The caption in the left corner reads… Individual medals won… 5 Gold 9 Silver 8 Bronze (but there are still 6 medals unverified and not included on the list) Best Dojang Award for best team performance 2 Mudo Spirit Awards (the swords) of demonstrating the spirit of Haidong Gumdo. These are not typically awarded.

Haidong Gumdo…From a Safe Distance: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

During the last Afterschool Taekwondo class I did a technique based relay. The group was eleven 6-8 year olds. It became a great teaching point…after the fact. The first students in each team did pretty well but it didn’t take long for the desire to “win” to show up. By the end, only about 15% […]

It has been quite a while since I’ve written anything. This is mostly from running out of time. The days seem to keep getting shorter and they pass by quickly. Hard to believe that its already March. The upside is that I have plenty going on to keep me out of trouble. The Spring Test […]

Yeah, that’s me. I know you’re saying that pretty obvious but the story goes beyond the martial arts. So, back about 30 years and almost a high school graduate, I visited an Air Force recruiter with the intent of enlisting to become one of their law enforcement officers. Well, I was told that I couldn’t […]

The idea for this rambling came from seeing one of my college Taekwondo students wearing a pair of Sock Monkey slippers… in Minnesota… in December. When he saw me notice them, all he said…with a grin… was that the chicks love them. My comment was that wearing them is great…even in the Winter…as long as he’s […]

Aikido has the concept of “Beginner’s Mind”. Basically, it is the idea that everytime you go to train you do so with a completely open mind. This is meant to help the student “see” repeated material as if for the first time in order to learn something new (or additional) from it. A couple weeks […]

I got the chance to watch Kung Fu Panda, again, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice last night. Its a nice little piece of brain candy to relax and just enjoy. However, it did get me thinking. (Kung Fu Panda) At the end, it was discovered that the secret Dragon scroll had no writing and there was no […]

So, yesterday when I had a new officer start her first day of work, she asked me who she would notify if she had an emergency. Now, my first thought went to the procedure listed in our post orders. I didn’t think that was what she was asking though. She expanded upon her question with “you know…if […]

This past Spring, I was trying to organize locations and events at which Haidong Gumdo – Minnesota could do demonstrations. I didn’t find any new events but was able to get return engagements at previous events. Now, I’ll agree that this isn’t very noteworthy but something I was told by a Parks & Recreation Director […]

This past weekend Haidong Gumdo – Minnesota did some demonstrations out at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. We did three demos on each Saturday and Sunday. They were in the middle of an open field with temperatures above 85 degrees. It could have easily been a lot more work than fun. I have always been impressed […]

Recently, I had the chance to connect as a student the U.S. Haidong Gumdo Association Senior Chief Master. During the introduction and “getting to know you” conversations leading up to the seminar, he commented that he prefer the title “Sabumnim” instead of “Master”. His position is based upon the idea that “Master” has a more (my […]

A story forwarded from a friend…—A lecturer teaching medicine was tutoring a class on observation. As part of of his lesson he took out a jar of yellow-colored liquid. “This”, he explained, “is urine. To be a doctor, you have to be observant to color, smell, sight, and taste.” Right after saying this, he dipped […]

While I bet the new Karate Kid movie is a good show, I’ll probably wait for the DVD. Mainly because I don’t have time to go to many movies. This notwithstanding, I am confused about the name of the movie. Right there, in main trailer, Jackie Chan say “…I’ll teach you real Wushu.” So, when did […]

Most of you who have known me for a while have heard several times my desire to move the martial arts into a more academic pursuit. Well, yesterday, I moved another step forward on this goal. After a couple conversations with Amerstate University (AU), I sent in my resume to be considered for a Commisioner position […]

First off, I’m not commenting about the quality of the instruction or students…only the “business” idea. So, driving home last week, I say the standard sign that’s out about every other month offering a “$29.95 for one month and a free uniform” Trial offer for “Karate Lessons”. I’ve never understood this. I can see the marketing/promotions […]

This past weekend during some after class socializing with students, I had a revelation that is LONG overdue. We were discussing anotehr martial arts teacher and his “life”. The schedule he keeps having a “day job” and teaching 5 days per week. The comment on his life was “He doesn’t have a life.” and one […]

I had a quick conversation with a student today when he saw that a local Taekwondo school also listed teaching Gumdo. He asked “How can they do that?” He meant just saying they teach a program without showing any credentials. All I said was that is was “business”. His next comment surprised me a bit. […]