What is Chun Tu Moo Sool?

Chun Tu Moo Sool (CTMS) is Korean for Combat Martial Arts. Pronounced as [Chuhn Too Moo Soo l]

Chun Tu Moo Sool is a modernized self defense system that finds its roots in many systems of martial arts. CTMS incorporates movement from Kick Boxing and Kenpo, strikes from HapKiDo, Kenpo, and Boxing, Grappling from Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling, Kicks from HapKiDo and Muay Thai, Self Defense Techniques from HapKiDo, Jiu Jitsu, Kenpo, and Krav Maga, and finally Weapons from Arnis and Ninjitsu.

Chun Tu Moo Sools effectiveness comes from years of study of many systems of Martial Arts, a current study of the culture, and an analytical mind that is willing to ask the questions What works and is relevant? and What is best for the students safety? I have studied Martial Arts systems that would not change their curriculum for anything, even if its not relevant any longer (sadly this is the case with most schools.). I have studied systems that have hundreds of self defense techniques, yet half of them are against wrist grabs. Do not misunderstand; CTMS has 15-20 defenses against wrist grabs and the aforementioned system was a very thorough program but I realize that most students do not become lifelong martial artists. Most quit training before a year is over. I wanted to create a well rounded system that was easy to learn and that anyone can take with them and use years down the road. I have also studied systems that had no set curriculum and while this was spontaneous, fun and reduced the stress of learning a system, I found that if I did not write down the techniques and teach them to someone else, I would not truly absorb the material.

CTMS teaches a curriculum of basic techniques and movement, grappling techniques, self defense techniques, striking combinations, weapon techniques and defenses. As it applies to the self defense techniques, three things must be remembered:

1. Defenses must be simple and effective. 2. There are to be no more than five types of defenses against the same type of attack. We do not want our students having to sort through a plethora of techniques when trying to save their life. We want them to have an immediate and effective response. 3. They must be relative to the culture. An example of a technique not being relevant any longer would be the classic training method of each partner facing each other in a front stance with one chambering a punch and the other executing a low block. They both yell when they are ready. Training should be safe but as realistic as possible. Another example would be if there was an instructor in Malawi, Africa. In Malawi, rape is a common crime. The terrain is different, as are the available weapons. All these factors need to be taken into consideration during training.

Instead of insisting on a set curriculum, instructors are highly encouraged to follow the principles and teach effective self defense for your time period and location. Instructors are encouraged to teach using as many methods as possible. Examples include but are not limited to; heavy bags, shadow boxing, mitt work, combinations, light sparring (little contact focusing on speed and dangerous techniques), hard sparring (full contact and realistic power), grappling, three step sparring, no contact sparing (deadly/crippling techniques), weapons training, and new and/or unorthodox methods.

Why create a new art?

I used to hate it when I heard that some young guy had created a new system. I would say things like There is nothing new under the sun. There are only so many ways a body can move. Does he really think that he has created something new? Yet here I am presenting this new system to you. Why? It is not that I have developed something new or surpassed my instructors. In fact, I honor all of them. I learned so much from each on and they have as much to do with creating this system as I do. I am confident that every technique in CTMS has been used by someone at some time. The reason I created CTMS was for the following reasons. 1. CTMS is an art at its core that is ever adapting. Most arts get solidified and will not vary from the curriculum. We see this even at some Jeet Kun Do places. (JKD was Bruce Lees philosophy on martial arts. It was never intended to be a codified martial art. Most JKD schools do well to teach technique and philosophy but occasionally a JKD school will become codified in the way they do things.) One place that I studied at for two and a half years taught the same curriculum on the same schedule the entire time. I learned a lot from that master but every class was the same. I came back 10 years later and NOTHING had changed. The curriculum, schedule, everything was exactly the same. His system was not growing or adapting. Though CTMS has a curriculum to go by, this curriculum is driven by the philosophy of the system which says that it must be relevant to the culture. Therefore the system should adapt. 2. Sport infiltrates every system at one point or another. Dont misunderstand; I am not against sports, testing your skills, safety, or entertainment, I have personally been involved in Tae Kwon Do tournaments, Jiu Jitsu tournaments, Boxing matches, Kick Boxing matches,

