Last weekend I attended the 2010 Moo Do Festival in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. There were about 800 Soo Bahk Do practitioners in attendance. The weekend was jam packed with seminars, demonstrations, competitions, and chances to reunite with old friends and create new ones. I competed in the Sa Dan (4th Dan) division in Hyung (forms) and got 2nd place. I was pleased with the results and realize that I need work in making sure that my techniques are standardized.
During the festival, there was some new information about the philosophy of Soo Bahk Do. I helped Sa Bom Nim Jang compile it into essay form and will be posting it online soon so stay tuned. It was also announced that Sa Bom Nim Moonitz was promoted to 8th Dan and Sa Bom Nim Martinov to 9th Dan. Both of these masters are in our Soo Bahk Do lineage. Congratulations to both of them for their dedication and accomplishments. Without them, none of us would be training in this art.
I was also nominated by Gibbons Sa Bom Nim, our Regional Examiner, to represent Region 8 as a Youth Ambassador. I’m not completely sure what that means yet, but all 10 of us demonstrated during the opening ceremony of the Festival. We trained the day before very hard in preparation and it was a good chance to meet the other ambassadors and create relationships with them. I was honored to be counted as one of them. Many were school owners and all of them were dedicated to the art. Below is our demonstration. I think a lot of what the Youth Ambassador program is designed to inspire, teach, and lead the Soo Bahk Do youth to do great things in their young martial art career.
I hope to post more videos and photos of Nationals here soon so check back often. The other one I’d like to show is Steyer Sa Bom Nim’s demonstration of the Moo Yei Do Bo Tong Ji and Moo Pahl Dan Kuhm. He and his partner were the champions in the Ko Dan ja pre-sequenced sparring demonstration. Can you see the Pal Gwe in the demonstration?
Just wanted to say thanks so much for sharing. I actually know very little about Soo Bahk Do, but in watching your videos I was pretty impressed. Particularly in the first portion of the second video, I was surprised how much standing tie-ups there were. I like to see a Karate-like striking style with that much standing grappling attacks / defense. Thanks again for sharing.
Thank you very much for posting. I subscribed to your blog last year before my first Gup test, and enjoy your updates as rare gems (which can also be read that I would love to read more). I enjoyed Jang SBN’s opening to the Moo Do Ja Seh seminar day very much and look forward to reading the written essay. And congratulations on all you accomplished at the tournament. Soo Bahk!
Thanks Steve, Soo Bahk Do tries to be a well-rounded, traditional martial art. It’s focus is on striking but we understand the importance of closer-range defense also. One thing that we don’t do much of is grappling, but my school holds a grappling class once a month so we have some experience in that arena as well.
Becky, I’m glad you are enjoying my blog. It’s nice to know that there are people out there reading it regularly. I’d love to hear about what areas of the blog you enjoy so I have an idea of what readers are wanting more of. My hope is that this will begin to be a community to research and better understand the art of Soo Bahk Do. Soo Bahk!
so glad you enjoyed the performance enough to repost, corrales sa bom. my partner in the creation and presentation of the sparring sequence is neil cohn sa bom, of oceanside, ca and somerville, ma.
I always love to read anything I can find about Soo Bahk Do, since resources are still thin on the internet (many sites seem to have the same handful of resources as the next). I enjoy the personal reflections, as well as philosophical discussion and insight. I also enjoyed the post last month showing video of Gup tests at different levels. Anything to create a deeper reflection of what it is that we are doing. Thank you, Sa Bom Nim, for your efforts to create a richer understanding of our Art.
Thanks for posting this, Bri! I am always amazed at the talent and dedication at these events. And congrats on the 2nd place! Now you have a matching set!
Love ya!
The demonstrations was well done! I love it how they did it so smoothly and gently so that we can see each moves. I’ve never heard of this kind ofMartial Arts before. Soo Bahk Do seems quite nice