# kong soo kong



## Ian wallace (Jun 1, 2007)

Does anyone have any info on the hyung kong soo kong its a beatiful hyung one that needs alot of understanding, althow i have failed on finding any info about this hyung, any tips would be helpfull

Yous In Tang Soo Do

Ian Wallace

Tang Soo!!!


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## Chizikunbo (Jun 1, 2007)

Ian wallace said:


> Does anyone have any info on the hyung kong soo kong its a beatiful hyung one that needs alot of understanding, althow i have failed on finding any info about this hyung, any tips would be helpfull
> 
> Yous In Tang Soo Do
> 
> ...



Hello Ian, Kong San Kun is indeed a very nice hyung, it is usually taught around Tang Soo Do master level (4th dan)...In tang soo do it is traditionally symbolized by the eagle. The name is the Koreanized version of Kusanku,  which also has alternate spellings such as Kushanku, Cusancu, Kwanku etc. 
The form is said to have been created by Matsumura to pass on the things he learned from kusanku, who was a Chinese emissary on Okinawa...(note as with all karate stories, there are multiple versions of all of this history, you need to find which best suits your understanding, and belief to be true based on the knowledge you have).
Traditionally in the Japanese styles this form has been taught as a so called "night fighting" form, due to the somewhat wide spread belief that many of the movements such as several of the soo dos (shutos/knife hands) are searching for an enemy, grabbing him and attacking...I dont hold this belief however.
An interesting fact about Kong San Kun is that is is the longest of the traditional Tang Soo Do hyung. The opening sequence is very interesting, my teacher taught me that the rising of the hands in the triangle position above the head signify gazing at the sun, and then the wide arcing movement, signifies to peaceful nature of the art, used to create a peaceful and free world on the earth. It also signifies the um/yang (yin yang) concept in the moving straight up (linear) and into a definite form (the triangle), then transitioning into the wider arcing movement (circular) into a indefinite form (the circle and meeting hands), it is a balance of soft and hard, fast and slow. This concept is also seen in that the movement has the above philosophical applications, but also has bunseok (bunkai/applications), for instance, two opponents seize you on both sides, move your hands up (to the triangle) to loosen their grip, quickly circle around catching the hands/wrists in your underarms, when you tighten the wrists become pressed and locked placing the opponents in a fair amount of pain (thats a beginners application)...
Well I hope you enjoy this form, and good luck finding the information you want!!
take care,
--Josh


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## tsd (Jun 2, 2007)

Ian, 
In Traditional Tang Soo Do by JC Shin there is some information about Kong Sang Koon. 
(I am mparaphrasing)
In 1762 an Okinawan book documented a Chinese ship that landed in Okinawa in 1756.  Ambassador Kong Sang Koon was on board, He  was a master of Kwon Bop. (Chinese boxing from Shaolin Temple)  He remained in Okinawa for about 5 years and taught.  One of his pupils Sakugawa Shungo (1733 - 1815) named the techniqes he learned Kong Sang Koon after his instructor.  

Report back your findings.......the history of hyung is very interesting and enlightening on the people and cultures of the past.


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## Chizikunbo (Jun 2, 2007)

tsd said:


> Ian,
> In Traditional Tang Soo Do by JC Shin there is some information about Kong Sang Koon.
> (I am mparaphrasing)
> In 1762 an Okinawan book documented a Chinese ship that landed in Okinawa in 1756.  Ambassador Kong Sang Koon was on board, He  was a master of Kwon Bop. (Chinese boxing from Shaolin Temple)  He remained in Okinawa for about 5 years and taught.  One of his pupils Sakugawa Shungo (1733 - 1815) named the techniqes he learned Kong Sang Koon after his instructor.
> ...



Interesting...thanks for sharing...


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## Master Jay S. Penfil (Jul 1, 2007)

Ian, If you have a chance, give me a shout on the cell...


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## Tae Kwon Dave (Jul 4, 2007)

Ian wallace said:


> Does anyone have any info on the hyung kong soo kong its a beatiful hyung one that needs alot of understanding, althow i have failed on finding any info about this hyung, any tips would be helpfull
> 
> Yous In Tang Soo Do
> 
> ...


 
Hi!!!
I do Tae Kwon Do, but i study also the traditional hyung...

So, Kong Sang Koon (dae) or Kwan Kong hyung , is the Kanku Dai kata of shotokan karate.

*From Shotokan Planet :*

It's a kata (hyung) that surprisingly contains many close combat techniques and throws which must be reverse engineered by the more experienced practitioner.

