Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2005 03:03:07 -0700 From: the_dojang-request@martialartsresource.net Subject: The_Dojang digest, Vol 12 #262 - 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. List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Unsubscribe: , List-Help: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.63 (2004-01-11) on plus11.host4u.net X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.3 required=5.0 tests=LINES_OF_YELLING,NO_REAL_NAME autolearn=no version=2.63 X-Spam-Level: Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: 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 mailing list ------------------>> Serving the Internet since June 1994. 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 (Jye nigma) 2. rebuttals on regulation (Tkdsid@aol.com) 3. Gov. Reg. of MA - Ronald Tobias (Don Ross) 4. Selling your school (Gladewater SooBahkDo) 5. Re: value of a school (ChunjiDo@aol.com) 6. calling some one master (Braeswood Martial Arts) --__--__-- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 00:51:02 -0700 (PDT) From: Jye nigma To: itf-taekwondo@yahoogroups.com, the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Subject: [The_Dojang] from an article Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net The Martial Arts Monk TEXT BY KEVIN SINCLAIR At the head of a narrow valley, beneath a likeness of the Buddha carved from the living granite 14 centuries ago. Master Seol Joek Un preaches lessons in survival The pace of modern life, the stress of business, the pressure of making a living.... all combine to destory health and harmony, contends the philosopher-monk who is also a martial arts teacher. His answer is a mixture of rigorous matrial arts exercises, long walks in pristine mountain forests, mastering techniques to breathe deeply, plenty of sleep and meditation... One day a week of this regime and three months later, the body is spry and lean, the mind relaxed restful, the personality clearned. Master Seol's message is now being heard a long way from the mountain brooks that bubble down the Valley of the Temple Grotto. Every weekend, scores of schoolchildren from primary classes to university, tramp to his retreat near the southeast coast of Korea to attend classes. From a distance, he runs the korean Gymnasium in Los Angeles, a martial arts academy popular with Americans of all races, not only expatriate Koreans. Seol Joek Un is a fine advertisement for his regime --a mixture of rigorous excercise and quiet contemplation. Because his martial arts feats - bounding through the pines, leaping higher than his own height - have featured in international health and fitness magazines, foreigners are now flocking to his door. Just a couple of weeks before I climbed the path of granite steps, a patty of eight Italian kung fu adherents had spent a week following his advice. Seol Joek Un sits comfortably cross-legged on the floor of his home. In the hills around him, there are caves where Buddhist hermit monks from India and China once passed lives of meditation. Part of the lessons he hands down to harassed tycoons, advising them how to cope with the 21th century, can be traced back to that more contemplative age. He lifts a battered copper kettle, pours boiling water into a pot he threw himself. Like the matching cups he made, the ceramics are the colour of the rich earth of Kyongju. "My martial arts lessons are not purely physical like the Chinese monks of Shaolin," he explains. "I teach exercises and breathing combined with meditation." Past green celadon Buddhas placed in niches in the cliff. They reach a wooden hall where he teaches his unique combination of self-defence and tranquillity. He also mixes in modern techniques, such as those he learned while studying for a graduate degree in physical education at Seoul's noted Tongka University. "My father was a kendo master, so I suppose it was aged ten." Eight years latter, he decided to follow Loard Buddha. Master Seol is an easygoing, relaxed mixture of traditional Buddhist precepts and the modern world. In his retreat, there is a television set and video recorder; one wonders what the old hermits who lived in the caves would have thought. For Seol Joek Un, there is no conflict. He lives his faith. He has no set fees for visitors who want to follow his lessons. They write to him(4th floor, Daewang Building, 144 Waryong-dong, Chongro-ku, Seoul) and arrange a time to visit. They stay in comfortable but plain guest accomodation, a little payment. The routine they follow to grasp Diamond Zen martial arts is undemanding, he says. Those seeking Master Seol's route to relaxation arise at 4 AM. They mediate, think about the day ahead. When the sun comes up over the valley, they watch it rise, then set out for a 90-minutes walk through the quiet of the mountain morn. Then it is time for restful cup of tea and a light breakfast before exercises begin. Throughout the day, there are periods of learning how to breathe deeply and healthily. There are no formal religious classes. "People live a Buddhist life," he explains with an amiable smile, "so they come to understand what it means. When people come, they do not only learn martial arts. They pick up the Buddhist thoughts when they learn the way things are done." He is a youthful 38 years old, seeming at first glance to be far too young to begin to solve the problems of the modern world. Master Seol, however, talks with the wisdom handed down from generations of learned monks who have meditated in these rugged mountains since the Silla kingdom flowered under Queen Sondok in 634AD. It was then, legend says, that Buddhist teachers seeking to spread The Word arrived in the Kyongju area, seat of the Silla throne for nine centuries. The message of tranquillity, meditation and and enlightenment had passed from India, over the Tibetan plateau to where Chinese civilization blossomed along the Yellow River. From the imperial capitals of China ¡ª Kaifeng, Luoyang of Xian ¡ª later adherents took Buddhism to Korea. From there, it passed to Japan. In Kyongju, it remains a potent, living belief. Around Korea's cultural and historical capital, scores of temples, renovated to ancient glory, stud the plains and valleys. Pagodas and tombs of rulers of long-gone dynasties are common landmarks. Master Seol is an inheritor of this rich cultural legacy. But his secluded retreat is far from the tourist buses that carry millions to kyongju's more renowned treasures. Over a range of hills, his valley cuts steeply into a ravine. At the top, the carved Buddaha looks down imperturbably as he has for 1400 years. Master Seol has been retained to instruct US Army staff in Seoul in philsolphy, and he was an advisor to the Korean Olympics team The hills are riddled with caves. These wee part of the attraction for the early hermit monks who came there; they lived within in rock, isolated from the world, along with their search for enlightenment. Today, others climb the steep steps