#12
12. Spreading fire – Fire that transcends nationality and language
Branching out to the English speakers
Through the home visits like these, many different paths were opened. While the acting headmaster, general affairs manager, etc., and lots of people were introducing here and there, there is a person that I met. He is Bong Pil Yang Tai Kwon Do Master. While searching for a training hall in various places, I came to know him. Since meeting with Master Bong Pil Yang, the branching out to the English speakers in full scale had begun. He was operating a Tae Kwon Do training hall a little farther away from the center that I was staying in. Therefore, only two days on Saturdays and Sundays were in operation.
On Saturday evenings, I slept in Master Yang’s home. It was difficult to go back and forth from where I was, and Master Yang had a deep interest in the training and enjoyed the training very much. Already he had a deep understanding of Buddhism, and he understood this training at first as one of the training methods of Buddhism. Of course, later, he realized the truth that it was a traditional Korean training method. When we met, with talking about training and doing the training, we stayed up all night.
At that time, as a father to a little baby, while devotionally operating the Tae Kwon Do training hall, he was gaining lots of popularity and respect in his community, and connected Philadelphia and South Korea by various means. Businessmen, politicians, sports players, and others, seeing him living so devotionally and passionately, felt inspired and moved. At this training hall, Master Yang began with focusing first on the Tae Kwon Do masters, and after it had settled a little, he introduced the training to their families, relatives, friends, etc.