Kanku-Dai has had five different names during it's known history in Okinawa and Japan.

A legendary Chinese diplomat named Kung Siang Chung supposedly brought this kata from China or Okinawa. Other myths say that he created the kata. Others say that his student, Sakugawa, created the kata and named it after his teacher, Kung Siang Chung. The Okinawan way to pronounce the three kanji that make up the name Kung Siang Chung is Ku Shan Ku. When Funakoshi brought this kata to Japan, he renamed it as part of his efforts to remove Okinawan culture from karate so that it would be more acceptable to the Japanese. He left the same three Chinese characters - Kung Siang Chung - in place, but pronounced them with the Japanese inflection. The kanji are pronounced Ko Sho Kun in Japan. So, the name the students of Funakoshi were taught was Koshokun. 
The Koshokun name is still used by the Shito-Ryu clubs in Japan instead of the current name used in Shotokan circles. This is ironic considering that Shito-Ryu clubs refer to the Heian as the Pinan, which is an Okinawan pronunciation of those Chinese characters. Every Japanese style, it seems, randomly mixes Okinawan and Japanese pronunciations of kata names in their syllabus without any sort of standardization.
At some point the name Koshokun was abandoned in favor of the name Kanku, and the -Dai suffix was appended when the kata Kanku-Sho was brought into the Shotokan canon. Today we know these two kata as Kanku-Dai and Kanku-Sho (kong sang koon cho). The Shito-Ryu style knows them as Koshokun-Dai and Koshokun-Sho.
Funakoshi's last work on karate is the English text of _Karate-do Kyohan_. This text was translated from Japaese into English by Ohshima Tsutomu, the leader of Shotokan Karate of America. In that book, Ohshima translates the kanji for Kanku as Kwanku. Ohshima says that "Kwanku" is the Okinawan pronunciation of the Japanese word Kanku. Why did Oshima translate this kata name using Okinawan pronunciation? 
Funakoshi's books indicate he was trying to change the names of the kata from Okinawan to Japanese pronunciation. In _Ryukyu Karate Kenpo_ and _Rentan Jutsu_, Funakoshi's first two books on the subject of karate, he used the name Koshokun for this kata. Why would he change the pronunciation from the Okinawan Kushanku to the Japanese Koshokun, and then change the name again to the Okinawan pronunciation of Kwanku instead of Kanku? That just doesn't make any sense, and it makes me suspicious that he never called the kata Kwanku. It makes me think that only Ohshima ever called the kata Kwanku. 

It would be much simpler today if Funakoshi had left the original names of the kata intact, or if the Chinese names of the kata from China had been retained by the Okinawans so that we could see where they came from bibliographically. It is interesting to note the differences of culture evident through the way that the cultural baggage of karate is rejected or accepted when the art is taught in a new geographical location. For example, the United States practitioners strongly resist the idea of using English translations of the kata names. Funakoshi assumed that the Japanese would prefer Japanese pronunciations.
It turns out that the Japanese, even while going to war with everyone around them, preferred the Okinawan names of the kata. Sochin, Wankan, and Chinte are all examples of kata that Funakoshi tried to rename that his students preferred to call by their Okinawan names. The Okinawans, by contrast, rejected the Chinese culture in everything that they were given. When the name of the kata is from China, the provincial people of Okinawa pronounced the Chinese names using their own language. They adapted everything to themselves. It seems that the farther karate has traveled from Okinawa, the more strongly the adherents believe that the original culture of their instructors should be preserved.
As a result, Kanku-Dai has had five names since 1921:
Kushanku -> Koshokun -> Kanku -> Kanku-Dai
                          |----> Kwanku

[SIZE=+1]*Fishermen's Stories*[/SIZE]
Kung Siang Chung is supposedly the name of a famous Chinese diplomat who traveled to Okinawa in the late 1700's. He supposedly lived in Shuri City and befriended Sakugawa, a noted expert of Okinawan fighting arts. This Chinese diplomat was allegedly trained very highly in the arts of his nation, and he taught Chinese boxing to Sakugawa, who taught it to his pupil Matsumura Sokon. Did Kung Siang Chung, the legendary Kushanku/Koshokun, create our modern-day Kanku-Dai? Or, did someone create Kanku-Dai from the Channan kata that Kung Siang Chung brought to Okinawa? Did this Chinese diplomat really exist, or is he a metaphor for all of the Chinese diplomats living on Okinawa Island? 
Because Okinawa used to pay homage to any large nation that happened to sail a warship into Naha port and demand tribute, there were many diplomats living on Okinawa from China and other nations of the Pacific. Legend tells us that Kung Siang Chung was a friend of Sakugawa, one of the earliest people identified as a karate expert on Okinawa in the family tree of Shotokan karate. Either Kung Siang Chung, Sakugawa, or his student Matsumura supposedly created the kata Kushanku and named it after Sakugawa's Chinese buddy. 
As with most stories of the events on Okinawa before the 20th Century, this story too is presented to us by men currently teaching karate on that island. Stories like this are passed on by word of mouth only, and probably are only partially true. It is obvious that China had a large impact on Okinawa. It is also obvious that Korea, Japan, and Formosa (Taiwan) also influenced the culture of the island. Also obvious is that Okinawan karate consists of some kata that clearly originated in Southern Chinese martial-arts.

