Official World Moo Duk Kwan Website

The 65 years of Moo Duk Kwan

Dear WMDK Designees,

I hope this message finds you and your family in the best of health and spirits.

The WMDK is preparing a demonstration to celebrate the 65 years of Moo Duk Kwan in Korea. I believe it is an excellent time for Soo Bahk Do to be recognized as the traditional martial art in Korea through our organized demonstration.

I would like to invite for all countries to prepare Demonstration Team(s) for the celebration. The 2010 Korea Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa will be taken prior to the 65th Anniversary.

Following are particulars for the event that are known at this time. Further information will be posted at the WMDK site.

The 65th Moo Duk Kwan Anniversary
When: October 22 - 24, 2010
Where: Pusan city, Korea
Who can attend: Demonstation Team(s) and all members and family of the WMDK.

Itinerary

October 16 (Sat): Ko Dan Ja candidates and visitors will meet at the Central Dojang in Seoul (9AM) and leave for the Shim Sa site (Kyong Ju). The Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa orientation will begin at 7:30PM. (Only for Ko Dan Ja Candidates and Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa visitors).

October 20 (Wed): Demonstration teams and participants for the 65th MDK Anniversary will meet at Central Dojang in Seoul (8AM) and leave for Hotel check in at Concord Hotel in Kyong Ju. There will be some training and sightseeing opportunity after arriving at Kyong Ju city. There will be rehearsal sessons 20 and 21 for the Demonstration teams.

October 22 (Fri): The final Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa presentation at 8AM and leave for Pu San for particiapating the Korean Traditional Martial Art Demonstration at 4PM (Ko Dan Ja Candidates, Vistors, Demonstration teams, and all participants and families will move together). Pu San City tour at 6PM.

October 23 (Sat): Pu San city tour during AM. The 65th Moo Duk Kwan Anniversary Demonstration will begin at 3PM and the Banquet Dinner at 6:30PM.

October 24 (Sun): Leave Pusan at 9AM for Seoul.

Estimated cost for Meals, Lodging, and Transportation from Seoul to Pusan round trip will be:

Ko Dan Ja Candidates and Visitors (7 days): US$650.00
Ko Dan Ja and the 65th Anniversary (9 days): US$750.00
Only for the 65th Anniversary (5 days): US$450.00

Learn about the Kyong Ju and Pu San city, please check on (you can click on English):
http://guide.gyeongju.go.kr
Http://visit.busan.kr/kor/

I am looking forward your participation.

In Moo Duk Kwan,
HC Hwang

Welcome

December 2009

Dear Members,

I hope this message finds you and your family in the best of health and holiday spirits. I am writing to share a few thoughts with you during this holiday season and as we approach the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010.

Ji Min’s being away at her first year of college was a big change for my family. When she came home for Thanksgiving it made our family dinner very special.

The World Moo Duk Kwan (WMDK) authorized 3 Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa and the 7th WMDK Designee Symposium in 2009 under a common theme: Il Kwan Seong (Standardization)
Iyon Kwan Seong (Connection)
Heng Dong Chul Hak Khang Hwa (Strengthen philosophy through actions)
I would like to share with you some of particulars from these events at this special time of the year.
THE 2009 USA KO DAN JA SHIM SA

25 participants including candidates, visitors, and officials attended the 2009 USA Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa at Ramona, California August 28 to September 4, 2009.

The WMDK TAC has recently revised the Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa evaluation process based on the concept of Oneness and PCA. The revisions were based on the following concepts:

Picture: The KDJSS shall provide a clearer picture to candidates about what is Moo Do.

Connection: Candidates strive to connect the picture to their training throughout the week.

Application: Candidates are given 4-6 months (depending on countries) for contemplating and applying what they have learned to in their daily life while strengthening any areas for which they received feedback from TAC officials during the KDJSS week.
The Ko Dan Ja Candidate’s certification presentation shall occur at the same time (4-6 months following the KDJSS) at various locations to support ONENESS of the Ko Dan Ja experience. Congratulations to all of candidates for your successful completion of the 2009 USA Ko Dan Shim Sa.

