history of kuk sool won:
1:10 POST KOREAN WAR KOREA: 1953 – Present Day

Yet another issue is the one that relates to founders of a “traditional Korean martial art”, who used to train directly under another grandmaster and subsequently founded their own  “traditional Korean martial art”. In some cases, these kinds of developments can make a positive contribution to the further growth of the traditional Korean martial arts. In other cases, these breakaway masters and grandmasters, and the organisations they found, serve only to add to the general confusion and dilution of the arts. The casualties of this kind of ‘development’ being those innocent recruits, who may devote many years of their lives to a teacher and organisation that has no real history, substance or future, and which ultimately leaves them disillusioned and disenfranchised.

All in all, these kinds of questions are, to a great extent, unresolvable. Most answers will remain lost in the mists of antiquity, or will die out with those who hold onto their truths or deceptions. What is certain, however, is that if a style of martial arts has a respectable, and responsible leader, who possesses demonstrable knowledge, and the organization that he or she has founded has substance, then that style and organization will survive, develop and grow.

KUK SOOL WON
One such organisation is the KUK SOOL WON, which has emerged from those early days of uncertainty to become a worldwide success story under its founder, Grandmaster SUH IN HYUK. As this article is concerned with the history of KUK SOOL WON, and to fully appreciate the modern history of the art, it is necessary to look back through the 20th century, to the most recent ancestor of the founder of the art.

SUH MYONG DUK
During the Korean War, tens of thousands of Korean patriots lost their lives. One such patriot was named SUH MYONG DUK, whose family had practised the martial arts for sixteen generations. Before the war, Master SUH had spent his whole life dedicated to the practice and continued survival of the Korean martial arts.

In 1910, when the Japanese annexed Korea, Master SUH was a master instructor of KOONG JOONG MU SOOL (Royal Court Martial Arts). As the Japanese domination of Korea became increasingly ruthless, so the practice of martial arts, or any other activity that could be seen as subversive to the Japanese overall plan of total control, was banned and outlawed. Any Korean found to be practising or teaching the martial arts could be imprisoned or executed. Even under these severe and prohibitive conditions, Master SUH and a few other brave and committed individuals carried on their training in secret.