Moo Duk Kwan
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Moo Duk Kwan™ (Korean: 무덕관, hanja 武德館, "mudeok-gwan" or "mudŏkkwan", "School of Martial Virtue" or "a place to learn the right thing to do to stop conflict") is a distinct school/organization of the Korean martial arts. The name of the art taught by this school is Soo Bahk Do, formerly Tang Soo Do (tangsudo), and earlier Hwa Soo Do. It was founded by Grandmaster Hwang Kee (Kwan Jang Nim), November 9, 1945 - July 14, 2002. Its current leader is Grandmaster Hwang Hyun Chul (Kwan Jang Nim), born March 4, 1953.
History
Hwang Kee witnessed martial arts as a young boy and was in love with it ever since. He watched a man defend himself using only his hands and feet from a large group of men. Young Hwang Kee was so inspired by the man's accomplishment that he sought training from him in the old Korean system of defense called Tae Kyon, which comprises mostly kicking techniques. Hwang was refused but instead emulated the movements he saw from the man as he would practice at home and by age 21 he'd become very proficient at the system. However, the Korea Taekkyon Associations doubts that this actually occurred as Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan, was nothing like Taekkyon.Around the age of 22, Hwang began working on the Chosun Railway and could freely travel between Manchuria and Korea. At this time, Korea was in the midst of the Japanese occupation during World War II. In search of formal training he found Master Yang Kuk Jin, a prominent Chinese martial arts teacher who took Hwang Kee and a friend, Park Hyo Pil on as students after several requests. This story is disputed by the first generation of martial artist in Korea, as there is no evidence of Hwang Kee's practice of Chinese martial arts. In later books by Hwang Kee, he admits studying techniques from Karate books he found in the railway library.
Hwang Kee claims he combined what he knew of the Chinese and Korean martial arts he'd studied into an art he called Hwa Soo Do. Translated literally the name means "the Way of the Flowering Hand" and opened his first Hwa Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Dojang (Studio/Training Hall) on November 9, 1945. Unfortunately, he failed three times while trying to get his system off the ground. Only months after the Korean occupation, the public remembered very little about their own martial heritage and understood only Tang Soo (Karate), Yudo (Judo), and Gumdo (Kendo) which came from the Japanese. Hwa Soo Do was far too Korean and Chinese to be accepted, and Hwang Kee had developed the art to be a connection to Korea's martial traditions.
A conversation between Gichin Funakoshi's most senior Korean student Won Kuk Lee, the leader of the Chung Do Kwan (another of the schools which emerged after the Japanese occupation) and Grandmaster Hwang Kee inspired him to involve some of the Japanese curriculum into his system to introduce the fundamental principles of body mechanics as he developed them into his art. Thus, he learned some of the Japanese forms and began teaching them with his own flare, using abdominal and hip contraction and expansion. Eventually, Grandmaster Hwang created his own forms in 1947 called the Gi Cho Hyung which are the basic foundation of forms practice in Soo Bahk Do™. Won Kuk Lee states that during his time training at the Chung Do Kwan, that Hwang Kee made it to about a 5th Geup, or similar to a green belt level in Chung Do Kwan.
In doing so, Grandmaster also modified the name of Hwa Soo Do as he advertised to the public to "Hwa Soo (Tang Soo) Do" which was a move to alert the public that he was teaching a martial art. This practice is similar to other martial arts schools in English speaking countries having to include "Karate" in their business signage despite the fact that they have no direct correlation with the Japanese "Karate-Do" where the generic name was derived. However, it should be noted that Won Kuk Lee, founder of Tang Soo Do Chung Do Kwan was the first person to use the name Tang Soo Do in Korea. Kong Soo Do (empty hand way) was used by other Kwan's like Chang Moo Kwan, Jidokwan and Han Moo Kwan.
Eventually, the art became known as the form of Tang Soo Do which came from the Moo Duk Kwan, or Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan™.
By 1953 and onward until 1960, the Moo Duk Kwan had risen to become one of the strongest martial art organization in Korea, with close to 75% of all martial artists in Korea practicing Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan™. Dan members (Midnight Blue Belts, as opposed to black belts) of the Moo Duk Kwan™ were so highly respected that their certificates could be used as credentials when seeking employment.
In 1957, a librarian at Korea National University in Seoul contacted Hwang Kee about a book that he'd found. Thought to be destroyed with all other records by the Japanese, the librarian presented Hwang Kee with the Moo Yei Dobo Tong Ji, a comprehensive and illustrated manual of the martial disciplines of Ancient Korea. Listed as the final discipline was combat with the bare hands and feet, known as Subak. As it was the Grandmaster's wish to reconnect Korea to its martial traditions, his art took on the "Soo Bahk Do™" name and this change was officially registered with the Korean Ministry of Education on June 30,1960.
