At Jung SuWon, we are learning not just to punch and kick. We are learning about the unity of body, mind, and spirit, and how to achieve that, about Ki energy, and how to apply this in our daily lives. Not just in the Do Jang.
And in addition, we also learn a lot about the Korean culture. This makes a lot of sense, since Tae Kwon Do originates in Korea, and Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim also comes from there.
So, for Lunar New Year celebration, we typically fast, to cleanse our bodies, minds, and spirits. This is followed by a very special ceremony, after which we have some wonderful, traditional rice cake soup. But this year, Grandmaster Kim combined two soups into a most delicious, and nourishing soup. This year, we had seaweed soup with rice cakes! This is a case where the result is much better than the sum of its parts.
Rice cake soup is the traditional New year food in Korea. And seaweed soup is typically given to women that have just had given birth, to help cleanse their bodies and get back to strength fast.
Grandmaster Kim tells us that when she was born, on the lunar New Year, in 1946, everyone was expecting her to be a boy, as a boy, born on that day, was of course destined to be a great leader! But when they realized she was a girl, the dumped the seaweed soup they had made for her mother, and everyone was shocked at this awful curse that had befallen the village!
You can read Grandmaster Kim’s complete story here. And as we all know, even though she had such a tough childhood, she is the ultimate success story today.
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