subject: The Hellish Beginnings Of Korean Karate [print this page] Many people walk to the corner mall, walk into their Korean Martial Arts dojo, and train in nice, neat uniforms, watching themselves in wall sized mirrors, kick soft and well hung bags, and think that they are doing hard core Tae Kwon Do. These people should learn some beginnings of Korean Karate. They will find that that polite block and kick combo they are practicing was born in hell, perfected in hades, and then things got nasty.
Just to let you know, this bit of scribble is dedicted to the history of the kwans from Korea of the fifties. This includes the nine major kwans, which are Sung Moo Kwan, Chang Moo Kwan, Chung Du Kwan, Oh Do Kwan, Kang Duk Won, Moo Duk Kwan, Yun Moo Kwan, Han Moo Kwan, Jung Do Kwan. There are other Kwans that grew from these nine, but these nine are the ones that started it all.
Korea is a rugged, little peninsula, about half the size of California, jutting from the Asian continent. It is a land constructed half of plains, and half of rugged, eternal mountains. It experiences extremes of siberian cold, stifling heat, and monsoon rains.
Throughout its history, Korea has been embroiled in countless wars. The Japanese held sway during the first half of the last century, and in the early fifties Korea became the battleground between the free world and communist forces. Thus, this small bit of land came under the boot heel of million man armies, and the people were in constant flight, or killed outright.
The communist forces attacked first, causing a mass exodus the length of the peninsula. Peasants were made part of the vast communist army, given no weapons, and put into massive meat grinder attacks. If the peasants survived the exodus, or being forced to fight, they had to endure a winter with temperatures often at 30 degrees below zero.
Those that managed to survive the winters, and the spring attack of the UN forces, continued with their study of the martial arts. That's right, in the middle of all the slaughter, in spite of the weather and starvation, the nine kwans survived. Indeed, they grew.
One tale that made me shake my head in awe of these incredible warriors was that, when the war front approached, the students would pick up the boards of their dojos and head south. That's right, they didn't even nail the boards down, because they knew they would have to flee, and they perfected their spinning, jumping kicks on unsecured, splintered, weathered boards. Got a splinter up your foot...pick it out and keep going, because that's the martial arts.
So enjoy the fur lined bags and gaudy mirrors, and toast your designer water in appreciation. That Korean Karate you are studying was built by gods, and it is a legacy dripping with blood and death and tears. And when you bow...kow tow to the floor, your ancestors deserve it.
