Check this
out; I was sitting in the bookstore café working on a script or something,
sipping my Raspberry Mocha (Hey, that’s right, real men drink flavored
coffee’s!!!) When a young man approached
me. It seemed that a few years ago he
attended a seminar on martial arts and video production I gave at a science
fiction convention. He said that before
he saw me, he really had no idea what he was going to do after he graduated
from high school. Apparently, whatever I
said and did influenced him enough that he is now in his last year of college,
majoring in filmmaking. We spoke for a few minutes, he told me about some of
classes, professors, projects he had done; y’know that kinda thing. After he left I got to thinking about the
directions my life has taken because of the people that have influenced
me.
Basically, I believe that one of
the reasons we are who we are because of the people that have passed through
our lives. Think about it. Let’s take the martial arts. Because of the teachers I’ve had, the martial
artists I have seen, talked with, worked with and so on; they have all worked
to shape me into the martial artist I am today.
The very fact that I am in the arts is due to their influence. Let me run some of them down to you:
First and
foremost, my main, my largest influence is my teacher, my father; Kuksa Nim,
the most honorable Grandmaster Ki Nam Yum.
Kuksa Nim has been all over the world.
He has opened schools in Korea,
Hong Kong, Macao,
Japan and the Philippines. He has trained and worked with various
celebrities and leaders. Still today,
political dignitaries find time to visit him.
With all his accomplishments he is a very humble man. I recall the ‘hard times” we had trying to
establish Hwa Rang Do in metropolitan New York City. Kuksa Nim could have sat back and let us do
all the work, but no. He used to work
all day in a fish market and various other places and then in the evenings meet
and train us. This is a man who has
worked with celebrities such as Jackie Chan and he’s doing this kind of
work! Yet to achieve his goals, he was
willing to “roll up his sleeves and get dirty!”
A man with
all of his accomplishments still cares very deeply for his students and is still
a very humble man. This is a man who let
young children tackle him to take his shoes so they could win a “scavenger
hunt” at one of our picnics. Whenever I
find myself at a difficult point or situation.
When money is tight (and when ain’t it tight!!!!) and things are just so
very hard and the goals seem so very far away I often remember his words,
actions and it inspires me to continue forward.
Whether it’s in my martial art life, my film career or just life in
general. He is my “template” for what a
true martial arts master, grandmaster must be.
Chong Kwan
Jang Nim, Head Master Ki Tae Yum, Kuksa Nim’s younger brother. Without a doubt, Kuksa Nim is my teacher, my
father, the man who raised me up to Black Belt; Chong Kwan Jang Nim was there
as well. A very disciplined man, you
could not help but admire his love of the art, his discipline and the demands
he made on his student to follow that discipline. My legs and arms still hurt from training
with him, and when we did not pay attention and messed up the technique, we PAID
for it. And throughout that discipline,
with both him and his older brother Kuksa Nim, there was never any doubt that
he loved and cared for his students.
Another
influence is Grandmaster Kyung Sup Kim: I have known this incredible man ever
since I was a “schoolboy” almost 30 years ago.
His love and caring for his students goes beyond anything I have ever
experienced. In my opinion he has a
simple direct philosophy of life and is brutally honest. In fact, if it wasn’t for him, my wife and I
may never have married!
I, like all grooms to be, had an
extreme case of cold feet. In his unique
way, he showed me that ….well let’s just say I happily got married. He was also one of the first people to show
me there is a science to the martial arts and this is one of the reasons why so
many high-ranking martial artists are licensed medical doctors as well. The arts go way beyond kicking, punching
throwing, and so on.
All of
these men shared another quality besides caring about their students; to them
money was not an issue. They cared about
the development of their students. They
wanted to ensure their students were not just competent martial artists, but
they were also useful, viable members of society. That, unfortunately, is quite a rarity these
days. Training with them was hard and
rough. Not only might your body get
hurt, but your feelings would get hurt as well. All of that served to make each and every
one of their students stronger in mind, spirit and body. Many masters claim that they do that, these
men actually live it.
Some of my
other influences include:
Y.S. Kim, my first Hwa Rang Do
teacher, was the first person to show me that a martial arts master can be a
humble caring man. Before I met him,
every master I encountered (both Asian and American) acted as if they were
royalty because they had a black belt tied around their waist. Also remember this was waaay back in the
‘70’s. Master Kim talked to me, not at
me. He cared about me as a complete
person, often asking me about my academic work at Syracuse University
and making sure I was keeping my grades up.
My “Big
Brother” William Mallory. He showed me
how to “break everything down”. Forms, techniques whatever it is, there is a
way to break it down. I cannot say I
agree with everything he says or does, but the man is extremely
knowledgeable. He runs a great class and
is an excellent teacher.
Moses
Powell: through training with Prof. Powell I realized a big man could move
effortlessly and flow with the techniques.
Grandmaster
Woodrow Fairbanks: I call him my “mentor”. I cannot say enough about him. He is
a martial arts “genius” as there is no art, form or system that he cannot break
down, explain and teach it just as well as the original practitioners. He has an incredible wealth of knowledge and
is an extremely generous to share it with anyone who wants it.
Looking
back on it, I have been really blessed; I have had some incredible and very
important people walk through my life.
They have all influenced me in some manner, shape and form. As martial arts instructors we have really no
idea who may be watching or listening to us.
The things we say and do not exist in an empty vacuum. We can affect and influence other
people. It may not even be directly,
someone may see you at a demonstration or walk by the room where you may be
giving a seminar; and what you say and do may influence that person.
Until next time....
