Internal MA in Korea.

[Laughing Cow]

Hi.

Not too sure where to post this.
The internal forum might be better suited, but I might get less answers.
(Moderators feel free to move this Thread to the correct forum)

Last night I watched a program on TV about South Korea.

During one segment they visited a Buddhist temple at Ha-Fee(sic) and showed some monks practice MA.

Their practice seemed to be very much along the lines of internal MA practice that I am familiar with.

I also heard that Kuk-Sool-Won(sic) has a lot of internal components.

Anybody got some more info on Korean internal styles.

[dezhen2001]

kinda interesting...

i seen and tried some kuk sool kwon, but it seemed more like tkd/hapkido with a little more fluidity to me, but im not sure :)

i know that there are some lines of NPM and other chinese MA in Korea (not sure if north or south).

sorry got no more info,
dawood

[Former castleva]

Yeah.
Well I think Korean MA scene may actually be broader than it seems (might very well go for countries outside East-Asia)
The only well-known art that can be considered internal is that of hapkido as far as my knowledge goes.Then for sure,we have got styles like Hwon hwa do,tolkido,hoi jeon moo sool etc. which carry principles that can be considered internal (Keep in mind that besides Chinese IMA fuss :) styles like aikido are "internal") If some breathing exercises and meditation thrown in,as in certain styles make it fit the category,then yes they should be found.
I have not thought of Kuk Sol as such a style.
Seems to me the understanding of what is exactly "internal" may vary between considering the heavy emphasis of internal being placed on CMA (somewhat logical,but that´s another issue)
Then there are some rare "cross-link" styles to exist like Korean equivalent of pa kua! and so on.
I have the idea that Koreans do have their own qi-gong methods within/besides their MA.

[TaoBoxer]

Korea has been a crossroads of Asia for centuries, and the Martial Arts present there shows this.

As far as "internal" practices there...... because of the paralell spread of Buddhism, Kung Fu, and Yoga/Qigong, I have no doubt there are some internal components present in Korean martial arts we don't see here in the states.

Regarding Chinese internal arts in Korea.... I know of one famous example..... Lui Shui Tien's pakua taught now by Bok Nam Park. Interestingly however..... Park does not practice or atleast teach his teachers Praying Mantis which is a mixed Internal/External art. I again would not be surprised if there were more examples of Chinese arts present in Korea that we have yet to hear about.....

Bill

[Former castleva]

I would have to go with Taoboxer,those are good points.
As to "doormat of Asia",various Korean arts have probably died long time ago and plenty of influence has been picked from neighbour countries (while neighbours have had some interest for Korea.As in sword forging methods of samurai)
Korea has been sort of a tunnel that things have been sent trough and has been neglected to a point,maybe unnecessarily.