masherdong said:
Hi,
I started this in the Korean Martial Arts section but didn't get much traffic. So I will post it here.
The other night I drove by a Soo Bahk Do Dojo. I had never heard of this before, so I decided to drop in and the instructor was there just opening up. We talked for about 30 min and he invited me to watch one of his classes. Even though my roots are in Kajukenbo, I am still open-minded to other MA. I dropped in the next day to watch a class and I was very pleased at how his students were. His Red Belts had very good form for what a Red belt is supposed to. I know I have been to several dojos where Red/Brown and some Black Belts could not even do a forward stance properly.
Anyways, I would just like your thoughts on this art.
I trained in Soo Bahk Do up to 1st gup and then I switched over to Tang Soo Do. There were a lot of politics involved when I teacher pulled out of the Federation. It's a long story and the bottom line is that when all was said and done, everyone was still respected each other and were friends...a rare thing in KMA these days.
Soo Bahk Do is very much like Shotokan in many ways, but it is different in others. For one, it has more kicks. For another, Soo Bahk Do really emphasizes loose fluid motion with the hips. The body is loose and tight and loose when when is doing hyung. I really liked the arts natural motions and emphasis on proper technique. So many arts downplay this, but it is so important. I have seen very small variations in technique totally destroy power. In the end, Soo Bahk Do will build you a good fundamental basis and it will challenge you to your limits at the upper ranks.
Soo Bahk Do is also part of a federation. This organization spans the country and pushes for standardization. The Ill Soo Shik and Ho Sin Shul are very much like the regular choreographed patterns that I did in Shotokan, except with a little more kicking. I can't stand them. In fact, I think that training in such a way is a good way to get your *** handed to you on the street. This is one of the major reasons why I switched to Tang Soo Do.
There were some really good fighters at the dojang that I trained. The sabumnim was not a person you wanted to spar with often. Nor would you want to spar with his teacher. In fact, all of the old masters in the art were people that could really go to town and fight. The new masters, on the other hand, all they seemed to be able to do was federation Ill Soo Shik. I'll admit they did them very well, but they totally lost the natural movement that makes one a good fighter.
Give it a try, and if it's what you want, go for it. Overall, it is a good art and it will teach you excellent technique. Also, the art and the federation are a direct link to Hwang Kee and the students that stayed to train under him.
