Tukong?

[afronaut]

I tripped and fell on this while researching something else for you reprobates. I don't know anything about Korean martial arts or Army training, so I submit this for your perusal.

Copyright 2001 Agence France Presse
Agence France Presse -- English

December 11, 2001 Tuesday

SECTION: Domestic, non-Washington, General News

LENGTH: 648 words

HEADLINE: Tukong: ultra-violent martial art aims to neutralize terrorists

BYLINE: GERSENDE RAMBOURG

DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Dec 11

BODY:
The best way to neutralize a terrorist? Aim for the knees.

For more pointers on inflicting the kind of debilitating injury that can halt a knife-wielding hijacker in his tracks, talk to Jimmy Higgins, master instructor and black belt in Tukong, a no-holds-barred form of Korean martial arts.

"The first thing we teach our white belts is how to break somebody's knee: it's the most efficient thing you can do when you haven't learned the other techniques yet," Higgins explained.

Since September 11, fearful Americans are seeking more ways to defend themselves, and martial arts classes in the Washington area, including Tukong, have seen a boost in their enrollments by as much as 30 percent.

Tukong, which means "special combat" was developed in the late 1970s by South Korean special forces. It is taught at only two places in the United States: in San Jose, California and at this studio in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside the US capital.

Here, two dozen fighters in black kimonos and sneakers unleash a lethal combination of strangulation holds, pinwheel kicks and baton blows designed to incapacitate an attacker.

"We teach how to injure people severely," Higgins said, in contrast to other martial arts that teach how to deflect blows. In Tukong, the objective is to hit, and hit hard," Higgins said.

Many exercises are practiced blindfolded, so students can learn balance and precision.

"If you have blood, sweat or dust in your eyes, if you are blinded by the sun, you'll find this very useful," Higgins told his rapt students. "Yes sir," they responded in unison.

The studio, which reverberates with war cries, later becomes silent as meditative exercises replace kicks and strikes: Tukong is heavy on Asian philosophy.

"Our motto is 'never fight, never lose.' You want to do everything to avoid conflict, but if your opponent attacks you, you fight and defeat him," explained Kennon Brown, a Tukong disciple-turned-teacher.

"A good part of the work is imagining the worst-case scenarios," added Higgins, who worked with computers before completely devoting himself to the rare martial art.

About a quarter of Higgins' students are female and one third are servicemen -- US Marine Corps members or Army Green Berets who take Higgins' classes to learn things they don't teach in the military.

Students must commit to at least a year of training, attending two sessions per week or more. The training, as much mental as physical, is not for the meek, the master counseled. "The others are going to be sheep, you have to be the wolf," he told them.

"The first thing to do is identify your enemy, then check weapons, what defenses are available and who your allies might be," he continued.

"It doesn't matter if you're surrounded by grannies -- you have to go forward," Higgins said.

Due to its violent nature, adolescents are prohibited from taking Tukong classes and would-be students must submit to a series of interviews to ensure they don't have questionable motives for learning the practice.

"We have a lot of people coming in, especially since September 11, saying things like, 'Oh, I want to become dangerous,'" said Brown. "We're looking to teach responsible people."

In the wake of the terror attacks, Higgins has purchased a school bus for his studio to simulate the constricted conditions -- such as a narrow aircraft cabin -- in which students might be called upon to put their training to use.

Like most Americans, Higgins' students were shocked by the terror attacks, but Tukong students, like lawyer David Benowitz, said they no longer feel impotent in the face of such threats.

"What you learn here you can really apply," the 32-year-old recent recruit said.

"I worry less. This class makes me calmer," Benowitz continued.

"I feel if something happens, I don't need to get angry, because I'll know what to do."

[eyebeams]

Searching Usenet, it looks like Tukong Moosul seems to be a TKD subset whose founder (Wonik Yi) is rumored to be doing time for fraud in ROK. His military background is uncomfirmed and apparently he left with a whackload of his dojangs' money, forcing a bunch of them to go under, leaving those remaining schools.

