Kwan Jang Nim Independent Schools?

DMcHenry

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I agree that DoJu would be the founder of a style, whereas KwanJang is the head/owner of a school.
 

puunui

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I agree with this, GM Ji Han Jae uses the title dojunim AFAIK


GM Ji does use the title Doju, and it says in english "Founder" after the word Doju on the Sinmoo Hapkido dan certificates, but I don't think the word actually means founder. It has been a while since I looked up the characters but I believe it was translated into something like Do (way) and Ju (master, leader), so Doju would mean master or leader of the way.

The term was first used by Aikido founder UESHIBA Morihei Sensei. In Japanese, it is pronounced Doshu. When Morihei Sensei passed away, the title was given to his son, Kishomaru Sensei, who was called the Second Doshu and when Kishomaru passed away, the title was passed to his son, who is known as the third Doshu.

In Korea, the title Doju was first used by GM CHOI Yong Sul. I don't know if he considered himself the founder of anything, since I believe he was pretty faithful to what he learned from his teacher TAKEDA Sokaku Sensei. GM Ji started using the title Doju only after GM Choi passed away. Before that his title was Chong Kwan Jang, or Grandmaster.

Another person who uses the title Doju is Hwa Rang Do GM LEE Joo Bang. But he doesn't claim to be the founder of Hwarangdo, but rather the 58th inheritor of the style.

So anyway, I don't believe that the title Doju translates into founder, although a lot of founder types seem to use the title.
 

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