rmclain

O cool, but what about the picture in the book (if you have access to it). Its of Oyama and Choi alone together. In the book it also mentions that Choi invited Oyama to visit him. I'll check the book. Seems I have a copy of this later ITF book by Choi. Do you know which page the photo is on? R. McLain

My teacher, Grandmaster Kim Soo, took those photos and I've been helping with some of the captions at the TKD HOF website (linked in this thread). As far as I know, they had no connection beyond Mas Oyama's visit to the Korean Taesoodo office. R. McLain

I know it wasn't his choice to stay in N. Korea. He tried to return to S. Korea in July 1951, during the peace talks between N. & S. Korea, but wasn't allowed. Sometime around 1960 or 70, Choi Hong-hi 's ITF was accepted in N. Korea. So, I'm curious if N. Korea was trying to keep up with S. Korea's push to make a national sport. Kyuck-sul wouldn't fill this bill, if that the case. Yoon Byung-in's Kyuck-sul instructor appointment in 66 and 67 was from the N. Korean Govt. sports committee. It is a communist country and they can do with you whatever they wish. R. McLain

According to the source by Park, Park, and Gerrard (from the post just above), makes a comment that the founders of the Chang Moo Kwan (which I assume he means the Kwon Bup Bu founder) and the Yun Moo Kwan lost their lives in and around 1952, which corresponds closely with the information provided by rmclain. Yoon Byung-in actually didn't die until April 3, 1983. He disappeared in August 1950 and was never heard from again by his original students. So, many rumors and speculations surrounded his disappearance. This is common in a war-torn country. In August 1950, Yoon Byung-in went with his brother, Yoon Byung-du (Capt. in the N. Korean Army) to N. Korea. He was later appointed by the N. Korean govt. to teach Kyuck-sul to Moran-bong physical specialist groups from 1966-67. But, in 1967 he was assigned to work at a cement factory until his death (lung cancer) in 1983. His Kyuck-sul appointment was dismissed in 1967 by the N. Korean govt. because it couldn't be used as international sport. There were other students from the Kwon-bup Bu that were just as senior as Lee Nam-sok. Lee just happened to be a little older and had access to establishing training space at his govt. job (Cheshin-bu (Postal Admin. Department)). So, he became the head instructor. Lee Nam-sok was not a contemporary to Yoon Byung-in, he was a junior student of Yoon Byung-in. Some photos of Yoon Byung-in in the 1940's and a few from the 1980's: http://www.kimsookarate.com/intro/yoon.html R. McLain

Changmoo-Kwan and Kangduk-Won information: http://www.arlingtonkarate.com/articles/CMKstory.pdf R. McLain

Considering the age of Kang Rhee, he grew up in Korea during the Japanese occupation. During this time, Korean school-aged children were forced to learn to write and speak Japanese. In many cases, Korean people weren't allowed to speak Korean. It is not uncommon for people from this generation to use cross-language to describe things - such as using "Ryu" in a martial art name instead of the Korean "Mu Do." My instructor, same generation as Kang Rhee, did the same thing with Chayon-Ryu (Natural Way). They both came from the same dojangs. R. McLain

Just as an FYI: Though people think of Hwang Kee when they read the name, "Tang Soo Do," it was actually a common name used by most student for their art name following WWII in S. Korea. Two other common names were "Kongsoo-do" and "Kwon Bup." Seems Tangsoo-do became more of a name related to Hwang Kee beginning in the 1960's. R. McLain

I suppose there is one stance in Palgue #4 that could be considered "Walking stance." It is more of a "standing stance." That form starts out like Pyung Ahn #2, but shifts back into a neck strike with the "Standing stance." Palgue #8 starts out like Pyung Ahn #1, but shifts back into a tall standing back stance - could be a "walking stance" I suppose. In all of the Palgue forms you can see the karate form foundation they worked from when they created the Palgue forms in 1972. If you want to see as close to the original Palgue 1-8 creations as possible, without the modifications since then, check out the following books: Palgue 1-2-3 of Taekwondo Hyung by Kim Pyung-soo (1973) Palgue 4-5-6 of Taekwondo Hyung by Kim Pyung-soo (1976) Palgue 7-8 of Taekwondo Hyung by Kim Pyung-soo (1981) R. McLain

Hello, Where is your dojo located in Okinawa? R. mcLain

Who is your instructor in Okinawa? R. McLain

Actually, if you are practicing the later version of Koryo (the version with the knifehand block followed by a double side kick near the beginning of the form), it was created at the same time as the Tae Guek forms, in 1973 or 74. The original version of Koryo (created in 1967), doesn't have a walking stance in it and doesn't resemble the later Koryo form at all. R. McLain

In November 2006, I asked an Okinawan Grandmaster in Okinawa specifically about people using "OSU." He told me that the use of "Osu" is a misunderstanding by people. He thinks they got it from the words, "Onegai shimaSU," which means, "Show me the way," - shortened to "O-SU," and is considered low-class speech. More proper to use "Hai" to show understanding of something. R. McLain

You don't need to be "a great fighter" to be a martial arts action star or stunt man. It helps to have some background in martial arts, but acting training, stage combat, and great gymnastics skills will be the most important these days. Good martial arts doesn't necessarily look good on film. So, you need to study what does look good on film. There are schools around the nation that instruct specific skills for film. I think Karen Shepard even started one of these in the past few years. Take a look on the internet and you can find them. R. McLain

Looks like another money-making scheme. R. McLain

This is interesting. You do both the WTF and ITF forms at black belt level? If you say so (I'm not sure which are WTF and which are ITF, but our school is 'officially' WTF, so I suppose that the required ones are the WTF ones right?) Koryo, Tae Baek, and Gum Gang are WTF forms. R. McLain