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In 1989, the Korean government sponsored the Friendly Sports
competition for Overseas Koreans. Dr. Kimm participated as one
of the Korean representatives for the United States. At this event,
Dr. Kimm had the opportunity to meet Grandmaster Suh jang-hak.
He was serving as the Head of the Referees' Committee at the Kum
Do tournament. Dr. Kimm introduced himself and told Grandmaster
Suh that he had seen his "rice straw" demonstration
in 1958 at the party for President Rhee. It was an honor to finally
be able to express his admiration of the grandmaster's skills.
He told Grandmaster Suh that he had always hoped that their paths
would cross again and that he would someday learn more about martial
art wisdom from him. Despite his busy schedule, Grandmaster Suh
was able to find some time to spend with Dr. Kimm.
During their conversation, Grandmaster Suh said that in any kind
of martial arts, the eye is the most important factor in winning
or loosing a match. He explained that you must look at the opponent
as though you were looking for a remote mountain. Grandmaster
Suh also said that you should try not to see only one leaf on
a tree, but the entire forest on the mountainside. Using the same
logic, you should see only one part of the opponent's body, but
observe him from head to toe. He continued by saying that it is
important to see the opponent with your mind's eye so that you
can predict his next move. When you can correctly predict the
opponent's movements, your mind can formulate an attack or a counter-attack.
Grandmaster Suh told Dr. Kimm that, in order to open the mind's
eye, you must practice basic techniques repeatedly until your
physical eye becomes one with your foot movements, your body will
respond naturally. He also stated that martial arts were a tool
used to train out physical bodies and, at the same time, the mind.
Dr. Kimm had the opportunity to meet Grandmaster Lee Won-kuk,
in the Spring of 1987 at his home in Alexandria, Virginia. Grandmaster
Lee was the founder of Chung Do Kwan. He was the teacher of many
students who eventually assumed very powerful positions within
the martial arts arena. Some of those students were Son Duk-sung,
the second President of the Chung Do Kwan and the current President
of the World Tae Kwon Do Association; Kang Suh-jong, the current
President of Kuk Moo Kwan and former President of the American
Tae Kwon Do Association; Um Eung-kyu, the current President of
the Chung Do Kwan and former Vice President of the Korea Tae Kwon
Do Association, the Kuk Ki Won, and the World Tae Kwon Do Federation;
Man Tae-hi, the former President of the Oh Do Kwan; Ko Jae chun,
the former Director of the Korean Army Taw Kwon Do Groups in Vietnam;
Cha Ji-chul, the former Director of the Korean Secret Service
Agency in the later 1970's; Park Hai-man, the Chief Organizer
of the Tae Kwon Do Games in the 1958 Seoul Olympic Games; and
Jhoon Rhee, the father of American Tae Kwon Do.
Dr. Kimm asked Grandmaster
Lee what his secret was to produce so many Grandmasters, Masters,
and Black Belts. He was a very gentle and kind man who was eager
to share his secret to success in martial arts. In the Fall of
1944, he was the first person to open a Tang Soo Do school in
Korea. He explained that besides teaching techniques, the teacher
and the student had to understand two fundamental elements in
martial arts training: the first element was what the teacher
could do for his students and the second element was what the
students could do for their teacher.
As a martial arts teacher, he said that the teacher must always
be strict with his students in teaching and training techniques
as well as maintaining a virtuous moral code in the dojang. With
this type of teaching, students learn true martial arts and are
able to endure hardships during their training. Students who carried
out those requirements were taught personally by the head teacher.
Martial arts students must never forget to appreciate their teacher.
At the same time, students should always strive to have better
techniques and a higher moral character than their teacher. Grandmaster
Lee the compared this to an old saying, "The color green
comes from the color blue, but the color green is brighter than
the color blue. The ice comes from water, but ice is colder than
water." In other words, the student is always better than
his teacher. He continued by saying that martial arts will have
a bright future if students live by these ideas. When a student
does become better than his teacher, he must always remain humble
and never forget to appreciate the techniques and moral code that
he learned from his teacher. Once a student becomes a master,
he should not forget that his position was a joint effort of both
his and his teacher's sweat. Without the teacher, he could not
have ever reached the level of master just as there is not ice
without water and no green color without blue.
Dr. Kimm visited Seoul in the Summer of 1991. During this visit,
he spent one week learning Ki accumulations and circulation from
grandmaster Kwon Tae hoon. He was ninety-two year old and was
assisted by his student who was a seventy five year old master.
As Dr. Kimm sat beside Grandmaster Kwon, he noticed that the Grandmaster
read a book without glasses that Dr. Kimm himself could not read
without his glasses. Dr. Kimm felt ashamed that he had to pull
them out of his pocket and place them on his face. This shame
continued until graduation when Dr. Kimm placed first among the
fifty graduating students.
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