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[I:http://freearticlepool.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/AlCase34.jpg]Many people walk to the corner mall, walk into their Korean Martial Arts dojo, and train in nice, neat uniforms, watching themselves in wall sized mirrors, kick soft and well hung bags, and think that they are doing hard core Tae Kwon Do. These people should learn some beginnings of Korean Karate. They will find that that polite block and kick combo they are practicing was born in hell, perfected in hades, and then things got nasty.

Just to let you know, this bit of scribble is speaking of the history of the kwans from Korea of the fifties. This includes the nine major kwans, which are Sung Moo Kwan, Chang Moo Kwan, Chung Du Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, Yun Moo Kwan, Han Moo Kwan, Oh Do Kwan, Kang Duk Won, Jung Do Kwan. There are other Kwans that grew from these nine, but these nine are the main ones.

Korea is a rugged, little spit of land, about half the size of California, jutting from the Asian continent. It is a land built of plains and eternal mountain ranges. It experiences extremes of siberian cold, baking heat, and typhoonal rains.

Throughout its history, Korea has been embroiled in countless wars. The Japanese held sway during the first half of the last century, and in the early fifties Korea became the battleground between the free world and communist forces. Thus, this small bit of land came under the boot heel of million man armies, and the people were in constant flight, or killed outright.

The communist forces surged across the 38th parallel on the attack, causing a mass exodus the length of the peninsula. Farmers were conscripted into the vast communist armed forces, given no rifles, and put into massive meat grinder attacks. If the peasants lived through the terrile carnage of war, they had to endure a winter with temperatures often at 30 degrees below zero.

Those that managed to survive the winters, and the spring attack of the UN forces, continued with their study of the martial arts. That’s right, in the middle of all the slaughter, in spite of the weather and starvation, the nine kwans survived. Indeed, they grew.

One tale that made me blink hard in awe of these incredible people was that, when the battle front approached, the students would pick up the planks of their dojos and head south. That’s right, they didn’t even nail the boards to the floor beams, because they knew they would be on the run, and they perfected their jumping, spinning kicks on unsecured, splintered, weathered planks. Got a splinter jammed in your arch…pick it out and keep going, because that’s the martial arts.

So enjoy your matts and mirrors, and sip your designer water in appreciation. That Tae Kwon Do you are practicing was forged by supermen, and it is a legacy dripping with blood and sweat and hardship. And when you bow…bow extra low, your ancestors deserve it.

Al Case has delved into Korean martial arts 4O+ years. He has written a book and produced a video on the Kang Duk Won, and it is available at Monster Martial Arts.