Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Old School # 8: Tae Kwon Do in 1956
Ah yes, 1956... Dojo Rat was still a glimmer in his Dad's eye...
This one will take us old TKD Rats back to the good old days, Hands held high in sparring- the opponent's head being a punching bag as well as a kickball. This demonstration appears to be partly a military function, showing the importance of hand-to-hand combat training in the armed forces. This training was carried into the Vietnam conflict, where my Korean master, Mr. Choi and countless other Korean fighters trained US special forces. Journalist P.J. O'Rourke called the Koreans "The Irish of Asia", suggesting their passion for drinking and fighting.
And check out the breaking-- anyone who has ever trained in a traditional Korean system knows that power breaks are at least 25% of rank promotion testing.
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3 comments:
The most accurate analogy I've heard yet!
"Journalist P.J. O'Rourke called the Koreans "The Irish of Asia", suggesting their passion for drinking and fighting." No such thing as a half full bottle of Soujou!
Especially when Ji Do Kwan is doing keg (er, soujou) stands!
I guess you get like that when your civil war ended in 1953. A little hungry, a little thirsty and a bit scrappy.
I think many people need to remember how recent that is in western culture, let alone eastern culture. Look at where S. Korea is now? You have to respect them.
I knew grandmasters who if they said "no like this" it could have been because he might have wacked somebody that way during the war, the REAL UFC.
I don't like Olympic TKD, but they used it as a sport like our baseball. But to rebuild their country. And JDK'ers know the nationalist spirit behind that one.
And anybody who brings AK's to a race riot is cool (Rodney King).
Love it or hate it, you have to respect it. They can always get mean again ..
As someone who's 75 percent Irish, let me say that the remark about drinking is misleading.
Believe it or not, Ireland has the highest percentage of teetotalers in all of Europe. The reputation for heavy drinking started with Irish immigrants to America who partied like college kids away from home for the first time.
As far as the fighting part, well, I've been accused of being pretty pugnacious, so I'll concede that.
Well, I'm part Scots-Irish, and the bottle and fist are no stranger to me...
But I'm generally a happy drunk
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