See you in Oct

[Chris from CT]

Just wanted to say "see ya," before I left for Korea to get thrown around. I'm going to be staying in Taegu and training with GM Lim and the rest of the Jung Ki Kwan, so I am pumped! I feel like I'm going to Mecca or something.

Take care and see y'all in Oct. :asian:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Hey! Have fun n be safe!

 

[arnisador]

Good luck!

 

[Disco]

Have a safe trip. Are you going to test while you are there?

I'd like to go and train with my teacher too, but he's in the witness protection program soooooooo!...:rofl:

Hey!.... I'm originally from Brooklyn:ultracool

 

[greendragon]

Good luck Chris and learn, learn, learn,,,, hapki bro!!
Mike

 

[pknox]

Sounds like fun. Please make sure to tell us about your journey when you get back!

Oh and watch the kimchi - I hear it's very hot over there.

 

[Chris from CT]

Thank you guys.

I was starting to think I was never going to be able to finish all my make-up work for acupuncture school. But now that it is out of the way, I can get down to some postin’!

We were leaving to go to Korea on September 11th from Logan Airport in Boston. I caught a lot of flack for that alone. But I figured, “It’s not too often lightning strikes the same place twice.” Also my girlfriend’s mother, who is a travel agent, said that Logan would probably be the safest airport to fly out of on that day. So anyway, “If you’re gonna go, you’re gonna go.”

I stayed at Todd Miller and his wife’s home for the night and in the morning we would meet the others to leave for Logan Airport. Our flight left around 6:00am so we woke around 2:00am because of the travel time to Logan and it being an international flight. Didn’t seem so bad.

The flights went well. Even though I couldn’t sleep and everyone else passed out for about 18 hours, I was happy that the airline showed quite a few movies (X-Men 2, Bruce Almighty, etc.) and handed out a bunch of meals. We even had our own movie screens installed in the back of the seats in front of us. Ok, so I’m easy to please! Also, I was seated next to some very friendly Koreans who helped me with my phrasing and pronunciation of Korean. They did their best!

Once at Inchon Airport in Seoul we were supposed to take a bus to Gimpo Airport and connect with a short 45-minute (if that) flight to Daegu International Airport. Well let me tell you that didn’t happen. We kept trying to get tickets for it, but everyone we talked to made this “X” sign with their fingers indicating, “no fight to where we want to go.” We were just finding out about the Typhoon that hit lower South Korea. So our 45-minute plane ride now turns into a 5-hour bus excursion through the Typhoon. It’s dark and wet navigating though a major typhoon and people still drive like nut-jobs.

I believe we got into Daegu around 2:00am, their time, and we could see some of the damage that was caused; trees turned up, roads were flooded, business signs ripped down by the tremendous wind and rain. I have to say one of the streets where the bus station was, was flooded and torn up, but the rescue workers in the orange jumpsuits had most of the immediate area cleaned up before our ride had arrived. Considering what they had to work with, that’s some job!

We were greeted in the rain by a loud, “Masta Todd, how is everyone?!” That was Kim, In-Sam, who also trains at the Jung Ki Kwan and runs his own English academy in Daegu. Between the fights, the layover in San Francisco, the confusion /waiting at Inchon and the bus trip that felt like a water ride at a theme park, our trip was approximately 30 hours. It was good to know we are almost home. (at least for the next few weeks).

More to come…

 

[Chris from CT]

So I wake up around 9:00am on Saturday and considering the time changes and traveling I felt surprisingly good. Todd and I went downstairs to the front desk of the hotel and we ran into Kim, In-Sam. (Our savior upon arriving in Daegu) The three of us took a walk and he showed us around the immediate area around the hotel. Just a couple of blocks down the street was “Iljyong Golmok” (sp), the medicinal herb center of Daegu. The entire street is dedicated for just eastern medicine, mostly herbs. You could smell the ginseng from quite some distance. I would have loved to have taken some home, but I was unsure on customs so I played it safe. Also there was Moxa galore there. Moxa is a type of medicinal herb consisting of a type of mugwort that is burned on the body to stimulate acu-points. (More on that later)

Kim, In-Sam also showed us where his last academy of English was on Iljyong Golmok and eventually had to depart for a previous engagement. Todd continued the tour and we went to the Jung Ki Kwan. I was surprised how close it was, perhaps a 10-15 minute walk, not thinking about doing this everyday after training.

