Although I have around ten years of intermittent Taekkyun experience, I joined some friends last month for an introductory workshop in Taekkyeon. This year (#2020) presented few opportunities to train martial arts with friends, so when the Kyullyun Taekkyeon Headquarters asked me if I wanted to introduce a few of my friends to Taekkyeon I was more than eager.
Let me first give some context. The City of Seoul sponsors a certain number of foreigners to take introductory lessons in selected traditional Korean activities. One of them is Taekkyeon and due to the pandemic, the Kyullyun Taekkyeon Headquarters had not filled their quota for the year, so they asked me if I knew of a couple of foreign friends in Seoul who'd be interested. I immediately had two people in mind, acquaintances that I knew through social media. The one is a dancer with experience in traditional Korean dance and the other one is a model with experience in Hapkido. They were perfect candidates, I thought, to appreciate this traditional Korean activity. I was particularly curious to see which of the two would catch it the quickest, the one who understood Korean body culture the best or the one who practised a Korean martial art, albeit quite a different style.
I expected the class to be taught by one of the lower ranking instructors, but to my surprise Master Ki-Hyun Do (the president of Kyullyun Taekkyeon) graced us as the teacher on the day. Master Do is one of my favourite grandmasters. Always friendly, always humble, always passionate.
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| Dr. Sanko Lewis & Master Ki-Hyun Do |
The lesson included some theory, basic etiquette, traditional breathing, the basic stepping pumbalbgi, some kicks and simple strikes. It was a very well structured workshop aimed at people with no prior knowledge of Taekkyeon. While I was quite familiar with these basic movements, I found it delightful nonetheless. It is also nice to be a student sometimes. I've been an instructor for over 20 years and also work as a professor, so most of my life I spend in teaching mode. I therefore really enjoy those times when I can just step back and be a student.
While I'm beyond the basics, it was still sweet of them to also give me a certificate to prove that I can do pumbalbgi #품밟기! 😅
Thank you to the Kyullyun Taekkyun Federation, Master Do and my friends Josh and Alessandro for a fun afternoon.
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