Martial Art Name: Kuk Sool Won
Other Names: Meaning in English: National Martial Art Association
Description: Kuk Sool Won is a hybrid martial art that encompasses all of the native Korean martial arts in to one comprehensive system. Being a hybrid martial art, it uses a variety of different types of techniques and relies less on one part of the body. In the modern world, Kuk Sool Won is used for self-defense and basic weapon imprecision. Stances are typically low with fluid and graceful movements.
Kuk Sool Won can be described as a hard-soft style of fighting. This means that it used hard and forceful strikes along with circular and fluid movements. It also uses a theory called Yu Won Hwa which translates to “Water Circle Harmony”. The “Yu” means adaptability, softness, and power, “Won” means the circle around you that you should be ready for aggression in, and finally “Hwa” means harmony between mind and body.
Different forms in Kuk Sool Won are called “hyungs”. The hyungs can be either empty-handed or with weapons. Officially, there are 24 different weapons used in the curriculum. There are 12 ranks for the colored belt, two ranks for each color, and in black belt there are 10 ranks. The colored belts starts at 12 and counts down, while black belts start at 1 and count up.
Specialties: Hand Striking, Kicking, Joint Locks
Sub-Specialties: Korean-Style Weapons, Physical Conditioning, Healing
History: The creator of Kuk Sool Won was named Suh In-Hyuk. However, he learned how to fight from this grandfather, Suh Myung-Deuk. Myung-Deuk was the last head martial arts instructor to the Korean royal court before the Japanese occupation of Korea. He taught three types of martial arts: Kwon Sool, a kicking and hard punching style; Yu Sool, a soft style with emphasis on joint-locking and throwing techniques; and Yu Kwon Sool, a combination which could be either hard or soft, but never used force against force. Like most martial art masters at the time, he went into hiding and continued in extreme secrecy.
Suh In-Hyuk was chosen to carry on the carry on the family legacy. By age 20, In-Hyuk had traveled to hundreds of Buddhist temples and private martial arts teachers to learn the many martial arts of Korea. He learned of Ki, meditation, and breathing skills which are fundamental of Kuk Sool Won. Among his teachers were Choi Yong-Sool, who helped further his training in Yu Sool. From Hai Dong Seu Nim he wanted to learn about the Buddhist martial arts and was trained in Kwon Sool, Ki exercises, and breathing techniques. One last prominent mentor of his was Tai-eui Wang who was an old master of Royal Court Martial Arts. From him In-Hyuk learned Yu Kwon Sool.
In the late 1950s, he started to integrate all that he had learned into one martial art. Whether or not he had help is debated. Suh In-Hyuk opened his first martial art school in 1958, and officially founded Kuk Sool Won in 1961. It was brought over to the United States in 1974 and is now practiced all over the world.
