Kuk Sool Kwan vs. other Schools
Kuk Sool Kwan vs. Other Martial Arts
Most of the known martial arts of the world have a specific forte for which they are known, and which characterizes them. Taekwondo, for example, is instantly recognizable by its flashy kicks, Jujutsu for its grapples and throws, Muay Thai for its conditioning, power and directness. If you want simple, efficient street defense, such as military personnel might require, then combat systems like Krav Maga are what you seek. For internal energy cultivation, one would seek Taijiquan. Whether classified as soft martial arts or hard martial arts, most of these train a specific asset, be it body part or technique, to use as a weapon against attackers.
What identifies Kuk Sool is its breadth. Kuk Sool Kwan is itself a survey of the philosophies and elements which have motivated all of the above mentioned arts. This was intentional - as a martial art for royal bodyguards, it served as the anti-martial art martial art, and so practitioners had to be familiar with the techniques of all fighting systems. In its later, post Korean-war form, as an attempt to preserve all of the native fighting arts of a single nation under one umbrella, this was even more the case. This means that Kuk Sool, on account of its history, is therefore one of the first "mixed" martial arts. Other than the Hawaiian fusion art known as Kajukenbo, or perhaps Ninjutsu, it is also one of the only martial arts to combine both soft and hard techniques.
Nowadays, the hybrid ring sport simply known as "MMA", which essentially cleaves jujutsu and muay thai together has earned attention because of its apparent novelty. It is very popular nowadays for fighters to go to jujutsu for their "ground game" and muay thai for their "standup game", however, because these are in fact separate arts, they do not seamlessly and efficiently blend together when applied. Kuk Sool Kwan, by contrast, is comprised of full techniques which integrate flowing soft movements with hard counterattacks, having had more time in its development to fertilize its own jujutsu background for combination with striking. In addition, Kuk Sool Kwan also contains much more training than only these types of movements, such as meditation techniques, healing techniques, considerations of diet and nutrition, weapon useage and tumbling.
Finally, the the one aspect that makes Kuk Sool stand out the most is its maintaining of the standards and traditions of ancient martial arts. In an age where martial arts in America have degenerated to becoming mere sporting spectacle on the one extreme or glorified aerobics on the other, Kuk Sool still contains the hallmarks that once defined the true value of martial arts: self-discipline, respect, courtesy, and honor - all without sacrificing practicality or effectiveness in self defense, but rather enhancing and confirming those purposes through the development of character, inner strength and willpower.
Kuk Sool Kwan vs. Other Kuk Sool
Most Kuk Sool arts today are splinters from the largest and most influential branch of Kuk Sool - Kuk Sool Won Hapkido, under their organization the "World Kuk Sool Association". These arts, the Kuk Suls and Guk Sools, even Kuk Sool-Hapkidos, have nearly identical curricula and technique execution to that of Kuk Sool Won, which was founded and headed by Grandmaster Suh In Hyuk. This is because they are spinoff arts started by high ranking masters of Kuk Sool Won who broke from that association to teach independently. Unfortunately for them, many of these masters broke before they had reached the 9th degree of Kuk Sool training, and because they burned their bridges to the WKSA, their Kuk Sul spinoff arts only have techniques to the 5th or 6th degree of black belt.
Of course, Kuk Sool itself has its origins in the Kuk Sool Hwe of the early 1960s, where several Korean masters of many diverse martial arts came together to preserve their national martial arts styles under a single system. Three of the most prominent individuals were Masters Suh In Hyuk, Lee Joo Bang, and Kim Woo Tak. Suh In Hyuk began his Kuk Sool Won Hapkido Association after breaking from Kuk Sool Hwe, Lee Joo Bang started Hwarang Do after claiming to have received instruction from a Buddhist monk, and remaining Grandmaster Kim Woo Tak then redesignated Kuk Sool Hwe as Kuk Sool Kwan.
Kuk Sool Kwan is a brother Kuk Sool to Kuk Sool Won then, and not merely a splinter or daughter art. This means it is a complete Kuk Sool, and shares the same 5th-9th degree black belt material. Having formed at the same time as Kuk Sool Won and benefitted from the same commingling of Korean Gung Jung Mu Sool or Royal Court techniques as Hwarang Do and Kuk Sool Won, Kuk Sool Kwan nonetheless is a slightly different take on Kuk Sool than Kuk Sool Won is.
Although the techniques between the two Kuk Sool systems are nearly identical, their distribution across the belt curriculum is somewhat different, and this is not only because Kuk Sool Kwan uses a different belt system than Kuk Sool Won. Kuk Sool Kwan also has three different underbelt forms that Kuk Sool Won does not use - the Oh Tah Hak, Jang Gun, and Kuk Sool Ki Hyung, while KSK does not use the Ki Cho Hyung of Kuk Sool Won. Kuk Sool Kwan also performs its hyung with slightly different postures than KSW, de-emphasizing low stances and preferring crispness over flowery grace. KSK uses a different sparring posture, and practices continuous sparring rather than point sparring. KSK is also fortunate to be a somewhat smaller body that has passed through fewer hands, and so much of the original Kuk Sool Hwe material remains, such as advanced kigong training and complete training processes for chul sah jang and other technique sets.