My style? You can call it the art of fighting without fighting Bruce Lee 1940-1973 PAGES AND CONTENT Constant evolution.......................................................................... 2 Bon Kuk Kum Do- Ancient Tradition........................................ 4 How much truth is there in the “Kuji Kiris”?............................... 7 Hapkido in Nepal - Working from the heart................................ 8 Martial Therapy ............................................................................... 11 The Dragon in China....................................................................... 12 Travel growing up- grow traveling............................................... 13 Kung Yung Mu Sul- The Martial Art of court.............................. 15 Quietly......... ................................................................................ 17 Eat like there .................................................................................... 18 Stories to grow ................................................................................. 19 Curiosties ........................................................................................ 20 Kwan Nyom Hapkido- Polishing the Martial Art ...................... 21 The importance of warm-up in Martial Arts ............................. 22 A book,a movie and some internet ............................................. 24 Idea and content management : José Luis Rueda Castaño Design and Layout : Pedro Manuel Morón Amorin Translation and proofreading : Blanca Porcel Calvo Translation : Paula Hernández Chamorro Correction and printing : María del Carmen Durán Guerra Constant evolution All Martial Arts have an ancestral past. Even those that bear the label of “modern” keep their origin in human evolution itself. Similarly, they all have points in common, they all belong to a kind of “spider’s web” that unites them in some way in concept, form and objectives. Depending on the historical moment and the place on the map, some have been developed in one way, and others in a somewhat different way, but it is obvious that they are all born on the battlefield and/or in the need to keep body and mind in shape. In Japan, all traditional Martial Arts were always encompassed within a specific term: Kumiuchi. From the acceptance and the good use that the famous Samurai gave to the Kumiuchi is born the Sumái, very characteristic for its techniques of dislocation and projection and from which, as a time, comes the famous Sumo, already focused something more to the sports practice, with a marked and clear compendium of rules and with the intention of spreading more and better those popular arts. The evolution itself made these arts were reaching a lot of popularity in Japan until, over time, they were systematized and took personality. In the beginning, all empty-handed martial arts were known by a generic term: Jiu Jitsu. Today, as in the past, all the Arts continue their own evolution, improving and adapting to cir- cumstances and needs. Jiu Jitsu itself today has di- fferent aspects and approaches and remains more alive than ever. From the nameless fights that had to be exercised for an instinctive matter of protection and self-defense, to the ground sports fights of today, always, the Martial Art has remained alive and in constant progression. Always respecting their origins, allowing them to some- how be alive in essence and using those origins as a solid foundation on which to continue building a building that adapts to the reality of each moment. 2 Búscanos en instagram: musul_la_revista We send the printed magazine anywhere on the planet where the current situation allows us. Bon Kuk Kum Do- Ancient Tradition Ever since I was little, I imagined myself brandishing a stick or anything long I had at my fingertips. Growing up, I fell in love with Robert E. Howard’s formidable creation: “Conan the Barbarian.” That definitely ended up creating in me a fascination for weapons like the ones worn by the Ninjas or the Samurai. Eventually, I decided to come to Korea to focus on mar- tial arts training and, coincidentally, at an annual “Han- minjok Hapkido” meeting 14 years ago, I met in Seoul a master who somehow caught my eye that day. It was easy because, among so many guests in a black suit, he appeared in a traditional gold-colored Hanbok, with his sword, as if coming to shoot a movie. That hadn’t been seen since the end of the Choson dynasty. I had no idea that that meeting would change the way I saw traditional martial arts forever. I discovered that the man was named Grandmaster Lee Jae-Sik and he was solely responsible for resurrecting the lost art of Bon Kuk Kum. History This I’m going to tell is an account of the history of swordsmanship in this region. There is no mysticism, tal- king animals, pretty protagonists or love triangles involved (although the Korean media and Hollywood want us to believe that). When I decided to come to Korea, I had two main motivations actually. One, my childhood