Arriving in Korea
After 12 hours of air flight, 6 hours stop over in Hong Kong and a further 3 hours to flying, Alex and I arrived in Korea. We were met at the airport by Master Park (Gil-Jun, Park) and his English speaking wife who gave us a very warm welcome. Master Park had organised for us to stay at the Valentine Hotel in the heart of Seoul -the Capital of Korea.
On the journey to the hotel Master Park invited Alex and I to train with him that evening around 6pm. We looked at each other, honoured by the opportunity to train with Master Park, especially as he, like us, specialises in Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do, but our look also held a recognition of our extreme tiredness after our long journey, so we said to Master Park that we would see how we felt after having a rest at the hotel.
Our room at the Valentine was excellent with air con, 42" flat screen TV and free Internet access. Both Alex and I went to sleep after having shower and the next thing we heard was a knock at the boor. It was Master Park and his wife and Anne Marie Smith (Gannon), a former student of ours, whom Master Park and his wife had just collected from the airport. The time was now 8:30pm.
Master Park and his wife sat down with us and Anne Marie and confirmed the details of our trip. Anne Marie had arranged much of the trip for us in advance via email and had come along to be our guide. Anne Marie and her husband Jason Smith (who is also a former New Wave student) run Spirit TKD; A full time Tae Kwon Do Club in Sydney, Australia and have many contacts in Korea.
At this point, rather than going through the whole Itinary and confusing readers with the many different names, I will stick to what was planned for the next two days.
Anne Marie had arranged that at 10am the following morning we would be picked up by Master Cho (Won Kyu, Cho) who would take us to meet 9th Dan Tae Kwon Do Grand Master -Grand Master Lee (Ky Hyun, Lee). We would have the opportunity to ask Grand Master Lee about any aspect of TKD or Martial Arts in general. We would also have the opportunity to train with Grand Master Lee. After that Master Cho would then take us to meet 8th Dan Kumbo (Way of the Sword) Master, Grand Master Oh (Sangpar Oh). We would stay the night with Master Oh and his family and would be introduced to sword training on the following day.
