Master Kim at the National Karate Institute started his path to teaching martial arts and Qi Gong by trying to emulate his grandfather. When Kim was young, he lived in a small village in Korea where his grandfather practiced holistic healing. The hospitals for the residents were far away and too costly, so when the villagers got sick, they traveled to Kim’s grandfather’s house.
“When I was young, I used to watch my grandfather do a lot of acupuncture and holistic exercises and healings for people when they were sick,” said Kim. “I would see these things and try to emulate it. That’s when I first started to develop a little interest in it.”
“When I was 8 years-old, my grandfather passed away and we immigrated to the United States,” Kim continued. “While being here, I developed more of an interest on Qi Gong and martial arts from my father. I started to get in touch with some of the masters of Qi Gong in Korea and they would come over and we’d have lessons. I learned a lot of the health and holistic part of it.”
According to Kim, there is energy in the universe, and while human beings are mostly built of water, water is very receptive to energy and electricity. Qi Gong allows the energy within the body to circulate more efficiently through many methods, most importantly breathing and eating. Breathing correctly and eating healthy are important to Qi Gong, however, it’s also a person’s mindset that affects Qi Gong.
“When we come into this world we tend to exhale,” said Kim. “Babies cry into this world, but as we get older our energy changes and we tend to breathe in more. One of the things that I teach and work with many students on is exhaling more than we breathe in.”
“Another part of energy is when you see kids running around,” Kim continued. “If you tell a kid to run from there to here, they don’t worry about being tired, they just do it. If you tell someone who is older to run from there to here, the first thing that they think of is being tired. They had already created negative energy by thinking like that.”
For Kim, Qi Gong is energy, how to circulate energy and where one puts that energy. Energy can be physical in terms of breathing or energy and it can be a mindset. The way one thinks and approaches their day or adversity can result in positive or negative energy, however, energy can also be love.
“Energy is also love,” said Kim. “When you give a lot of love to something it will typically last longer. Not just your body, but plants, animals, etc. You take care of it better. A lot of people today, try to give love to their body when something goes wrong or they get sick, but it’s more important to do preventive measures.”
At one point in one of Kim’s Qi Gong classes, a student asked him to go to Willingboro Library to share his knowledge to a resident who struggled with Parkinson’s disease. After about a year, the Moorestown Library called Kim to ask him to teach classes there as well.
“Not many people have ever heard of Qi Gong before,” said Kim. “When I go and teach at the library, they really love it because of everyone’s interest in being healthy and living longer. They learn things that’ve never learned before, and typically it’s women who come to my classes.”
“The build up for men and women are different,” Kim continued.” Men are more stiff and more muscle-bound, and females are much more relaxed. Females feel energy and receive energy a lot greater than men do. It’s about relaxation, but I really love teaching because I get the satisfaction of people learning and really understanding. Energy is contagious whether it’s positive or negative and all the positive energy that circulates the classes makes me feel good as well.”
For those looking to know more about Qi Gong and attend one of Master Kim’s classes, participants can go to the Moorestown Library’s website and register for his classes. Master Kim’s next class will be held on July 11 from noon to 1 p.m at the Moorestown Library.