The three characters that make up Ku Shan Ku mean "Mr. Government Official." That fact leads me to an interesting conclusion: More than likely, there never was a Kushanku who lived on Okinawa and worked as a diplomat. The name is a representation of diplomats who did live on Okinawa during the late 1700's and early 1800's. The legendary Kushanku is probably just symbolic of the Chinese living on Okinawa who were teaching the locals the fighting systems of China.
Perhaps there really was a diplomat with this name. I really don't know, but I am suspicious of any name that roughly translates into something metaphorical. Perhaps he was called this as a term of endearment, and he really existed. Something smells fishy in the story of Kushanku.
[SIZE=+1]*Kanku-Dai is Big*[/SIZE]
Kanku-Dai is long. It contains 65 independent movements, and requires about 90 seconds to complete. That might not look like much on paper, but when you are at the three quarter mark in Kanku-Dai, you feel like you have been doing the kata for an hour. Kanku-Dai is is the longest kata that JKA style instructors teach their students. 
Some people wrongly label Kanku-Dai the longest kata in all of karate. Suparinpei, a kata of Goju-Ryu, is 108 techniques long - almost twice as long as Kanku-Dai. Some Shotokan enthusiasts have learned the Goju-Ryu kata and pronounce it's name using Japanese: Hyakuhachiho - 108 steps.
Kanku-Dai is considered representative of Shotokan Karate. Kanku-Dai displays some pretty typical Shotokan techniques, and the kata was supposedly Funakoshi's favorite kata. He performed it during his demonstration for the Crowned Prince (Hirohito) in 1922. Basically, the entire kata is like an compilation of the Heian (pyung ahn). Kanku-Dai is also a part of Shito-Ryu. Mabuni Kenwa, the founder of Shito-Ryu karate, was one of Funakoshi's fellow pupils under Itosu, and he learned the kata right along with Funakoshi. Strangely enough, Funakoshi never mentions Mabuni in any of his writings. At any rate, the kata is very typical of Shotokan and Shito-Ryu karate.
[SIZE=+1]*The Root Kata*[/SIZE]
There is a more important reason for Kanku-Dai being such a prominent kata in the Shotokan system: It is the parent kata for the entire database of techniques of this system. It is the central point to which all other kata point. 
Kanku-Dai contains many techniques seen in Shotokan Karate kata via the Heian kata. Kanku-Dai is considered very representative of Shotokan Karate, and the kata is revered as a repository of the most fundamental and important of Shotokan's technical practices. There are also many other unusual techniques alongside these primary movements. Kanku-Dai contains the exceedingly difficult two level kick which most karateka never figure out. The two level kick is actually a kick to the middle level followed by another kick to the high level all within a single jumping action. However, most karateka fudge this technique by raising the knee of one leg and kicking with the other.
[SIZE=+1]*Heian and Kanku-Dai*[/SIZE]
Kanku-Dai is the source kata for the Heian kata, it is said by some. These people point to the similarity of the Heian kata and Kanku-Dai. Since the Heian Kata act as a set of indexes to the techniques in Kanku, there is an obvious relationship. Perform a single technique in Kanku-Dai, find the same technique in Heian Godan, and you will see that Heian Godan shows more detail of how to perform the same technique or make an application out of it. The Heian and Kanku expand each other's techniques. They act as maps of each other. 
None of this means that the Heian are the source of Kanku-Dai, however. Dr. Schmeisser is pointing to a kata of Chinese origin called "Channan" as the source kata for the Heian. The Channan kata, which I have not personally witnessed being performed, are said to be primordial Heian. Heian 1, 2, and 3 are supposed to be created from the first Channan kata while Heian 4 and 5 are taken from the second Channan kata.​If the Channan theory is true, then Kanku is probably also loosely based upon this kata, and the Heian and it are actually parallel developments that are different views of the same kata. The Heian could be the broken apart Channan kata, and Kanku-Dai could be the compilation of the two Channan kata into a single form with a central theme. Who knows, really? But it is fun to speculate.
[SIZE=+1]*Broken in Half*[/SIZE]
Have you noticed that Kanku-Dai flows along smoothly up until the last 1/3 of the kata? At that point, the Kanku-Dai suddenly becomes choppy and assymetrical. It is almost as if the kata is complete up until that point, but someone attached an additional section onto it. If this is true, then Kanku-Dai has suffered some abusive editing at someone's hands during it's history. Perform the kata and see if you can see where the additional part is appended. I think the last technique was originally the inside blocks with the reverse punches. Look at Kanku-Sho (_kong sang koon cho_) . The last four techniques are the inside blocks with the punches. Shouldn't these two kata end in a similar fashion? 

