THE POWER OF SPEED, ENERGY, CONFIDENCE AND STRENGTH “Students, line up (yes sir!) Cha Ri-Ut! Jung-Ja! Kuk-Ki Dae Kyung-nea Ba-ro! Won-Ki Dae Kyung-nea, (Kuk Sool) Ba-ro! Kuk Sa Nym Dae Kyung-nea (Kuk Sool) Ba-ro! Kwan Jang Nym Dae Kyung-nea (Kuk Sool) Ba-ro! Kyo Sa Nym Dae Kyung-nea (Kuk Sool) Ba-ro! Jo Kyo Nym Dae Kyung-nea (Kuk Sool) Ba-ro! Bu-Tak Ham-Ni-Da (Bu-Tak Ham-Ni-Da) Ba-ro!” (Sareyvoth). These are the first sounds of the Kuk Sool class starting; the instructor and students are ready to begin. The feeling of everyday stress has gone away now the students can become one with themselves and experience true confidence! Kicking techniques, pressure points, board breaking, the feeling of confidence and more, all can be found in the Korean martial art of Kuk Sool Won.Thousands of years ago different styles of Korean martial arts where combined to create Kuk Sool Won (Tan). However, it was not until the war of World War II that Kuk Sool Won really came into affect (Hallander, “Come” 20). The outlawing of guns caused criminals to carry knifes; and therefore, law enforcement officers in Korea were taught Kuk Sool Won as self-defense (20). There are over 3,600 different techniques in Kuk Sool Won (Tan). “Two things determine the techniques: ranking and how the martial artist is being attacked”, Tan explains. Ranking is the color of the belt and the advancement of the belt color. Many popular techniques are the soft fighting techniques, such as joint locks, pressure points, grabbing techniques and throws (Hallander, “Come” 20).Defense submission techniques, also called “Yun Hang Sool,” are some of the most powerful techniques in Kuk Sool Won (Hallander, “Come” 22). Yun Hang Sool translates into the phrase “connect” (Yun), “go” (Hang) and “technique” (Sool). The Yun Hang Sool techniques are referred to as “come-alongs”...
