Interview - Grand Master Kwak
Q: How long have you been training in Taekwondo? Can you give a little background concerning your early life and training in Korea?
A:I started training when I was 9 years old, in 1952, right before the end of the Korean War. In the village there were some elders teaching and practicing Taekwondo to youngsters. I just followed them in learning movements, etc. Right after the Korean War, 1954, I met my first Instructor, Great Grand Master Jung-Duk Cho, and we had a Taekwondo gym in the town. The gym was an empty warehouse, formerly used by the Japanese Occupancy army to store cotton collected from area farmers. The floor was concrete. Jung-Duk Cho taught the Korean army and U.S. armed forces in battle fighting techniques with Taekwondo movements.
I trained for my own self defense. I liked all kinds of sports: soccer, judo, boxing, swimming. I never planned or dreamed of becoming an Instructor in Taekwondo.
Q: When and why did you come to the United States?
A:I joined the Korean Air Force in 1962 and they had martial arts training. When I moved to Su-Won Air Base, 18 miles south of Seoul, there was an air base Taekwondo gym. It was mandatory for all the Korean airmen to learn Taekwondo battle fighting during the Vietnam War. So every morning all the air force members had to practice for an hour. I was the Instructor for my company of 300 men, and we trained all at once! During the Vietnam War they selected certain Taekwondo Instructors to send over to Vietnam to teach there. Many of my friends went over there. I almost went, but at the last moment I had a chance to come to the United States. In 1968 the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea. A lot of United States Air Force Reserves from Philadelphia and New Jersey came to my air base. Those Reservists made a request to the air base commander for Taekwondo training, and the base commander recommended me to teach those US troops. I had about 70 American students. We used to practice at the Chow Hall in the evening. We'd push the tables away, and since it was an American Chow Hall, there was a carpet on the concrete floor. One of the students became a 2nd Dan black belt, and he asked me to come over to the US to teach. That's why I decided to come to the US instead of Vietnam. After my discharge, I arrived in the United States on November 7, 1970, and heard on the news radio that one of the Korean Tae Kwon Do Masters had arrived in this country and was going to give a demonstration on November 8th!! I arrived in the evening of November 7th after a 28 hour trip and the 2nd Dan black belt had arranged a welcoming party at his school with his students in Souderton, PA and the party lasted until about 5 AM on November 8th! I had a couple hours sleep and put on a demonstration on November 8th. I was young, only 27, and I felt like I could catch a star in the sky.
I had to put on a lot of demonstrations all over the area in schools, clubs, about 100 demonstrations in all, because people did not know what Taekwondo was. I was a pioneer of Taekwondo in the Philadelphia area. We opened up another school in Phoenixville in 1971. In 1972 I taught at the Montgomery County Community College for about one year. I opened up the Blue Bell location in 1973, and have taught for more than 25 years in this community.
Q: What is your philosophy concerning Taekwondo?
A:My philosophy of Taekwondo is simple - becoming a better human being, in every aspect. I see many clubs that are only training for physical techniques. Students who only learn physical techniques without the mental aspect, I call that monkey dancing. Sometimes that kind of training can cause more harm than good. With our traditional training, I see many youngsters who get better grades in school. They learn respect, how to be tested under pressure, greater concentration, how to learn to handle difficult situations in a disciplined and controlled manner, and to not be afraid in front of people.
We have students from this club who are now at Harvard, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania.