# Willie Nelson, 5th-Degree Black Belt



## arnisador (May 2, 2014)

*Willie Nelson Celebrates His 81st Birthday by Earning a 5th-Degree Black Belt*




> *You may know him as a country music star but you may not know he's been practicing Korean martial arts for 20 years.*
> 
> Willie Nelson is always on our minds, but especially this week, because hes celebrating his 81st birthday. And also because on Monday, the legendary singer received his fifth-degree black belt in GongKwon Yusul, a martial art which hes been practicing for 20 years.


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## Dirty Dog (May 3, 2014)

The article isn't very specific, but it does quote him as saying he had 'never thought beyond 2nd degree', which makes me wonder if this wasn't some sort of honorary/publicity stunt award.


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## arnisador (May 3, 2014)

I rather expect it is--he's a fifth degree black belt in a style created in 1996 (according to Wikipedia).


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## tshadowchaser (May 3, 2014)

even so it promotes the arts.  The articular I read said he had been practicing for two decades which means he started around his 60th birthday.


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## Takai (May 3, 2014)

Congrats to him. As far as publicity is concerned, this is one of his better examples of being a role model.


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## Steve (May 3, 2014)

How can one study in an art for longer than it has existed?  I'm confused.


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## ballen0351 (May 3, 2014)

> During his childhood, Nelson grew interested in martial arts. He ordered by mail the self-defense books advertised on the Batman and Superman comics, which included jujitsu and Judo. Nelson started to formally practice Kung Fu after he moved to Nashville, in the 1960s.[170] During the 1980s, Nelson started to train on Tae Kwon Do, in which he holds a second-degree blackbelt.[171][172] During the 1990s, Nelson started to practice the Korean martial art GongKwon Yusul.[173] In 2014, after twenty years on the discipline, his Grand Master Sam Um presented him with a fifth-degree black belt on a ceremony held in Austin, Texas



since he was already a 2nd degree in TKD. He may have been fast tracked in the new style


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