[SIZE=+1]*Many Versions*[/SIZE]
There are supposedly four versions of the Kushanku kata in the wild. Kanku-Dai and Kanku-Sho of Shotokan and Shito-Ryu are but two of the versions thought to be in existence. A third version is the Shiho Koshokun which basically looks like Kanku-Dai performed to the left instead of moving forward from the starting point. Shiho means "Four directions." This kata was created by Mabuni, founder of the Shito-Ryu style, so that he could practice Koshokun in a narrow space. Mabuni redirected some of the turns in the enbusen so that the kata would follow a narrow path to the left. This kata was created after the Shotokan system was already moving along. Why Shotokan students did not import this kata along with Nijushiho, Sochin, and Unsu when they were on a Shito-Ryu kata stealing binge is unknown. 
The fourth kata of the Kushanku series is Yara Kushanku. This version is apparently an interpretation of the Kushanku kata by a famous Okinawan named Yara. If you wish to see Yara Kushanku, simply open a copy of Shoshin Nagamine's _The Essence of Okinwan Karate-Do_. Some claim when the enbusen of the four kata are placed next to one another, they draw something very important on the floor - a navigational map of the constellations, but I don't believe that. The Yara and the Shiho versions came along much later than the original Kanku-Dai, as much as 300 years later. The history of the other two kata is not as mysterious as is that of Kanku-Dai and Kanku-Sho.
[SIZE=+1]*Time to Completion*[/SIZE]
When properly performed, Kanku-Dai requires about 70 to 90 seconds to complete. However, some competitors in tournaments have been known to compress this time down to little over a minute. As time passes by, the kata are becoming performed more and more quickly. Mostly, I think, this is because kata are becoming performance art rather than fighting practice. As we become a society that does not permit hand-to-hand combat in any situation, the usefulness of using the kata as a tool to learn combat applications becomes less popular. Also, the kata are so far removed from modern sparring methods that they have little if any relationship with sparring any longer. Practicing a kata as anything other than performance art is relatively unheard of within Shotokan organizations, and anyone trying to apply the techniques in the Shotokan kata to Shotokan punch/kick/sweep combat methods would be unsuccessful.

[SIZE=+1]*Symbols*[/SIZE]
The coolest thing about the kata Kanku-Dai, though, is that if you look at the enbusen, it appears to draw the kanji "hon" on the floor. Your footsteps trace this kanji out pretty clearly. What is even more interesting about this possibility, is that hon can mean book, main, source, root, or central. Is the very shape of the kata the key to passing down the fact that this is the root kata of our system and therefore the most important? 
At some point you have to sit back and chuckle at the fact that so many Japanese have printed books showing the shape of this kata from above, but none have ever happened to notice that many of the kata enbusen look exactly like common Asian characters.
Also, the large circular motions at the beginning and end of the kata are supposed to be representative of the sky or the universe. You make a triangle with your hand, and you raise it up, representative of the sunrise. You then describe a large circle with your hands, the circle so often seen in Zen calligraphy - the Universe. Pay close attention to the first two and last motions. What are you drawing in the air with your hands? You are drawing an Inyo.
Some people think that the opening movement of Kanku-Dai is representative of looking in a mirror. I think they are mixing up the imagery of Kanku-Dai with the opening motions of the kata Meikyo. If you were looking in a mirror during the beginning motions of Kanku-Dai, then when you finished raising it up you would break it in half. That's bad luck. 
Mark Twain was right when he said that people over-analyze the creations of others and find symbols and meanings that the author did not intend.


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