Grandmaster Ken MacKenzie - Taekwondo Times

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Last Word C. M. Griffin holds black belts in several martial arts. He is involved in many facets of the performing arts from stunt coordinator to director. He has written, produced and directed projects for television and for corporations. He owns and operates his own Hwa Rang Do school in Ohio. Check this out: there’s an old saying that goes something like: “A little bit of knowledge can lead to a whole lot of problems.” Well, there’s a guy I know, we’ll call him Ted. Ted can fall into the category of a “self-taught master,” but with him there’s a slight difference. Ted is a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran. Before being drafted, he was a boxer and he also trained in Judo. After the military, he worked out and trained with men who later became grandmasters. Ted sparred with them and did some classes. He grasped a lot of the principles of the arts. He also went to seminars, workshops, bought books, magazines and watched film of different martial arts teachers demonstrating their techniques. (This was before video.) Ted even learned forms, including Naihanchi—Korean and Okinawa versions; Bassai— Korean and Okinawa versions, Korryo and so on. The thing about Ted is that he never officially joined or paid a school in order to get ranked. All the grandmasters know him and worked out with him. They respect his skill and knowledge; he just never received a black belt. In the early 90s, Ted became interested in pressure points, Ki and Chi Gung. He went to a few George Dillman seminars as well as Dragon Society workshops. He also attended Tai Chi and Chi Gung seminars, bought the books, videos, etc. He never joined a school or studied under one teacher, he relied on his vast martial library, seminars and his own knowledge of the arts. Friends warned him that he should not “mess around with Chi,” especially with “hard breath techniques,” without an instructor to show him the basics and correct his form. They also told him he needed to meditate and learn proper breathing techniques. Ted laughed and said something like, “I always start at the top! I go right to the head! If I can understand the top, then there’s no need for me to reach to the bottom for all that foo fah rah! That’s for you guys to spend years down there before you start doing anything!” So he continued on his path. A couple years went by and Ted developed liver problems, followed by heart and lung complications. In a four year period, he was in and out of the hospital for extended periods of time at least six times. The last time he had bypass surgery. Not too long after convalescing, Ted announced that he mastered Chi. His energy flow was so strong he could move people without touching them. He demonstrated this ability on a number of people in different schools. Unfortunately after each time, he had a severe headache. Once, his headache was so severe it landed him in bed for an entire day. Ted had lost a lot of weight over the last few years. He went from a lean 220 pounds to about 170. Ted is a big man, about 6’2” or 6’3”, but he was becoming skin and bones. His eyes were dull and his color was very sallow. Late last year, Ted dropped by a tournament. I introduced him to an older Korean grandmaster I know. When he saw Ted, he immediately told him he was “out of balance.” This grandmaster, who is also a licensed acupuncture doctor, then proceeded to list all of Ted’s symptoms and ailments. Ted was shocked. The grandmaster and Ted talked for over two hours. Afterwards, Ted regularly saw the grandmaster. They worked on Chi techniques, correcting Ted’s breathing, movements, posture and everything else. Five months later, Ted’s color returned and his eyes are bright and clear. The doctors have even cut back on a lot of his medications. Ted tells us some of the things that the grandmaster does and says to him. We smile and remind him that a lot of those things we told him years ago. He does admit that his method of training was all wrong and he has a long way to go before he really understands how Chi works and what it can do. He