Buy the sounds of it that how we do it as well. I've scene some people put the striking hand near there armpit and the blocking hand behind there back
For a low soo do we chaber the striking hand up by the ear and the other behind near the kidney. For medium/high level chops both hands are chambered by the opposite hip.
I never meant to challenge anyone with what I'd said. I'm very happy to know that Moo Do tradition is alive within your Do Jang, and it really doesn't surprise me. The aspects of Moo Do that Hwang Kee established were far too strong for anyone who he'd influenced to simply ignore or neglect. If I've seemed defensive about the name, it's because the Moo Duk Kwan™ name is a registered trademark, and one that the World Moo Duk Kwan™ has fought in court to preserve because it is the name chosen by Hwang Kee for the organization he led, and really the individuals who stuck with him through all the hardship; the ones who showed Moo Duk (Martial Virtue) by remaining loyal. I additionally found out that aside from political and governmental pressures, some instructors left because it would simply be more profitable to do so. Others left at higher ranks because they didn't like the fact that there could only be one Grandmaster, or Kwan Jang at a time, and were not satisfied with the title Sa Bom as the highest attainable title. There are no hard feelings or anything, and it's definitely not personal, but if we don't pursue these cases, and defend our trademark, we'll lose the exclusive rights to hold the name, and then anyone can take the name Moo Duk Kwan, with or without direct lineage to Hwang Kee. For ha dan soo do mahkee (low knifehand block), we prepare the blocking hand in front of and no higher than the opposite shoulder. The non-blocking hand prepares at the opposite side, at hip level. For chung dan or sang dan soo do mahkee (middle or high knifehand block), both hands prepare at the hip level. We also have two versions of the soo do kong kyuk (knifehand attack), one which moves like a punch, in chun gul jaseh (front stance), with the chop coming horizontally. The other comes diagonally, and is usually delivered in hu gul jaseh (back stance). I say block/strike but realistically we subscribe to the idea that "every block is a strike and every strike is a block." The applications are plentiful, but for our purposes, they only have one name.
As a young boy, Hwang Kee visited a neighboring township's annual festival. Forgive me but the name of the festival or place currently escapes me. I'll consult with my instructors regarding those details. There he witnessed a man defend himself from a group of 7 or 8 men, using Tae Kyon, or basically, Korean streetfighting. This was the life-altering moment for Kwan Jang Nim which first stirred his interests in the martial arts. He followed the man to his home, where he pleaded for the man to teach him Tae Kyon. He asked persistently, but was denied each and every time. To that end, Hwang Kee practiced the art on his own, by watching in secret, copying and paying close attention to each detail, training as often as possible. "This rings of the Shoalin tale of the determined student at the HA NAN Temple story?" When I hear tales like this, folklore comes to mind in order to overgrandise the subject. I am a hard to convince sceptic these days, years of listening to BUL****T I`m afraid.
GM Hwang Kee's only formal instruction in the martial arts was the Chuan Fa he learned in China from Master Jang, Kuk Jin. He did know some Tae Kyun beforehand, although from solely watching a practitioner its hard to tell how much he could have possibly learned. The rest of it he got from books - the Karate and Muye Dobo Dong Ji material. It's a good point that Dadams made earlier - its hard to get it right from a book. Despite that I still enjoy SBD, I think over the years the GM, GM's son, and the masters ironed out all the nitty gritty to make it its own unique system (yea its def not the ancient Soo Bahk that stuff's been lost for a while)