cut into the living rock to reach Master Seol's retreat. Past green celadon Buddhas placed in niches in the cliff, they reach a wooden hall where he teaches his unique combination of self-defence and tranquillity. Further up, under the benign gaze of the Lord Buddha, Master Seol lives on a platform overlooking birch, pine and oak forests. How do the lessons Buddha taught 2,500 years ago apply today in modern industrialized society like Korea or the United States? "The world is polluted," Seol Joek Un says. "To escape that, people come here." He waves his arms over the trees; the air is crisp and clean, the only sound a gurgling mountain brook and the breeze in the leaves. "Martial arts teach physical agility, but while you study it, you gain also mental strength. Stress and tension depart. Society has changed drastically in recent years. People don't know where they're at. This brings on personality and mental problems. The combination of martial arts and exercise and contemplation brings people back into balance." He chuckles ... there are other benefits. Once physical and personal balances are regained, men capture lost virility, women regain their beauty. "We are also animals," he teaches. "We forget that. People come here to get their internal life in order, to seek mental cleaning and physical well-being." Many listen when Master Seol preaches; he has been retained to instruct US army staff at Seoul bases in his philosiphy and was an advisor to the Korean Olympics team. He is an advertisement for his own philosophy. Jolly, laughing and extrovert, he beams at the trainees going through their exercises on the mats in his mountainside gym. Above him on the cliff, the calm face of the deity carved by hermit monks so long ago beams down with benign approval. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com --__--__-- Message: 2 From: Tkdsid@aol.com Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 07:45:42 EDT To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Subject: [The_Dojang] rebuttals on regulation Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Too much has been said about sudents "just leaving" and going on to the next school if they are unhappy. Of course, ultimately if one is unhappy they will leave. But there is a responsibility ever group has to ensure the ethical conduct of the group is upheld. I recently got ripped off for a kukkiwon certificate fee. Should I just leave? NO! I left, sued, collected the fee, informed others, wrote to the attorney general, posted on this site numerous times. Guess what? The S.O.B. is still ripping people off! Guys don't you get it? SOMEBODY has got to stop the rip off artists, thieves, perverts, and slime from ruining martial arts. Individuals can't do that. --__--__-- Message: 3 From: "Don Ross" To: "dojang_digest" Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 10:59:21 -0400 Subject: [The_Dojang] Gov. Reg. of MA - Ronald Tobias Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Hear! Hear!! Thank you, Sir. While we sympathize with tkdSid's anguish and frustrations re fraud in the MA world, government regulation can never replace personal responsibility and honor in ANY field. We personally cannot control every situation, but we CAN control how we respond to it. pil seung, Don Ross There are two powers in the world: the sword and the spirit. In the long run, the sword will always be conquered by the spirit. - Napoleon --__--__-- Message: 4 From: "Gladewater SooBahkDo" To: "the_dojang" Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 10:32:48 -0700 Subject: [The_Dojang] Selling your school Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net I read "How do you arrive at a value of a martial arts school?" Chris As for me my school belongs to my students. Even though I am the Senior Instructor and the one that pays the bills, My students all feel a vested intrest in THEIR DO-JANG. They clean it, there tuition pays for lights, water and an instructor. As for me my students are not and never will be for sale. So to answer your question no price is high enough if you love your students. J CGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com --__--__-- Message: 5 From: ChunjiDo@aol.com Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 20:56:26 EDT To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Subject: [The_Dojang] Re: value of a school Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net How do you arrive at the value of a martial arts school? I have a couple of people looking at buying my school and I am unsure as to how I would determine the asking price. Does anyone have any ideas? _______________________ i'm running a little behind, but wanted to respond to this. i believe melody shuman recently posted some good information about this on the yahoo group martial arts business. might want to sign up and look at the archives. someone was going to sell out to their partner or buy out their partner, i think, and she had a formula for determining the school's value. take care, melinda Chajonshim Martial Arts Academy _www.cjmaa.com_ (http://www.cjmaa.com/) 1.573.673.2769 Chajonshim Martial Arts Supply _www.cjmas.com_ (http://www.cjmas.com/) 1.877.847.4072 --__--__-- Message: 6 From: "Braeswood Martial Arts" To: Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 20:06:42 -0500 Subject: [The_Dojang] calling some one master Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net SNIP "I would like to add those who answer the phone as Master so in so or have their wives refer to them as Master so in so in conversation, you laugh but I have had the extreme displeasure of meeting these'' Masters'' . .......k carter" I would only like to respond to the highlighted part of this snip. I AM NOT A WIFE OF A MASTER!!! But I have been dating an 8th degree black belt for over a year, he is not my teacher. When I am in a martial arts setting, be it in class or where any of his students are present I refer to him directly or in conversation as "Master so in so". I do this even though I have been repeated told it is not necessary, my response is always the same, I know it is not necessary. I do this out of respect for him as a martial artist and to set an example that no matter who you are or who you date, respect is something that should never falter. Even though Grand Master West is a good friend, when we are in a martial art setting or in front of any of his students or associates I always refer to him as Master West and will now in the future refer to him as Grand Master West out of respect for Dr. Kimm. My only problem with you comment is that you used the phase "have their wives..." we are in the 21st century and do not believe "obey" is used in the wedding vows. I don't call anyone "master" whom I do not feel is deserving. I again stress I use this term out of respect not due to rank. Just one blondes perspective. Kat --__--__-- _______________________________________________ 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