I was at the bookstore today and was browsing some of the martial material, when I picked up this book about Tang Soo Do. I started reading the history and it went on about how the art dates back so many thousand years and that Hwang kee combined them with chinese martial arts. But it never mentions how Hwang kee came upon these techniques. In a black belt magazine interview in sept. 1984 it states he was virtually self taught. He learned from books and practiced in secluded areas. Later he travelled to china and learned some softer flowing hand techniques.
Sounds kinda familiar.
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Originally Posted by Shaolin Wookie
Those with some self control (who probably find justification for fabricating training history in the legends of the past) can make a pretty good living. My first teacher had gotten over 100 paying monthly students at around $60/month. Including uniform sales, weapon sales, belt test fees ranging from something like $50-$1000, black belt programs and "grandmaster" programs from $5,000-$10,000, seminars teaching stolen and made up material... he was doing pretty well for himself. Students included black belts from legit systems, lawyers, a former pro athlete, at least one police officer, an ex special forces soldier... even a jujitsu guy who was a fairly successful mma fighter. Looking back it's all a little baffling. There's just something about teaching martial arts that gives you a lot of power over otherwise intelligent reasonable people.