THE 2010 USA TAC NATIONAL TOUR

To continue strengthening our efforts toward Mission 2000 objectives, the USA TAC has planned a National TAC Seminar tour in 2010 and I am planning to attend most of the scheduled tour appearances to support the TAC’s activity. Thanks in advance to all who will make this event successful by planning, coordinating, and participating in these events. Your support will help make our culture and history richer.

I am looking forward to meeting all of you in 2010 to share good Moo Do experiences. You can follow the developing schedule of appearance dates and locations here:

http://soobahkdo.editme.com/NationalTACSeminarTour2010

THE 7th WMDK DESIGNEES SYMPOSIUM 14 countries were represented September 22 to 27th in Atlanta, GA at the 2009 WMDK Symposium including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Uruguay, and United States.

One special aspect of the 2009 WMDK Symposium was a gathering of "Youth Ambassadors" for the first time. The purpose of "Youth Ambassadors initiative" is to identify and bring together future leaders of the Moo Duk Kwan from around the world. Training together they will create the leadership foundation to assure continuation of global efforts to improve International Human Relations through Moo Do values.

"Youth Ambassadors" were charged to develop a plan to fulfill their founding purpose. Their initial reports during the week included establishing a Mission Statement and Kyo Sa Katie Worley is the Youth Ambassador representing USA. She has a preliminary website up and running and featuring a few highlights from the recent Hwa Rang events. A long-term website is also being created by the Australian Youth Ambassador, Kyo Sa Stephen McGrath. They would love for the websites to fill up with local and regional Do Jang highlights. Please participate with them by sending photos, event highlights, etc. that can be displayed on the sites and direct your families and friends to the sites. The Website address is: www.wmdkfutureleaders.com They also invite you to Facebook where you can search for: World Moo Duk Kwan Youth Ambassadors

THE 2009 KOREA KO DAN JA SHIM SA

32 participants including candidates, visitors, and officials were in attendance from Australia, Belgium, England, Malaysia, Korea, and United States at the Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa at the Neo Ri Gool Cultural Village in An Seong, Kyung Ki Province, Korea from October 30 to November 6, 2009.

As you know, Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan has suffered in growth and visibility in Korea due to political pressures since 1961. Recently, There has been a high interest in promoting the Korean traditional Martial arts "Jeon Tong Moo Yei" (hereafter referred to as JTMY) in addition to the Sport Martial art (Tae Kwon Do) for about the last 5 years. As a result, in March 2009, the house of congress of Korea passed the law to support the growth of JTMY along with the Sport Martial art. This news brought 3

high interest among Traditional Martial Arts in Korea and as a result, 550 Martial arts organizations claimed to be Korean Traditional Martial Arts.

Of course, the initial challenge for the government is to determine who out of these 500 shall be officially sanctioned and supported as the Authentic Traditional Martial Art (JTMY) of Korea. This selection challenge for the government continues today.

On October 30, 2009, the Korea Traditional Martial Arts Association (the acting agency for Traditional Martial arts in Korea as related to the law) sponsored a 2 day long JTMY Festival in Yong In City where all JTMY organizations came to demonstrate their art. The Korea KDJSS participants and I attended the festival because it was a good public visibility opportunity for our art and that day of our schedule was flexible.

We had only a few hours of gathering for overview and practicing our presentation. Although most of candidates were not yet recovered from jet leg and time changes due to their international travel, the candidates joined the Korean Soo Bahk Do demonstration team and presented a very high level of Moo Do values in their performance. I learned later that the Soo Bahk Do demonstration stimulated a very high interest and generated positive remarks among other organization’s head and many who were there.

