Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 03:03:38 -0700 From: the_dojang-request@martialartsresource.net Subject: The_Dojang digest, Vol 12 #249 - 6 msgs X-Mailer: Mailman v2.0.13.cisto1 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Errors-To: the_dojang-admin@martialartsresource.net X-BeenThere: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13.cisto1 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net X-Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net X-Subscribed-Address: kma@martialartsresource.com List-Id: The Internet's premier discussion forum on Korean Martial Arts. 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Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource The Internet's premier discussion forum devoted to Korean Martial Arts. 2000 members. 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. From an article: the cane (Jye nigma) 2. RE: re:master (Patrick Williams) 3. on masters again (Charles Richards) 4. RE: Bowing to Flags. (Jeffery Dean Sr.) 5. Bowing: Re: Hapkido and Small Kids (Bruce Sims) 6. Rare balance on N.Korea (Ray) --__--__-- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 11:44:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Jye nigma To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net, itf-taekwondo@yahoogroups.com, martialstudies@yahoogroups.com Subject: [The_Dojang] From an article: the cane Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net The Korean Ji Pang E (Cane) by Grand Master James S. Benko, Ph.D. History of the Korean Ji Pang E (Cane) It was almost sunset as Jong Shim made his way down the narrow street toward his home. Suddenly three men appeared in front of him and demanded his money. The bandits could see this was a man of wealth and their efforts were going to be well rewarded. So when Jong refused to give them his valuables they rushed in to teach time a lesson. However, it was the bandits who were about to receive their first lesson in the use of the deadly Korean Ji Pang E (cane). The first bandit's head snapped backward from a blow that was delivered so fast he never saw it coming. The second bandit charged forward attempting to crush Jong's head with a staff. But the staff never found its target, and the bandit felt a hard jolt and a piercing pain in his back as the ji pang e struck a hyel do (vital point). The man dropped to his knees helpless, unable to move his legs. The third bandit drew his knife and thrust it toward Jong's stomach. The bandit saw the knife go sailing through the air just a split second before he found himself airborne. A moment later he found himself in a crumpled heap on the ground next to his friends. The confrontation was over in just a few seconds, and Jong was unhurt as he stood looking at the bandits sprawled on the ground. They were unconsciousness and completely at Jong's mercy. As the first man regained consciousness, he saw Jong bent over one of the other bandits. Jong was applying healing pressure to the man's back, and soon the man was able to move his legs again. Jong methodically went from one bandit to another until each was able to stand on their own. The bandits, puzzled but grateful by this act of kindness, quickly left, more knowledgeable men. They had learned what an effective weapon the Korean cane could be in the hands of an expert like Jong Shim. Only much later did they discover Jong was an instructor of martial arts for the guards of the royal family of the Korean Kingdom of Silla. In Today's society it is against the law to carry almost any type of object which may be deemed as a weapon. The cane may very well be one of the last "permissible" weapons available which you can carry to defend yourself without violating the law. Fortunately, the cane is easy to learn, versatile and an extremely effective weapon for self-defense. The use of the cane in not uncommon to other mu do (martial arts). Many of the Korean martial arts include some instruction in the use of the ji pang e for self-defense. To see how the cane was used as a defensive weapon in ancient times, let's take a look at its evolution in Korea. Korean monks sometimes carried the cane during their travels. The cane served them in several different ways; it was used to help them maintain their balance climbing hills and over rough terrain, and it was also used to help the monks defend themselves from bandits and wild animals during their travels throughout the country. Some Buddhist temples had animals they raised, and the monks would used their canes to help oversee their herds and flocks. If the temple was attacked, the cane could quickly become a defensive weapon, used to drive the invaders off. Types Of Canes There are primarily three different types of canes. The first type was from five and one-half to seven feet in length and curved like a hook at one end, similar to the canes carried by shepherds. The second type of cane was about waist-high, straight, with either a knob or short straight handle. The third type of cane is the type most commonly used both in the past and today. It is about waist-high, straight and has a curved (hook-type) end used as the handle. The common people favored it for its practicality. The Shepherd's Cane There are primarily three different types of canes. The first type was from five and one-half to seven feet in length and curved like a hook at one end, similar to the canes carried by shepherds. The curved portion of the cane was quite often used for the application of kwan jyel sul (joint manipulation techniques). This was the type of cane the monks used for herding animals and sometimes as a walking pole on their travels. Sometimes, in order to escape from bandits, a monk would use the curved portion of this long version of the cane, to hook a high branch of a tree, climb up the cane to the branch, then pull the cane up with him. This another example of how certain monks got the reputation of being able to become invisible. The monk could remain hidden in the tree until the bandits had moved on. If it became necessary, he could use the cane to strike the bandits as they passed under the tree, or he