What is Tae Kwon Do Moo Duk Kwan?
In 1961 the Korean government initiated a movement to unify all of the martial arts schools in existence under one governing body, to be called the Korean Tae Soo Do Association, only later to be renamed the Korean Tae Kwon Do Association. The purpose of this body was to unify the Kwans and allow for great growth of this newly named Korean martial art.
Grandmaster Hwang Kee was adamant about the Moo Duk Kwan™ maintaining its own identity and not merging with the other, similar schools. Originally, when the government had introduced the idea, the Moo Duk Kwan had intended to sign on. However, when Hwang Kee found that he had to share power and leadership with the other Kwan leaders, he pulled out.
When some members of Moo Duk Kwan™ and Grandmaster Hwang Kee continued to resist the Tae Kwon Do Unification Movement, Hwang Kee's senior student, Chong Soo Hong and the majority of Moo Duk Kwan members voted Hwang Kee out of Moo Duk Kwan leadership and joined with the Kwan Unity Movement. The remaining Moo Duk Kwan™ members under Hwang Kee had an agreement with the Ministry of Education to allow Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan classes to be taught within public schools. However, the Korea Sports Association (KSA) removed Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan's membership and recognition in the KSA, preventing it's instructors from teaching in public school, and invited them to join in the TKD movement, which had membership and recognition, if they wanted to retain their jobs and teaching positions. The KSA could not recognize two different versions of very similar martial arts so they went with the idea of many groups agreeing on one, unified system, over one mans lone idea.
The many instructors and students who left the Moo Duk Kwan to join in the Tae Kwon Do Unification believed that they still had the right to use the Moo Duk Kwan name, and gain from its recognition, though this was done without Grandmaster Hwang Kee's approval as the majority of members voted Hwang Kee out of Moo Duk Kwan leadership. The Moo Duk Kwan has always been known for its high technical standards and has been called the Ivy League College of martial arts organizations.
The Present Day
Grandmaster Hwang Kee died on July 14, 2002 peacefully in his bed. The founder named a successor to the art in a living will which was safeguarded by the Board of Directors of the U.S. Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation. His son, Hwang Hyun Chul (Jin Mun) was named the new Kwan Jang Nim, and is the second lifetime president of the World Moo Duk Kwan. Soo Bahk Do™ Moo Duk Kwan™ celebrated its 60th Anniversary on November 9, 2005. However, all the first generation martial artist of Korea state that Hwang Kee did not start his Kwan until after 1946. As 2006 opens, the art is practiced on all six of the livable continents by close to 300,000 practitioners worldwide with close to 45,000 having attained at least the first degree midnight blue belt rank.HC Hwang Kwan Jang Nim was appointed the second lifetime president of the World Moo Duk Kwan six (6) days upon the passing of his father, July 20, 2002 by a living will appointment by the founder. This decision was unanimously endorsed by the Board of Directors of the U.S. Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation™, Inc. (also known as the U.S. Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation, Inc.) as well as the various designees of worldwide chapters of Soo Bahk Do™ Moo Duk Kwan™. There are federations which were fully endorsed by the founder of the Moo Duk Kwan, the late Hwang Kee, Kwan Jang Nim as continuations of the affiliates of the true Moo Duk Kwan, and are still endorsed today by HC Hwang, Kwan Jang Nim. These organizations are listed under "member organizations" on the official World Moo Duk Kwan website: [World Moo Duk Kwan]
Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan, Korea, also known as the Moo Duk Hae, still exist today as mostly a social friendship club and not as a martial art system. The Moo Duk Hae endorses the Kukkiwon (Taekwondo) curriculum 100%. Every year the Moo Duk Hae in Korea has an anniversary celebration where members from all over the world attend, including some members from the Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan.
Senior members of both the Soo Bahk Do and Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan consider each other brothers and often attend each others special events and tournaments and keep close relationship. They recognize Hwang Kee as their founder and have a great admiration for him and all he achieved in his life for martial arts. However, some very junior members do not have these original long term relationships and sometimes attempt to maintain and adversarial relationship and in doing so they sometimes write articles that reflect this junior attitude. So if you see postive information about Soo Bahk Do and Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan, it was most likely written by a senior member who has been around Moo Duk Kwan for a long time.
See also
External links
- [World Moo Duk Kwan]
- [U.S. Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation Inc.]
- [The History of the Korean Martial Arts]
- [The Martial Arts Resource]
- [The_Dojang digest email forum for MDK and all other KMAs]
- [Soo Bahk Do Karate Institute of Miami, FL]
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