An Explanation of
Traditional Moo Doe

Bringing the Body into Balance

Even after ten or twenty years of instruction in many other martial arts schools, it is common that students cannot adequately defend themselves in an actual situation. This is due to learning movements that are unbalanced and fabricated. With an unqualified instructor, the student will lose balance and target-focus without even being aware of it. Through improper training (fabricated movement) an individual will quickly lose body condition and balance, especially over 40 years of age. Common symptoms that show up after age forty are overall stiffness, and loss of strength in muscles and joints.

Maintaining a balance between the internal and external is very important in Moo Doe. Proper Moo Doe training requires dedication of time and energy. Someone taking advanced training will practice according to his or her ability. The higher the degree of belt, the less physical practice is needed to achieve the same result. This is because the body becomes more balanced over the years, and remains so through proper Moo Doe physical, mental and spiritual training.

To recover a black belt's lost skills, he or she must be trained by an 8th degree black belt or higher using proper Moo Doe training steps, herbs and practice equipment. Otherwise, they will lose more than they will gain. For example, one Instructor, whom Grandmaster “Iron” Kim had not seen for eight years, had lost a lot of his skills. Because he once had a solid foundation, he was able to improve even beyond where he had been eight years previously, after only two to three months of work and private lessons from Grandmaster “Iron” Kim.

Note: The amount of time necessary to fully recover a black belt's lost skills also depends on the length of time an individual has not been practicing properly.

It takes an average of three months of practice for a 3rd degree level to recondition all internal and external parts of the body (the whole body, not just favored parts) and to improve all skills. A higher-level belt will take less time; below that level will take longer.

All Chung Doe forms and movements are designed to help students stay in balance. If a student practices the same routines too frequently (favoritism), it will create an imbalance in their movement. If you concentrate only on the strong parts, they become stronger and the weak parts become even weaker. For example, if the right hand is favored, you need to practice with the left more often to balance and equalize the hand movements. The more off-balanced your body becomes the more effort it takes to return to correct movement. You must regain correct balance before progressing forward.

Is very beneficial for practitioners age 80 and above to practice traditional Moo Doe routines. With proper Moo Doe, they lose very little of the skills that they developed through a lifetime of practice. They may lose some speed over the years, but they become very accurate in hitting targeted points, as well as achieving great spiritual growth. It is common to see people of advanced years demonstrate their amazing Moo Doe skills on Asian television.

Historically, the Chung level (8th degree and higher) Moo Doe practitioners are known to perform miraculous medical cures by using pressure points with their developed internal strength and spirituality. A good example of this was Hwa Ta. (One of the original Moo Doe masters of twenty centuries ago, and the world's first documented brain surgeon.) Hwa Ta was the most highly-skilled doctor of his time, however, he wanted to further his ability to heal his patients. He found that his success with use of medical knowledge alone was limited. Through true Moo Doe he was able to reach higher levels of skill with medicine. Besides Hwa Ta there are many more masters known for their miraculous cures. It is one of the main reasons, especially now, that so many doctors around the world are trying to understand Moo Doe.