In The Media
"Overcoming all my passing battles and struggles have created the very foundation I am standing on today"
Master Myung Man Kim, the President of the Korean Tae Kwon Do Association, interview with the Hoju Ilbo Korean newspaper.
"In my opinion, he is a genuine and very personable. In order to maintain personal relations with others, there must be mutual trust, confidence, sincerity and integrity. Master Kim possesses these qualities and more. He is highly respected in the community of Korean Tae Kwon Do instructors." These are the words describing Master Myung Man Kim by his fellow Tae Kwon Do instructors.
During the interview, Master Kim spoke about Tae Kwon Do with passion and tenacity. When the interview came to an end, he thought out aloud saying "I wonder if my answers were good enough for this interview". With this one comment, his honest and humble self became transparent.
In a tiny country village lived a small boy whose one dream when growing up was to become an athlete…
Unlikely to his image, Master Kim shared that he was a shy and timid boy who grew up in a small country village which was so tiny it only had five families residing there. Within this village he grew up with a handful of friends and began attending school with them. But because Master Kim and his friends grew up in a small village, they were constantly belittled and singled out by the students who grew up in the bigger villages.
The parents in Master Kim’s village were fed up with the way their children were being bullied, so they sent them to Tae Kwon Do (TKD) classes to give their children confidence to stand up and defend themselves. This is how Master Kim’s journey with TKD began.
Accomplishing a childhood dream vs. broken confidence and betrayal…
Prior to arriving in Australia, Master Kim actively took part in the Korea’s Annual National Sports Festival as a competitor. He then was called to fulfil his mandatory military service for his country. Whilst serving in the Navy, his dreams became a reality when he was invited to Australia as a TKD Instructor and a representative of Korea. As a result, he was discharged prior to completing his military duties and was given the opportunity to begin a new life in another country.In 1972, Master Kim's TKD Instructor, a Grand Master at the National Navy Academy, was given the task of choosing a group of select individuals to give them the opportunity to be invited to Australia by an instructor already living in Sydney. At this time, he was also asked to introduce someone who had the ability, energy and passion to relocate and teach TKD in Australia. Without hesitation this Grand Master chose Master Kim.
After receiving an invitation, Master Kim and four other instructors travelled to Australia to meet the Instructor in Sydney. This instructor had planned for this team to become strong influences in TKD in Australia. However things did not go to plan as the Instructor who had invited them had changed his mind and did not keep his promise which broke the trust and confidence of this team.
In December 1975, the Government of Australia was granting visas for the first time in Australian history to those who needed a permit to remain in Australia. In knowing this, Master Kim told the Instructor who invited him that he had the intention of applying for this visa. The Instructor appeared supportive and told Master Kim he would obtain this visa for him. Because the Instructor gave him his word, Master Kim trusted him gave him his Korean passport and waited for the good news.
However, after a few weeks there was no mention from the Instructor about his visa so Master Kim began to gather information on his own. When the Instructor realised this, he felt his authority had been challenged and confronted Master Kim and exclaimed "Don't you believe me?". Master Kim felt he couldn't afford to lose the Instructors trust, especially because his passport was in his hands, so Master Kim apologised and was determined to wait once again. But no news ever came. By then applications for the visa had closed and the only news Master Kim received was this - Representatives from the Department of Immigration were coming to his house that day to arrest and send him on a plane back to Korea that very night.
Master Kim soon discovered it was the Instructor who had alerted the officials that he did not hold a visa to remain in Australia. With only $35 in his pocket, Master Kim felt hopeless and with a heavy heart could only reflect on the past. In the midst of bleakness he thought, "If I think about it, all the past experiences and events have allowed me to get this far and have formed a foundation for my feet. There is a reason I am here."
Tae Kwon Do emerging within a different culture…
There were many challenges Master Kim faced since beginning a new life in Australia. A major challenge was the language barrier, but the biggest challenge was to adapt to a new culture – one that clashed with his Korean background.In Korea, athletes would have a lot of garlic and Kim-chi (traditional Korean dish - chilli cabbage) in their diet because it was known to be good for your health. However in Australia, this was the very thing causing the number of students to reduce in Master Kim's classes. Master Kim made the assumption that he was being racially discriminated against without realising it was the smell of garlic from his body which deterred his students.
With a laugh, Master Kim openly shared this once embarrassing memory from his earlier days.
However, even in the midst of many cultural differences and challenges, Master Kim believed he was playing an important role in introducing and developing TKD in a Western country. And in order for others like him to adapt and belong to this country, they needed to overcome their differences and learn to change and continually widen their influences to become successful.
Just like Master Kim had performed in TKD demonstrations at the Sydney Opera House in the 70's and 80's, the impact TKD had on Australian society as well as the influence TKD instructors had can not compare to these present days. All this is due to the efforts and hard work of Master Kim's predecessors.
However, Master Kim explains that the impact and reputation of TKD has been damaged by those within the TKD community who exercised their power and moved according to their selfish desires. There were also instructors posing with false qualifications as well as a lot of trickery and unfair competitor selections for tournaments. All these things and more slowly destroyed the foundation and hard work of the previous instructors to establish a positive TKD in Australia.
In order to re-establish TKD's earlier reputation, Master Kim's states that all instructors will need to rid of their past ways and quickly connect with Australian culture again. We are now living in an era where information is easily accessible and quickly spread to people through different channels like the internet, so in particular, TKD instructors must make an effort to broaden their knowledge and keep up to date with recent day events. Master Kim informs that "if we (instructors) persist in our dishonesty, laziness and disunity, then our cultural TKD will not survive in this multicultural country". He continues to emphasise that the first step for all instructors is to put aside their differences and unite as well as sharpening their technical skills and studies for TKD.
Educating and creating a strong foundation of Tae Kwon Do for the next generation…
TKD is one of the only influences of Korean culture within this world and in order for this to remain and grow in the future, the strength of the next generation is needed. However the next generation of young TKD enthusiasts will need the support and interest from the general Australian-Korean community. On the flip side, the next generation must be able to accept instruction and constructive criticism from the Australian-Korean community with a grateful heart.
In addition, whilst performing his duties as the president of the Korean Tae Kwon Do Association, Master Kim is striving towards creating harmony and peace between all Korean instructors, as well as educating and creating a strong foundation of TKD for the next generation. Also he wishes for the Australian-Korean community to have a stronger interest of TKD in the future.
When Master Kim was a fearless young boy he had grand dreams of immigrating to Australia. In the midst of the many struggles and difficulties he faced, he received many scars of betrayal from dishonest people and these scars remain till this day, however his passion for TKD has helped him overcome these memories and realised that nothing can change the past. Master Kim also said he realised that TKD gives him purpose and that there's no significance in becoming financially successful without it. As he expressed himself, there was a strong sense of passion and deep pride stirring in his heart for TKD.
Towards the end of the interview Master Myung Man Kim says there have been many misunderstandings, has personally experienced injustice as well as faced many battles with others. This made it very difficult for him to personally develop TKD and faced financial, mental and emotional hardship. However through it all he sincerely expresses that "the only reason I have been able to dust myself off, regain strength and stand on my two feet again is because I have the continual support and encouragement of my loving wife."
