|
page 1 | 2 | 3
| 4 | 5 | 6
| 7 | 8 | 9
| 10 | 11 |
12
In 1956, during Dr. Kimm's freshman
year in high school, an incident occurred that would affect and
direct his life for the next forty years. One day after returning
from his classes, Dr. Kimm fell asleep and had a strange dream.
He could see a beggar approaching him, and with a smiling face
the beggar gave him a Korean rice cake and told him to eat it.
Dr. Kimm violently refused and awoke from his nap with an uneasy
feeling. He remembered a compulsion inside him that made him feel
that he must leave the boarding house and return home right away.
As soon as school was out on Saturday, Dr. Kimm caught a train
and left for his parent's home. When Dr. Kimm arrived at his family's
home he could hear his entire family crying. They all were kneeling
on the floor and his father was lying on the floors between them.
Dr. Kimm learned that his father had been playing cards and gambling
with Kwon Oh-ik, on of four Kwon brothers. As one would expect,
a small disagreement turned into an argument which turned into
a big fight, resulting in the four Kwon brothers assaulting Dr.
Kimm's father. Both families had been rivals for several generations
but most of the time there had been peaceful co-existence. From
time to time both families were involved in frictions and this
card-playing incident was just another example of friction.
Severely injured, Dr. Kimm's father had to be carried home and
was later admitted into a hospital in Suwon City where he stayed
for approximately six months. The Dr. Kimm family pursued legal
battle for three years which, along with the medical bills, accumulated
into sizable debts. Although the court battles were won by the
Dr. Kimm family, the compensation amount was not enough to pay
all the debts that had been incurred. In order to pay the remaining
debts, they had to sell the family land.
  |
Dr. He-Young Kimm, 1957 |
| |
Suddenly, Dr. Kimm was cast into the whole ugly picture and had
to become a principal. In this situation where Confucianism still
dominated the society morals, traditionally it was his duty as
the eldest son to revenge his father's honor. He realized that
his few years of martial arts training from school were far from
adequate if he was to fight four brothers. Dr. Kimm's first thought
was to join the police academy, get a gun, and revenge his father
in that way. In Korea civilians were not allowed to own any type
of firearm, so the police academy was his only source for a gun.
That idea never materialized because the academy required a high
school diploma and Dr. Kimm was too young. All that remained was
for Dr. Kimm to practice many different types of martial arts
that would enable him to defeat the four brothers. Then, after
three years, he would visit the Kwon brothers for revenge. Dr.
Kimm finally decided on this course of action.
The training that followed was demanding. Routinely, Dr. Kimm
got up before sunrise and ran barefoot towards the mountain (the
same mountain where Korea University is now located). Atop the
mountain, Dr. Kimm practiced breath control and ki techniques
that would help him move ki from one place in his body to another
and to concentrate it in a single spot according to need.
At East High School, Dr. Kimm practiced Yudo and Bi-Sool (self-defense)
under Grandmaster Song Kwang-sub. The unique self-defense of Bi
Sool was the defense against knife attack and big throwing circles.
Grandmaster Song always insisted to his students that your mind
and body must be one and be gentle and soft like cotton or flowing
water. He also maintained that you had to be able to adapt to
new situations. In other words, if your body was stiff or frozen,
you could not move quickly. He always compares this type of gentleness
to the branches of the willow trees. When snow and ice piles on
the branches of the oak trees, the branches will break. Snow and
ice cannot pile up on willow trees due to the flexibility of the
branches. Using this logic, when an opponent punches, the power
of all his punches will be absorbed if your body is soft or relaxed
as the willow tree branches and you will receive minimum impact.
Simultaneously, your mind must not be stiff so that you can move
quickly to avoid an attack.
Dr. Kimm also attended East Gate dojang where he trained under
Grandmaster Kim Jong-chun and also became aquatinted with Dr.
Min Kwan shik who later became Minister of Education. Dr. Kimm
also attended Central Yudo School where he trained under Grandmaster
Bang Young-doo, the head instructor of the Korean Police Headquarters.
Dr. Kimm also attended Korea Gym where he trained under Grandmaster
Yu Sook-dong and also received instructions in Kong Soo Do and
boxing. Dr. Kimm recalls that both East Gate Gym and Korea Gym
were built with Army tents and that is was hard training due to
the extreme hot in the summer and extreme cold in the winter.
There was no heat in the winter or fans in the summer. The changing
seasons meant nothing to him. The weather conditions never prevented
him from studying or practicing his martial arts.
|
