February 16, 2013, the International Chayon-Ryu Martial Arts Association celebrated the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Chayon-Ryu Martial Arts System. A banquet honoring Grandmaster Kim Soo, and his 45 year journey to bring Chayon-Ryu to the United States was held.
Grandmaster Kim Soo delivered his Anniversary address to the black belts and students of Chayon-Ryu:
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| Grandmaster Kim Soo |
Good evening, I am very happy to see you all here tonight!
My family, friends, instructors, and students. We are all here, together to
celebrate 45 years of Chayon Ryu; in addition, I want you to look forward with
me to the future of our system.
Leading up to 1968, I had been planning to leave Korea to
teach abroad. I already had offers from a number of different countries to come
teach: the Philippines, Mexico, Canada, and Columbia. But I turned all of these
down, and chose to come to America instead.
Why?
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| Grandmaster Yoon |
Martial Arts as education, as a pure art, as
tradition, as a means of helping so many people improve the quality of their
lives. This has made such a profound difference in my own life, and in the
lives of the people I had already taught so far. How could I not do everything
I could to preserve these traditional values, to continue to share them with
people wherever I could?
People in Korea who were considering a move all the way
across the Pacific, to this country, wanted to settle in places where there was
already a strong Korean community. Of course, it’s much easier, and more
comfortable, to have that safety net and community. But I wanted to have a
clean slate – to go somewhere where there weren’t any major figures already
teaching! There were people in California, in New York, in Washington. But
nobody in the south; nobody in Texas. Everybody was afraid to come to Texas!
They only knew what they’d seen in movies; and besides, why would I go
somewhere where there weren’t any Koreans? That was exactly the point.
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| Grandmaster at the airport about to depart for America 1968. |
I applied for a green card on my own – no lawyer, no official assistance. I thought carefully about what I was going to say, and prepared as much as I could. It was very expensive, applying for the green card! And no guarantee that I would be approved.
The person in the immigration office
was a huge man, so stern and mean looking. I saw down in his office, and he
scowled at me across his desk, and said, ‘Why do you want to live in America?’
I was so nervous… my mind went blank! I forgot everything! All that preparation
I had done – gone!
I looked at him, and said… ‘American needs me!’ He looked so
surprised. America needs GOOD teachers! Sure, there are plenty of people who
can teach how to kick and punch and fight; but who is teaching form, and
classic traditional forms, and knows what they mean? Who is teaching for your
health, for your quality of life?
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| Grandmaster's press credentials for Black Belt Magazine. |
I gave him my resume: how I was the first
Korean correspondent for Black Belt magazine, taught the U.S. and Korean
armies, trained the bodyguards for the first Korean president. I talked about
two forms: No Hai and Wan Shu. What the names mean, and how every movement in
the forms have meaning.
He slammed his hand down on his
desk, very hard! I was startled, and worried that was a bad sign. He stood up
from behind his desk… and stuck out his hand to shake mine! He granted me
‘third preference’ status on my new green card – no boss, no need to have an
employer or sponsor. I was going to be independent. Third preference was the
highest level granted on a green card; it’s what was granted to doctors,
lawyers, professors. I was termed ‘Professor of Martial Arts’ – to teach
American teachers.
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| Politics, ego, race should be left outside, teachers should be mindful and humble. |
I want to talk for a moment about our system. Ours. Tonight
is not about me; it’s about 45 years, so far, of training, of teaching, of continuously
developing and refining the teaching method, of promoting more black belts so
that YOU can turn around and teach as well. Our school, our Chayon Ryu system,
should be preserved, protected, and continue to grow to help you, to help each
other, to help future new students and future instructors. To foster these
goals, we must focus ourselves on the training, and teaching. I do not want to
see conflicts between individuals harm our higher goals. We all have different
backgrounds, different origins; different political beliefs and so on. When we
are together to train, to teach, to clean the dojang, that is our time to focus
on our personal development and to help other people and our school. Conflicts
over things like politics, ego, race, and so on should be left outside! Smile,
help each other with your training, and focus on positive things in your life.
Teachers: I want you to be
mindful to be humble, kind, and generous to everyone around you. Teachers
should make the information accessible to the students. Do not use your
position as an instructor for outside reasons – not to promote your outside
businesses, or church, etc.
I want to thank all the students who have worked to make
this evening a success, and everyone for coming together this evening to
celebrate our first 45 years of Chayon Ryu. I would like to meet everyone again
at our 50th Anniversary!
Martial Arts is my first priority; my mission in life, not
my business. I will teach until I die – there is no retiring.
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additional photography: Kenneth Young, Kingwood Chayon-Ryu
additional photography: Kenneth Young, Kingwood Chayon-Ryu
