I began studying Tang Soo Do in 1985 under the late Master Yun Tak Bong while stationed at Camp Ames, South Korea. Camp Ames is no longer there and it is definitely not the South Korea it was in 1985, but the official location with latitude and longitude is in the photo to the left.
The village is Chong Dong Ri, and in the photo on the right I circled it in yellow. The dots toward the top of the circle are the old nuclear weapons bunkers, where they were stored back then. It was just Northeast of Daejon, in a mountain valley.
His dojang was located in the small village of Chong Dong Ri, just outside of the front gate. As you can see in the photo, there is an open gate to the left, which led to his home.
This small dojang became my second home, as I spent every minute I could studying and training there. I was 18, and the lessons learned became a huge part of who I am today, and how I have carried myself throughout my life.
Initially, I wanted to learn Tang Soo Do to be like Chuck Norris, my idol then. I may be dating myself, but I have seen all of Chuck Norris’ movies when they opened in the theatres, starting with Good Guys Wear Black, Force of One, and The Octagon. I wanted to learn to defend myself and fight like he did, but once I got to Korea and began training, that changed.
Master Yun taught a very traditional form of Tang Soo Do, unlike any school I have come across since. He was a very close student and aide for Moo Duk Kwan founder Hwang Kee and was in charge of things in ChungNam province for the Korean Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Association.
Training
Training under Master Yun was focused on proper technique, movement, and effective self-defense. Although I have been told by former students who came before me, that they competed in tournaments and held exhibitions, by the time I arrived, there was none of that.
The training focused on the basics and building a solid foundation, drilling them each training session before doing anything else. Classes lasted 2-3 hours 5 days a week, and class was missed only if you were too ill to train. There was no A/C in the hot and humid summers, and only a small wood-burning stove during the harsh cold winters. The stove stood on the training floor and burned us as much as it burned wood!
There was a language barrier, but Master Yun chose to teach all Americans in English, even calling the basic techniques by English names, as seen in the photo to the left.
The training order for each class was as follows and rarely ever deviated.
- Bow in
- Meditation
- Warm Ups
- Basics
- The lesson of the Day
- Hyungs
- One Step Sparring
- Sparring
- Line Up and Hand Conditioning
- Bow Out
There were no flips, tricks, or fancy techniques like you see in schools today. The training was tough and meant to condition the mind, body, and spirit. Sparring was not point fighting, but hard contact for about 5-10 minutes straight.
You would switch partners and go again until Master Yun had seen enough or someone couldn’t continue. After lining up at the end of class, Master Yun would command everyone to go into a Horse Stance and punch with their right hand, holding it there.
He would then come around to each student with a wooden block he had, grasp the writ of your punching arm, and strike the first two knuckles of your fist ten times. You would then punch with the other fist and again, he would strike the knuckles ten times. Once each student got their licks, class ended, and we bowed out.
Classes were small, usually no more than five or six students. When I began there were two Americans, blue belts. I quickly caught up to them, and one class Master Yun told us he had to be head judge for a tournament in the area, and we were to compete.
It would be the only time he would mention competing. For three weeks we trained and sparred in preparation. The morning of the competition we were to meet at the dojang at 7 am, and I was the only one to show. The others had quit and never came back, leaving me the only student for months.
Rarely were there more than four or five students at any one time, which gave us a lot of one-on-one attention.
What happened in that tournament will be a story for another article.
The Legacy
I spent a lot of time with Master Yun, both in the dojang and at his home. I helped his daughter learn English, and on my off days from work would train alone in the dojang. Many times, Master Yun would pop in and work with me on technique and hyung.
Master Yun’s Tang Soo Do emphasizes efficient, effective self-defense, smooth footwork, snapping of each technique, and doing damage to your attacker every time you make contact.
The focus was not on learning more and more, but on mastering what you did learn, and developing skills. For this reason, his curriculum contained only 16 hyung and did not include any of GM Hwang Kee’s Chil Sung or later forms. For unknown reasons, Master Yun continued practicing and teaching the original Tang Soo Do of the Moo Duk Kwan and did not follow what would become the Soo Bahk Do Path.
These are the hyung taught by Master Yun…
- Kicho Hyung Il Bu
- Kicho Hyung Ee Bu
- KichoHyung Sam Bu
- Pyung Ahn Cho Dan
- Pyung Ahn Ee Dan
- Pyung Ahn Sam Dan
- Pyung Ahn Sa Dan
- Pyung Ahn Oh Dan
- Bassai
- Naihanchi Cho Dan
- Naihanchi Ee Dan
- Naihanchi Sam Dan
- Sip Soo
- Jin Do
- Kong Sang Kun
- Oh Sip Sa Bo
When I left Korea, Master Yun asked me to stay, stating that he still had to teach me the Eagle (Kong Sang Kun) and the Tiger (Oh Sip Sa Bo). I tried to stay, but the Army had other plans. I would stay in contact with Master Yun for years as best we could through letters (no internet back then) and I was trying to get him to come to the US, but the letters suddenly stopped.
I had no idea why, and no way to find out. It would be years later that I would learn that Master Yun passed away in a traffic accident in 1991. I believe he was a passenger on a motorcycle when it was struck by a car.
Today, his dojang is gone, Camp Ames is no more, and it is a totally different Korea than when I was there. Since Master Yun’s passing my Tang Soo Do has evolved and has changed to some degree as I have studied and experienced other arts.
While I keep the same techniques, belt system, and forms, other techniques from arts I’ve studied have been adopted to make Tang Soo Do my own, resulting in Chung Nam Yun Tang Soo Do.
The legacy continues.