A Killing Art Paperback – 9 August 2016

This book was recommended to me by the master of my dojang as a good background on TKD. It was great. Airs a ton of dirty laundry and I can't imagine the author hasn't received some flak for writing it, especially from some of the older masters and grandmasters that are still with us. The author obviously did a ton of research and names names and lays it out like it was and still is in some ways. Gives a great breakdown of the early days and the genesis of the art and I also very much like the recent updated chapters which deal more on a "renaissance" or enlightenment of the sport, especially regarding Grandmaster CK Choi and his efforts. Absolutely recommended to a TKD practitioner, old or new, or anyone seriously interested in the sport. Just be prepared to have your beliefs or understandings of the art challenged if all your TKD history has been told to you buy a master that may have rose colored glasses or be biased in their memory.

Tae Kwon Do always has been one of the most perplexing arts to me. It's rapid global adoption, the variability of its practitioners' skills, a professed history that runs nearly a millennium. Its schools range from hard-hitting knockdown academies to McDojo belt mills where people bounce up and down and play foot tag.Gillis thoroughly documents the art, becoming a heresiarch in the process as he debunks the martial myths and nonsense. To my interest, he also shows the splits that occurred in the art's formation that gave us Choi's hard-hitting schools and Kim's foot-tag Olympic variant.Gillis' book shows the evolution of TKD from a derivative of Japanese karate to something very distinct. We also gain perspective into the machinations of the Korean CIA, South Korea's nationalist dictatorships, the interplay of a powerful cult, and the viral growth of TKD into its modern status as a world art. Much of the book seems far-fetched to the point of nonsense -- it isn't. Matters accepted as articles of faith by practitioners have the human fallibilities and hubris of storied founders painstakingly documented and challenged. Gillis' sources include first-person interviews, articles, congressional hearings, and personal insights.Even if you're not a martial artist, the invented traditions would interest a cultural anthropologist or political science student as TKD became intertwined with Korean nationalism and identity. TKD gained more esteem in my mind, knowing it was so effective and applicable for state and nefarious purposes, as opposed to some mythic lineage to the Choson rulers and prior. I've studied various arts, including kung fu, which has manifold issues in nearly every offshoot's storied history and myths.Ultimately, every martial artist would benefit from this book to challenge undue reverence and belief and to move beyond martial nonsense and contrived demonstrations to focus on what works. Gillis shows instead of tells, and one walks away with the sense that those who focused on finely honed fundamentals prevailed in their execution of the art.

I read this cover to cover when I received the book, couldn't put it down as it so engrossing. The development of taekwondo is mired in corruption and intrigue. This book charts the path of the rise of those early pioneers who made the art into the family friendly hobby it is today.Yet although the roots of this modern art is dark, the author notes the current situation is no better. The corruption still persists today.

I had already read and loved the first edition of this book, and now I'm more than eager to say that this version is updated and revised and even more beautiful than the previous one. You can read it as a novel and is full of historical facts and accurate researches. This book is really objective and tries to unmask lies and bias that have been spread in the last 60 years. But this book is also full of love for the martial art portrayed in its pages, a love that has no need to lies and myth to be strong and deep. A book every Taekwondo practitioner should read.

Having trained in the 1980"s {before I took a 25 year break) I knew a bit about the tensions between the ITF and WTF, and I was involved with the legal side of trying to put proper organizatioal structures in place for the Canadian and Ontario federations. But I had no ideanofbrhebsordid, but very interesting history presented by the author.Extremely well researched and well peesented