Taekwondo Kwan history part 2: Yun Kwae Byung and the Ji Do Kwan

This is the second blog post that is based upon a history part of  the introduction in my mysterious book project. I challenged myself to keep each Kwan history brief because while a little relevant, the focus on the book lies within a single Kwan, so I wanted to give a general overview and then in a seperate section go deep and wide into that particular Kwan´s history. Since we starte part 1 with Chun Sang Sup and his Yun Mu Kwan Kong Su Do Bu, I feel that it is only right to continue with Yun Kwae Byung and his Ji Do Kwan which came from the Yun Mu Kwan. When Chun Sang Sup dissapeared during the Korean war (1950-53) it was Yun Kwae Byung who picked up the pieces and reopened the school under the new name Ji Do Kwan. Like Chun, Yun Kwae Byung is also often overlooked in modern Taekwondo history, which I feel is a shame because he is a very interesting figure to research. I think some of the reason for his absence in modern taekwondo history is due to his work along with Hwang Kee in the Su Bahk Do Association, an association which gave the early Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA) strong competition for several years. The blog post might be brief, but the information within it is hopefully great :-) 

"Yun Kwae Byung and Ji Do Kwan

Yun Kwae Byung was born in 1922, making him slightly younger than Chun Sang Sup. Like Chun, he traveled to Japan to pursue his education, first studying Shito Ryu Karate under Kenwa Mabuni while attending Osaka Secondary School. He later began studying Shudokan Karate under Toyama Kanken at Nihon University, where he earned instructor certification — making him at least a 4th dan in Shudokan at the time.

Teaching and operating school in Japan!

In 1945, Yun helped establish a sister school to Toyama’s Shudokan called the Kanbukan, which would later be renamed the Renbukan in 1950. The Kanbukan was notable for offering training to both Korean and Japanese students and quickly became a hub for innovation in sparring methods. It was one of the earliest schools to experiment with protective equipment and continuous sparring — a tradition the later Ji Do Kwan would also become known for.

Notable figures who trained at the Kanbukan include Masutatsu Oyama, founder of Kyokushin Karate (who earned his 4th dan there), So Nei Chu, his Goju Ryu instructor, and the respected Karate historian Richard Kim.

Return home

Yun returned to Korea in 1948 and assisted Chun Sang Sup in teaching at the Yun Mu Kwan. Following the Korean War, in 1953, he reopened the Yun Mu Kwan under a new name: Ji Do Kwan (지도관, 智道館) — meaning "Wisdom Way School."

He would go on to work closely with another major figure, Hwang Kee, in the postwar martial arts revival. However, after 1966, Yun gradually stepped back from active teaching and turned his attention toward business. His passing in 2000 went largely unnoticed in the wider Taekwondo community, despite his foundational contributions to the art." End quote.

I do hope you enjoy this walk through the history of the early schools of Taekwondo. I tried keeping this brief, but if I ever get around to making a book specifically on something Ji Do Kwan I will expand a lot on this :-) Right now my research focus lies a little elsewhere ;-) 

This blog is a labor of love — if it brought you insight or inspiration, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting my work on Patreon. www.patreon.com/traditionaltaekwondoramblings Every donation really really helps :-)