could use the hook portion of the cane to pull them off of their horses. When the encounter was over the monk would again hook the cane to the branch, climb down, then continue on his way. Another favorite tactic the monks used was to hook the top of a high wall with the ji pang e, then pull themselves to the top of the wall and over. A perfect example of how they could "walk through walls". The Aristocrat's Cane The second type of cane was about waist-high, straight, with either a knob or short straight handle. This type of cane was not as popular with the monks because it was not as practical for their needs. However, the straight cane was used very often by the hwa rang, members of the upper classes, and members of the royal families. The cane became not only a sign of importance and wealth, but a deadly weapon for self-defense. Many times the handle bore the crest of the family, and was made of gold or silver with jewels embedded in it. In some cases a blade was concealed in the cane. A sharp pull on the handle and the blade would be ready for action. For the upper classes the straight cane was what suited their needs for both appearance and self- protection. During the sixth century, Korea was divided into three separate Kingdoms; Koguryo, the largest of the three, was in the north, Baek-Je, the second largest was located in the southwest portion of the Korean peninsula; and Silla, the smallest of the three Kingdoms, was in the southeast. It was in the Kingdom of Silla where a group of young warriors called the Hwa Rang (flowering youths) were created. The hwa rang were instructed in several different forms of defense were also part of Buldo mu do (Buddhist martial arts); kwan jyel sul (joint manipulation), hyel do sul (striking vital points of the body), and ji pang e sul (cane techniques). They were instructed in the use of the cane by Korean monks including the famous Won Kang. As part of their specialized training, the hwa rang trained in the application of techniques using the cane for striking, throwing, controlling, and the application of kwan jyel defenses. They also carried the cane as a sign of their social position and status. The Everyday Cane The third type of cane is the type most commonly used both in the past and today. It is about waist-high, straight and has a curved (hook-type) end used as the handle. The common people favored it for its practicality. Korean Buddhist monks also used this type of cane for self-defense because the hooked portion aided them in the application of kwan jyel techniques, allowing for better control of an opponent without the use of excessive force. Today the cane may be used as a means to defend yourself. You need not use an excessive amount of force to subdue an opponent, you can use kwan jyel techniques to immobilize the opponent by using the cane to help augment the techniques. The elderly can use kwan jyel techniques with a cane for self-defense with very little training. The cane, combined with kwan jyel techniques, is one of the most practical and useful tools for self-defense you may find today. Be sure to use extreme caution when working with cane techniques. You will be able to exert much more power than you believe you can when you use the leverage of the cane to give added strength to your techniques. Always let your instructor guide you each step of the way with your training. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com --__--__-- Message: 2 Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 12:56:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Patrick Williams Subject: RE: [The_Dojang] re:master To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net I agree with every word you wrote. I too would just prefer to be called by name. Many of my students simply call me Mr. Williams. I don't have a problem with it. To me, a master is a instructor who has been where I'm trying to go. He has honed his skills in the basics of his art. He can teach the small unseen technique which the student does not see. He has moved into application, theory and method without thinking. He can feel his art flowing through him as he moves from one technique to another. He has become his art. Many of us sense this each time we step on the mat. Rick Clark wrote: Hi, As my name was mentioned - I'll toss in my 2 cents - "IF" and I stress "IF" I were to have to give a definition of what a "Master" would be then it would have to be a person who instructs or has instructed individuals to 4th dan (as that is the rank that has been considered to just below that of a master instructor). When that student reaches 5th dan then their instructor would be a "Grand Master" because they would have a student that was a 5th dan an thus considered a "master instructor". But - I still in the dochang or dojo I prefer Mr. Clark, Sabom Nim, Sensei, Shifu, Prof. to "master" :-) If we are out having a meal or a drink Rick is just fine with me. Just a personal preference . . . . . . Rick Clark www.ao-denkou-kai.org >-----Original Message----- >From: Hapkidoman5@wmconnect.com [mailto:Hapkidoman5@wmconnect.com] >Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2005 5:57 AM >To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net. >Subject: [The_Dojang] re:master > > >> O.K. so what is a ''MASTER'' and what makes someone a master or >> someone >else >> not a master and if every one gets to be a master is it >still special >> to be >> one? Prof Clark would be a master but he insist that he is >not, J.R. west >is a >> grand master and hates to be called one. so if you demand >people call >> you >> master you're not one and if you don't want to be called one >you probably >are one, >> of course we are talking about high ranking individuals not 3rd and >> below. >> just my humble two cents worth. >> k carter >_______________________________________________ >The_Dojang mailing list, 2000 members >The_Dojang@martialartsresource.net >Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource >Standard disclaimers apply >http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/the_dojang _______________________________________________ The_Dojang mailing list, 2000 members The_Dojang@martialartsresource.net Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource Standard disclaimers apply http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/the_dojang --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. --__--__-- Message: 3 Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 13:23:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Charles Richards To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Subject: [The_Dojang] on masters again Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net I read "But - I still in the dochang or dojo I prefer Mr. Clark, Sabom Nim, Sensei, Shifu, Prof. to "master" :-) If we are out having a meal or a drink Rick is just fine with me. Just a personal preference . . . . . " MC Reply My karate moms call me Master Richards, and it makes me cringe as most of them are my age. I think they do it so their children will understand it as a title of respect, and most north Georgia natives struggle with enunciating Sabomnim :-) After a good sweat when we sit down at Ding How or Hooters, my students call me Charles. Now also in this part of the south civilized young people would add the Mr. prefix to a first name (almost like an Asian would say "elder Uncle" Charles). My teenagers began calling me MC in social settings, and most of them use MC or Coach (both are fine by me). My three mentors give me a hard time for not using a less formal address when not on the mat and they are all (grand) masters..West, Hodder & Timmerman. My instructor, Master McHenry is also a great mentor and coach and also puts up with my formality I believe because we mostly see each other in the prescence of our students. GM West refers to me as Master Instructor (4th dan) so that is my title until he and Master McHenry come up with something else to call me. I do prefer my color belts to use Sabomnim or Master Richards in class so that the new students will learn the proper address. ALl for now, MC --__--__-- Message: 4 From: "Jeffery Dean Sr." To: Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 16:06:02 -0500 Subject: [The_Dojang] RE: Bowing to Flags. Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Mr. Burrese, well stated. I hope that you enjoy your next trip back to Korea. Jeffery Dean Sr. --__--__-- Message: 5 Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 16:18:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Bruce Sims To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Subject: [The_Dojang] Bowing: Re: Hapkido and Small Kids Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Yes Jeff, you are very much mistaken. Hapkido is not now nor has it ever been for children. The people who purport to teach children "Hapkido" do not in fact teach children "Hapkido". They teach some rolling and kicking and punching and maybe even an occasional wrist-lock or throw--- maybe. What they don't teach is Hapkido, nor should they. A child cannot take responsibility for bad decisions like throwing another child to the ground and stepping on that childs' windpipe. A child cannot take responsibility for irreparable damage to wrist, elbow or knees in the name of some higher good. Your mistake is that you are capriciously mixing ettiquette and the judgement necessary to manage lethal force. I can understand how this might come to be, in as much as what passes for "martial art" in many American schools is little more than "martial theatre". In such cases maybe little Jane or John dressing-up in a uniform and "acting just like the big people is is enough to accept tuition paid in the name of "learning" Hapkido. People are free to pretend whatever they like. I choose not to accept the pretense. FWIW. Best Wishes, Bruce --------------------------------- Discover Yahoo! Find restaurants, movies, travel & more fun for the weekend. Check it out! --__--__-- Message: 6 From: Ray To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net (The_Dojang) Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 19:29:51 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [The_Dojang] Rare balance on N.Korea Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Film Strikes Rare Balance on N. Korea Given Permission to Document Young Gymnasts, British Director Lets Country Speak for Itself by Anthony Faiola Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, June 11, 2005 SEOUL, June 10 -- When a crowd gathered one evening in April at the grand New York store of the Italian fashion house Prada, the main event had nothing to do with catwalks or new collections. Instead, the guests sat down and watched the U.S. debut of a very unusual film, a British documentary on two North Korean gymnasts whose purpose in life is to glorify their country's leader, Kim Jong Il. "A State of Mind," screened at the store during the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, will open in theaters in 12 American cities in August. The film will begin a showing in Washington in the fall. As part of a major counteroffensive by secretive North Korea against its portrayal abroad as a fiendish nuclear state, officials in the capital, Pyongyang, offered rare cooperation to the film's director, Daniel Gordon. They let his cameras track the two girls from day to day for a 93-minute work that treats its subjects with a striking balance of Western and North Korean perspectives. The normally bombastic North, which has long threatened to turn Seoul, the South Korean capital, into a "sea of fire" and to "crush the American dogs," is launching what may be its most difficult global mission yet -- a charm offensive. "They have been called part of the axis of evil, they have been called drug traffickers and counterfeiters -- clearly, North Korea has an image problem," said Jeong Dae Yeon, a board member of the Seoul-based citizens' group Korean People's Solidarity, which advocates engagement with the North. "Now, they are actively trying to do something to counter that impression." This week, North Korea granted rare access to an ABC News crew headed by Bob Woodruff for the first extended visit by a U.S. news organization since