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KONG SU DO (Kong Soo Do)

Kong Su is the Korean translation of the ideograms "kara te". A brief history is as follows:

Under the Japanese rule (which lasted until 1945), many Koreans fled the country to China, while others moved to the mainland in order to receive a Japanese education in hopes of securing a better future. Whilst native Korean martial practices was under ban, the Korean people were indeed allowed to participate in and learn Japanese martial arts such as Kendo (known in Korean as Gumdo), Judo (known in Korean as Yudo), Jujutsu (known in Korean as Yusool), and Karate (known in Korean as Kong Soo Do).

Robert E. Dohrenwend wrote multi-issue article called "Tae Kwon Do: An Historical Appraisal" for Dragon Times (now Classical Fighting Arts magazine). In it he lays out the kwans (gyms, organizations) that were formed roughly around the end of WWII.

He states "In 1931, Yi, Kyung Suk founded the Chosun Yun Moo Kwan, a judo dojo in Seol, Korea. In 1945, Yi Kyung Suk asked Sup Jun Sang to open a karate program at the Yun Moo Kwan. Sup Jun Sang then brought in Yun, Byung In to teach a karate program called the Chosun Yun Moo Kwan Kwon Bup Bu. Yun, Byung In instructed for aproximately six months, more or less, before opening his own school. Sup Jun Sang took over the karate instructrion himself and continued in that capacity until the Korean War."

In roughly 1958, a Korean medical student named Moon Yo Woo came to Portland, Oregon to go to
medical school. He established the Yan Mu Kwan (that's how he spelled it) and taught Kongsu. He even wrote and privately published a book on it in 1964 (see above). He taught Kongsu to Bruce Terrill, who in turn, established the Oregon Karate Association.

My first karate training began in 1966 in Kong Su. It was at the Marshall Recreation Center in Vancouver, Washington. Kong Su was taught there by Loren Christensen and Mike Engeln. I learned the first five Pyung Ahn forms and Chulgi (Tekki shodan) from them and the forms Bassai and Sipsu from Bob Komlofske. In 1969, the Oregon Karate Association discontinued the practice of Kongsu.

In 2009 I reconnected with my roots by finding one of the few remaining practitiners of Kongsu, Patrick Baas http://www.samlungdojang.nl/www/pages/kongsoodo_frame-eng.htm. I will begin teaching this traditional karate style on Monday and Wednesday night from 7:00 to 8:00 pm beginning in 2010.