Taekwondo Kwan history part 6: Ro Byung Jik and the Song Mu Kwan

This is part 6 of the Taekwondo Kwan history blog series. So far I have covered Chun Sang Sup, Yun Kwae Byung, Yun Byung In, Hwang Kee, Lee Won Kuk and now Ro Byung Jik. All of the blog posts in this series build directly from my upcoming secret book which does focus on a single Kwan, but none of the ones that we have covered so far. So which one is it? I still will not say, but I am sure many readers can now make a very educated guess as we have eliminated Yun Mu Kwan, Ji Do Kwan, YMCA Kwon Bop Bu (and Chang Mu Kwan/ Kang Duk Won), Mu Duk Kwan, Chung Do Kwan and today Song Mu Kwan. Like the other blog posts this one is rather short since I wanted to introduce the different major Kwan (schools), their founders and their martial roots, but they are not the focus of the book. Material on them are needed however to give historical context. I do hope you enjoy reading this series, and in the next part I will reveal the secret book project, the supersecret Kwan in great detail (since the book is really about one specific Kwan) and let the cat out of the bag. Hopefully the book will be fully formated and ready to be published by the time you read the next blog post in this series. In a way I will have given away much of the two first chapters of the book for free when you have read the next "episode", but I have always felt that knowledge is not something one should hoard or gatekeep and especially when it comes to the martial arts. Anyway, if you are curious to read on about Ro Byung Jik and his Song Mu Kwan here is the chance :-)

Quote from the introduction section of my upcoming secret book:

"Ro Byung Jik and the Song Mu Kwan

Ro Byung Jik was born in 1919. Like many Koreans of his generation who sought higher education, he traveled to Japan in 1936, where he studied Karate under Gichin Funakoshi and his son Yoshitaka “Gigo” Funakoshi.

After returning to Korea, Ro made several attempts to establish a martial arts school, beginning around 1944–1945. His efforts met with limited success at first, but after the Korean War, he began to gain traction—especially as American military personnel began training at his dojang. This post-war period marked the real emergence of his school, which he named the Song Mu Kwan (송무관, 松武館).

Ro played a key role in organizing the direction of Korean martial arts during the early years. He held prominent positions within the Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA) and was instrumental in supporting Choi Hong Hi in founding the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) in 1966.

According to A Modern History of Taekwondo by Kang and Lee, training in the Song Mu Kwan under Ro began with weight training and hundreds of repetitions on the striking board (dallyeon ju, also known as makiwara), even before formal instruction began. Ro emphasized strong basics and disciplined repetition—an approach that echoes the intense, foundational training style of Yoshitaka Funakoshi, known for elevating the athletic and combative intensity of Karate in the 1930s and ’40s.

The name Song Mu Kwan is composed of:

• Song (松) meaning “pine tree,”

• Mu (武) meaning “martial,”

• Kwan (館) meaning “school” or “hall.”

Interestingly, the Song (Sho in Japanese) is the same character used in Shotokan (松濤館)—possibly a deliberate nod to Ro’s roots in Shotokan Karate, reflecting both reverence for his lineage and a desire to localize that identity within Korea." End quote

There is actually some debate in Korea as to who opened up the first Kwan, seeing as the first one to open would be the eldest and therefore given the most honor. I believe it was Lee Won Kuk who opened up a lasting Dojang first in 1944 but I do know that if you count the first tries of Ro as the founding of Song Mu Kwan even if the first tries did not last Ro´s Song Mu Kwan might actually be the oldest Kwan. Personally I find that less interesting than the facts surrounding his life, his experience prior to opening the Kwan and to make the history a living thing. It is one thing to read about years, dates and names, it is another to take that information and picture how all of this played out in real life. What forms were they practising, how did they spar, what kind of training equipment did they use? Etc. Anyway I do hope you have enjoyed the series so far, and I also hope that you are excited about the next "episode" or part where more is revealed and more indepth information regarding the Kwan that the book project is centered on. 

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Click here for the last part of this series