| Many people walk to the corner mall, walk into their | | | | The communist forces surged across the 38th parallel |
| Korean Martial Arts dojo, and train in nice, neat | | | | on the attack, causing a mass exodus the length of |
| uniforms, watching themselves in wall sized mirrors, hit | | | | the peninsula. Farmers were conscripted into the vast |
| bags in between sips of their designer water, and think | | | | communist armed forces, given no rifles, and put into |
| that they are doing the die hard Tae Kwon Do. What | | | | massive meat grinder attacks. If the peasants lived |
| these people should know is some of the history of | | | | through the terrile carnage of war, they had to endure |
| Korean Karate, and particularly of Korean Karate. | | | | a winter with temperatures often at 30 degrees below |
| They will find that that polite kick punch combination | | | | zero. |
| they are practicing was born in hell, perfected in hades, | | | | Those that managed to survive the winters, and the |
| and then things got nasty. | | | | spring attack of the UN forces, continued with their |
| Just to let you know, this bit of scribble is speaking of | | | | study of the martial arts. That's right, in the middle of all |
| the history of the kwans from Korea of the fifties. This | | | | the slaughter, in spite of the weather and starvation, |
| includes the nine major kwans, which are Sung Moo | | | | the nine kwans survived. Indeed, they grew. |
| Kwan, Chang Moo Kwan, Chung Du Kwan, Moo Duk | | | | One tale that made me blink hard in awe of these |
| Kwan, Yun Moo Kwan, Han Moo Kwan, Oh Do Kwan, | | | | incredible people was that, when the battle front |
| Kang Duk Won, Jung Do Kwan. There are other | | | | approached, the students would pick up the planks of |
| Kwans that grew from these nine, but these nine are | | | | their dojos and head south. That's right, they didn't |
| the main ones. | | | | even nail the boards to the floor beams, because they |
| Korea is a rugged, little spit of land, about half the size | | | | knew they would be on the run, and they perfected |
| of California,sticking out from the Asian continent. It is a | | | | their jumping, spinning kicks on unsecured, splintered, |
| land equal in plains and eternal mountain ranges. It | | | | weathered planks. Got a splinter jammed in your |
| experiences extremes of typhoonal rains, siberian cold, | | | | arch...pick it out and keep going, because that's the |
| and brain broiling heat. | | | | martial arts. |
| Throughout the ages, Korea has endured countless | | | | So enjoy the fur lined bags and gaudy mirrors, and |
| wars. The Japanese reigned in the first half of the last | | | | toast your designer water in appreciation. That Korean |
| century, and in the early fifties Korea became the | | | | Karate you are studying was built by gods, and it is a |
| battleground between the free world and communism. | | | | legacy dripping with blood and death and tears. And |
| Thus, this peanut of land hosted the onslaught of million | | | | when you bow...kow tow to the floor, your ancestors |
| man armies, and the populace was in constant flight, or | | | | deserve it. |
| murdered outright. | | | | |