27/07/2026
Fred is in Korea 🥋
This is Jangchungdan Park in Seoul. It may have played a significant role in the origins of our karate style.
Before opening his historic martial arts school, Lee Won-kuk is said to have had an encounter here that profoundly influenced his vision of preserving Korea's indigenous fighting traditions.
In August 1944, about a month before establishing his school, Lee observed an elderly man performing a rhythmic jumping and kicking exercise over three triangular holes dug into the ground in Jangchungdan Park. Curious about the unusual practice, he approached the man and learned that the discipline was Taekkyon, Korea's traditional foot-fighting art.
Already highly trained in Shotokan Karate under Gichin Funakoshi in Japan, as well as in older Chinese martial arts, Lee reportedly regarded this encounter as confirmation of his desire to revive a distinctly Korean martial identity. He subsequently established his school under the name Tang Soo Do Chung Do Kwan ("The School of the Blue Wave").
The park contains several memorials commemorating that struggle, making it a fitting venue for the public exhibition of Korean martial arts.
Following Korea's liberation in 1945 and later the end of the Korean War, martial arts schools organised public Yeonmu-daehwa (demonstration exhibitions) to recruit students, display technical skill, and promote Korean martial arts. Jangchungdan Park became one of the principal venues for these events.
It's fascinating to stand in a place where so much of Korean martial arts history unfolded and to reflect on the connections between this park, Chung Do Kwan, and the traditions that continue to influence our own training today