There are also allegations that Yi was outed as a fake captain and claimed some shaolin BS, and that he had little MA experience to begin with, but some students have said the training was hard and traditional.

Anywho, Google url strings are to long to post and I don't feel like tinyurl, so you can search groups for yourself.

[ex_jungyae]

Searching Usenet, it looks like Tukong Moosul seems to be a TKD subset whose founder (Wonik Yi) is rumored to be doing time for fraud in ROK. His military background is uncomfirmed and apparently he left with a whackload of his dojangs' money, forcing a bunch of them to go under, leaving those remaining schools.

There are also allegations that Yi was outed as a fake captain and claimed some shaolin BS, and that he had little MA experience to begin with, but some students have said the training was hard and traditional.

Anywho, Google url strings are to long to post and I don't feel like tinyurl, so you can search groups for yourself.

**fixing my mistake here...need sleep... This should not be Wonik but rather Inki Kim (see post below...)
Wonik Yi is definitely a fighter. I have trained with him. I can not comment on the whole military thing... don't know...

I do know that he had several schools in WA (Tacoma area) that he let go under... why I don't know... after that he went out east to open a school their:

http://tukong.com/tukong/

That is his home page... want some laughs then go read the FAQ's written by Higgins -- it starts out ok enough, but if you keep reading... :)

yeah, ok, so I don't know much...

[bait]

in korean mma events (spiritmc, neofight...) i saw judo,mt, bjj and hkd guys becoming champions
but always the tukong musul guy was ko'ed in less than one minute


my exp with this was a kid (15-17yrs) who used to sparr sometimes with me (i was 20)

-zero ground exp

-stupid kicks some of them could really damage the kicker

-bad weapons techiques

- NO SPARRING (t00 d34dly)

-stupid claims (he hit a front kick and stopped to say "hey i ko'ed you!")
he always used to stop after hitting somebody to say that he already won by one hit ko

- too fancy

well i became really bored by his stupidity and just slammed, punched, kicked and heelhooked him....
in other sparring match i let him hit me with his crazy kicks
he hurt his foot by kicking me (crazy huh?)


another guy 2o dan in this art used to show his beautiful kicks

everybody in my dojo was like "oh he kicks ass!"

then a guy with only 7 months of training tapped him 3x in 5 minutes


i showed him some ground fighting basic stuff and we rolled

well.... let's say that i saw 12 yrs kids newbies doing much better than him, i was tapping him in less than 10 seconds

he never returned

i heard from some koreans that not even in the army they are teaching this crap anymore

[Kistrael]

You sure I have to go far?

Tukong is not a form of self-defense. Tukong is a form of recognizing and removing a threat.

Two sentences in, and it already feels like it's stepping into the boundary of t00-d34dly-fu

Yes, even Americans can do fantastic things with Ki.

:laughing6

[ex_jungyae]

Ok wait I messed up.... their are basically 3 who claim the Tukong title...

Wonik Yi is in Texas... this sight:
http://www.masteryi.com/

That is the one eyebeams is talking about... I have not trained with him...

The next is Inki Kim who is out east and has the Higgins guy from the article...
http://tukong.com/tukong/

This is the one I have trained with...

The third is the actual Korean group, but their web site seems to have disappeared.

Sorry for the confusion... really need some sleep.

[ex_jungyae]

You sure I have to go far?



Two sentences in, and it already feels like it's stepping into the boundary of t00-d34dly-fu

:laughing6

It gets better - lol

[Poop Loops]

Washington State or DC? I live in State and I've never heard of Tukong.

PL

[ex_jungyae]

Inki Kim had several schools in Washington State, Tacoma to be exact. It would have been almost 8 years ago that they closed... give or take some odd months.

I believe that Wonik Yi has a school up here now in Renton..hold on... I think I have a link...
http://www.satkm.com/

Washington State or DC? I live in State and I've never heard of Tukong.

PL

[Hedgehogey]

Wonik Yi is very near me...What should I do QUESTION MARK