hero, Chuck Norris and, on the other hand, the stories I knew of legendary young Korean knights named “Hwarang.” They were the sons of the ruling aristocracy in a country called Sil la, at the time of the three kingdoms. These young knights were skilled and educated on a philosophical level and in martial arts; they lived under a strong code of honor and ethics that was more important to them than their own lives. Some say they were too good to be true... The Hwarang, had a basic code of five commandments: • Sa gun i chung: Serve loyally to your monarch • Sa chin yi hyo : Be obedient and respect your parents • Gyo woo yi sin: Be a faithful friend • Im jeon mu toi: Never doubt or shudding on the battlefield • Sal sang yu taek: A Hwarang wasn’t going to take his life unless he wasn’t going to take his life either.that it was necessary. The training of these “flourishing knights,” as they were called, was so intense that they are said to have develo- ped the first truly sophisticated swordsmanship system in Korean history. Historians claim that it was actually the first art of swordsmanship in all of Asia. The Hwarang warriors were led by powerful military leaders who led their nation to conquer the neighboring nations of Peckche and Koguryo. 4 Sil’s reign lasted for several centuries, but when he was overthrown, the Hwarang lineage also fell. Those Hwa- rang leaders who had developed their physical attitudes the most were known as “Kook San”. Those who were more spiritual became Shamans and became known as “Poong wuhl joo”. After a few centuries, there was a time when the Hwarang class went into real decline. With the advent of the Choson dynasty, the Confucian idea that the pen subdued the sword was put on. However, in 1790, King Jung Jo ordered a group of sages to set up a set of military texts that would collect the different methods of combat existing throughout the nation. This included weaponed and unasseailed techniques, as well as horseback riding. One of the techniques collec- ted in these texts was the “Bon Kuk Kum”. Bon kuk can translate it as original of korea and Kum is sword: the original sword of Korea. In total, 24 different techniques were collected in that book, including spear handling, for example. The text, which is still available today even with modern English versions, was called “Muye Dobo Tongji” Unfortunately, a successful invasion by the Imperial Japanese Army brought about the end of the Choson Dynasty and nearly destroyed what was left of the Korean military tradition (although Confucianism has des- troyed it before). Japanese forces tried to re-educate their new colony by having the Koreans adopt all things Japanese, including martial arts. Bon Kuk Kum went into a kind of limbo for several years. Many years later, Lee Dae-San (born Lee-Jae-Sik) was born in the small town of Masan, in the southern part of the country. His grandfather, a rebel against the Japanese during the Japanese occupation, was also a Poong- Wuhl-Joo (a spiritual leader of the knights who protected the ancient Korean kingdom of Sil la). Lee studied the sword with his father (who learned from his father) at the age of nine. So in love was Lee with the arts, that he wanted to study as many martial arts as he could, such as Kung Yung Mu Sul (royal court martial arts), Tae Kwon Do, Gong Bahng Do, Ki Gong Sul and so on. Lee later began researching and correctly translating old Korean textbooks on military practices into the mo- dern Korean language. Unlike Kumdo (Japanese kendo) and Haedong Kumdo, he took forms (hyung) and techni- ques from old textbooks that korean leaders of yesteryear used in wartime. The hyung were short, simple, brutal and decisive. There were no “dots” or methods to look pretty. They were skills that men carried to their graves. After resurrecting these methods, Bon Kuk Kum was officially established in 1980. In March of that year, it opened the first of more than 100 schools in the city of Masan. Little by little he built a reputation and a following. Now, several schools and television appearances later, their association spreads throughout Korea and is gradually spreading internationally: Denmark, United States, Canada, Spain, Ger- many, the Netherlands and several Latin American nations. system The art of “Bon Kuk Kum”, like other swordsmanship systems, places a special emphasis on footwork. In ad- dition to postures, cutting and blocking techniques, this art emphasizes the study of traditional Korean philo- sophy and its histories. Breathing and meditation techniques are the daily practice, even for young children. 5 There is a curious peculiarity and that is that, when the sword was anvainada, the hand that held it did so on the top instead of grabbing by the hilt. This was used in wartime to prevent the enemy from drawing your own sword. Each part of the sword has a role in the forms of this martial art. At the highest levels of black belt training, you also learn how to handle curved barning, stick, spear, light wire or combat are weapons.