My Teacher and our Martial Arts Lineage.

Courtesy of Janell Vela Smith

HistoryThe ori gin of the Dae Yeon Sa Tem ple can be traced to AD 1200 years. The first original Tem ple was Dae Yeon Am, meaning “Great Achievement Place”. It was located in North Korea, and founded by Master Ji Suk along with two other masters.

Dur ing this time the masters practiced Buddhism without the Martial Arts. It was only after Mas­ter Song Jae and Mas ter Bup Kwang came to the temple that the prac tice of Martial Arts began around AD 1269.

Several hundred years later, the temple moved to South Korea (1692) and the name changed from Dae Yeon Am to Dae Yeon Sa (“Great Achieve ment Temple”).

At that time, three masters from China joined and continued to develop the Martial Arts. That is why the origin of the Tukong Moosul system is both a hard and soft style, a blending of Chinese and Korean techniques.

In 1965, Grand mas ter Wonik Yi went to the tem ple and began train­ing in Buddhism and the Martial Arts. I Korea there are two types of Buddhist temples. One is similar to a church of mission ary work and is open to all people. The other is solely for individuals who wish to seek self-enlightment. These tem ples are ones of sanctu­ary and privacy, and are not open for public visitation. A few of the temples in Korea choose the later type.

The Dae Yeon Sa Temple is a very traditional temple that teaches Buddhism and Martial Arts. This is the tra di tion that is taught to the students of Tukong Moosul today.

Eun Kwang Bup Sa was born in 1895 and passed away in 1996 at the age of 101 years. He was head mas ter of Dae Yeon Sa Temple from 1955 until his passing. Eun Kwang Bup Sa was Master Yi’s Grandmas ter and the greatest mentor influencing, molding, and guiding Master Yi for the rest of his life.

Eun Kwang Bup Sa taught “Jeong Shin Il Do, Ha Sa Bul Sung”. Translated, this means that when one summons one’s mind, heart (body), and spirit in one direction together, nothing is impossible and you can accom plish any­thing that you desire.

Grandmaster Wonik Yi’s goal, in honor of headmas ter Eun Kwang Bup Sa, is to offer and pass forward to his students all of the knowledge, wisdom and philosophy that he has acquired through his years of training. The students that are willing to listen and work hard will find direction in their life; they will become humble beings, with a great understand ing of self-accomplishment, self-esteem, and an under stand ing of the impor tance of life.

Grandmaster Wonik Yi entered Dae-Yeon tem ple at the age of five in 1964. He lived at the temple until the age of nineteen and trained in traditional Moosul (Mar tial Arts) until he joined the South Korean Special Forces to do his duty for his country.

While he was in the special forces, his commander, General Chang, and the Korean Government noticed his prominence in Martial Arts and asked him to devise a more modern, powerful, and effective fighting martial arts for the South Korea Special Forces and the military version of Tukong Mar tial Arts was born in February of 1978.

In the beginning, Tukong Moosul was called Tukjun Moosul. In 1980, Korean Military 26th division became Tukong Division and most other divisions started creating the Tukong Battalion.

There are now over a few hundred thousand South Korean military and reserve soldiers training each year in the military version of Tukong Martial Arts.

Grandmaster Wonik Yi came to America in 1982 and has been teach ing Tukong Moosul ever since. The Tukong Moosul taught by Grand­mas ter Yi in the USA is very traditional and taught in the same way he learned from his Master, Eun Kwang Bupsa, at the temple. His Tukong Moosul is the combination of this traditional ancient temple style which was developed through many gen er a tions from 1200 AD and the inno v a tive mod ern style based on sci en tific research and theories.

Tukong Moosul taught by Grand mas ter Yi consists of the following:

• Basic physical conditioning to optimize the human body’s condition
• Advanced physical conditioning utiliz ing acupres sure and acupuncture
• Basic and advanced body movements in forms and steps
• Tra di tional and modern weaponry
• Basic and advanced Ip-sun (Tai Chi)
• Ulti mate Ki Kong (Ki Energy) Training

Grand mas ter Wonik Yi was granted the 9th degree designation, which is the ultimate degree in martial arts, by his master, Eun Kwang Bupsa, before he passed away in 1996. Grand mas ter Yi also holds a doctorate degree in education.

Grandmaster Wonik Yi’s Tukong Moosul is evolving into a total philosophy of the human being. What he teaches is not just physical or mental martial arts. He teaches the students how to live their lives. That is because he strongly believes that the best way to pre dict the future of a human being is to create one.