At 3:00 Todd, Frank, Trevor and I met up once again at the Jung Ki Kwan to see Grandmaster Lim and everyone else. Among the people there to greet us were Master Chae, Hung-Joon (Hwejangnim), Master Shin, Dong-Won, Master Kong, Won-Gee and Kim, In-Sam. GM Lim said it was good to see us. He also asked how we were and all the families and while Kim, In-Sam was there to help translate their English was very good.

While we were there we asked about the many calligraphies that were hanging in the dojang so Master Chae and Kim, In-Sam took us on a small tour and explained each one of them. Among them were sayings such as, “Hwa, Won, Yu” which reminds us of the three principles of Hapkido, “The Essence of the Martial Spirit” and another of how continuously practicing can lead to unbeatable ability. If I’m not mistaken, Master Chae actually did the calligraphy and has quite a skill. Master Chae is a remarkable man. He is around 70 years old and was one of Dojunim Choi’s 8th dan students and quite the swordsman. I spent an afternoon with him working on one of the Kahapdo forms and even though he spoke very little English, he helped me immensely with working with the sword.

After our meeting we ate samgaetang (sp), or in other words, chicken soup. It was fantastic! To start off, they gave us some small bowls of white radish. One was plain and the other was hot and spicy. I was told there are many types of kimchi and that was one of them. The main course came out and they gave us a bowl of broth with a chicken that was stuffed with rice. Inside the rice was ginseng and I believe a date or fig. There was also a small bowl of salt on the table to add to your liking. It was some of the best soup I had ever had. (Second to only mom) After the meal, we were given a cup of what seemed to be apple cider with cinnamon. Again I was informed that apples are a major trademark of Daegu.

We had a couple of long hard weeks ahead of us, but we were all pumped to start training. Todd said “rest while you can.” And even though they were empty words at that moment, we would all understand the deep meaningful truth later on in the week.

More to come…

 

[Chris from CT]

Monday, September 15, 2003

Being really excited to be in Korea, I woke up around 4:00am and got ready for our first class at 6:00am. Frank and I walked through the streets of Daegu to the Jung Ki Kwan. Master Kim, Mon-Su, taught the early morning class. Master Kim is a 72-year-old man with a small frame, but oh my god, he was spry as anyone I ever met. Originally, around thirty years ago, Dojunim Choi, Yong-Sul refused to teach Kim, Mon Su because he was very sickly and frail. Master Kim even had a hard time walking up the three or four flights of stairs to get to the dojang (school). Dojunim Choi thought he would get broken from the hard training they were doing. Master Kim kept coming anyway and lasted all those years. I had a hard time believing the story from the way Master Kim was able to move, apply techniques and the shear strength coming from his tiny frame. It was a fantastic class and a great way to start off our training in Korea.

The next class was all Hapkido too. I got to work with Master Kong, Won-Gee and Trevor. We went over basic techniques and seeing them done with such precision was an eye opener. Everyone is expected to grab on hard when doing any “Son Mok Su” (wrist technique). The techniques were so powerful, and yet so subtle. With the way we were getting thrown around by Master Kong you would think he was using all is strength. But when I saw the same technique applied to Trevor you could see that there was little effort applied with the same effect. “It’s all technique, very little strength.”

The great thing about the training was that even though you are getting tossed around like a rag doll and experiencing some exquisite pain, it was never done maliciously. Everyone there had a great heart and was sincerely caring about everyone’s well being.

Our Doboks (uniforms) drenched in sweat, we broke for lunch and “the US contingency” went out for samgaetang again after getting changed. This time we met Peter who is a fellow student at the Jung Ki Kwan and works at the restaurant. And once again the soup was delicious.

Our afternoon class consisted of Kumdo and Kahapdo. The Kumdo half of the class was taught by Master Kim, Kyung-Hwan. We did a lot of footwork and striking with footwork. Then Master Kim “suited up” in the Kumdo armor in which he then instructed us in drills where we would be passing by and striking him. I have to admit that was pretty fun! The second half of the class was Kahapdo. Kahapdo (also known as Kuhapdo or Gahapdo) is a sword style developed by Grandmaster Lim, which appear to have similarities to Japanese Iaido. For next three hours I worked on a single cut and learned how much I could screw up that one cut! It was great! We were all dripping with sweat again after that class.

Later that night, Master Lee, Jae-Il stopped by our hotel and invited us out for a drink and some appetizers. Master Lee is one of the main interpreters at the Jung Ki Kwan along with Kim, In Sam. I wish my Korean could be half as good as Master Lee’s English. We had a couple of pitchers of beer and quite an assortment of appetizers. One that I will never forget was the Silkworm pupa. It came out and you could tell that they were some sort of larva/pupa thing. All the guys were eyeing me because I never had it before. I figured it wouldn’t be so bad because it looked like it had some crushed garlic with it and that would mask any taste that could have been less than delicious. Well, that was either not garlic or extremely weak because garlic is not what I tasted. It wasn’t terrible, but I definitely enjoyed the chicken tenders and beer much more.

