Additional Information About Kuk Sool Won™

Since Kuk Sool Won™ is a traditional Korean martial art, etiquette plays an extremely important role in forming the student’s martial art character. Following the rules of etiquette develops self-control, which is an essential prerequisite to advanced martial art training. Proper etiquette demonstrates respect for the art, for one’s instructors, and for one’s fellow students. In fact, etiquette is the first item of the Kuk Sool Won™ syllabus and is the single most important requirement to be eligible for further training in Kuk Sool.

Bowing is one of the most visible manifestations of martial art etiquette. Unfortunately, it is also the concept most often misunderstood by the beginning student. For the most part, Western culture has had little experience with the act of bowing and those experiences are typically associated with either some form of worship, or with subservience and an admission of inferiority. For this reason, the Western mind often reacts to the idea of bowing with either ambiguous or completely negative feelings. In the East, however, the bow is not seen as a sign of subservience at all, but rather as a sign of respect and more mundanely, as a simple method of greeting. In many ways, the Asian bow is similar to the Western handshake or to the military salute.