in Warwick, New York, a senior student of Grandmaster Richard Chun, and author of four best-selling books entitled: Taekwondo…Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Warrior, Traditional Taekwondo - Core Techniques, History and Philosophy, Taekwondo–A Path to Excellence, and Taekwondo Black Belt Poomsae: Original Koryo and Koryo. He recently led thirty students on his seventh martial pilgrimage to Korea. Master Cook can be reached for seminars, workshops or questions at www.chosuntkd.com or info@chosuntkd.com.

Learning to Climb

by Mark McNutt

 (Blue Belt - A Retrospective of My Training Midpoint to Black Belt)

            Halfway up the mountain.  But this is only the first mountain in a vast chain where every mountain is higher than the one previous.  In that sense Blue Belt, hardly seems like a midpoint.  At Chosun Taekwondo Academy, achieving 1^st Dan black belt is described as ‘the beginning’, so

actually, though I have climbed half a mountain, I have not yet completed the first step, I have merely raise one foot in preparation for it.  This is a small movement when compared the whole journey ahead, yet I believe it has a value in it that goes beyond anything it will ever lead to.  The belts white, yellow, orange, green and blue have introduced and familiarized me with the core aspects of taekwondo, and that is something higher belts can reemphasize, but never replicate.  

            The personal history of my climb started as an indecisive white belt.  I entered reluctantly through the gift of an introductory pack to Chosun Academy and spent a few months training with one foot in and one foot out of the school.  Despite this lukewarm state of mind, I managed to learn some valuable lessons, like how to move about on the dojang floor, how to interact with other students in simulated confrontations, and how to listen properly to teachers.  I also learned the five tenants of taekwondo, which began to point to the spiritual side of the art.

I graduated to yellow belt without having made a concrete decision to stay.  But here I had a brush with bit enlightenment that helped settle my mind.  I became intrigued with the Korean warrior known as the Hwarang whose distinct martial attitude had a major effect upon taekwondo.  It was their diversity that appealed to me: the fact that they sought to develop themselves in spiritual, artistic, and social ways that went beyond their study of pure martial arts.  Here was an idea that I could lock into, that of being a multifaceted martial artist, where all facets come together to create one life as a whole.  When I attempted to put this into practice, I quickly discovered that, yes, I could live a lifestyle that was multifaceted and balanced, but only if I set my own pace and resisted the influenced of those around me who had a more singular focus.  When dealing with martial arts, I told myself that taekwondo was a lifestyle and not a race.  Therefore, it didn’t matter when I got to any particular place, as long as I got there.  My only obligation was to keep moving forward and not to retreat.  That changed everything for me.  It was a way of life I could live with.  Belt tests come up every three months – but I spent six months as a yellow belt before testing for orange; the advantage of that was that at no point did I feel like leaving.

            Orange belt was the cementing of the lifestyle I had forged as a yellow belt.  I took it leisurely, though that’s not saying that I took it lightly.  The slower pace helped me keep up with business outside of taekwondo, while at the same time giving me a deeper appreciation of the art form.  I took more time to read, finishing up and even taking some notes from Master Cook’s A Pathway to Excellence.  I signed up for the annual TKD awards dinner.  In other words, I had time to take in the whole picture of Chosun Taekwondo Academy rather than just the pieces that would get me through the next belt test.  The slower pace allowed my spiritual side to grow on par with my physical abilities.  I spent six months as an orange belt and graduated to green belt with little difficulty.  At green my patterns of training evolved as my abilities grew and my tendency to be intimidated by tasks this particular martial art set before me hardened; my attendance increased.  Suddenly six months seemed too long and with a slight push I successfully tested at three months to achieve blue belt. 

            Now, something close to three months later, I find myself with a purple stripe on my blue belt and a mind set for testing.  I am midway on the mountain between white belt and black belt; I can clearly see my destination from here and am already starting to feel like I belong up there.  I know that as a blue belt I am not yet up to ‘warrior’ caliber; nevertheless, I feel like a martial artist.  From where does that feeling come?  Well, perhaps it comes from the knowledge that no martial art, no matter how formidable, can ever scare me away again, because no martial art can ever again challenge me as a pure novice.  Going halfway up the mountain has taught me how to climb and has gotten me used to being a ‘climber’.  Once a person learns to climb, all mountains become accessible.

