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THE BEGINNING
Author: sensei
It was about 1941 when they made the journey to China. Born in Samsugapsan, a region noted for its steep mountains and deep rivers, Ke-Hyung No was 3 years old when he travelled with his 22 year old mother, by truck and road, to meet up with his 20 year old father, who had gone ahead to Harbin working as a train driver. They stayed there till 1945, when they fled back to Korea to escape the postwar retaliatory purges of the Chinese, in which many Koreans and Japanese were executed.
One day the family found their house surrounded by one of the lynch mobs, all armed with knives, swords, and spears. Miraculously, when they looked out, they saw that one of the mob leaders was in fact the Chinese worker who had been assigned to the family by the railways. The family had never treated him as a seNant, but had treated him with respect and kindness, and had insisted on doing many chores themselves. This consideration was now their salvation, as the Chinese worker was able to dissuade the mob from harming the family, and escorted them to the safety zone, from where they returned to North Korea on the roof of a train.
In June 1950, the Korean war broke out and in the first winter of the war, the No family were among the many evacuated from North Korea by the US army. They were told this was a temporary measure, and that they would be returned in 3 weeks, and f many were separated from the rest of their family during this operation. A US warship took them all to Goje Island, off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. There they found both a POW camp and a refugee camp, and also found that it was impossible to return to their homes in North Korea.
The hardships suffered were horrendous.
It was winter, and there was no food and no shelter. Many dug caves in the snow, but there was no light, no heat, no fresh water. Ke-Hyung No was now nearly 14, and it was his job to go deep into the forest each day to collect firewood. (It was not permitted to cut firewood, and so it had to be done on the quiet in remote areas). Along with the other refugees, they had to scavenge for food, subsisting on seaweed, snakes, and whatever else they could find, although later, limited rations of rice were provided. Aside from these obvious physical rigours, there were other horrors. Many were taken away from time to time to be interrogated, beaten and tortured. His mother was also taken and beaten. During this terrible time also, his little two year old sister died because no medical help was available to the refugees. Ke-Hyung went to the army to ask for treatment for her, but he could not make himself understood to them, and no help was given. But perhaps the most horrific memory was of a family who had built a makeshift hut by constructing a straw roof over a hole in the ground. Because of the extreme cold, they lit a fire inside, which set the roof alight as they slept. Two managed to crawl free, but in the morning all that remained of the rest was the charred form of the mother huddled down encircling the young children with her arms.
At the conclusion of the war, in the summer of 1953, the family moved to a tiny house in Pusan, where a fourth son was born. Society was chaotic, and there was no law. "The streets were full of hooligans, and I suffered my first experience at their hands when a gang of ten beat me up and stole my watch. I realised then that I had to develop some means of self defence," said Ke-Hyung.
He learnt of a place not far off where boys met and trained on a piece of vacant ground, using improvised weights and homemade bags filled with sand. They would practise there, and spar wearing boxing gloves. He joined this group for the sake of survival. "One day a small boy showed me some judo. I was fascinated by the way such a small boy could so easily lift and throw me and went to watch his judo class. I was keen to learn so as to combine it with the kicking and punching techniques I had been practising. While watching, the instructor asked why I didn't join the class, but of course, there was no money for such extras. Hearing this, the instructor waved that consideration aside, and insisted that I learn for nothing." And so this man, Mr Yun-Bom Chang, became Ke-Hyung's most valued judo instructor." "I feel I owe this man everything, because without his skilled and formal training, I would not have had the opportunities in life that I have. I have never forgotten his warmth and humanity. He is now in his 80's, and we correspond regularly.
When Ke-Hyung finished high school, he gained entrance to the Korean Yudo (Korean for Judo) College, in Seoul, (now the Korean Sports Science University), where he studied full-time for four years. "We had academic subjects in the morning, and hard Judo training every afternoon, six days a week. On top of this, I joined a Taekwondo club and practised every evening," said Ke-Hyung. This was interrupted for 2 years by National Army Service. "In the army, because of my martial arts training, I was often asked to be a body guard for higher ranking officers when they visited towns where there were a lot of ex-army hooligans."
"One time, I was sent to the army oil depot charged with the investigation of the sale of army oil on the black market. It was a situation where the law of the strong prevailed, and by far the easiest thing to do was to accept a bribe and look the other way. However, I decided on the more honourable, though much harder course of refusing the bribes and proceeding to make an official report. When I refused the bribes, they tried to control me by force. They called me to the sentry box, and about ten - all higher ranking than myself, tried to beat me. Because of their higher rank, I could not actually strike them, but managed to block all their attacks so that I was unharmed. They then took me to their commanding officer, who kicked me in the stomach as I stood before him. Ignoring his commands to stay, I left and reported the incident to my own commanding officer who immediately went and took very direct action against him."
In 1962, he graduated from the Korean Yudo College "for all the hard punishing training, I had had the most rewarding experience of my life, and made life-long friends," said Ke-Hyung. Ke-Hyung spent 2 years as a High School Phys.Ed teacher, before resuming full-time training-Judo at the Korean Yudo College, and Taekwondo at the Korea Gym. During that time he also did instructional stints with the US army. It was on the recommendation of Dr Je-Hwang Lee, the president of the Yudo College, that he was invited to Australia by the then president of the Australian Judo Federation, Mr Ivan Zavetchanos. By that time, Ke-Hyung was a 4th Dan, awarded by the Korean Yudo Association, and 3rd Dan awarded by Jidokwan Taekwondo, which were very high qualifications by Australian standards of the day.
