your larry whites student, right sir? anyways i stopped in on my way to work (the nearby prison) and had the good fortune of talking with him.
Ah yes, So you work at Vacaville State Prison huh? My old "soo" partner has been out there for many many years (working). Tommy Johnson...you know him? Do you practice KS?
Some years back I started something called the "Dochang Journal Project". The idea was to reformat one approach to the Hapkido arts----YON MU KWAN Hapkido--- from the late MYUNG Kwang Sik into an academic manner of learning familiar to Western education. Along the way I worked to add, what I could of, more traditional Korean practices and less of the modern stuff commonly being imported from Japanese and Western practices as one finds today. At the time I had a very romantic notion of dedicated devotees of the KMA who could use the project as a way of reflecting on and polishing their understanding of what they were doing. I got as far as the first four levels---white yellow, blue and brown---- when I had my first taste of what the true nature of KMA is. From about 1999 to Fall 2008 I fought the "good fight", mostly on the INTERNET and along the way got kicked off the odd forum, or marginalized by this or that group. My ten year experience has left me with the following observations that cover all but the smallest portion of the KMA community. 1.) People aren't particularly interested in facts. They function on beliefs. As a result the most egregious lies can persist over historical facts if only because that's what people want to believe. (see:"I know what I believe; don't bother me with the facts." 2.) People will relate to people as they choose and not because of what a person says or does. Students will stay with a teacher, or a teacher with an organization because thats the decision that they make and not because its a good decision. Facts have very little to do with this (see: Point One). 3.) Noble rhetoric (see: "Cheer-leader Speak") is with us always, but the overwhelming mass of KMA is driven by commerce, hunger, Ego, sado-masochism, ignorance, stupidity and sloth. That leader, standing on the top of a mountain waving a flag, is not identifying a character-building goal as much as an ideal location for a billboard. The students who, likewise, learn to mouth the accepted catch-phrases and buzzwords, are simply reinforcing the practice of "writing checks with their mouths" that they will never "cash" with their behaviors. As I write this comment, I still have my projects to work on, my research to pursue and my visits to places like this. However, I do it now because it amuses me to do it and not because I think that it will have any great benefit to the KMA population. We get the MA community we earn, and in a culture where "quick, cheap and easy" rule I don't have much interest in the product. No real point. Just some varied observations in response to your comment. Best Wishes, Bruce
Great Deals on Belts...! Back ON Topic... If anyone out there needs to buy some color belts, for yourself or for students...this website is having a clearance sale. I just bought 40 Belts + shipping for $55 bucks. They are .84 cents each if you are a school owner and email your info to "Tom Katch". I am not affiliated in any way...just passing word on a great deal. ...and the belts are top quality! Great Buy! http://www.kataaro.com/Products/Rank-Belts-100-Cotton---CLOSE-OUT__94921.aspx
quick question: does anyone know where to get those gold fringed uniforms the WKSA have? or how to get ahold of a generals uniform outside of WKSA without having to join another group?
Moo Sool Sa will make the fringe uniforms custom, they make awesome stuff! Concerning the Chunguhn dobahk (generals uniform), good luck. Your best bet is to make it yourself, or hire someone to make it for you. That being said, the NKMAA manufactures them custom (with NKMAA insignia etc) for their folks.
oh, i'm in heaven! lol thank you very much. didn't even know that site existed! do you have any photos of how the back looks? always kind of wondered, just can't find any photos.
Hyeongsa, you constantly go on about how you have this grand plan to make the KSGA this utopia that is everything that the WKSA isn't but all I see is somebody trying to completely recreate everything that is currently in place with the WKSA?
