This is part four of my blog series on Taekwondo Kwan history based on the introduction section of my super secret book project, which will focus on one Kwan, but knowing about the major Kwan is still important. So far we have covered Chun Sang Sup and Yun Mu Kwan, Yun Kwae Byung and Ji Do Kwan and Yun Byung In and YMCA Kwon Bop Bu. All three individuals never had any ties to Shotokan Karate it seems, and they are all kinda related in that they all worked together at Yun Mu Kwan at various points and quite possibly they trained and studied together in Japan. Hwang Kee which we will focus on today is a very unique individual in that he never studied Karate in Japan. He said he learned Taekyon by observation and copying in his youth, he then learned martial arts in China before going back to Korea and picking up Karate forms from various sources there. One auther called Hwang Kee a grandmaster in reverse, which I kinda liked. He did not seem to have much formal martial arts education when he first founded his Kwan around 1945, but he learned a lot from many different sources over time. It is difficult to keep posts about the Kwan founders short as there is so much I want to include, but then again challenging myself to be brief is a good way to test and see what is essential to keep in. I do hope you get some value from this series :-) If you want to learn more on Hwang Kee and Mu Duk Kwan feel free to click read more and read on ;-)
Quote from supersecret book project introduction section:
"Hwang Kee and the Mu Duk Kwan
Hwang Kee was born in 1914 in Korea. According to his own accounts, he encountered a Taekkyon master during his youth. Although the master refused to teach him due to his age, Hwang claimed to have studied the man’s movements in secret and imitated them diligently.
In 1936, while working for the Ministry of Transportation constructing a railroad in Manchuria, China, Hwang met Yang Kuk Jin, from whom he learned Yang-style Tai Chi and a form of training called Ddam Ttui.
Following Korea’s liberation in 1945, Hwang opened his martial arts school, naming it Mu Duk Kwan (무덕관, 武德館) — “School of Martial Virtue.” Initially, he taught a system heavily influenced by Chinese martial arts, which he called Hwa Su Do (화수도, 花手道) — “Flower Hand Way.” However, this name confused many Koreans, who were more familiar with established martial arts terms like Tang Su Do, Kong Su Do, and Kwon Bup. Some sources say that Lee Won Kuk, founder of Chung Do Kwan, advised Hwang to adopt a more familiar name. Whether true or not, Hwang soon changed the name of his art to Tang Su Do (당수도, 唐手道), meaning “China Hand Way.”
There are also unverified accounts that Hwang briefly trained at Chung Do Kwan, though this remains unclear. What is certain is that after adopting the Tang Su Do label, he began teaching a curriculum incorporating several Karate Hyeong (Kata). Hwang claimed to have learned these forms from books — likely those authored by Gichin Funakoshi — which helped formalize his instructional system.
Mu Duk Kwan’s rapid growth in the postwar years was due in part to the incorporation of these Karate forms, but also to Hwang's strategic use of his railway connections to secure inexpensive training spaces across the country.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Hwang worked closely with Yun Kwae Byung, and together they formed the Su Bahk Do Association, which became a powerful rival to the Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA). However, around 1966, a large contingent of Ji Do Kwan and Mu Duk Kwan students merged into the KTA, shifting the balance of influence.
Eventually, Hwang Kee emigrated to the United States, where he continued to promote and teach his martial art until his death in 2002." End quote
I have access to his 1958 Tang Su Do textbook (korean language) and there are some wonderful material in it, both when it comes to philosophy and theory but also in techniques, forms and sparring and self defense. If you get the impression that he lacked formal training, which is an often directed critisism of him, I would say based on that book alone that he was no better or worse than others in his time. I said someone called him a grandmaster in reverse, and I think that by 1958 he knew a lot if he didnt already when he first opened Mu Duk Kwan.
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