- Robert Young
- Dec 15, 2025
- 2 min read
I blame David Carradine, may he rest in peace.
If he hadn’t done such a fine job portraying Kwai Chang Caine for three seasons on the Kung Fu TV series, chances are the Western world — or, at least, America — wouldn’t think that China’s Shaolin Temple is the sole source of Buddhist martial arts in Asia.
Back in the mid-1980s, I first heard rumors of a little-known Buddhist fighting art in South Korea. But seeing how that was long before the advent of the Internet, searching for clues proved an arduous task — especially because I was not yet a Black Belt staffer and therefore had no access to the magazine’s network of contacts. My only option was to fly to South Korea and find out for myself.
Once there, I found work as an English teacher and started making connections with local martial artists. Months later, a lead from a martial arts researcher pointed me to a temple called Pomosa (also spelled Beomeosa), where I located a monk who taught a style known as bul mu do, meaning “Buddhist martial way.” I wrote about that encounter in the May 1988 issue of Black Belt.
In the ensuing years, I managed to locate a few other temples and hermitages where the Buddhist arts are practiced. I even found a facility in Seoul that teaches a Buddhist martial art called seon mu do to the public.
During a few of those encounters, I was allowed to photograph the monks and students in training. Presented here are some of those images, many of which have never been published. I hope you find them as valuable in your quest to comprehend the vast scope of the Asian martial arts as I did in mine.
Life as a Temporary Martial Monk
South Korea created its Temple Stay program to help visitors better understand Buddhism. It offers various kinds of practice sessions, such as chanting, sitting meditation and the tea ceremony. Participants strive to find their true self while harmonizing with nature.
Since 1992, a temple called Golgulsa has hosted seon mu do training programs for those who wish to experience Buddhism through one of Korea’s Buddhist martial arts. This is how a typical day in the program unfolded:
4:00 a.m. Wake-up call
4:30 a.m. Chanting and sutra reading
5:00 a.m. Meditation
6:00 a.m. Jogging or walking
6:50 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Cleaning temple grounds
9:00 a.m. Martial arts training
11:00 a.m. Chanting
11:50 a.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Work
5:00 p.m. Break
5:30 p.m. Dinner
6:00 p.m. Chanting
7:00 p.m. Martial arts training
9:00 p.m. End of the day
9:30 p.m. Bed
Many of the activities have a deeper meaning than their names indicate. For example, food is eaten communally. Known as balwoo gongyang, the practice allows adherents to reflect on themselves and how they have the potential to awaken to a pure life.
It’s a form of active Seon (Zen in Japanese) meditation that nurtures the understanding of the need for order, harmony and ultimately respect within the temple. That, in turn, fosters a deeper sense of compassion for the people who’ve made the meal possible.
Photography by Robert W. Young
