Kuk Sool Won

[Rickster]

Hi all,

 

I'm interested in taking Kuk Sool lessons as it seems like a VERY complete system which also includes weapons (after BB I think...). Does anyone here study this art and if so what are your views on it? I'd also like to know what all the 27 different weapons are (as stated on the main web site), are there really this many?

 

One last thing, there seems to be a lot of falling, throwing and back flipping stuff going on in Kuk Sool, are there any students of it over 30 (my age...) and if so how do you cope with it all )

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Bill.

 

BTW - would you say 18 miles (30 mins), is too far to travel to class once/twice per week?

[Phantasmatic]

PM Tessone he is in KSW. I bet he could tell you a thing or 2.

 

 

[tessone]

I know a bit--I've certainly seen a lot at this point.

 

Kuk Sool is indeed extremely comprehensive. You'd be hard pressed to find something it doesn't cover.

 

You start weapons at the brown belt level (though even white belts get to do things like twirl staves, etc.). I'm not sure exactly what all the weapons are, but some of them are sword, double swords, short sword, double short sword, staff (bong), short staff (dan dong), fan, cane, and rope.

 

I think 30mins. of driving is VERY worth it for this system. It's really awesome, and I bet you'd love it.

 

Since everyone falls in martial arts, learning how to fall correctly is indeed important. Whether your instructor does a lot of falls will depend on his or her background, probably. Back flips are much rarer, so don't worry.

 

 

[SBN Doug]

Rickster,

 

KSW is comprehensive, but also slow going because of it. You'll be taught a lot of material between promotions, so don't expect quick promotions.

 

A number of the weapons aren't even discussed untill you're a master, so I can't even name them all. A couple tessone missed are spear, throwing knives, archery, jool bong (nunchucks), sword-staff, and of course my favorite...your hands.

 

tessone is right about the falling. And, everyone is only asked to do what they can physically pull off. You're limits will be pushed occationally to make sure it's not your own mental fears holding you back.

 

I travel an hour each way, once a week to continue my training. At 2nd degree, I don't plan on ever changing.

 

Kyo Sa Nim Doug

[ZR440]

I (at age 32) was just promoted to blue belt last night and now find it more addictive after two years of training. You might not advance as quick as other arts, but you might find it more gratifying after being promoted. I haven't trained in weapons yet. Have enough material to worry about for now.

[tessone]

I dunno. The promotion doesn't seem to be that slow if you're really dedicated. Isn't two years the time typically quoted for a black belt?

 

Even with four months in each belt, that's promotion to yellow, blue, red, then brown = 4*4 = 16 months. First test for black after, say, 2 months in brown belt plus a year til the second test and promotion is 30 months or a year and a half, which seems reasonable to me.

 

It is true that promotion after 1st dan is significantly slower than some TKD schools. 2nd dan is at least two years in rank, 3rd dan is three, etc., IIRC.

 

 

[Chris from CT]

On 2002-05-14 06:09, KSN Doug wrote:

 

I travel an hour each way, once a week to continue my training.

 

Where do you train, Doug?

 

Take care

 

 

[ZR440]

Two years for black belt? Maybe if you live at the dojo. Reasonable expectations for the normal person who trains around 2-5 hours in class per week....5+ years. I would rather take additional time to absorb the material because a person has the tendancy to forget the basics while learning new forms and techiniques at an accelerated pace. My instructor will not substitute quantity for quality for that reason.

[SaiFightsMS]

On 2002-05-14 20:10, tessone wrote:

 

I dunno. The promotion doesn't seem to be that slow if you're really dedicated. Isn't two years the time typically quoted for a black belt?

 

Even with four months in each belt, that's promotion to yellow, blue, red, then brown = 4*4 = 16 months. First test for black after, say, 2 months in brown belt plus a year til the second test and promotion is 30 months or a year and a half, which seems reasonable to me.

 

It is true that promotion after 1st dan is significantly slower than some TKD schools. 2nd dan is at least two years in rank, 3rd dan is three, etc., IIRC.

 

Not necessarily. Many schools take longer than the time you state. And remember that belt orders vary from school to school even in the same styles.

 

Some feel that if it doesn't take at least 6 or 7 years to attain black belt the school isn't tough enough and teaches watered down mcdojo quality material.

 

 

[tessone]

Not necessarily. Many schools take longer than the time you state. And remember that belt orders vary from school to school even in the same styles.

 

Not in KSW. The art is extremely unified, and there is no variance from the belt order established by the World Kuk Sool Won Federation. The path to a black belt is through white, yellow, blue, red, brown, and brown-black, in that order, at every KSW school.

 

As for time to the black belt, I spend 5 hours in the dojang a week, plus another 5 spent outside of class running through forms and practicing techniques. With that kind of time invested, I don't see 2 1/2 years as unreasonable, and it's definitely not McDojo material. Having a black belt doesn't imply you're a badass--it means you've gotten the basics down pretty well and you're ready to become an advanced student. IMHO, anyway.

 

ZR440, where did you get your 5+ years figure? The figure I always hear is 2-3 years to 1st dan, as long as you're training 4 times a week and don't take long breaks. You suggest 5+ years training 2-5 days a week--2 days a week is a pretty different situation from 5. I could see 5+ years training twice a week, but that number ought to be cut in half if training 4-5 times a week.

 

Note that this assumes the 4-5 days a week in the dojang are being spent optimally. Even if one's own teacher will accept quantity in place of quality (I know our KJN does not), the masters doing your black belt test won't--there's no danger of someone getting a black belt in KSW just by attending a certain number of classes.

 

I stand by my previous figure of 30 months, unless it's the case that blue, red, or brown belts cannot be earned in four months.

 

_________________

 

Chris Tessone

 

White Belt, Kuk Sool Won

 

[ This Message was edited by: tessone on 2002-05-15 08:51 ]