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In 1974, Dr. Kimm heard that Grandmaster Suh In-hyuk and two
other masters, Park Myung-kyu and Park Young-Il, was teaching
Kuk Sool in New Orleans. Dr. Kimm visited Grandmaster Suh one
weekend and they soon became close friends. They then decided
to work together to teach Grandmaster Suh's art, Kuk Sool, and
Dr. Kimm's art, Hapkido. They decided to call this combination
Kuk Sool-Hapkido. The major reason for them to work together was
for mutual benefit. Dr. Kimm could learn more Kuk Sool techniques
from the Grandmaster and he could then spread Kuk Sool faster
in this country due to Dr. Kimm's established foundation and connections
among other masters and martial arts magazine. From 1974 to 1987,
they worked very hard to spread Kuk Sool-Hapkido.
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Grandmaster Kang Suh-jong and Kimm He-Young
at the Southern Tae Kwon Do Championship, 1972.
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Dr. Kimm discussed this new venture
of Kuk Sool-Hapkido with Park Lee hyun, Chairman of the American
Hapkido Association (AHA). Park Lee-hyun and Grandmaster Suh had
personality differences and never associated with one another.
Master Park insisted that the AHA remain under the control of
the World Mu Sool Kwan Association. From Master Park's viewpoint,
Dr. Kimm betrayed the AHA and gone to the world Kuk Sool Association.
Dr. Kimm told Master Park that the AHA needed more techniques
if they wanted to become a bigger association in the future. In
this light, Dr. Kimm asked that Master Park take over the Association
as President. He agreed and maintained this office until his death
in 1987.
Dr. Kimm sponsored a
seminar at Louisiana State University which was jointly sponsored
by the World Kuk Sool Association and the American Hapkido Association.
The AHA students attended in white uniforms and Kuk Sool students
attended in black uniforms.
The state of Hawaii sponsored a celebration of the 75th Anniversary
of the Korean Immigration to Hawaii in 1978. Two weeks declared
as "Korean Weeks." The Korean government sent traditional
Korean folk dancing teams, music teams, and martial arts teams
to perform demonstrations at the Hilton Hotel Grand Ballroom.
Many Korean industrial groups displayed products made by their
respective companies. As a traditional martial arts team, Kuk
Sool Won was chosen. The nine members of the demonstration team
from Korea were Lee Choon-duk, Park Jae-choon, Jo Sung-sam, Lee
Choon-ok, Seo In-sun, Kim Sun-deuk, Yang Choon-shik, Jo Chun-soo,
and Park Jun-hee. Kuk Sool also sent two members from the United
States, Suh In hyuk and Dr. Kimm. The Tae Kwon Do instructors
in Hawaii helped in providing mats, transportation, and food during
their stay. They also took the Korean team sightseeing in their
spare time. The event was held in February when most of the United
States was experiencing cold weather. Spectators came from all
over the world, many of them to escape the cold weather.
The Korean team not only performed the demonstrations at the
Hilton, but also visited the Army Hospital and performed a demonstration
for the veterans of the Korean War (1950-1953). Many veterans
hospitalized there had been wounded during the war and would remain
there until they die. The Korean expressed gratitude of the deeds
that the veterans had performed for their country. The demonstrations
did not always go well. Seo In-sun was experiencing muscle aches,
fever, and other flu symptoms but never missed the evening demonstrations.
He performed fan techniques and breaking techniques using a back
spinning kick. Each time he attempted the breaking techniques,
everyone prayed that he would have enough strength in his legs
to complete the break successfully. He never missed.
One of the projects of Grandmaster Suh and Dr. Kimm was to hold
the World Kuk Sool Tournament in Korea. In 1982, one hundred and
twenty-five Kuk Sool students from the United States and Mexico
attended the 1st Kuk Sool Championships in Pusan, Korea. Forty
Mexican students not only studied Kuk Sool, but also Okinawian
Karate as taught by Professor Antonio Marquez. The had been learning
Kuk Sool-Hapkido from Dr. Kimm since 1975. Seminars were held
yearly in the United States and Dr. Kimm traveled to Mexico yearly
to teach a seminar which the Mexican students attended. They had
no difficulties in competing in Soo (self-defense) techniques,
forms and free sparring. Dr. Kimm still conducts seminars n Mexico
and maintains a good relationship with Professor Marquez, as well
as with Professor Moon Dae won, Professor Sergio Chavez and Dr.
Kalb Montregon.
Dr. Kimm drafted the
competition rules for the 1st Kuk Sool Champion ship after examining
competition rules from various martial arts organizations throughout
the world. Dr. Kimm went to Korea and explained the rules one
by one to the Black Belt referees and judges. They had no objections
to most of the rules. One exception was the rule excluding low
spinning kicks since this was one of the main weapons. They did
not understand the danger of this technique. The Koo Duk Gym in
Pusan, where the tournament was held, had a concrete floor with
no mats. Dr. Kimm explained that the main purpose of holding a
tournament was to develop a good relationship between the Korean
Kuk Sool students and the foreign Kuk Sool students. Dr. Kimm
told them that the Koreans are the hosts and that they had to
treat their guests with good hospitality. It was Dr. Kimm's opinion
that completing tournaments without injuries was more important
than one side getting more trophies than the other side. A Black
Belt said that they were hosting this tournament and that they
did not have many trophies since they did not compete very often.
He said that the Americans and Mexicans were given more opportunities
to compete in tournaments. He was concerned about what the Korean
media would say about the quality of Kuk Sool in Korea if the
foreigners won more of the trophies. Dr. Kimm did not have a response
for his logical argument and called for a vote on the issue of
the low spinning kick rule. Most of the group voted not to allow
this kick in competition. The Championship went very well with
no injuries. The judges and referees worked very hard to keep
the matches running smoothly.
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