curious

[puunui]

Most of my World Tae Kwon Do Association/Chung Do Kwan training was under Mike McGinnis, though I trained in GM Park led groups about four times a year, sometimes less-I suppose I could say that I trained with GM Park......

Sorry I do not know your instructor, Mr. McGinnis. And which GM Park are you speaking of?

 

[elder999]

Well, on one hand, we have the words of the person who was actually there, telling us his experiences. On the other hand, we have your speculative comments. It's not a hard decision to figure out which is more accurate factually.

As I said, then-if he says so.

1454993[/URL]]Sorry I do not know your instructor, Mr. McGinnis. And which GM Park are you speaking of?

Yer missing the point. I was thinking of Dr. Park-don't remember his full name, and he was GM Son's most senior at the time-as it was, I really mostly saw them at gradings-I hardly ever took classes with them, though I did have occasion to at West Point and Pace University as I progressed-and I hardly saw GM Son at all, except at gradings and tournaments. Could I truly say say that I trained with them,rather than under them? While I have no reason to doubt GM Lee, it just seems unlikely that all the Korean GM's who claim to have trained with either of the Funakoshis could actually have received ALL or even a majority of their training directly from them. No matter-it's quibbling, really......

Mike McGinnis was a New York Corrections officer at the time-last I heard, he was superintendent of Southport Correctional Facility.

 

[puunui]

Well, at least you are no longer littering your posting with yellow men rolling on the floor laughing. That's something.

Curious though, why did you choose kyokushin over GM Son's taekwondo?

 

[elder999]

Curious though, why did you choose kyokushin over GM Son's taekwondo?

Contact. Coherence. Comraderie. Consistency.

At nidan/yidan in both arts, it was pretty clear to me which art was the best fit for me, and which ranking meant the mostn to me, because-in my estimation- I'd had to work harder for it. While I appreciated quite a few things about taekwondo, and its high kicks were a good fir for my frame, in the end, it wasn't a hard choice at all. There's a WTA group here in Los Alamos-I know a lot of them,worked with two higher-ranking black belts, one of whom is now deceased-they are very nice people,and we've visited each other's classes. I also had become good friends with a few of my seniors in Kyokushin, and, of course, there's the fact that the application of what some individual movements in kata meant made much more sense to me in Kyokushin than in GM Son's taekwondo.

 

[elder999]

Contact. Coherence. Comraderie. Consistency.

At nidan/yidan in both arts, it was pretty clear to me which art was the best fit for me, and which ranking meant the mostn to me, because-in my estimation- I'd had to work harder for it. While I appreciated quite a few things about taekwondo, and its high kicks were a good fir for my frame, in the end, it wasn't a hard choice at all. There's a WTA group here in Los Alamos-I know a lot of them,worked with two higher-ranking black belts, one of whom is now deceased-they are very nice people,and we've visited each other's classes. I also had become good friends with a few of my seniors in Kyokushin, and, of course, there's the fact that the application of what some individual movements in kata meant made much more sense to me in Kyokushin than in GM Son's taekwondo.

Another reason, and maybe the most important, was Kyokushin karate's ibuki breathing, and sanchin kata-as someone born with life-threatening respiratory issues, I benefitted greatly from these-still do. Taekwondo, of course-at least, GM Son's, has no equivalent.

 

[puunui]

Contact. Coherence. Comraderie. Consistency.

Funny, that is the exact reasons why I have stayed with taekwondo all these years. One quick question: What kind of sparring did GM Son teach? Non-contact?

 

[elder999]

Funny, that is the exact reasons why I have stayed with taekwondo all these years. One quick question: What kind of sparring did GM Son teach? Non-contact?

Yeah-old time controlled Shotokan style sparring, with no contact. That's changed a little, now, but between '71 and '80, that's what there was.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

and the korean version of kendo?

There isn't one. The kanji that 'kendo' uses in Japan is pronounced 'kumdo' in Korean. The Korean Kumdo Association is the Korean NGB for kendo in Korea, just as the All US Kendo Federation is in the United States. The Korean kendo team does very well, incidentally.

Haidong Gumdo, the most famous Korean sword art, is not a Korean version of kendo. It is an art created in the twentieth century and is really its own thing. The official history of the art has some questionable elements, but the art is a worthwhile art.

I'm not going to read through all seventeen or eighteen pages of this thread, but I know the impetus for the OP.

 

[FizzyCal]

I didn't take the time to read through all 17 pages of posts here, but I did want to put my 2 cents in. Whatever you want to call TKD, either theft or addaptation, you find the same thing in ALOT of other martial arts. Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Phillipino styles are all very similar, with slight variations. There are only so many ways to throw a punch, a kick, or do a joint lock. Some have adapted better than others with slight improvements. I believe a typical martial art, no matter what techniques are taught, are indiginous to the geographical location where it has been practiced. However, on one note, my instructor and I were having a similar discussion (I do practice Tae Kwon Do) about the Chang Hon forms. He had me do Won Hyo as he did another form ( I think either Shorin Ryu or Ishin Ryu, not sure) they were nearly identical. Very slight variations.