books out there. He also included some things that I have come to understand are very rare things in Taekwondo litterature. One of those things is the explanation of Taekwondo philosophy from the point of view of Ji Do Kwan (Wisdom Way School) which is the Kwan he hails from. In the text he explains that Kwan could be translated as School and that Heon could be translated as Life-directive. He went on explaining that there were many different Kwan and each had their own Heon, but they had the same underlying principles. That section in his book is one of the reasons I started looking into the different Kwan all those years ago, and in this series I want to explore the different Kwan Heon that the different Kwan has. If you saw the last post on this blog I can tell you that this post was started in 2016, and is a great example of me starting way too big and never finishing it. This time I am confident and know that I can tackle it piece by piece. So first Kwan out of the gate is Chung Do Kwan.
Short history of Chung Do Kwan (Skip if you have read my book)
"Lee Won Kuk and the Chung Do Kwan
Lee Won Kuk was born in Korea in 1907 and traveled to Japan in 1926 to pursue higher education. While studying law at Chuo University, he began training in Shotokan Karate under Gichin Funakoshi, making him an early Korean student of Karate, even by Japanese standards.
After returning to Korea, Lee requested permission to open a martial arts school. According to some accounts, he had to make the request three times before finally receiving approval. In 1944, he established his school and named it Chung Do Kwan (청도관, 靑濤館), meaning “Blue Wave School.”
Lee Won Kuk is widely credited as being the first Korean martial artist to use the full term Tang Su Do (당수도, 唐手道), by adding the philosophical suffix Do (도, 道) meaning “the Way”, to Tang Su, the Korean pronunciation of To-de (or Kara-te) meaning “China Hand.” This usage reflects the early terminology of Karate, which originally referred to itself as To-de (“Chinese Hand”) before Funakoshi popularized the homonym Karate (空手), meaning “Empty Hand,” in the 1930s.
As a result, in early Korean martial arts circles, terms like Tang Su Do and Kong Su Do were used, both being alternate Korean readings of the same characters used in Japanese Karate-Do (空手道). These were not different martial arts, but alternative names for the same system, rooted in Japanese Karate.
Sometime after the World War II and before the Korean War, Lee faced accusations of pro-Japanese collaboration. Although the full details remain murky, this led him to leave Korea and relocate with his family to Japan in 1950. Later in life, around 1976, Lee moved to the United States, where he continued to teach. He passed away in 2003.
Leadership of Chung Do Kwan was passed on to his student Son Duk Sung, who became the second Kwanjang (관장, Headmaster) after Lee’s departure."
End quote
So Chung Do Kwan was funded by a very very early student of pro-shotokan karate, who studied directly under Gichin Funakoshi. Based on my reading of Funakoshi's works there were two main things he stressed a lot and that was Kata (Hyeong) and Do-philosophy. Lee did not copy Funakoshi's Dojo-kun, but made one for Chung Do Kwan after he got back to Korea and opened his own school (Kwan).
According to a Korean article I read Lee made his creed and it was normal that students and even prospective students would sign a contract to uphold the creed. Another thing they did was to stand at attention sometimes before and sometimes after class often after saluting the flag reciting the creed, reinforcing it over time.
The Chung Do Kwan Creed:
We, as members, train our spirits and bodies according to Mudo (무도).”
“We, as members, are united in mutual friendship.”
“We, as members, will comply with regulations and obey instructors.”
Son Duk Sung took this creed with him when he moved to the USA and funded his Taekwondo organisation.
The Chung Do Kwan creed reflects traditional Confucian values like obedience to authority, camaraderie among peers as well as the virtue of self-discipline.
The thing we are going to see time and time again while looking at the different Kwan Heon is that they all point in the same direction of fostering good citizens that contribute positively to the society, and this creed is no different.
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