17 July 2009

Hwang Su-Il

(Are you looking for information on Master Hwang Su-Il's gym in Japan? See this post.) 

I've met Master Hwang Su-Il on one or two occasions and found him to be a very friendly and humble person. During one formal occasion he quickly noticed that I do not drink (I'm a teetotaller), so he helped me out in a sticky situation: alcohol is a very integrative part in Korean social life and often at such formal events, a lot of toasting and drinking occurs. If you do not participate, it might be seen as an insult to your guests. First, he indicated to me to allow someone to pour me a drink, and to use this glass to toast with. Then he immediately ordered me some sodas and tea to drink.

Hwang Su-Il is Japanese-Korean; he is Korean but was born in Japan -- 3rd generation -- and still lives there. You might be more familiar with him as the character Hwoarang in the Tekken-game series. He was used for the first motion capture of this fighting game character, introduced in Tekken 3.

My instructor here in Korea told me earlier this week that there is a possibility that Hwang Su-Il will be the chief examiner on the panel to test me for 4th Dan, around September/October. Of course this makes me a little nervous, since the Japanese standard is exceptionally high.

Below is a YouTube-video of Hwang Su-Il in action.

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