origins of Kuk Sool Won

[GonzoStyles]

I have a nephew who is taking Kuk Sool Won and I was wondering about the origins of this art, he competed in a tournement last weekend in Houston and got 2 medals for his school in the Rio Grande Valley!

[danfaggella]

Kuk Sool is a comprehensive martial arts system that is derived from the rich and varied martial arts techniques and traditions that have arisen in Korea through the ages. Kuk Sool is not a sport, nor is it simply another oriental self-defense method. Kuk Sool is a complete martial art that is dedicated to the cultivation of physical/mental strength and well-being, and to the preservation of traditional Korean martial arts.

Although its origin may be traced back to antiquity, the present Kuk Sool system was formally devised only recently by Grandmaster In Hyuk Suh, who has spent more than 50 years in single-minded practice and research in order to learn, compile, master, and organize more than 3,600 techniques that comprise Kuk Sool. He founded Kuk Sool Won (traditional Korean Martial Arts Association) in 1961, and brought it to the United States in 1974 to establish the World Kuk Sool Association, which was headquartered in San Francisco for 17 years and relocated to Houston, Texas in 1991. As of 1998, the Association has grown to include more than 400 member schools world-wide.

For self-defense, Kuk Sool is unsurpassed. It combines kicking, punching, throwing, falling, choking, joint-locking and a myriad of weapons techniques into a beautiful and dynamic 'hard-soft' style, emphasizing speed and fluidity. In conjunction with physical training, meditation, breathing, acupressure and acupuncture techniques are employed to improve health, to develop internal power, and to retard the aging process. Philosophically, Kuk Sool stresses humility, self-discipline, self-control, loyalty and respect for others. Together, these aspects of Kuk Sool provide the means for attaining a long and healthy life.





i copied that from a website. pretty much everything can be found on the internet, just type the martial art into google and find history/philosophy/technique/whatever, its amazing.

[GonzoStyles]

I found the website for the head quarters for Kuk Sool Won and its right down the road from me in Tomball, let me see if I can find the link

http://www.kuksoolwon.com/

it looks more in depth than I thought, the photos of the black belts even has them throwing spears and knives, archery is even mentioned as part of the full spectrum.

my cousins school I believe placed in the top ten

4TH BROWNSVILLE RAUL SOSA

[kuk sool won]

Indeed

KSW tries not to focus on one particular area of self defence so that a person can defend themselves whenever and whatever means necessary, now obviously this doesn't mean we carry throwing knifes and swords around with us but this is to keep the tradition in KSW and not soley make it a means of defending ones self in todays society (although imo its a highly effective art). however these traditional weapon trainings do help to enhance other abilities like accuracy and a controlled mind. For example the lesson i was in today included some ground work, sparring and wrist techniques.

I am proud to say that i train in one of the best KSW schools in the world, Lowestoft Kuk Sool Won, now i am almost certain no body in this forum has even heard of Lowestoft but to give you a brief idea its in the south east of England. One of our teachers very recently (this week) won himeself the title of World Kuk Sool Champion in Korea and for such a small town like Lowestoft it is very impressive, we also are at current 5 time UK champions and 7 time European champions. I put this firmly down to grandmaster In Hyuk Suh, he personally has regular training sessions with masters around the globe and this dedication has come from his inheritance and constant training i know there are many KSW school that are plainly mcdojo's but for those that aren't KSW can be seen as a very powerful martial art form. In Hyuk Suh says this is largely down to the teaching's he was given, In Hyuk Suh's forfathers lived in a time where Korea was controlled by the Japenese and Korean martial arts were banned, this mean't many of KSW's teachings today are from underground trainings and this shows how old KSW really is. As danfaggella kindly copied KSW isn't just an ordinary martial art systems it is basically a mix of tried and tested arts. It is relatively hard to trace KSW's heritance but it can be done, it is a mix of 3 types of styles, royal, tribal and family (to put it bluntly) these were actually very different styles in thier times, royal styles for example were highly effective with royal weapons such as the sword whilst the family style was more of an ancient line of defending themselves without the use of weapons.

By in large it is basically a mixture of tried and tested arts that were almost demolished with the invasion of Japan, but with the help of men such as In hyuk Suh's forefathers it has survived and is now making a comeback at a vast rate.

I hope this has begun to help you answer you question in depth.

[royal court kid]

origins of kuk sool won

Kuk sool won is a traditional martial art but I am not sure of its true origins. I practice Chung Do Mu Sool Won which is a Royal Court martial art and is registered in the korean national archives as a true traditional korean martial art. Chung Do has one of Kuk Sool Wons staff forms in our curriculum and it's not bad. Chung Do is no one singular style but many styles in which the best techniques were picked and tested on the battlefield over the course of a thousand years and have been refined over time. My master is high ranked in Kuk Sool Won, possibly 6th or 7th dan but chose Chung Do after being shown some very impressive techniques. I believe Kuk Sool Won is a good art but I believe it would be safe to say that Chung Do's origins can be traced much further back in history than Kuk Sool. Next time I see my Master, I will ask him what the differneces are between these two arts. If you wish to get information from a reliable source, contact Master Michael Augsburger at http://www.sa.niu.edu/hapkido/niupage.htm

I hope this will help you out!

[kuk sool won]

Chung Do and Kuk Sool Won are simular arts, but Chung Do is more firmly concentrated in techqiues, like Hapkido for example, another main difference maybe that KSW is more modernised than CD. As of the offical founding of the arts, Chung Do is older but as said before KSW's techniques are tried and tested and most probably comes from the same origns as Chung Do's.

So to say that Chung Do's origins are older would be an almost impossible remark to back up. One of the 3 sections that make up Kuk Sool Won is Royal Court martial arts so it would seem that Chung Do is a more specialised art than KSW but KSW is much more rounded.

[brokenelbow]

I thought it was a Hwarang Do knock off.

[kuk sool won]

Not at all, once you look at it they are completely different arts

[brokenelbow]

How are HRD, HKD and KSW different besides the uniforms?

[medic06]

Conceptually, philosophically, weapons emphasis. Alot of subtle differences not apparent to someone not familiar with HKD, KSW, and HRD

[Andrew WA]

Someone mentioned family arts and court arts, what is the tribal art?

Also is there any proof that these arts are actually real traditional arts and not just based on japanese styles? Or just made up in the modern day by some master and then basing his art on some korean history things he researched? Thats what hwa rang do is.

Also you have mentioned a lot of tournament stuff. What is their rules? If its a martial art why do they care about winning medals so much?

[brokenelbow]

Conceptually, philosophically, weapons emphasis. Alot of subtle differences not apparent to someone not familiar with HKD, KSW, and HRD

How about someone who is familiar with HKD, HRD, TKD and a few other non-Korean arts? What concepts?