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List-Unsubscribe: Status: OR Send The_Dojang mailing list submissions to the_dojang@martialartsresource.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/the_dojang or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to the_dojang-request@martialartsresource.net You can reach the person managing the list at the_dojang-admin@martialartsresource.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of The_Dojang digest..." <<------------ The_Dojang Digest mailing list ------------>> Serving the Internet since June 1994. 800 members strong! Copyright 1994-2002: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource The premier internet discussion forum devoted to Korean Martial Arts. See the Korean Martial Arts (KMA) FAQ and the online search engine for back issues of The_Dojang at http://MartialArtsResource.com Pil Seung! Today's Topics: 1. Kimchi Website (Sun Mu Kwan-USA) 2. GM Sell newspaper article (Tom Kennelly) 3. DJN Ji seminar in CO (Todd and Debi Deininger) --__--__-- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 11:34:03 -0800 (PST) From: Sun Mu Kwan-USA To: Dojang digest Subject: [The_Dojang] Kimchi Website Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net For those of you that are interested in Kimchi, here's an interesting website. You will also find Kimchi recipes as well. http://www.korea.net/koreanculture/kimchi/kimchi.html I often find myself trying to produce Kimchi in the same matter as my mother. Seems to never turn out the same as good old mom's did. At least the other half of me can make Middle Eastern food, thanks to my father. ===== International HKD Federation-Sun Mu Kwan USA www.ushankido.org Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ --__--__-- Message: 2 From: "Tom Kennelly" To: Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 17:27:48 -0500 Subject: [The_Dojang] GM Sell newspaper article Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net I came across the following newspaper article about Grandmaster Sell and wanted to share it with the list. The URL to access this article is http://www.uscdka.com/9th/index.htm# (please get the # sign as part of the URL) Making the Hard Sell Lakeland Taekwondo Expert Makes History With 9th-Degree Belt Monday, December 3, 2001 By LISA COFFEY The Ledger LAKELAND -- Ed Sell has gone where no American has gone before. The 59-year-old Taekwondo Grandmaster was awarded the discipline's crowning achievement once thought impossible. Sell reached his 35-year-old dream and broke down Asian barriers as he earned the rank of ninth-degree black belt in Seoul, Korea, in September at the World Taekwondo Federation Headquarters. Among television, newspaper and magazine reporters as well as revered Taekwondo officials, Sell, of Lakeland, tested and earned his certificate. "To me, it means more than a gold medal," Sell said from his wife, Brenda's, school in North Lakeland. "It's a lifetime dream come true." In earning the belt, Sell became the highest-ranked non-Asian to achieve such a feat in the martial art of Taekwondo. Sell, a minister who preaches Christianity and uses Taekwondo to spread the word, believes other underlying barriers were broken at the ceremony. "By them accepting me, they were accepting Christianity," Sell said. "For an ordained minister, this is incredible." "I've always known his capabilities," said Grandmaster Jim Covensky, who trained under Sell for 28 years. "I'm so thankful that he's been worldwide recognized. He has world respectability. When we were there, we saw that." While he was in Korea, Sell and Brenda, a seventh-degree black belt, were presented two lifetime awards for dedicating their adult lives to Taekwondo. Testing in Korea in September had an almost circus-like atmosphere to it. "Every time I turned around, I had a camera in my face," Sell said. "I thought I was Michael Jackson about to perform." Add in the fact that Sell accepted his black belt in the same arena where his deceased brother, Ray, earned a bronze medal in the first world Taekwondo championships, and there's quite a bit of emotion floating around. "I was exhilarated," Sell said. "In my spirit and my heart, I could see the Americans and other foreigners whistling and applauding." While no one other than the Taekwondo officials and reporters were allowed to view the testing, the testing itself was enough pressure. Sell tested in front of Senior Grandmaster Soon-Bae Kim, the adviser of the Korean Taekwondo Association; Senior Grandmaster Kyo-Yoon Lee, the senior member of the Taekwondo exam board and Senior Grandmaster Choon-Sung Hwang, adviser of Korean Taekwondo and chief adviser of the WTF Black Belt Promotion committee. Senior Grandmaster Lee had known Sell for 40 years, nearly since the beginning when Sell was almost out of his mind with his love for the sport. Sell had been preparing for the historic moment for decades. While stationed in Korea, he spent all his free time training almost obsessively. He even re-enlisted a second time in the Air Force just to get stationed in Korea so he could continue training. He rocketed up the black-belt ladder, earning the highest title for a foreigner to achieve a fourth-degree black belt. He rose all the way to ninth degree, but was not officially acknowledged by the Korean community until this past year. Because there was no protocol for such an event, the actual testing took several years while officials worked it out. "In the beginning, it might have been put on the back burner," said Covensky. "Because he's an American, there was some prejudice against us about having the right philosophy, etc. Maybe they would have made him wait until he was old and gray. But he showed he's still the man and he is. It's a true testament to his tenacity." For Sell, it had been more than 20 years since he tested -- when he earned his sixth degree belt. Finally, he got a date. But even the