Golgulsa Templestay

It has been a bit more than three weeks now that I arrived at Zen Ghetto Golgulsa, Korea’s most wanted Sunmudo Martial Art temple in the land of the morning calm. Actually it is the only Sunmudo temple that exists. That makes it even more special if you look at the background of this impressive forgotten Martial Art style. You can compare the setting of this temple to Shaolin fighting Monks in China. The historical fighting monks from Korea practiced Sunmudo for a long time. When Korea was invaded by surrounded countries the Government used the monks to protect Korea. After they lost an intensive bloody battle the invaders banned Sunmudo from Korea because it was too dangerous. At the end of the Japanese occupation beginning of 1960 Sunmudo a.k.a. Zen Martial Art was introduced again.

Last week a handful of pro fighting monks from Golgulsa went to China to have some exchanging in experiences of both Sunmudo and Shaolin Kung fu. They discovered that the old traditional Shaolin Monks are on extinction. The old chaps just meditate their way around these days and don’t like to get tired any more. So the traditional fighting temples are being trade in for just Shoalin schools for youngster that want to learn Kung fu.

This temple started the Sunmudo headquarters in the 80’s. I must say this form of Martial Art is very intensive and hard to practice when it comes to flexibility, strength and difficulty of patterns. It has very powerful moves and in combination with Meditation, Yoga and Qi Qong it’s more than just a sport. If you think temple life is boring, you’re wrong. At least at this temple it isn’t. It has around 20.000 Korean and 5.000 foreign visitors a year (daily visitors not counted). Next to like 6 senior monks, there are also around 5 junior monks and two handfuls of Korean and foreign volunteers. The senior monks are like ninja’s. They can jump like monkeys, make a split like if they don’t have any bones and sometimes fly like a squirrel. Most of them train more than 10 years every day. Most of the junior monks will become as flexible and jumpy as the seniors. Some of them already are and will maybe even become better.

My experience so far is very good, it’s beautiful here… I really love the mountain nature, the smell of the forest, the view towards other mountains and green landscapes, the colorful sunsets, the healthy food, the kind people, the intensive trainings and even sleeping on the ground. The only thing I don’t like is to wake up every morning at 04:00 by a false singing monk drumming a wooden bell like an idiot. Besides that the aggressive killer black ninja mosquitos are terrible! These nasty bloodsuckers produce bumps as big as overgrown teenage boobs without nipples. Happily it’s getting colder so they diminish in amount, so do my bumps.

Another specific thing you notice is that there are a lot of children or teenagers here brought by their parents. Some regularly visit the temple every year for a couple of months. Most of them are here to get some more discipline, other for some small delinquencies or youngster that have skin problems and want to get cured from it and then there is me (I am here for all three:)). After one week of orientation the Master Monk wanted to talk to me. His first question was like how long are you going to stay here. I said you needed a volunteer for 6 months at your website, so that’s my goal. Then he answered like, you have to stay for 2 years and become a teacher. I want to start a Sunmudo school in Amsterdam. I became suspicious after this answer, because he didn’t even see me train and it was only my first week here. So would he just ask any idiot that just want to volunteer to become a teacher? I said maybe later, I first do my 6 months period and then we will see. He seemed a bit disappointed but understood my decision (Finally I really like it here, but to live here for a like 2 years or even longer is a complete turnover). He gave me the responsibility to take care of the foreign e-mail and guide foreign visitors during their templestay. When I saw their English version of the web information I offered them my help to replace the PDF file that was over more than 80 megabyte (only 8 pages). My office hours are from 14:00 till 17:00 from Monday till Saturday. I think I am lucky in a way otherwise I had to clean toilets, weep 1008 leaves from the steep path to the top and pick never ending weeds. Now I just can go online for a while and still do some work and do an update once in a while. If you think Milan has got enough time in the temple your totally wrong. I have a tight schedule where the only free time is actually after lunch from 12:30 till 14:00. The last training is till 21:00 but before you are in your room and showered it is already 21:45 and we have to sleep at 22:00. And believe me you need those 6 hours sleep at night! Check my schedule:
04:00 – Wake Up
04:30 – Morning Chanting Service
05:00 – 06:00 Sitting and Walking Meditation
06:30 – Breakfast
08:30 – Sunmudo Training
10:10 – 108 bows, meditation, and tea time
11:50 – 12:20 Lunch
14:00 – 17:00 Office work
17:50 – 18:20 Dinner
18:40 – Orientation
19:00 – Evening Chanting Service
19:30 – 21:00 Sunmudo Training
22:00 – Bed Time (Lights off after 10pm)

So Sundays is rest day, you can do whatever you want between 10:10 and 21:21. Even though smoking and drinking alcohol is forbidden in the temple area, youngster are drinking and smoking outside the temple. I also got seduced by it several times and have to admit that Makoli is really nice with some mandu and pajon! Actually I really like the young people here. The Sundays are to have some fun, shopping, get meat to strengthen after a hard week of training and talk about how crazy the monks are. I also noticed the monks like to drink once in a while. They have this secret hide out where they drink beer and Makoli… They say the Alcohol relax their muscles. So probably when I finished my templestay I really have to relax a lot because my muscles will double up if I keep training here like an idiot.

Before I entered the temple I wanted to talk to my mother a bit better because I didn’t talk to her in normal sense since my arrival in Korea. Only about; food, are you hungry and why don’t you eat more? Where do I go, how long do I stay, when do I leave, why don’t you still talk Korean and don’t take any girls at omma’s crib unless you marry her.
Because I wanted to know more about her family whether she want to tell her own family about me and if she told my Korean father that I was already here for 2 months, I took my dear Bible Teacher David to do some translation. This was the fourth time I took somebody for translation and every time I get to know more. Also every time I hear more I got more suspicious about the relationship with my mother. I figured out that actually she want to commit abortion when she had me and that she never really wanted me. So in this matter she is honest and wants to publish it to me? At this current time I still have a feeling she is not accepting me completely. When somebody is visiting her, she gets nervous and I get a feeling she is ashamed. Also the few times that I spend there I am not always that comfortable. She still yells at me for simple irritations like walking on the bed (actually sleeping carpet), spreading one leg when eating on the floor (imitation lotus position can be very tiring), brush my teeth in the kitchen sink (the bathroom hasn’t one) and buying her gifts (not accepting Buddha gifts because she is Catholic) she don’t want. Lucky enough my little nephew is funny and crazy so I am not bored to death. We play stupid hand games (rock scissor paper) and can you do what I can? Besides that he is a really good dancer ;-).

After Chuseok (21 till 23 – 9 Korean Thanksgiving), I had it for a while. I decided to give us both some more time, space and will surprise her with stupid gifts again around end of February. Happily my father was enthusiastic when I called him and really want to meet me when he is better. But God knows if his broken ass bone gets recovered at all. I just wait till February and who knows. He is not really better then my mother but at least he is acting more in a way he miss me.

Back to some more positive topics… I just arrived back in the Temple for a 5 month in a row nonstop stay. Oh, besides the visit to my mother I really enjoyed Chuseok meeting up with Dutch/ Belgium friends in day and night time. Seoul stays a place where my discipline lose ground easily. Let’s see after 5 months. The question still remains is it that bad to have fun with a bit too much of Alcohol?

For about temple pictures, I hope to shoot some more later. But you can imagine that it’s pretty hard while training yourself and most monks don’t like cameras. Till next update!