and MMA matches. I have trained people for said events as well. What I am against is a CTMS school being driven by sports. Even though I train people to compete, CTMS is a martial art, not a combative sport. 3. As mentioned in the above school, not only was it stuck in the tradition of the school but it did not evolve with the culture. I find this true of many schools and systems. I wanted to create a curriculum that would as effective in 500 years as it is today. I believe if my successors adhere to the philosophies and practices of CTMS, this system will continue to be effective for years to come. 4. Another reason CTMS was created was that I did not see an emphasis on combinations throughout the Martial community as a whole. The striking schools stayed with simple combos but rarely branched out of the basics. CTMS Starts with basic and simple techniques and moves to more complex combos. As a Student learns new techniques, they are added into the combinations. My experience with most grappling schools is that they focused on techniques but rarely used combinations. CTMS focuses on combinations. We quickly move from single techniques to combos. 5. When people asked what I taught, it was always a question that I hated to answer. If I said self defense they would ask What style to you teach? If I rattled off the list (Tae Kwon Do, HapKiDo, Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Kenpo, and Arnis) they would either get lost in the list, think that I didnt know what I was doing, or brand me by their perception of the first, last, or most recognizable style mentioned. Trust me, I tried this approach. I even mixed up the order of the systems just to see if I got a different reactionI did. After I went out on a limb and said Chun Tu Moo Sool I would get a puzzled look followed by Ive never heard of that before. That gave me the opportunity to respond by saying Chun Tu Moo Sool means Combat Martial Arts. It is a self defense system that uses techniques from HapKiDo, Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Kenpo, and Arnis. It worked! Thats the

nudge I needed to go ahead and put a name to the principles that I had been teaching. In October of 2008 CTMS was born.

What are the philosophies that drive CTMS? The philosophies of CTMS must not change. The techniques can change as long as there carry the heart of CTMS. When this principle renders CTMS ineffective as a self Defense system, it is then time to label CTMS as out dated and find a new system to train in. 1. It is fine for a CTMS school to train students for sport and fitness; however, the following factor must always be present. Self Defense. The primary Philosophy behind CTMS is self defense.

2. The curriculum must be relevant to the culture. If an instructor is teaching in a combat war zone, his teaching must address the needs of the solders. If an instructor is teaching in an area where people are being assaulted by a hand gun wielding assailant, the instructor should spend a significant amount of his time teaching hand gun defenses. This will cause the art to evolve from place to place and time to time.

3. Use of force. There are a plethora of moral, social, mental, and emotional issues here. I do not know you or your situation but here is the official CTMS guideline to use of force. Become informed on your legal rights concerning self defense in the area in which you live and or will travel. If you can avoid a conflict, it is your responsibility as a trained martial artist to do so. If you cannot avoid a conflict, only do what is necessary, to keep yourself free of harm until you can find the opportunity to escape. If you cannot escape, do all that is necessary to incapacitate your assailant. Then cease your attack until your advisory makes you resume. As a side note, when I say incapacitate, I do not mean to stun them or knock them to the ground. While that may be the case consider breaking a bone, rendering a joint useless, knocking them unconscious, or (in some extreme situations) taking their life. Remember, it is better to be judged by your peers for defending yourself than to be carried by your family and friends for failing to do so.

4. CTMS must be well rounded. Even though the CTMS instructors are encouraged to modify their curriculum, it must remain effective in all forms of combat. A true CTMS instructor is good at self defense, weapons, grappling, and striking. No CTMS school or student should be so focused on one aspect of self defense that they could be labeled as a grappler, striker, or weapons expert. A CTMS practitioner is a self defense expert. 5. D.E.A.R. verses D.E.A.D. Every student of CTMS is encouraged to go through this process during training for a confrontation. Both Ds stand for Distract. Always use a distraction technique. This could be calling attention to the situation, dropping a wallet, or striking the attacker. The distraction may be effective enough to cause a completed resolution of the situation (for example, if you start to yell fire and people come running, your attacker may leave or you might strike your attacker in the knee with a scoop kick and incapacitate him), however, a distraction is meant to aid you in your escape. Both Es stand for Escape. This could be escaping the room, area, holding technique, or any of attack. The escape does not mean that you are completely out of danger but that the immediate threat has been halted. Both As stand for analyze. This must be practiced every day in training; it is something that must become effortless. In a confrontation, this step must begin the moment that you realize that you are in danger. This step determines what you do next.

R stands for Retreat. A note to my fellow ego-maniacs. Self Defense has nothing to do with Ego. Run if you can. Fight dirty if you must. If you must prove how superior you are to others, enter a competition. If you stay to fight, you could be a dominant victor, severely injured, killed or even if you do win the loser of the confrontation may strike back at you again with a more deadly weapon, a group of people, or even by hurting your loved ones. Your safety and that of you loved ones is not worth your ego. If I am confronted by someone in my house and I am alone, I should fight until I can get out of the house. The confrontation may be resolved by then but escape should be my goal. D stands for Destroy. If you have no other option, fight until the attacker is incapable of retaliating at that moment. This could include but is not limited to a simple eye poke, knocking the opponent out, controlling them with a joint lock, breaking a bone or event killing them. In the above analogy, now play my wife and children in the house with me. I will not leave the house. I will stay and fight until I hear them drive away or until the attacker is completely incapacitated.