Two important thoughts came to my mind from this experience:

Most of candidates who participated in this performance had never met and trained together previously. However it was possible for them to present a very high level of Moo Do values in their demonstration as a result of the worldwide standardization we have today. Their impressive achievement reminded me in a profound way about what a valuable accomplishment we have made.
Many organizations demonstrated at the Festival and although most of them were using different names of arts and wearing different uniforms, their demonstration contents were quite similar. Many common aspects of their performances included use of modern music, gymnastic tumbling and entertaining and friendly moves by children and young adults. Their presentation did not illustrate a connection to, or understanding of, a true and authentic Moo Do identity and the values inherent in it.

It is my hope that this opportunity may connect to all martial arts and improve their understanding, recognition and embodiment of Moo Do values. I can’t stop thinking about how fortunate we are to be preserving a genuine and authentic Moo Do environment in our art and my respect toward our members has become deepened with these thoughts. 4

THE 2009 SOUTH AMERICA KO DAN JA SHIM SA

23 participants including candidates, visitors, and officials attended the event at Mar Del Plata (east coast), Argentina from November 15 – 21, 2009.

This is the 3rd year of Ko Dan Ja in South America and they exhibited high standards of Moo Do throughout the week. Their dedication is in their actions, not just in their words.

The National seminars and championships were held right after the KDJSS. Many members attended from many sections of Argentina with most of them traveling long distances to be present. I was very impressed to see 62 members from Mendoza (west coast) who traveled by bus for 20 hours to be at the event. They were happy and exhibited high spirits during the 2 day event even though they had another 20 hours of bus ride back. They do this year after year not because they have to do but they want to do. The life of Moo Do is very strong in South America.

Thanks for your dedication and the spirits.

Il Kwan Seong, Iyon Kwan Seong, and Heng Dong Chul Hak deepen through our action, not by accident. These came from a 64 year long Vision, Planing, Understanding, Participation, and Connected effort which was initiated November 9, 1945.

Many of us had a challenging 2009 and as this year comes to end, this is an opportunity for us to look back and recognize our successes and gratefully appreciate the valuable assets we have as we prepare to transform the Mu Sang asset to Yu Sang values in 2010.

My family and I wish you and your family the best during the holiday season and Happy New Year!

In Moo Duk Kwan,

HC Hwang and Family

Symposium Report

Greetings to all Moo Duk Kwan members,I feel extremely honored to have been asked by Kwan Jang Nim and Bartolacci, Sa Bom Nim to extend to you my experience in this year’s World Moo Duk Kwan Symposium held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I attended this event for several reasons, but came home with something completely different. One of the reasons I continue to train in Moo Duk Kwan is the outstanding relationships I have built with other members worldwide, which was certainly strengthened at this year’s event. As I personally connect with the five Moo Do values, I can only admit that this year’s event was that philosophy in action. It was very evident the loyalty we share to this Art from the junior (green belt from Chile) in attendance all the way to Kwan Jang Nim.

His tory (Yeok Sa)

As I secretively applauded a courageous question directed to the head table which included Kwan Jang Nim, Seiberlich, Sa Bom Nim, Hanke, Sa Bom Nim, Bonsignore, Sa Bom Nim, Guzman, Sa Bom Nim, Blotta, Sa Bom Nim, and Bartolacci, Sa Bom Nim, I said to myself “Wow…this is it. This is what many of us have been waiting for.” The question was, in better words than this – When and why did you start training in Moo Duk Kwan. For many of us, we already knew when but hardly anyone knew why. In my mind, it was the question of the year! For the next twenty minutes each of the honorary members of the head table explained their personal story, and the history of each of them and our Art was laid out on a red carpet. It was a defining moment to say the least. History being told directly from the source rarely happens, and those who witnessed it definitely enjoyed listening.

Tradition (Jon Tong)

Some of the best friendships I treasure have been formed through training in Moo Duk Kwan. When I attend functions like this as I said earlier, I come with a few needs. The easiest one naturally is to train. I also come to support Kwan Jang Nim and his vision of strengthening our art. Perhaps what I enjoy most, however, is rekindling old relationships and building new ones through events like these. I said to my wife upon my return, “isn’t it neat that we can travel anywhere in the world and have family waiting for us at the airport?” To me, that is unparalleled. Movie stars do not get that type of treatment; professional athletes do not get that type of treatment. People generally have hidden agendas for those types of people - exploit for money, use for barter. We, however, just want to have good honest relations, and share our knowledge and enjoyment of the art. This is the tradition that I witnessed in Atlanta, a n ongoing development of National and International human relations. It was wonderful!

