I've Found the Love of My Life

I have to admit, I am one of the luckiest people on the face of the Earth. I am only seventeen years of age and already I have found my true love, my reason to get up in the morning, the focal point of my entire life and the only constant presence I will have until the day I die. And this unfathomably, complex beauty is Kuk Sool Won.

For those of you who don’t know, Kuk Sool Won is a martial arts system which brings together different aspects of the martial arts history of Korea. And it is EPIC!!!!!!!!!!

People have asked me questions like, “Why do you do Kuk Sool?”; “What makes it different from Karate and stuff?” and “Why do you like it so much?” These questions have a common answer, which is: The Pledge. Obviously, the pledge isn’t the reason I started Kuk Sool, but it is one of the main reasons I still do it and love it.

Kuk Sool Won has a pledge which every student has to make and stick to. It consists of four parts.

“1. As a member of the Kuk Sool Won, I pledge to obey the rules of

the association and to conduct myself in accordance

with the true spirit of martial arts.” 

This bit is the student promising to respect all other members of the Association and all people outside of it. In Kuk Sool Won the most important thing is etiquette. You address other members by “sir” or “ma’am” depending on their sex or if they are a black belt candidate (Dahn Boh Nim) or above you can address them with their title. The lower belts respect the higher ones and the higher ones respect the lower belts equally – in Kuk Sool Won your belt only displays your knowledge of the system and your progress through it, not the amount of respect you get. We have no hierarchy, in that way.

“2. I pledge to be loyal to my country and to promote

the  development of a better society.”

No need to explain this but just in case it’s saying – obey the law, respect your country and do everything you can to help create a more positive society.

“3. I pledge to work together with all classes of people

without regard to politics, race or religion.”

This one is my favourite. All links back to the etiquette thing but it just explains that if you are going to be a Kuk Sool Won student you must accept and respect everyone, regardless of where they are from; what they believe or who they are.

“4. I pledge to promote international goodwill and strive for

 world peace through the practice of martial arts.”

Again, basically states: be as positive and loving as you can in order to reduce conflict and make the world a happier place to be.

I think the real question is: How could I not love a system that promotes acceptance and does not allow prejudice to appear in it’s schools?

Now, another reason I love this sexy-bitch. The fact that I have met and made friends with a range of people because of Kuk Sool Won, and half of those people I would never have thought to associate with in any other circumstance. In the school I go to, there is a man from Cambridge who is/was in the Air Training Corps; there is another guy who studied Sport and Fitness Management and a girl who is currently studying Sports and Health Sciences – tell me, where would I have met and maintained a relationship with these people outside of Kuk Sool?

 Every member of Kuk Sool Won – in your school and the others – is extremely friendly. For example; in May this year I was at the Scottish Championships. I competed, got my medal and afterwards one of our judges (who’s name I cannot remember) came over to me and my friend and was chatting to us. She found out that by next year I would be in her age group and she said, “Well, we can compete together next year then”. A (lovely) woman who I had never spoken to before, turned round and said we could be techniques partners at the next Championships – that is huge (for me anyway). I’ll explain why. In a competition, when you do techniques on someone, if they fall like a sack of shit then you get marked down. Your partner has to be able to fall properly in order for it to look good and get you the best marks possible. That woman who said we could compete together has never seen me doing break falls (because I didn’t do techniques this year) yet she still said that. She may have just been being nice but that is still a massive amount of faith to have in someone. At competitions, I’ve had conversations with people – who I’d never met before – for hours. It genuinely, does not matter who you are or where you’re from. And those are people outside of my school.

Within my school there are people who I only see in class yet I trust them with my life – true I don’t trust them the same way I trust my other friends (like with problems I have etc.) but it’s a weird bond there. People I know from Kuk Sool tell me things even though they don’t know me that well; they talk to me about stuff in their lives and they only see me once or twice a week! I don’t know how that would happen in any other situation. I mean, I have regular conversations with a Mother of two children under the age of 12, and we get on really well and have a laugh – tell me how I would find myself in that situation without Kuk Sool?

At Kuk Sool, I don’t feel the pressure of hiding who I am (even though I’m doing it) because there’s always something happening and people don’t really care. It’s something I find difficult to explain. Plus, the banter between people is brilliant!

One thing that is repeated over and over and really forced through (and the phrase I hear more often than, “how are you?”) is:

“We need more practise”

This is further proof of why I absolutely adore Kuk Sool Won. There is no such thing as being perfect and no one ever expects you to be. There is always some improvement you can make, and because of this, members (should) practise everything they have been taught – even Masters practise everything from white belt level up. This phrase has become my motto for life. I absolutely love it. I’ve applied it to everything in my life. Examples? Okay.

·         A relationship is having problems – need to work at it – practise.

·         Struggling in a subject at school – need to get help – practise.

·         A joke you try out doesn’t work – need to fix it – practise.

Everything I do can be improved with practise. That’s why people often think I’m a perfectionist. The fact is I – kind of – am. I like to make everything as good as it possibly can be. My writing; my friendships; the organisation of my things and (of course) my Kuk Sool Won, along with many other things. I will admit, my OCD does have a lot to do with it but the phrase, “we need more practise” is key in me being content in my life. If I know I’m trying my hardest and working at everything to the best of my ability then I can’t be disappointed at my efforts.

At Kuk Sool Won your effort is recognised; your ability is praised and people are always willing to help you improve on anything you’re stuck with. This is really important for me as (people who know me will agree) I am naturally very self-deprecating so having people (who know what they are talking about) telling me how I’m getting on and getting this constant feedback reduces my negativity and boost my confidence and self-belief. Totally selfish reasons to love something but what ever.

So, that is basically why I am so passionate about Kuk Sool Won. I could probably say more about why it’s the most incredible thing on the planet and why I think everyone should at least give it a go. But I don’t think I could ever do it justice. I’ve got my little family in there who treat me with kindness and respect (as I do, them); I’ve gained new experiences and better social skills because of them and I’m part of this huge network of people who respect me and are as polite to me as I am to them. And to think, this is all down to one incredible man who is dedicated to promoting love and respect and making the world a better place. That just blows my mind.

I love Kuk Sool Won with all my heart and I know it will remain a part of my life until the day I die. If I wasn’t serious about that then I wouldn’t be getting the logo tattooed on me, would I?