Master Kang lived on a hill overlooking a small village in Southern Korea. Under a groove of rustling bamboo, his cattle farm surrounded his straw-roofed mud house. It was a fifteen-mile walk from the nearest bus route.
I went to study with Master Kang in the tenth grade, during my four-week summer vacation. The master was very old. He looked like a thin, frail priest. He was certainly very different from the other masters I had studied with before.
I had heard Master Kang had great powers but I did not quite know what to expect. Why, for instance, did Master Kang's cattle do what he told them to do?
My first day of study did not tell me much more. Master Kang took me out to his dirt courtyard and handed me long corn broom, he pointed to the dusty yard. I was to sweep.
And so I began. I swept all afternoon, taking some water and a light meal, and swept on until sunset time. I swept and swept. Finally Master Kang came out. He asked how I felt.
"I'm tired and my back aches."
Master Kang nodded his head. "Keep trying," he said. I swept on into the evening.
So it went on for two weeks. I swept each morning, through the afternoon and into the night, day after day in sweltering heat.
After two weeks, I figured something out. If I held the corn broom straight, aligned with the center of my body, and plant my feet firmly on the ground, a wonderful new energy flowed up into my legs and through my body. It felt so good. My aching muscles stopped aching. My back straightened and felt well again.
Master Kang asked me again how I felt. At last I could report, "I feel good, sir."
He nodded. "I can see you feel good."
From sweeping Master Kang's courtyard, I learned several things that I now teach in Homedo. Movements such as Bird Walking and Tree Standing came from this experience. Most importantly though, I had experienced chi as it ran through my body from the heavens to the earth.
Now I know that if Master Kang had simply told me these things, or demonstrated them, I would not have remembered these lessons. Learning them required time, patience, and faith.
For this reason, I honor my students by leaving a broom at the studio door.