Philosophy (Chul Hak)

Kwan Jang Nim taught an exceptional clinic on the first night of my arrival on Moo Do Chung Shin, (Spirit of the Martial Arts). For me, this is what I thrive on. I have always been loud in my yes sirs/ma’ams, in my Ki-Haps, in my teaching. I can remember as a kid assisting in class teachings for my instructor Ginyard, Sa Bom Nim, him pulling me aside and telling me to dial it down a notch because no one outside of my group could hear the other instructors on the floor. This is how I portray my personal enthusiasm and excitement for the art. What I enjoyed most about Kwan Jang Nim’s clinic was his breakdown from how the value of a specific philosophy influences the mind, which leads to intent, and in turn amplifies our Moo Do Chung Shin. This philosophy carried through the whole weekend, back to the airports, back to our home towns, and more importantly influenced our minds in continuing our great founders Mission 2000.

Discipline/Respect (Neh Khang Weh Yu)

During my O Dan Shim Sa in 2006 I recognized an implementation in our Arts discipline that I found to be completely unique. It was the presentation ceremony of a change of instructor, or a member demonstration at the front of the class. Prior to my Shim Sa, I had not seen anything like this. There was always discipline; however, it was not as structured and never the “wow” factor as it is today. I remember in Atlanta, watching the local news crew observe this type of ceremony, acting as if they had never seen anything like it before. These types of instances make me very proud of our Art. The point I’m trying to make is the level of discipline that I witnessed for the first time in 2006 has spread to every corner of this earth in three short years. Everyone from every country in attendance brought to Atlanta the uniqueness of discipline that Kwan Jang Nim has been highlighting since his vision tour began. This is not taught in books; it is not spread through phone or email. It is, however our discipline in action. Only in Moo Duk Kwan can you find a worldwide spread of action like this in such a short time. Technique (Ki Sool)Early Saturday morning, Guzman, Sa Bom Nim was working with us on breathing and energy flow and it brought us to the sweep in Chil Sung Chil Ro Hyung, which for me personally has been the single hardest technical obstacle I have faced. For two years now I have been working diligently on getting this move down, but it wasn’t until his explanation/demonstration that it began making sense. Fast forwarding to later that day we were notified that Guzman, Sa Bom Nim would be teaching the O Dans a Chil Sung Clinic. I selfishly wished to myself that he would spend the entire two hours on Chil Sung Chil Ro Hyung, only to be humbly reminded through action that my Chil Sung Yuk Ro Hyung was far below par. In what turned out to be perhaps my favorite clinic, the six O Dans joined Guzman, Sa Bom Nim in a room no bigger than my living room and we laid the hammer down for hours. His verbal and technical demonstrations were impeccable, to say the least, and we all left that room wanting to catch the first flight to Mexico. It is very important that as we continue our journey in Moo Duk Kwan, we establish and more so understand the Moo Do Values that Kwan Jang Nim has been stressing to us all here over the past few years. We talk about it and establish connections with it; however sometimes we allow an event to fly by us without properly making the connection to the Moo Do Values. When the connection is made, the value of the experience comes more easily to the surface. As Kwan Jang Nim stated, when the value of the lesson influences the mind, intent is triggered, which in turn leads to elevated Moo Do Chung Shin. With a connected Shim Gung / Moo Do Value we all understand the impact that this will bring to our training, our teaching, and our human relations. Thank you Bartolacci, Sa Bom Nim, for hosting a wonderful event, and, as always, thank you Kwan Jang Nim for helping and guiding us all in the right path.I hope your families enjoy good health and happiness.In Moo Duk Kwan,Tim Clyde