More to come…

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Chris,
Sounds like you had a ton o fun.

 

[Chris from CT]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz
Chris,
Sounds like you had a ton o fun.

It was a blast! I can't wait to go back for another beating!

 

[Chris from CT]

It was a blast! I can't wait to go back for another beating!

That time has come around again. I'm leaving tomorrow morning with two of my students so we can all share in the beatings together. artyon:

Take care and see you in October.

 

[glad2bhere]

Dear Chris:

My first beating is tonight. Gumsan is great, but my first training with DJN Kim comes on the heels of WAY TOO MUCH lunch!! There will also be early morning training tomorrow morning and then up to Seoul for the weekend and time spent haunting the bookstores, etc, etc. My little experiment at individualized touring is going WAY above expectations. People who have feared going to Korea on their own because of the strange language, strange customs or ???? are only scaring themselves out of a great adventure.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

 

[Drac]

Enjoy my friend..Hey, maybe I can get my department to send me as part of a exchange program..RIIIIGHHHTTT!!!!!

 

[glad2bhere]

It has been absolutely phenomenal!!!! Three hours 2x/day of training and probably the finest group of folks I have had the pleasure of training with. Broke my diet, though. Just had a DUNKIN DONUTS coffee and a couple of DD's finest! Thats OK, though, I'll probably burn that off tonight. I was sure when I got here that I would be dropping some poundage but the way these folks eat there is no way!! Spent the morning in Kim Dojunims room going over an extraordinary collection of documents and pictures. My only regret is that I talked myself out of going to Korea for such a long time. I hope anyone reading this won't make the same mistake. Its just not as hard to pull off once you put you mind to it. FWIW.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

 

[Chris from CT]

This was another great experience! This year we had Master Todd Miller, Stu Emery, myself, two of my students and Kevin Sogor. There was another gentleman from Iowa named Craig who is studying for his doctorate at Yong-In University. He came down for a week to train with us.

I love being able to learn Hapkido and Kuhapdo right there at the Jung Ki Kwan. One of the many things I thought was great was spending time with Hwejangnim Chae, Hung-Joon. He is about 76 years old and is one of Dojunim Choi's 8th dans. Still spry as anything. It's good to see so many older practitioners at the dojang, like Hwejangnim and Kim, Mon-Soo (see previous posts), who are still throwing down with the young guns. One would think with the type of intense training they do that the body wouldn't be able to take it for that many years.

Hwejangnim and I went over alot of Kuhapdo material and later on in the week we sat down and watched Sumo Wrestling while eating ginseng candy. It was very casual and really cool.

Master Shin and Hwejangnim took us all to visit and pay respect to Dojunim Choi's grave. It was on the side of a mountain with a very narrow road leading up to it. It is a beautiful area. Hwejangnim burned incense and bowed 3 times at the grave. We brought flowers and a couple of bottles of soju, which we poured around the burial mound out of respect.

Me and a couple of the guys took a walk and visited Dalseong Park again this year. This is a park in Daegu that has a lot to offer. It is a park, a zoo, a museum and so much more.

I have pictures from the trip on our website...
http://lmaa.bravepages.com/

A big congrats to Master Todd who tested and earned his 5th dan! I'm glad I was working with Kevin prior to your test. He got me primed to be your throw toy. (It was good working with you Kevin.)

Looking forward to next year. :asian:

 

[iron_ox]

Hello Chris,

I want to echo all you said. I felt really lucky to get to train in Korea for the first time and could have not have gone with a better bunch of guys from the states.

Sorry I ended up ripping up everyone's wrists, but you all said "grab hard"

Thanks especially to you Chris for the needles - you know your stuff - I still owe you a dozen or so...

Hopefully we can all play together at "summer camp" next year - I can't wait.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sogor

 

[Master Todd Miller]

This years training was definately excellent! We had a great bunch of Hapkidoin and it was great to have Sa Bum Nim Kevin there. Thank you Chris for being my partner for testing, I could not have had anyone better to work with! :asian:

Keep on training artyon:

www.millersmudo.com

 

[Chris from CT]

Can't get enough!!! Heading out tomorrow to Daegu for my yearly beating. When I get back I hope to be more active with the boards.

take care and once again... "See you in Oct." :asian:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Have fun.