# Kong Su Do Forms



## Dan Anderson (Dec 10, 2009)

Just put up a video of me doing some forms I learned ~40 years ago. These are from Kongsu, a pre-taekwondo style taught in Korea prior to unification of the kwans. Not so bad for an old buzzard...except for Sipsu (my worst kata). Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA1Lrk--IN4

Yours,
Dan Anderson


----------



## terryl965 (Dec 10, 2009)

I see I have already replied on the other thread, sorry.


----------



## dancingalone (Dec 11, 2009)

I enjoyed viewing your performance, Mr. Anderson.  Do you know which Korean your Kong Su Do came from?  I've always wondered why the Korean version of the double knife hand blocks are formed the way they are, and it would be fun to ask someone from around that time if they knew the reason why.


----------



## Master K (Dec 11, 2009)

Prof. Anderson,

Thanks for sharing.  It was nice to see some old forms.

Respectfully,
K


----------



## Dan Anderson (Dec 11, 2009)

dancingalone said:


> I enjoyed viewing your performance, Mr. Anderson. Do you know which Korean your Kong Su Do came from? I've always wondered why the Korean version of the double knife hand blocks are formed the way they are, and it would be fun to ask someone from around that time if they knew the reason why.


Robert E. Dohrenwend wrote a 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 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 his table laying out the early kwans, beside the name of Yun, Byung In he has_ "Shudokan (Kanken Toyama)"_ and Sup Jun Sang he has _"Shotokan (?)"._ It is a historical fact that a number of Korean students trained in Japanese karate during their university schooling in Japan. Won Kuk Yi was probably one of the first as per the article _"Won Kuk Yi stated he was instructed in Tang Su Do (Shotokan karate) when he attended a university in Japan in the 1920's. Byung Jik Ro (No, Noh) was said to have trained in Japan after 1936, directly under Gichin Funakoshi. yun, Byung In, the founder of the Chang Moo Kwan, was a college student in Japan during the 40's"_

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. He taught Kongsu to Bruce Terrill, who in turn, established the Oregon Karate Association. I began karate in 1966 at a sattellite school run by a student of his, Loren Christensen. I learned Kongu from Loren and his partner, Mike Engeln. I learned the first five Pyung Ahn forms and Chulgi (Tekki shodan) from them. I learned Bassai and Sipsu from another black belt of Bruce's, Bob Komlofske. My first suspicion that Kongsu was Shotokan based was when I bought the book Karate-Do Kyohan, the Tsutomu Ohshima translation. The way he does the kata therein are nearly identical to what I learned. In 1969, Bruce established an American Style with a Chinese name, Wu Ying Mun, and the Kongsu forms wer discontinued.

To answer your other question regarding the knife hand block, if you YouTube some of the Shorinryu kata, (the earlier the better) you will see the rear hand starting out from behind the practitioner instead of in front. My theory on this is that it is probably a modification made by Yoshitaka (Gigo) Funakoshi. Gigo made a number of modifications while his father was alive, most notably the inclusion of round kick and side kick while also elongating the stances. If you look at the early Shorinryu kata, the stances are much more compact.

I hope this answers your questions.

Yours,
Dan Anderson


----------



## xfighter88 (Dec 20, 2009)

Not If those forms look really cool because I am not used to them or because they are really that interesting. Regarless... nice work I love seeing all the different styles of TKDish forms and it's good to see people keeping the more historical forms alive.


----------



## SahBumNimRush (Dec 20, 2009)

Dan, I practice those traditional forms in our Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do association.  (3) Kee Cho Hyungs, (5) Pyung Ahn Hyungs, Bassai, (3) Naihanchi (you refer to them as Chulgi), Jin Do Hyung, Kang Song Kun, and we used to practice Sip soo, Ji on, Ro Hai, Yun Bi, and Sei San.

I know all of these forms have their roots in Japanese Karate.  It is always interesting to see the differences between the forms in different schools/styles.  Thanks for sharing!


----------

