I've been waiting for this book for a long time. I just ordered it today. I look forward to reading it. It covers the history of hapkido and related (that's us) arts. Here is a link. http://www.martialartsresource.com/Dr.Kimm.htm
The folks over on HAPKIDO FORUM are chewing on it among themselves. Hopefully there will be a pretty informative thread there in due time. Right now there are some mixed views having more to do with HOW the information was presented rather than WHAT was presented. All-in-all its a pretty important contribution to Hapkido scholarship regardless of ancillary shortcomings to be found. Currently the trick is not to begin a critical revenue of the work until people have had a chance to examine it. Best Wishes, Bruce
Unfortunately, I haven't even received it yet. I only ordered it yesterday. After I get a chance to read it, I will post back up here.
I am sure they are having a fun time fighting out who is the top dog. I on the other am simply curious about the history, whatever it is. It won't change the way I train or my instructor. I think Dr. Kimm is the guy to write this book because he goes back far enough to have been around then, but somehow he seems to have managed to remain "without an agenda". I hope that is the case.
Kimm is certainly not "without agenda" sorry,,,,, he is another TKMA grandmaster that is certainly willing to embellish history to favor his own ends. The fact that he was around at the time does not mean he is credible or non-credible. that does not mean the book is entirely invalid , it simply means that it is not necessarily valid either....
You correct, he probably does (and should) have an agenda reguarding promotion of his art. The reason why I hope this book will not have one is that even though he was around and knows enough of the players, at the time of creation of these arts, he was not that important. Upon reading, I don't think it will be too hard to tell if he blatantly embellished and/or fabricated history. I got my first exposure to KSW history as a 13 year old. What I was told didn't sound plausible then. Hopefully I haven't lost my skills.
I like the book. There wasn't anything I really hadn't already heard about Kuk Sa Nim, but it did fill in some of the pieces on how Kim woo tak and Joo Bang Lee and others related to Kuk Sa Nim and a short sentence about IHS and ISS's split. I haven't finished the book, I kind of skipped to the biography section first. Now I need to go back and check out the hapkido history section and see what all is in there. In the front cover he says that he is planning on writing a few more history books, one on the history of korean martial arts. I'm hoping he will write on the recent history and go into more detail about Kuk Sool Won.
The very first mention of SUH In Hyuk that I can find is pg 275 in the chapter concerning KIM Moo Woong. It relates that SUH came to visit Kim's school while Kim was in the Military and that a number of students went with Suh when he left and trained with Suh in Pusan, the quote goes on to identify that "KIM Woo Tak and LEE Joo Bang opened KUK SOOL WON in Seoul, while HUR Il Woong opened a KUK SOOL KWAN (sic) in DAEGU. This was the beginning of the name KUK SOOL spreading as the KUK SOOL WON, KUK SOOL KWAN, or KUK SOO HOE, in Seoul, Busan, and Daegu."(see: pg 276) Was this what you were interested in? Thoughts? Best Wishes, Bruce
I quoted that bit only because it was the earliest reference to KSW and the SUH/SEO brothers. Because of the manner in which the subject is treated, various groups and individuals are mentioned at different times. Let me see what else I can find for you. Best Wishes, Bruce
I received the book on Saturday. I was happy to get it so quickly. I have been really enjoying reading it. So far, I have jumped around looking for things of interest to a Kuk Sooler. It does a good job of explaining the relationship of Kuk Sa Nim to his contempories, but only with respect to his influence on Hapkido. Dr. Kimm, in the jacket of the book, says that he is going to write a history of all Korean martial arts. I'm guessing that book would have much more about KSN in it. One my favorite passages was the belt testing requirements for the In Sun Seo's Kido association. As far as I can tell it is the Kuk Sool syllubus. The cool part is that it is translated into english. For Kuk Sooler with a passing interest in history this book may not be worth the $90 price tag. For anyone who is interested in a broader view of Korean Martial Arts History, I think it is well worth. In the history section in beginning, he makes an arguement for the Korean roots of Jujitsu. I am no history expert, but he does cite many sources, so maybe there is something there. (or it could just be national pride) I'm not sure I am interested enough to research the question sufficiently to make an informed decision for myself.
