Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim on Taekwondo

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Master Kim has over 30 years of experience teaching Taekwondo and personally teaches most of the adult classes. There are very few 9th degree black belts in the world and even fewer who still teach. Master Kim has always prided himself on being a devoted teacher who considers his students and their development as martial artists to be his primary concerns. S.J. Kim's Taekwondo, Master Kim teaches all level of students every day, from beginners to his most advanced black belts.

Martial Edge: Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim, when and where did you get involved in Taekwondo?

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim: In 1961 my parents decided that I needed a tutor for the national junior high school exams and hired Mr. Bang Nam Ju, a graduate student from Koryo University. I found out that in addition to studying math, Mr. Bang was a South Korean army veteran and a skilled Taekwondo practitioner. I begged him to teach me Taekwondo and he agreed to spend 10 minutes with me everyday if I did all my homework. I had a lot of fun learning from Mr. Bang and that led me to start seeking out professional Taekwondo schools.

Unfortunately, at the time Taekwondo was primarily taught in the military as a destructive art and very few commercial establishments existed. It was not until I was a teenager that I finally found a Hapkido school that accepted children. It was there that I began to experience speed, power and timing through movement. For the first time, I was learning in a structured environment and I really enjoyed the practice. However, not long after I enrolled my mother found out about my afternoons at the dojang and gave me the thrashing of my life. She threw out my uniform and prohibited me from doing anything after school besides study.

She did have her reasons for trying to keep me away from kicking and punching. The martial arts were not mainstream then and only hoodlums and street urchins practiced Hapkido and Taekwondo. Martial arts dojangs were like sweaty boxing gyms where aggressive young guys hung out and talked tough, and my mother wanted none of that. She wanted me to become a scholar and a gentleman and the martial arts were out.

But like all obsessed teenagers, I could not be deterred. I eventually found a Taekwondo school and scraped and scrimped enough money for a uniform and tuition. During the 10 short months when I could afford the tuition, I learned a tremendous amount about technique and free fighting. I stowed by uniform and belt at a friend’s house and spent most of my afternoons sprinting to and from Taekwondo practice to minimize the chances of my mother catching me with a uniform, or worse yet, in the dojang.

Martial Edge: Who in your mind have been the inspirational martial artists in your career?

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim: At various stages different people have brought different martial art influences to my experience. I would say that three individuals stand out as extraordinary.

In college I had a friend John Lynch who was a second-degree black belt in the Okinawan Goju-Ryu system. I organized a Taekwondo club on campus and after class every Wednesday and Friday John and I would get together and practice. We were serious. We experimented with all styles of blocks, punches, and kicks and tried all methods of free fighting. At first we donned heavy traditional kendo armour when we sparred, but after some time we just went at each other with no protective equipment. We would free fight for hours and try all our theories out on each other. I learned more about movement and strategy from my sessions with John than from anyone else.

After college I became an assistant instructor to Grandmaster Lee Kwang Jae, a Moo Duk Kwan practitioner with a school in Bergenfield, New Jersey. From 1970 to 1975 I worked under his tutelage and he instilled in me a certain attitude and demeanour as a black belt, an instructor and a fighter. I was already a very competitive individual, but Grandmaster Lee took the philosophy of Indomitable Spirit to another level. Under him, I realized the depth of spirit and determination required to truly practice Taekwondo as a martial art with life and death consequences. Before, I was just a kicker and a puncher, but under Grandmaster Lee, I learned an intensity that would later become ingrained in every aspect of my Taekwondo practice.

And as a practitioner, there are times when I feel my kicks and punches feel perfect, but only I know and that is only for me to experience and enjoy. - Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim

By 1975 I was pretty a cocky fourth dan. I thought I knew a thing or two about Taekwondo, and I was not afraid of anything or anyone. Then, I met General Choi. He introduced me to the very fundamentals of Taekwondo and started teaching everything from the basics. It was from him that I learned the theories on movement and the physics behind generating speed and power. Many Taekwondo instructors then and even more Taekwondo instructors now are physical, but lack technical depth in their practice and their teachings. Their movements rely on brute force and not a scientific understanding of how to maximize the body’s potential in unleashing force and power. Under General Choi, I learned to understand and appreciate the fundamentals of Taekwondo.

Martial Edge: It must have been such an honour to be chosen by General Choi Hong Hi to be a member of the original ITF demonstration team. Could you shed some light on this experience?

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim: Of course it was an honour to be chosen to join the most demanding and prestige demonstration team at that time. But really, I believe I was chosen because I was in the right place at the right time for General Choi to notice me.

When I first joined the demonstration team there was a large age and experience gap between me and the other members of the core group. I was 27 years old and the next youngest member at the time was 34. While I was spending my formative years studying in the United States, the others fought in the Vietnam War as high-ranking non-commissioned officers in the Korean Army. I was a kid fifth dan next to these seventh and eighth dan, and it was truly a humbling experience.

While on the team I met some tremendous Taekwondo technicians and practitioners. Foremost among them were Master Rhee Ki Ha and Master Kim Jong Chan. Master Rhee was 40 years old at the time and Master Kim was 41. Between those two masters I saw such precision and technical perfection in patterns and free fighting that I myself felt like a beginner around them.

Besides the outstanding Taekwondo, the demo team also gave me a wonderful opportunity to see the world. The way it worked was I would go about my normal life, teaching in Bergenfield, New Jersey and every month or so someone would call me and tell me to be expecting plane tickets to x, y or z destination. The plane tickets would arrive and then we would sometimes congregate in New York or Canada to fly to our destination. I had a lot of fun travelling to Argentina, Brazil, and Europe and in the early 1980s, we went to Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and North Korea.

Martial Edge: You had an outstanding competitive career. What kind of training regime did you maintain in order to achieve such success?

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim: Every morning at the Taekwondo school I would take the phone off the hook, lock the door and then practice diligently for two hours. I cannot tell you what I did, but I tried all sorts of different things. Then, during the evening classes I would teach and then free fight all my students.

Martial Edge: What were your highlights?

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim: I am still looking for one. I can’t remember anything I would necessarily call a highlight. In general, as a teacher I am proud when my students do well. And as a practitioner, there are times when I feel my kicks and punches feel perfect, but only I know and that is only for me to experience and enjoy.

Martial Edge: In 1975 you opened your first Taekwondo School. Was the progression from student to instructor a natural one for you?

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim: Yes, by then I already had several years worth of experience teaching under Grandmaster Lee Kwang Jae.

Martial Edge: How did the New York Taekwondo Association come about?

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim: One of my initial schools in New York City was located in Times Square back when that neighbourhood was still a red-light district and crime was rampant on the streets. I wanted to do something for the neighbourhood and the New York Taekwondo Association was established to provide free after-school Taekwondo programs for junior high and high school kids in the area.

Martial Edge: What are your ambitions for 2006 and beyond for your organization, your career and development as an individual?

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim: I am currently working on Taekwondo International, a union of schools whose objectives are two-fold. First, the organization endeavours to always preserve the highest levels of Taekwondo education and practice. To that end, Taekwondo International is an institute of higher Taekwondo learning and discourse for all its members. Second, because a soul cannot survive without a well-nourished body and a dedicated teacher cannot survive without an economically viable school, Taekwondo International is also committed to helping its members prosper by providing master instructors with the guidance and tools to better market, manage and promote their schools. By focusing on the continuing education of master instructors and on the financial success of all member schools, Taekwondo International hopes to cultivate the legacy of traditional Taekwondo by enriching and preserving the way Taekwondo is taught at all levels.

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