Taekwondo - The French Connection by Master Doug Cook

This article appeared in Totally Taekwondo Magazine #55 September, 2013

Sharing a common ambition to penetrate the often self-imposed limits of physical endurance and concentration, eight martial pilgrims from my school, the Chosun Taekwondo Academy, converged on the tiny village of Puylaurens located in the South of France. There, for one full week in August,

surrounded by the beauty and tranquility of Chateau Borio Blanco built in 1630, we explored the principles, practices and philosophy of traditional taekwondo in fine detail, unencumbered by outside distractions and workaday demands. 

In pursuing my profession I have always felt obligated to teach the most authentic, effective Korean martial arts skills, both physical and academic, possible. And there are many; so many that all unimpeachably require a lifetime to master. So, in class after class, we fortify our basics, perfect our poomsae, hyung or tuls, attempt to unravel the secrets of defensive tactics, and then skim the surface of the more esoteric doctrines associated with our art. There, in the solitude of the French countryside among the sycamores and fields of sunflowers, we were afforded the opportunity to view our martial talent through the lens of undivided time.

Each day began early with a breakfast consisting of freshly-baked croissants, strong coffee with milk warm from the cow, grain cereals and yogurt complimented by a variety of cheeses, butter and jams. Following the first meal of the day, my students, all from Warwick, New York, made their way up a steep flight of steps to the loft of a rustic barn, constructed during World War II. Renovated by owners Yaron and Kiki Rosner for the purpose of formalized retreats, the environment lent itself perfectly to mindful practice.

With clocklike precision utilizing seated meditation as a prelude, each session progressed from a series of warm up and flexibility exercises to internal energy or ki development drills, bone-strengthening, basic skills, and a full roster of ho sin sool (self-defense), il su sik (one-step sparring) and sam su sik (three-steep sparring) practice. After being infused with an equally satisfying lunch, the warm afternoons, likewise, were filled with baljitki, (footwork), kyorugi (free sparring) and poomsae (forms) practice - the central pillar of any classical martial art. At day’s end, each participant was flush with awareness and reinvigorated with wonder at the majesty of traditional taekwondo.

The evenings offered time for reflection and camaraderie. Late dinners, featuring succulent local dishes such cassoult, were fortified by rich red wines, crispy breads, leafy salads and an assortment of fine cheeses, leaving us ready for a good night’s rest in royal accommodations.

Several segments of the carefully crafted curriculum provided highlights that today remain crystallized in the minds and bodies of the participants. The Chosun Taekwondo Academy syllabus requires our students to perform the Kicho, Taegeuk, Palgwe, Kukkiwon Yudanja and Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo poomsae as taught by Grandmaster Richard Chun, for promotion tests. Aside from these necessary formal exercises, we also offer training in the Kibon set and several ITF tuls. Yet the one hole I have repeatedly identified over the past sixteen years of our school’s existence is the exclusion of the five Pyung-An hyung. Originally created in 1902 by Anko Itosu as a vehicle for teaching Okinawan te - later karate-do - to local school children, these primordial formal exercises then known as the Pinan set and subsequently renamed Heian in Japan by Funakoshi, have intentionally or unintentionally acted as a blueprint for the creation of both the Korea Taekwondo Association Palgwe poomsae and to some extent General Choi’s Ch’ang Hon tuls. Given the environment of total immersion, undeterred by demands of work, chattering mobile devices and laptops, I decided to teach my students the first three of these seminal hyung. All participants embraced their lessons well and much to my delight, by week’s end, were executing all three with proficiency and true martial spirit although Pyung-An Sam Dan with its crescent kick - elbow block - back fist - return sequence seemed a favorite.