then-Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright's visit in October 2000. ABC's reports have so far included a human interest piece about North Korean views on America and an interview with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan, who issued assurances that his nation, while nuclear-armed, had "no intention at all of attacking the U.S." An organization with close ties to the Pyongyang government has opened a restaurant in Cambodia to promote North Korean culture through singing waitresses and traditional meals, including a popular soup of cold vinegar noodles. The North Koreans have also launched a Web site (http://www.dprkorea.com), which offers Internet users the chance to download North Korean cartoons as well as helpful tips on taekwondo, the popular Korean martial art. The Pyongyang government has been especially assiduous about trying to charm South Koreans, who are in the midst of a major detente with the North. Cho Myung Ae, a celebrated North Korean dancer, has been permitted to appear in ads for the South Korean electronics giant Samsung. And last week, North Korea agreed to make a joint bid with the South to co-host the 2014 Asian Games. These moves have been accompanied by major diplomatic initiatives. Late last year, North Korea reopened its closed embassy in Mongolia and is now engaged in talks on resuming the practice of sending North Koreans to work there, according to a Mongolian official in Ulan Bator. Last month alone, dignitaries from Russia, Mongolia, Guinea, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Nigeria, Libya and Laos visited North Korea, according to the country's official KCNA news service. The outreach remains a far cry from North Korea's propaganda glory days in the 1970s and 1980s. Financially backed by the Soviet Union, Pyongyang opened information centers in Latin America and Africa, most of which have since closed because of the North's dire economic problems. So far, the new moves have done little to change North Korea's reliance primarily on two countries -- China and South Korea -- for survival. But strengthened diplomatic ties with other Asian countries have led to a crackdown on North Korean refugees attempting to use those countries as way stations to reach South Korea, according to refugee aid groups. "The refugees have become like mice being ushered into a corner," said a South Korean-based refugee activist who asked not to be named because his efforts are considered illegal in some of the countries he works in. "Chinese authorities are clamping down on them. The routes to freedom via Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are being blocked after North Korea complained to its old-time allies. So now, many of them are fleeing to Mongolia, but that, too, may close up soon." Few of the charm attempts, however, have been as fascinating as the film "A State of Mind." Gordon, formerly a British television sports journalist, won backing from the BBC and New York City's PBS affiliate, WNET, to make the $600,000 documentary. It was his second about North Korea -- in 2002, he made "The Game of Their Lives," a film about North Korea's surprisingly strong 1966 World Cup soccer team. The film never had a theatrical release in the United States. Gordon, 32, won the North Koreans' trust with the help of his associate producer, Nicholas Bonner, who since 1993 has run a Beijing-based company that takes tourists into North Korea. Rather than propaganda, Gordon said in a telephone interview from London, the new film "is a neutral take on North Korea." The movie indeed offers a rare glimpse into an opaque world, letting North Koreans have their say while illustrating the hardships of their lives in a manner almost never permitted by the Pyongyang government. The families of the two young gymnasts -- one 11, the other 13 -- are shown eating meals by candlelight because of electricity shortages. Not surprisingly, the United States bears the brunt of North Korean displeasure in the film. One North Korean mother coping with blackouts is quick to blame the nation's adversity on "the bloody Americans." The film documents North Koreans' extraordinary devotion to Kim, who is viewed in the country as a semi-religious figure. He is kept at the center of national life through everything from propaganda cartoons for children to state radio broadcasts in every home. The film shows how the volume on radios in North Korea homes can be lowered but not turned off. Gordon said that the North Koreans feel misunderstood and that their permission to make the film was, in part, a way for them to show their "human side, to get beyond the goose-stepping soldiers." They "never tried to control or censor" the film crew during the six-month shoot in 2003, he said, although there were ground rules. Ubiquitous portraits of Kim Jong Il and his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, for example, could not be shown partly obscured. "But those would have been the same ground rules if we were shooting in the Vatican," Gordon said, suggesting that deep respect would have to be shown there as well. The film does not let Kim Jong Il off lightly. After countless days of hard training by the two girls for the Mass Games -- a North Korean spectacle of gymnastics and theatrics to honor Kim -- the film shows that Kim did not even turn up to watch the performance. Perhaps for this reason, the film was screened for the Communist Party elite in Pyongyang, but Gordon is still trying to win approval from North Korean officials to broadcast it on the nation's single network, which is run by the government. Special correspondent Joohee Cho contributed to this report. --__--__-- _______________________________________________ The_Dojang mailing list The_Dojang@martialartsresource.net http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/the_dojang http://the-dojang.net Old digest issues @ ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com/pub/the_dojang Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry and http://MartialArtsResource.com Standard disclaimers apply. Remember September 11. End of The_Dojang Digest