Fighting Monks' new master shares martial arts style with the world

Friday, December 30, 2011 at 9:33 AM

By John M. Glionna

South Korean monk Ando knows his own teacher would probably be furious, but he felt it was time to move the secrets of Sunmudo beyond the temple walls.
South Korean Buddhist monk Ando demonstrates Sunmudo martial arts techniques — Buddhist monk Ando remembers the toil of all those years, trying to satisfy the training demands of an aging martial arts master who could never be pleased.

Silent and impassive, monk Yang-ik perched in the lotus position on a platform above his young proteges, who leaped from mats, kicking two impossibly high bags one after the other, the best adding aerial somersaults before landing gracefully, like big cats.

When they finished, panting and sweating, the master dismissed them. "You have done nothing today — I have done all the work," he would say. "You try to impress me, but when I am gone you are loose-minded. This discipline is not mere athleticism, but a way of life."

For the rest of the article, please see: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/26/world/la-fg-korea-fighting-monks-20111226