Moreover, physical practice in taekwondo is unquestionably essential since, first and foremost, it is an action philosophy; there is no replacement for it. Nevertheless, just as a grand mosaic with pieces missing appears incomplete, so is our art minus its historical and philosophical dimension. Consequently, on day three, I chose to offer a three-hour discourse on these vital elements of the art. Relying on a PowerPoint presentation for visual depictions of the subject matter, I provided important information on the history of Korea beginning with Ko-Chosun and the Three Kingdoms period through the Japanese Occupation and the Korean Conflict. We then moved on to the legend of Bodhidharma and the development of Okinawan te/karate-do, the creation of martial “ways”, identification of the original kwans or institutes of the early 1950s including an introduction of their founders, and concluded the session by describing the distinction between a modern combat sport and a traditional martial art.

Korean technical nomenclature too was not immune to instruction. I have always held to the belief that, if a student of taekwondo wishes to “own” a particular technique, they should have the capacity to call it by its Korean name. Subsequently, we would, each day, run through a litany of terminology for basic skills; low block-arae makki, high block-olgool makki, front kick-ap chagi, horse stance-ju choom seogi, etc. Then I came upon a term that seemed to surprise many of my students: mu do. This term can be construed as “martial way”, “martial spirit”, or “Korean martial art”. We used it during the seminar in such a way as to conjure strong martial spirit and intent during the long hours of practice. When someone would notice a fellow student’s energy flagging, they would shout: “Where is your mu do!?”, and the rush of renewed ki this would elicit was almost palpable.

Given the complex potpourri of technical skills rendered, each student took away something different from this spiritually-enriching adventure; one spoke of a new-found attention to distancing while another felt the history section and the personalities involved was most illuminating. Yet, in the end, after five days of close, intense training in the physical and academic components of traditional taekwondo, students Olga Pico, Marcele Mitschelich, Ignacio Cytrynowicz, Arun Salgunan, Kiki Rosner, Christina Cytrynowicz and Deborah Szajngarten, realized a unity of spirit amplified by a sense of unparalleled accomplishment not often found the hectic pursuit of daily life.

With barely veiled sadness at the thought of leaving this paradisiacal setting of disciplined practice, we spent the final hour of our retreat articulating the overall gains each of us had accumulated during our stay. As a symbol of my immense gratitude, I presented each student with a certificate of achievement.

On Saturday morning, our time of departure had finally arrived. Stowing our luggage in the trucks of a stout Peugeot and a racy Alfa Romeo, we pecked cheeks and shook hands bidding each other farewell, some of us bound for Barcelona, others heading to Casablanca and Toulouse. Either way, our bond was to be temporarily broken until we would meet again in the safety of the dojang with shared memories, never to be forgotten.

         Each year, members of the Chosun Taekwondo Academy set out on a martial pilgrimage, each separate and different, intended to bolster martial skill, cultural exchange and an expanded worldview. In July of 2014, we will venture forth on our seventh journey to Korea, the homeland of taekwondo, where we plan to visit and train on Jeju Island, at Golgusa Temple in Kyongju, the Kukkiwon in Seoul, the World Taekwondo Instructor Academy under the direction of Grandmaster Kyu Hyun Lee, and the Kumgang Taekwondo Center with Master Byeong Cheol An. Of course, we allocate ample time for sightseeing and shopping. Our martial expeditions are open to all and it is common for us to welcome participants from other schools and styles originating from different parts of the world. For information regarding these comprehensive journeys, visit our web site at www.chosuntkd.com, or call (845) 986-2288.

Master Doug Cook, a 6^th dan black belt, is head instructor of the Chosun Taekwondo Academy located in Warwick, New York, a senior student of Grandmaster Richard Chun, and author of four best-selling books entitled: Taekwondo…Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Warrior, Traditional Taekwondo - Core Techniques, History and Philosophy, Taekwondo–A Path to Excellence, and Taekwondo Black Belt Poomsae: Original Koryo and Koryo, a recently published work, co-authored with Grandmaster Chun. Master Cook can be reached for lectures, workshops or questions at www.chosuntkd.com or info@chosuntkd.com.

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