About The Founder - Kuk Sool Won

Grandmaster SUH, IN HYUK
10th Degree Blackbelt
Founder and President of the World Kuk Sool Association

In Hyuk Suh is the founder, Grandmaster and President of the World Kuk Sool Association®. He has studied martial arts for more than 50 years, receiving his first instruction from his grandfather, Myung Deuk Suh, a master-instructor to the Korean Royal Court. After his grandfather's death, he traveled throughout the Far East seeking out and studying additional aspects of the martial arts.

The knowledge he acquired from his grandfather and subsequent masters enabled him to establish Kuk Sool Won™. His organization now boasts 1.3 million members with over 800 schools worldwide in 27 different countries. Although expert in every aspect of martial arts, Grandmaster Suh is especially renowned for his mastery of pressure point and joint manipulation.

Additionally, Kuk Sool Won™ has been mentioned in over 300 articles and featured on more than 60 front covers by world famous magazines in the United States , England , Spain , Iran , Germany , Mexico , and Venezuela . While the following list of accomplishments include items accrued not only by himself but by the organizations he founded, the reason for this can be found in the excerpt below, taken from the “Letter from the Grandmaster” which is written to all practitioners of Kuk Sool Won™ and located in the front of the Textbooks he provided as an aid to understanding such a unique and comprehensive martial art.

In 1958, after many years of study, SUH , IN HYUK systematized and organized the myriad techniques he had learned and created the art of KUK SOOL . It was at this time that he revealed a secret inheritance from his late grandfather of a compilation of five books containing all the knowledge of the Korean Royal Court . With the inheritance of these books, the title of KUK SA NIM was bestowed on the young master, which means, ‘ National Martial Art Teacher ' - a title officially recognised by the Korean Government.

In 1961, Kuk Sa Nim established the KOREAN KUK SOOL ASSOCIATION . Kuk Sool Won™ had now become the official name to represent, not a style or type of martial art, but rather a systematic study of all the indigenous traditional martial arts of Korea , dating from ancient times to the present.

From 1961 onwards, Kuk Sa Nim began his quest to spread the knowledge he had gained to the Korean people and established many schools throughout Korea.

In 1974, Kuk Sa Nim emigrated to America where, in 1975, he established the WORLD KUK SOOL ASSOCIATION. Since that time, many hundreds of schools have opened throughout the USA , as well as in several other countries including Gt. Britain . It is now considered that worldwide, over one million students have passed through the doors of the Kuk Sool Won.

Over the years, Grandmaster SUH has received many honours and accolades which include: holding the keys of several cities of the USA; being featured in numerous international martial art magazine articles as well as appearing on the front covers; and TV appearances in several different countries of the world.

Most recently in 1999, Grandmaster SUH was the subject of a one-hour long documentary film made by Korean TV entitled “ KUK SA NIM”. This documentary chronicles his life story from those early beginnings in Korea , to the present world recognition of his achievements within the martial arts. With the publication of this documentary, Grandmaster SUH has become one of the most famous Korean nationals residing outside of Korea.