date for his testing was changed when he arrived in Korea. He would not be deterred. "I was ready for it," Sell said. "My spirit was right. The respect was right." It must have been. After five days of pre-testing, Sell was expecting to be told which forms to perform from the world's highest Taekwondo officials. Instead, they asked him which forms he would do. It wasn't necessarily a surprise for Covensky, who went with Sell to Korea in 1999. "When you go into the Kukkiwon (the World Taekwondo Federation Headquarters), his picture is predominantly up there," Covensky said. "They call him the great American master." Not wanting any question about his abilities, Sell selected the second-hardest form, or poomse, called Il-ooh. Then he did the most difficult form -- Han-soo, to perfection. "I knew. I knew. I knew," he said. "I finally made it to the top." The belt testing and ceremonies were a marathon of work and dedication over his adult lifetime. Just in the past year he pumped iron, ate right and lost 18 pounds, popped vitamins, worked out three to six hours a day and ran through some 75 forms, each with 25-100 moves, in his mind and on the practice floor. He often perched on one painfully arthritic knee to do his kicks. "I prayed for wisdom, confidence and strength before entering (the arena)," Sell said. "No one in his right mind would do this." The historic moment began with one decision. When stationed in Korea in the early 1960s, he figured he could spend his time two ways, getting into trouble or doing "something healthy and ambitious." The son of a champion boxer, he walked into the Chung Do Kwon school in Korea and signed up. An instructor forecast Sell's future. "He said, 'You have the signature,' " Sell recalled. "He said, 'Some day you're going to be a grandmaster and people from all over the world are going to come to you.' " "It stuck with me," Sell said. And the sport stuck with him. "I went through instructors like watermelons," he said. He paid his instructors for extra time. He became the first ever to earn a second-degree black belt in 14 months. Normally, it takes five years. Even Sell's position in the Air Force was related to his new-found love. He was a policeman who taught combative tactics. Sell stuck to it like a child to candy. He earned his third degree black belt in four years. Nothing would slow him down. In between stints with the Air Force, he broke his neck while diving of a bridge. He was told he would never walk again. He was paralyzed from the shoulders down from a hairline fracture on his sixth vertebra. It was then he made a pact with God, even though he admitted he was not the greatest Christian, he said he would work for God if he could get up out of bed. He walked out of the hospital 10 days later. A month later, he was back in the Air Force and ecstatic to be surprisingly sent back to Korea. He dove again into training. He was so good, he was putting instructors and their schools out of business because he was beating up all the students. In 1965, he earned his third-degree black belt. In 1966, he competed in the world's first Taekwondo Championships. "Two hundred ninety Koreans and me," Sell said. "I would fight a tree. I loved it." However, when he became a Master at level 4 in 1967, he was told Grandmasters do not spar. Instead, he found ways to help the sport grow in the United States. Korean Karate was here, but not Taekwondo. Sell started one school. Now he has schools in 33 states covering some 8,000-10,000 students. He has taught 1,500 black belts, 250 instructors, 150 masters and two grandmasters. Through his achievements, he moved up in belt rank. He became so popular that the Kukkiwon had to employ a special secretary to answer questions about Master Sell. He's graced the covers of magazines, books and publications. He's written articles. He achieved all the success at the price of his distant relatives, he noted while looking back. "That time away from family has cost me," he said while watching a tape of his testing in Korea. "I'm blessed in that my immediate family is always with me. During my early years I was a workaholic." His son, Ron, is a fifth-degree black belt and his youngest son, Robbie, is a third-degree black belt. "When I see that video -- to me it was worth it. I have no regrets," Sell said. "It's difficult to build a business. You're family has to understand you can't be there. I'm committed. That promise -- I didn't come to it until I got to the higher degree belts. I've worked to get my life in order and follow the ministry." So he works to build his Taekwondo family and God's family. "The true black belt and the true born-again Christian have similar lifestyles," he said. "Watch what you do, take care of your body and be selective of the company you keep. Protect your name and reputation and believe in a moral lifestyle. The title of reverend means a lot to me. It's just as important as Grandmaster." --__--__-- Message: 3 From: "Todd and Debi Deininger" To: "Dojang Digest" Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 19:58:25 -0700 Subject: [The_Dojang] DJN Ji seminar in CO Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net >Is this the same club that was (is?) run by my friend Dave Steffen? Yes it is. Sean Bradley and I do the HKD part of the club. Todd --__--__-- _______________________________________________ The_Dojang mailing list The_Dojang@martialartsresource.net http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/the_dojang It's a great day for Taekwondo! Support the USTU by joining today. US Taekwondo Union, 1 Olympic Plaza, Ste 104C, Colorado Spgs, CO 80909 719-578-4632 FAX 719-578-4642 ustutkd1@aol.com http://www.ustu.org Old digest issues are available via ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com. Copyright 1994-2002: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource Standard disclaimers apply. Remember 9-11! End of The_Dojang Digest