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MA and ME (CAP. 13 PROF. Carlos Damasco

MARTIAL ARTS and ME (p. 13)

Professor Carlos Damasco

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I meet Carlos García Arocena to tell me about his recent trip to South Korea, in order to practice Hapkido with Grand Master Ung Seo Ju, 8th Dan of said Martial Art, owner of the Eul Ji Kwan School. He himself is also the 7th Dong of Taekyon, a Martial Art with Korean roots.

Well Carlos, tell me how your interest in traveling to Korea arose? I met the Master at a Seminar in 2019 in Brazil, he invited me to participate in special classes in his country. In that year I got a ticket for 2020, in order to attend said event As a result of the pandemic, I changed the ticket for 2021 and finally changed it for this year, to attend the event set for the month of October. I was very well prepared, physically and mentally, since since 2019 I have remained highly motivated to travel. I emphasize that communication with Koreans is difficult, since it is not like here, where we use various social networks. Until the last moment, with only one month left, they told me that I had to apply for a visa online, and used to putting my identity card and not the Passport number, I found that the trip made stops in San Pablo, Paris and finally to the destination that was seoul. When I arrived in Paris, I had a problem with the number of the passport, which did not match the number of the Visa, which I had managed. I was stranded in Paris for three days, until I was able to apply for a new visa online. When it only arrived after three days, I was able to board, finally arriving at Incheon Airport, which is an hour from Seoul. The only guidance I had was a photo to show at the help desk, to get a bus ticket to Chun Ju, on the bus that left at ten twenty in the morning. The particularity of these developed countries, that you cannot find people to help you, there are only digital vending machines, which give you the ticket through your credit card. There I was finally able to successfully solve my game. I tell you, there were about ten cities, with a similar name. I sent a photo on Instagram, but received no response. The trip lasted two and a half hours, but I was already delivered, since I couldn't do much more. Lowering the suitcases, I found that the Master was waiting for me next to Mrs. He and I felt great relief. I arrived on a Wednesday, and I spent basically that week, in a cabin

in the mountains, since the Master has a Tourist Complex, which he owns. So I met and spent those days with his family. It was an incredible experience on a cultural level, and I felt very comfortable too. That week, I was training one hour a day, both in this city and in others where the Master has other dojang.

Well, the other city we were moving to is called Jechion, there there are several Dojang, in which the Master's students teach, all black belts. Until Sunday I was training in several Dojang, and unfortunately the Hapkido Seminar had to be postponed for a week because many people left due to the war in Ukraine and others due to Visa problems and also due to COVID. Due to this, he offered me to participate in a Seminar carried out by the International Taekyon Association in a University that they have for the study of Martial Arts, where Taekyon is the main art. We were staying in a fully paid hotel and there were people of different nationalities, French, Italian, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Srilanka, Ghana and the Philippines. It was a group of very young people from different Martial Arts, who attend the Sem year after year. of Taekyon and its competition. From Monday to Friday we trained double-time, and Saturday and Sunday were the competitions. I competed in a fight and lost with the one who was finally the Champion, but beyond the anecdote the prize was to participate and have had an incredible experience. In the third week, I returned to the mountain, to the apartments of the great Master. The participants in total were four, three French and me. Others participated in some occasional training, but in the entire Seminar, the four of us participated. We got up between 7 and 7:30 a.m., had breakfast and at 9 a.m. We were already ready for the morning training that lasted until 12:30 pm. Later we had lunch and at 2:00 p.m. and until 18.00 we did the afternoon training. It was a week of very intense training and I emphasize that I had never felt so much pain. With the days I got used to living with pain, it is noteworthy that this School works the joints of the wrists, to the limit. Sensation of pain that in Uruguay I had never felt. Until today my body feels and I add that this School is very aggressive, always working at the limit of pain in the joints. The particularity of the Seminar is that one day is dedicated in the mountains, exclusively to physical activity, I found myself very well there since I was very well prepared physically and mentally. At the top of the Mountain there are some kind of bridges with stairs and viewpoints. The stairs have many steps. We took them up and down several times, doing a series of 50 kicks with each leg, which totaled about 700 kicks. Thanks to my preparation I came out of the training, which was extremely intensive. Finally, the Master offered some of us to take an exam, presenting Korean certification through and I took 3rd Dan, taking a very good exam.

Carlos, do you want to add something else?

Two points that remained pending, this trip is somehow the gateway for all the people of the Uruguayan Hapkido Center, who can easily access Korea, to train with the great Master Ung Seo ju, both in Hapkido and in Taekyon . And the second point that is important to highlight is that our level of Hapkido in Uruguay is very good because although new things are learned, in practice I felt like one more, without feeling diminished, and on a par with the others. French companions. One of them has been attending for 20 years and the others for the third or fourth time. It is noteworthy that any representative of the Uruguayan Center can go with his head very high with the knowledge he possesses.

Thank you very much Carlos!

And I tell you, until next time.

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