is beginning to understand about breath and its importance. Ted meditates regularly now and prays too. (He remarkably found a connection to the Almighty! Go figure!) Like I said, a little bit of knowledge can lead to a whole lot of problems. That brings up another adage: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Before then, the mind and ears are closed.” That may not be the exact quote, but you get the idea. Chi, or Ki, is not something you can learn on your own. Doing that is like playing with electricity. No, let me rephrase that: it’s like trying to capture lightning. Unless you really know what you’re doing and had excellent instruction in what to do, you will get severely burned! Later. 98 November 2009 / taekwondotimes.com By C.M. Griffin
Tel (562) 251-1600 Fax (562) 251-1611 7120 Alondra Blvd., Paramount, CA 90723 www.sangmoosa.com, info@sangmoosa.com PRIDE UNIFORM May mix different color combination. Custom make for your school logo and Silkscreen printing, Cloth lettering, Name embroidery, Sew on patches, Special line trimming on custom uniform. NO MINIMUM ORDER !!! (Call for more information) We specialize in all kinds of custom works done in-house. Silver NANO& Multi-Functional textile TKD Uniform MOOTO HEADGEAR MOOTO FOREARM MOOTO GRION GUARD TKD NEW POOMSAE BOOKS KTA Approved CHEST PROTECTOR MOOTO SHIN GUARD MOOTO SHIN & INSTEP WTF Approved Hand Protector KTA Approved Foot Protector MOOTO WINGS SHOES Make with your own logo. Picture showes how Table Cover will be displaced for any Occasion. Any design or logo can be done. We’re also carry ADIDAS products. Adi-Cham II Fabric Detail Champion II Fabric Detail ADI-CHAMP II TKD UNIFORM ADIDAS CHAMPION II TKD UNIFORM (WV,BV, SIZE:0008) taekwondotimes.com / May 2008 99
Page 1 and 2:
Get Grounded Techniques for Real Li
Page 4:
Contents November 2009 / Volume 29
Page 8 and 9:
HUGE SELECTION OF TKD PRODUCTS 10%
Page 10 and 11:
What do you have to say?
Page 13 and 14:
taekwondotimes.com / November 2009
Page 15 and 16:
Black Dragon Fighting Society Re-Em
Page 17 and 18:
Mickey Fecchinello winner of Jr. Bl
Page 19 and 20:
Our January 2010 issue will mark th
Page 21 and 22:
(Right) Limo (Left) Cafe and Prosho
Page 23 and 24:
Zoe and Burkley executing advanced
Page 25 and 26:
South Korea Master WooHyun Cho & Ko
Page 27:
Brazil Submit your Big Break photos
Page 30 and 31:
convert the space in our barn to a
Page 32 and 33:
My Martial Arts Story By Zion James
Page 34:
lenged. I could see he was a great
Page 37 and 38:
Kathryn training new people. When I
Page 40 and 41:
Get your Holiday shopping done earl
Page 42 and 43:
Heart to Heart Dear Readers & Fello
Page 45 and 46:
TM Discover the Quality! KI GONG
Page 47 and 48: for the power and speed it generate
Page 49 and 50: g bag accessories Bag paddle $9
Page 51 and 52: Hapkido’s Founder Ji Han Jae’s
Page 53 and 54: What important masters have influen
Page 55 and 56: ecently, I have accepted greater re
Page 57 and 58: For this reason, I have never lost
Page 59 and 60: HAPKIDO The World SinMoo Hapkido Fe
Page 61 and 62: Mr. Mcgee and I (Dr. Mencia) believ
Page 63 and 64: strange land and culture, had devel
Page 65 and 66: only results in about a 40 percent
Page 67 and 68: force, then a given amount of force
Page 69 and 70: Dr. Jerry Beasley is professor of E
Page 71 and 72: all of the answers. Only those that
Page 73 and 74: this technique is that it can be th
Page 75 and 76: Some arthritis sufferers recognize
Page 77 and 78: The Kubotan Keychain is a handy, ve
Page 79: to the vulnerable areas of the face
Page 82 and 83: I am “un-offendable.” At least
Page 84: The Supplement We all have a myriad
Page 87: The subway is the best way to trave
Page 90 and 91: Secrets of the Masters Revealed! Av
Page 92 and 93: Malaysia proficiency of self-defens
Page 94 and 95: MartialArtDirectory ARIZONA Defensi
Page 96 and 97: TKDTCorrespondents United States Al
Page 100 and 101: Tel (562) 251-1600 Fax (562) 251-16
Page 102 and 103: Featured DVDs Elite Israeli Combat
Page 104: Featured Books Simple Tibetan Buddh
show all

Grandmaster Ken MacKenzie - Taekwondo Times

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?