Last year, I was
kindly invited by Kuk Sa Nim to travel with him on the (February) 2012
California Seminar Tour, accompanied by Suh Suhk KJN Barry Harmon and Suhn
Im KJN Sun Jing Suh.
After accepting
Kuk Sa Nim's invitation, I realized that this was not only a great privilege,
but also a fantastic opportunity to meet the many other Master's &
Instructor's World-wide.
Throughout the
duration of the trip I decided that it would be a good idea to keep a brief ‘diary
of events’, including the places that I visited and the people that I would
meet along the way.
My Diary Of Events
Tuesday 31st January, The first part of
my journey begins.
I leave my home in
Halesworth Suffolk (UK) at 3.15am. My student JKN Robbie Kemp
collects me from my house and drives me to London Heathrow Airport.
At 10.15am my
flight departs for Houston, Texas and after a ten hour flight, I arrive at
George Bush International airport - 2.20pm Houston time. (8.20pm UK time)
The Grandmaster’s
eldest son, Suhn Im KJN Sung Jin Suh drives me to Kuk Sa Nim’s house in Tomball
after meeting me at the airport. Here I rest and relax for the remainder of
what was a very, very long day.
Wednesday 1st February - I awake at 7am - after a refreshing
nights sleep and having had breakfast I head to HQ Tomball Dojang for training
and a one-hour session with Suhn Im KJN Sung Jin, reviewing my latest material.
Afterwards I
rest-up in preparation for the long journey to California. Suh Suhk KJN Barry
Harmon and Suhn Im KJN Sung Jin both arrive at Kuk Sa nim's house in the
evening. Together we all eat, watch TV and then talk for a while before
retiring to bed at 9.30pm ready for an early start.
Thursday 2nd February - We depart from Kuk Sa Nim's house at
4.30am, reaching San Antonia, Texas at around 8.30am. We head west along Interstate
10, which is the fourth largest highway in the USA. This road will eventually
take us all the way to Los Angeles.
We've now been
driving for approximately 14 hours and reach El Paso, Texas at around
6pm. From here I can see the boundary between USA/Mexico. It’s interesting
to witness the poverty that exists just a few miles away on the other side of
the border.
After traveling
through New Mexico and Arizona, we stop overnight at a Travel Inn,
just outside the city of Phoenix. Total driving time so far – twenty hours.
Friday 3rd February - After a short overnight stop we once
again hit the road and it’s another very early start, which I'm now starting to
get used to.
After five hours
of traveling through the desert and passing through some fantastic mountainous
scenery, we arrive at Valencia CA, which is located just north of Los Angeles in the Santa Clarita
Valley.
We take ‘time-out’
with Master Gene Gause, eating lunch at a Korean restaurant. We then
continue to make our way toward Sacramento, Northern California along
Interstate 5, which is another six-hour journey.
We eventually
arrive in Sacramento and thankfully find ourselves staying at a Hilton Hotel. It’s
really nice that Kuk Sa Nim provides us with a little luxury after a very long
journey. It’s now taken us approximately thirty hours of driving to reach our
destination. This will be our base ready to start the seminar tour.
SEMINAR SCHEDULE
Saturday 4th Feb.
Woodlands 9.00am
-2.30pm
SBN Justin Bunn
and KSN Tiffany Bunn
Dublin
5pm - 8pm - PKJN Seyd M. Saidi
Wheatland - Sunday 5th Feb -
9am – 12pm – PKJN Tony Reynar and other Masters & Instructor's from the
Gold Country region.
For the next five
days we now have our ‘home-base’ at a student’s house in Vallejo CA, which
offers us plenty of home comforts, including fresh healthy food, movies and
cable TV. – In the mornings I am able to cook ‘English Breakfast’ for the
Seminar Team.
Sunday 5th Feb 7-9pm - On this
particular evening, we visit the family home of the late Senior Kuk Sool Master
Oh Jung Lee, 9th Degree Black Belt, who sadly passed away on
31st January.
Attending the memorial evening alongside Kuk Sa Nim, Su Suhk KJN Barry Harmon, Suhn Im KJN Sung Jin
Suh, and myself are many other Kuk Sool Master's & Instructor's from the San
Francisco / Bay area.
Together we all pay
our respects and offer our condolences to Master Lee's wife and family. – It is
a very sad and touching occasion.
SEMINAR SCHEDULE (Cont.)
Half Moon Bay
- Monday 6th Feb. - 5pm - 8pm -
PKJN Paul Carmody
San Mateo -
Tuesday 7th Feb - 6pm -
9pm - PKJN Tim Sheehan
San Francisco
- Wednesday 8th Feb - 6
-9pm - SBN Leora Goren & SBN Sue Wootan
Berkley - Thursday 9th Feb - 6pm - 9pm - JIJKN Tom Brewer
Rohnert Park
- Friday 10th Feb - 6-9pm - SBN
Debra Taylor & PSBN Jeremy Taylor
* Sightseeing at
the Golden Gate Bridge
Menlo Park - Saturday 11th Feb 9am - 12 noon SBN Kristin Quintana & DBN Richie Quintana
Mountain View
- Saturday 11th Feb 2pm -
5pm SBN Jeff Gullicksen & PSBN Sandra Gullicksen
Valencia
- Sunday 12th Feb - 9am – 12pm -
PKJN Gene Gause
Abilene, Texas - Tuesday 14th Feb - 6pm - 9pm - PKJN Philip Sage
Tomball, Texas - Wednesday 15th Feb – Return back to HQ
Thursday 18th
Feb - Personal training with Master
Sung Jin Suh
Friday 17th Feb
- Travel home to UK
Saturday 18th Feb
– I arrive back at my home
Specific Topics Covered During The Seminar Tour;
1/ The seven rules
for a long life. By Kuk Sa Nim
2/ Sword sparring
routines. By Su Suhk KJN Barry
3/ Sparring
techniques. By Suhn Im KJN Sung Jin
4/ Four
directional blocking, kicking and hand-strikes. By Myself
SUMMARY
After reflecting
back upon my trip to California, I feel that I have accomplished so much in
such a short period of time.
During this two-week
period I had covered over three thousand miles, passed through many different
States and Cities. I had travelled across time zones, deserts, rivers, and
mountain ranges. I’d also had the
pleasure in meeting some really wonderful people along the way, all of whom made
me feel most welcome and demonstrated the ‘family spirit' of Kuk Sool.
My special thanks
also go to Suh Suhk KJN Barry Harmon and Suhn Im KJN Sung Jin Suh, who have not
only been great traveling companions, but have also been inspirational in many
other ways as well.
Finally, I would sincerely like to thank Kuk Sa Nim for the
invitation to join him on the 2012 California Seminar Tour and for being the
'true' leader that we all love and respect.
In October, Black Belt, Lee Clewer travelled to the USA to compete in two international Kuk Sool tournaments and ended up winning two major Championship titles. Sadly Lee has now left Halesworth for Australia, however not before students, family and friends gave him a surprise 'send-off' party at the Triple Plea, Halesworth. 
Kevin started training at Halesworth Kuk Sool at the age of ten years old. Today Kevin has a prominent role as a senior instructor at the school. His three children Bethany, Kyle and Finn are all practising Black belts, making them our second generation of black belts. A big well done to Sa Bum Nim Kev.
On Saturday 27th November five members of the Lowestoft Kuk Sool Won Martial Art School traveled to Liverpool to receive their 1st degree black belts from Kuk Sa Nim.
