What is Kuk Sool Won?

[Budokan]

Other than being Korean I know practically nothing about this style. Is it a hybrid of anything? Is it any good? Does it have any relation to Chinese martial arts that you know of?

I had posted a similar question on the "related arts" forum, but didn't get much response, possibly because I had mispelled the name of the style--if I haven't here already...

K. Mark Hoover

[samurai]

Kuk Sool Won is like Hapkido or Aikido in Japanese. It is a Korean internal style that uses circles and angles to defeat the attack instead of hard strength.
Thanks
Jeremy Bays

[Budokan]

Thanks, Samurai. :)

K. Mark Hoover

[DragonzRage]

From what I can gather, the formula for kuk sool won is to take a big huge brute who spends his entire day in the weight room, teach him how to throw haymakers, put a black belt and gi on him, have him beat up nobody opponents and guys much smaller than him and then send him to Pride where he can get his butt whipped by fighters who actually have skill on a day to day basis.

[JJMantis]

Kuk Sool Won is a little newer and, from what I've seen, has a little throwback to Chinese influence. Which is interesting, because the tkd crowd generally denies any connection with kung fu. Korea is a penninsula, but some people act like its an island. There are indeed cultural similarities. OK, story time.

I didn't see my tae kwon do master for about 16 months. During that time, I met my sifu, since we were both on the same ship. I started training with him at first just to keep flexable, but ended up becoming a full student. When I came back to visit my master, he of course wanted to know where I had been. He wasn't upset at all that I had to go to sea, but was furious when he learned I studied kung fu. He then made fun of all the animal styles, and told me I had wasted my time. I haven't been back since!

Sorry if this wasn't what you asked, but I thought it applied. I think it is a good idea for the Korean arts to bring back what is lost in modern tae kwon do: grappling, pressure points, chi (ki), and weaponry.

[Black Jack]

I believe I read somewhere that kuk sol wong had some animal influence, spirits such as the eagle, tiger, cobra, crane and others.

The techs "looked" pretty cool but I don't know much else.

Regards

[STUDD WILSON]

Kuk Sool Won is not really much related to TKD. It is more like the chinese internal martial arts. Of course authentic TKD as taught in Korea is nothing similar to anything taught here in the U.S. I learned Kuk Sool and a little Hwarang Do while my father was stationed in Korea a few years ago. Kuk Sool is a complete style. It has punches, kicks, grappling, and groundfighting.

[JJMantis]

"TKD as taught in Korea is nothing similar to anything taught here in the U.S. "

How so? Have you been there? Seriously, everyone rags modern tkd as being "American", when in fact it is the Koreans who created the World TKD Federation (the olympic style). If you are comparing training methods or how dedicated the students are, that's one thing. Over here, many standards are lowered for the sake of getting money from less dedicated people. But the system itself is standardized.

[STUDD WILSON]

"I learned Kuk Sool and a little Hwarang Do while my father was stationed in Korea a few years ago."

[fiercest tiger]

i learnt hap ki do for 5 yrs before kung fu, it is influenced with kung fu, judo/jujitsu, aikido, tae kwon do, karate.

its mostly joint locks, throws, kicking and puching. all moves are large and small circles. they like the cane, nunchuku, staff, fan, sword.

good for young flexible people i think and its very effective, but it didnt have a traditional feel to it as the kung fu that i learnt. it got me out of alot of scrap and good for door work.

animals was eagle, tiger, crane- black jack could be correct with the cobra or snake. :)

peace

yaukungmun@hotmail.com

[JJMantis]

My bad... I just had a heated discussion with a fellow tkd practicioner. She took two styles over the past few years, one the original ITF, then the modern WTF, to which she referred to as "American".

So since you have indeed been there... how different is there tkd training?

[MonkeySlap Too]

Kuk Sool looks like a Hapkido master looked at some CMA books and 'invented' what he thought would be cool.

Friends of mine have fought senior Kuk Sool guys, and they sucked. I do not think the training is realistic. Just my opinion. No flames please.

Any similarity to Chinese styles is only in the eyes of people who don't understand.

I am a big beleiver in luck. The more I work, the more luck I have.

That is funny DragonzRage. Garry Goodridge was just looking for a way to get into the NHB arena. The kuksoolwan guys didn't have any one who could fight worth beans so when they found Garry Goodridge the huge pro arm wrestler they jumped at the oppurtunity to have a false representative to represent their style.

"Then he was above me. He attacked critial point ver well. I was near death." --- Takada after his fight with Rickson

[Leimeng]

I have been stationed in Korea in the past with the military. I met several black belts in Kuk Sool Won, and while I like them personally, they have little real fighting skill. They got whooped all over all the time by young girls in our Kung Fu school as well as myself. One of these individuals was 4th Black and had trained over ten years.
I was told by my instructor that the "founder" of the system had studied about 18 months of pakua from one of LuShuiTians students, then studied about 4 years of praying mantis along with the traditional hapkido and taekwondo. After a few years he came out as a grandmaster.
Maybe I was told wrong, but I have to question how a 230 lb, 6'2", ten year student and 4th dan in Kuk Sool Won got humiliated repeatedly by a 17 year old 95 lb female that had only studied KF for 3 years...
Not to offend anybody, but, it surely seems strange to me...
:confused:

Peace,

yi beng, kan xue

[Budokan]

Depends on your definition of humiliation. Were they point sparring, or actually throwing down for war?

If the latter, and the 95 lb girl still won, then yes, that is impressive. Otherwise....

K. Mark Hoover