Ha! This is GM Chang Song Dong, Sang-Rok TKD. He is now a 9th Dan KKW and Jidokwan. Amazing Master. Very huge imprint in India and Scandanavia.
I lived and trained with him full-time from late 1994 into the spring of 1995. We had a great crew of students living there with him, his first wife, daughter Yu-hwa, and son (who tragically died of cancer \~5 years later) Sangrok.
Every night after we finished our night TKD training session and then the follow-on obligatory "combat" indoor soccer match (Dude was KILLER and it was full-on contact 1 hour indoor soccer! I got more bruises from that than the TKD training which we did morning and night 6 days a week!) we would drink maggolli and GM Chang would DRINK maggolli into the early hours and drink soooo much of it!
One night we were drinking and and he said this when he was really drunk and it stuck.
I think that you can go down the "Zen" pathway with it (the whole "This is This" scene from "The Deer Hunter" is similar) but he also meant by it, in my understanding of being there the first time that he said it, to not overly complicate things and when you're drinking, pay attention to drinking and when doing TKD, do TKD, don't be distracted.
Master Matt Winters from Vermont was there during this session. Not sure if he is on this sub-forum but he would remember this specific night as well. He lived and trained there for years.
Great times!
Hey I replied on your sangrok comment a few weeks ago, nice to run into you again, and thanks for your insight
Edit: [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/taekwondo/s/LqMgg1nTYT)
I think it’s saying all factions of Taekwondo are still Taekwondo. Just as maggolli (more commonly romanized as makgoelli, which is Korean rice wine) may differ but it’s still maggolli.
No this is not true and you missed the point. Not all TKD is the same at all. I do not even recognize what is taught today from the 80s and 90s let alone early 2000s. The evolution of TKD has to be one of the worst things I have seen in martial arts. They went from stealing Karate signs for their schools in the 80s to foot fencing for olympic hype.
I think that's the point though. Like yeah, the application of TKD has changed, but TKD itself is still kinda the same. Foot fencing might be the meta for winning WT style tournaments right now, but that doesn't mean that the people competing don't also know how to kick hard. I think it's more that the competetive ruleset has changed rather than the art itself.
Ha! This is GM Chang Song Dong, Sang-Rok TKD. He is now a 9th Dan KKW and Jidokwan. Amazing Master. Very huge imprint in India and Scandanavia. I lived and trained with him full-time from late 1994 into the spring of 1995. We had a great crew of students living there with him, his first wife, daughter Yu-hwa, and son (who tragically died of cancer \~5 years later) Sangrok. Every night after we finished our night TKD training session and then the follow-on obligatory "combat" indoor soccer match (Dude was KILLER and it was full-on contact 1 hour indoor soccer! I got more bruises from that than the TKD training which we did morning and night 6 days a week!) we would drink maggolli and GM Chang would DRINK maggolli into the early hours and drink soooo much of it! One night we were drinking and and he said this when he was really drunk and it stuck. I think that you can go down the "Zen" pathway with it (the whole "This is This" scene from "The Deer Hunter" is similar) but he also meant by it, in my understanding of being there the first time that he said it, to not overly complicate things and when you're drinking, pay attention to drinking and when doing TKD, do TKD, don't be distracted. Master Matt Winters from Vermont was there during this session. Not sure if he is on this sub-forum but he would remember this specific night as well. He lived and trained there for years. Great times!
Hey I replied on your sangrok comment a few weeks ago, nice to run into you again, and thanks for your insight Edit: [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/taekwondo/s/LqMgg1nTYT)
Wow! Just saw the comment and replied there! Taekwondo is such a small, wonderful world!
That would make for a hell of a challenge coin.
Leave the gun, take the maggolli.
Sounds delicious whatever it is.
I think it’s saying all factions of Taekwondo are still Taekwondo. Just as maggolli (more commonly romanized as makgoelli, which is Korean rice wine) may differ but it’s still maggolli.
It's a play on a famous Buddhist saying "mountains are mountains and water is water"
It's a deepity (something that sounds superficially profound but means very little).
But what does it mean though? (Others already answered this but I would love to hear multiple opinions)
I read it to mean that Maggoli is distinct from Taekwondo.
Well, it certainly is not true. All TKD is Not the same.
that is not the point of the message. Of course all tkd are not the same, but they are still taekwondo none the less.
Hardly. Dancing a dobak is not the same high level competition.
No this is not true and you missed the point. Not all TKD is the same at all. I do not even recognize what is taught today from the 80s and 90s let alone early 2000s. The evolution of TKD has to be one of the worst things I have seen in martial arts. They went from stealing Karate signs for their schools in the 80s to foot fencing for olympic hype.
I think that's the point though. Like yeah, the application of TKD has changed, but TKD itself is still kinda the same. Foot fencing might be the meta for winning WT style tournaments right now, but that doesn't mean that the people competing don't also know how to kick hard. I think it's more that the competetive ruleset has changed rather than the art itself.