That was in 1965, and at that time, in Australia, there were no Taekwondo instructors or clubs, and only a handful of judo or karate clubs and Zavetchanos wanted someone to teach both judo and Taekwondo at the Silver~op Taxi Club. There is quite a number of students who trained with Mr. No in those days who now run successful clubs in Melbourne. ''Apart from Silver~op, I took courses of a few months at a time in Brisbane, Hobart, Perth, and Toowoomba, and also ran special courses at Flinders Naval Depot."
As well as this, Mr. No instructed at Monash University in both judo and Taekwondo, and those students who undertook serious training invariably became Australian Judo Champions. (There were as yet no Taekwondo Championships). "I enjoyed the company of the Monash students, and we frequently had a meal together in the cafeteria after class. Among them was Robin, who was later to become my wife. Meanwhile, I had to have my visitor's visa extended, and ultimately changed to one of permanent residence," said Ke-Hyung. The White Australia Policy made this exceedingly difficult, and it was only after much effort was made by Malcolm Brown, with whom he had a contract teaching at Andree Studios (later Gymnastik Internationale), and by Mr Luxford, at that time the Mayor of Springvale, that permanent residence was finally granted by the then Minister for Immigration Mr Sneddon.
"Robin and I finally married in 1968, and after a twelve month visit to Korea in 1970, where I furthered my training, we returned to Australia to start No's Martial Arts Centre. This was first in the East Ringwood football stadium, but by the end of 1971, we found better premises in a shopping centre, where we could set up the mats as a permanent fixture, and install showers and sauna. In 1972, we moved to slightly bigger and better premises just next door, and in 1982 found the ideal location in a block of land in Croydon. We had a few hassles to overcome with the local council, and finally completed the building and moved In In January 1985. Here we had off street carparking for our members, a spacious, airy training area with a sprung floor and separate mat area for judo. It was some four times the size of our previous quarters, and had a separate weights room and sauna. Altogether the surroundings are pleasant and befitting a martial arts school, and it is highly unlikely that we would make another move."
Whilst teaching is still very important to Ke-Hyung, he now enjoys a game of golf at least once a week, and driving around the country in his Austin Healey.
During this whole period in Australia Mr. No feels the most important achievement was the formation of the Australian Taekwondo Association in 1972. By that time he had encouraged Malcolm Brown to sponsor some other Korean instructors, to replace him when he went to Korea, and also since his return. ''At that time, this was the only way taekwondo could grow, and I had no grandiose ideas about running a monopoly on taekwondo in Australia. One of my former students from Silver~op was also trying to run a club without a qualified instructor, and he too, on my advice, invited a Korean instructor here, Mr Young-Youl Oh, who is now our national Technical Director:' "Some others had migrated under their own steam with the easing of the White Australia Policy, and by 1972 we had quite a happy and co-operative little group, and together we formed the Australian Taekwondo Association. The AT.A. became affiliated with the World Taekwondo Federation when it was formed the following year, and with the Asian Taekwondo Union on its formation a few years later, at the General Assembly meeting which took place in Melbourne, in 1976, when the A.1A hosted the Asian Championships," said Ke-Hyung.
The Australian Taekwondo Association has sent a team to international championships every year since 1975, and is a member of the Australian Olympic Committee, under whose auspices it has competed as a demonstration sport at the last two Olympics. "Our involvement in international competition enhances my enjoyment of teaching taekwondo, because it gives me the opportunity to broaden my knowledge, and gives me confidence in knowing I am teaching my students the best technique available. It is also very beneficial to be part of a well-run
organisation which enjoys the advantages of its affiliations with the WTF and other official bodies," said Ke-Hyung.
The success of taekwondo is due to the spirit of co-operation in developing ideas and technique collectively, rather than by anyone individual. This is to the credit of many taekwondo instructors both in Australia and world wide, who have put aside self-interest in order to work together under the national body. These are truly dedicated individuals who forgo the superficial short term gains, for the benefit of taekwondo.
The most important concerns of martial arts today are not so much technical ones, as ones of spirit and philosophy. And for all the technical differences found amongst the various arts, these are surely the unchanging and common ground which makes our involvement worthwhile. If we fail to retain the traditional ethics of loyalty and integrity, then we are nothing. Without these, martial arts have little value to the individual or to society, and we may as well kick a ball around at the local oval. The development of martial arts as international sports is desirable. It contributes to the technical development, and adds an extra dimension to our involvement. But this aspect should never overshadow the basic philosophical and ethical principles, or the dimension of personal and moral development. "Then we become like the hooligans whom it was so often my lot to control all those years ago. Not only that, but ultimately, any breakdown in ethics and loyalty which are at the heart of the head instructor system will result in fragmentation and consequently in technical degradation:
The practice of students alienating fhemselves from their head instructors to pursue their own independent course is to be deplored. Firstly on the grounds that they should so readily "grab and go" with no sense of appreciation and secondly, on a more practical and material level, they cut off their own further development, and thereby deny this to their students also," said Mr. No.
Reaching 1st Dan does not denote the depth of knowledge required for quality instruction. First Dan is like the 1st level of literacy and numeracy acquired by a primary school student after the first six years. He can read and write well enough for the purposes of simple everyday situations, but he does not have the knowledge, the experience or the maturity to set up his own school! He needs continued education and guidance.
''The success of taekwondo is due precisely to the adherence to these traditional principles by the ATA. in Australia, and the W.TF. world-wide. It is these principles which have fostered the cooperation and organisation which is behind the development we see today," said Mr. No.
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