Personally, I think the gold-fringe uniform is terrible (it's jokingly been referred to as the "lamp-shade uniform"). Originally, BB uniforms had gold embroidery along the hem, in a water wave pattern (sometimes it was gold, light-blue & red -- note the trilogy of colors!). Later, the embroidery (which used to be quite cheap in Korea) got to be too expensive and was replaced with the gold fringe. FWIW, I once saw Mrs. IHS at HQ sewing the fringe onto regular practice uniforms. At the time the standard uniform cost $50 and the gold fringe uniform cost $100. I don't know about you, but I don't consider the fringe material (which can be bought at ANY fabric store) or her time and effort to sew it on, to be worth an extra $50. So it goes without saying that I would opt for a gold embroidered wave-pattern along the bottom hem of the jacket (representing yu-won-hwa). You may also be interested to learn that there used to be optional embroidery for the back of BB uniforms only, depicting a distinct set of animal totems, with ho-kuk-mu-yea (호국무예) arched above. The front had the kuk-sool script (국술) on one side and the the other side had a smaller logo patch than what's found on the back nowadays (in other words, no ROK flag patch). It was broken down like this: 1st dahn had an eagle (with outstretched wings), 2nd dahn had a snake (specifically a coiled cobra), 3rd dahn had a tiger, 4th dahn had a dragon, and 5th dahn & higher (master level) had a white crane. But such a massive embroidered area was expensive even back then, and why getting this type of uniform was optional (due to the extra expense).
Any chance that you have a photo the wave pattern that used to be embroidered?? I have heard it referenced before, but cant seem to find and pictorial representation, other than the obscure musing in my head ;-) I find it interesting that there are photo's of Kuk Sa Nim training in Korea with the lamp shade getup, I wonder what that symbolism is...
AIRNICK: don't you think that question should belong on the KSGA forum, instead of a supply forum? but, since you seem so eager to ask, i'll answer: i was hoping to find a cheaper route to buy uniforms than going through the WKSA, which can be a wee bit expensive. and i see nothing wrong with keeping to the traditions of kuk sool. just because i leave doesnt' mean i have to give up that uniform and stop training kuk sool: i'm still a kuk sool martial artist. and yes, i do have a plan for the a new orginization, but i never said it would be EVERYTHING the wksa isn't. i simply want a kinder, less expenseive, and more open orginization that is kuk sool based and not money based. thats all. UNKNOWNKJN: from how it was explained to me, the gold fringe (which was ALOT longer back in the day) was suppose to symbolize harmony and royalty (due to kuk sool won's royal court roots). am i wrong with this? i do know of the other uniforms with the gold embroidery and the animal symbols. i still have a uniform with an eagle on it! kind of nice. i always wondered what it was for, when i was younger. OUT TO LUNCH: i have a video of a master lim from kuk sool hapkido (formerly WKSA), who has a black belt training in one of those uniforms. its an intresting uniform, thats for sure.
Hi, Kidosool. I forgot about those pics of KukSaNim. :thinking: Unfortunately I don't. And maybe it was just one branch or school that did this embroidery thing, as KJN Harmon has told me he doesn't recall it as being a widespread practice. But the wave pattern wasn't complicated or ornate. Think of sideways parentheses that overlap or hook into each other (note: the overlap would not make it look like a sideways figure 8). The tips or ends of the ones on top would fit into the middle or hollow of the ones on bottom, and vice-versa. This is also how the three color version worked, alternating the three colors. So if the first arc on top was red, the first arc on bottom would be gold and the 2nd arc on top would be blue, then repeat the sequence (2nd arc on bottom = red, 3rd arc on top = gold, & 3rd arc on bottom = blue). FYI, I don't remember the real sequence just the alternating pattern, so don't take the example I gave in order to explain it as how it actually was.
Is this what you were talking about? http://books.google.com/books?id=bN...AZINES&pg=PA54#v=onepage&q=ken duncan&f=false
It's been a lo-o-o-ng time and those pictures prove I was mistaken about the words across the top (국술원 not 호국무예), about the arcs interlocking, and about the country flag not being on the front. But everything else I mentioned seems to be fairly accurate.
