One person came to heal a broken heart; another was simply looking for a new form of exercise. Oom Yung Doe, translated as mind-body-harmony, is a traditional martial art that strengthens your thighs, heightens your focus and, for many, offers real results.
"It is easy to destroy something," says Sean Mclemore, a fourth-degree Oom Yung Doe assistant and regional instructor who has practiced for eight years. "It is much more challenging to build something up. If you have the knowledge and ability to make your mind and body strong, then you have the ability to do whatever you want to do."
Inside the School of Oom Yung Doe, in Lower Queen Anne across the street from Kidd Valley, students learn to jump, roll, kick and slide themselves into a whole new reality. Training requires patience and determination, and those qualities carry over into real life.
"I started a couple of years ago," says Michal Friedrich, a lively Queen Anne dentist from Poland. "I was never really into martial arts before, but it is amazing what you can do. I feel more balanced in a physical and mental way."
In 1972, Master "Iron" Kim, a martial-arts practitioner since age 7, introduced the Oom Yung Doe martial-art style to the United States. During that same year, he demonstrated Bope (flying side kick) and successfully jumped off an 11-story building.
He knew something that most Americans didn't, and acquired a following. Oom Yung Doe is inter-national, and there are now five schools in the Seattle area.
"The kick technique slows down the descent," says David Mallory, an Oom Yung Doe instructor, explaining how Iron Kim jumped off an 11-story building without injury.
Traditional Moo Doe - martial arts - have been used for thousands of years to develop and strengthen the mind and body. One significant feature of Oom Yung Doe is that it combines eight different martial arts, such as Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Samurai Sword, and teaches the result as one.
"It is something that has been go-ing on for a long time in East Asia, and it's new to us," says Mallory. "We teach proper movements that over the centuries have been proven to work. Getting those joints moving, bringing blood back to the area. Self-defense is an aspect."
But unlike many other types of martial arts, that is not the main focus.
"Self-defense is not what it is all about," says Angelo Delsenno, an Oom Yung Doe student. "It is about compassion and understanding your body."
Mclemore demonstrates an Oom Young Doe sequence and, like an eagle swooping for its prey, arches his body downward, rises with added energy and releases the chung, an open-handed strike, on Mallory.
"Every time you move in a circle, you are gathering up energy and then releasing it," says Mclemore, describing the Bagwa motion he demonstrated. "Gathering and release."
Bagwa Chung, a martial art taught in Oom Yung Doe, focuses the positive chi within the body.
According to Oom Yung Doe legend, Bagwa movement was secretly passed through family lines for centuries until a few hundred years ago, when it became more available to the public.
"Bagwa is a very circular martial art that concentrates on moving the body like a coiled spring," explains Mallory.
In the world of Moo Doe, chung is one of the most powerful hand attacks that you can use because it allows you to take energy and trans-fer it from one person to another.
"It feels like you got hit very deep inside," says Mclemore. "Here, let me show."
Before I can decline the chung, he takes a deep breath and a large, trained hand snaps into my abdomen.
I feel like a drum that has been gonged.
While this particular chung was not painful, moments later my internal organs are still ommming.
"Your body is porous," says Mclemore, who first came to Oom Young Doe after a broken back from football. "We go through the porous parts of your body rather than staying on the surface.
There is duality to the chung, and the same hand that hurts can also heal.
"I have had serious pain relieved by chung before," says Mclemore. "I have been healed by the chung."
The school of Oom Young Doe offers daily classes and teaches high-school-age students all the way to seniors. They have even worked with stroke victims.
"We see a lot of high-school-age kids who have really seen a big difference in their schoolwork," says Mallory. "They are more able to focus, think clearly and develop more motivation. That all comes from what they learn in the practice room."
"This is probably one of the few sports where age really doesn't really matter," adds 46-year-old Friedrich.
Maybe it is the mystery of the Moo Doe or the power of the chung, but the men and women who practice Oom Yung Doe are pleased with the effects it has on their lives.
Oom Yung Doe is found at 8 W. Mercer St., Telephone 285-9789.
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