- "Fools always focus on prize. Never see enemies standing in way."
- ―Kim Sun Yung[src]
Kim Sun-Yung (Hangul: 김선영) is one of the two overarching antagonists (Along with Captain Turner) of The Karate Kid franchise.
Master Kim is a sensei from South Korea. A master of Tang Soo Do, during the Korean War, Kim Sun-Yung trained many American soldiers in unarmed combat and was credited with creating what is now known as "The Way of The Fist", a particularly ruthless style used in modern martial arts and the U.S. military for close-quartered hand-to-hand combat situations. His ruthless teachings are the reason for the cut-throat and malicious behaviors of Kreese and Silver, which they pass down to their students.
Roles
He is first introduced as a mentioned antagonist in The Karate Kid Part III. In Cobra Kai, he is one of the two overarching antagonists of season 3, one of the two overarching antagonists of season 5, and the overarching antagonist in the first and second parts of season 6.
Biography
Early Life
- "This land was once under Japanese colonial rule. When I was just a boy, invaders try to conscript me into military, so I flee into forest and take shelter in cave. But invaders find me. So I fight them using my father's eunjangdo, ancient family knife. I kill a dozen men before I lose eunjangdo."
- ―Kim Sun-Yung[src]
Born in Korea under the Japanese Empire during the early 20th century,[2] probably around the year 1915. During his childhood, he had to hide in a cave for invaders, until soldiers found him and he proceeded to kill them all with a knife which he lost and later tasks John Kreese to obtain many decades later. The earlier years of Master Kim were formative ones; marred as they were by having taken place in a time when the east Asian peninsular was still under the oppressive and heavy-handed rule of the Japanese occupation.[3] A contemporary of some of the most important and influential figures in the history of Korean martial arts,[4] the life and times of Master Kim also coincided with the liberation and subsequent division of the Korean peninsular into North and South in 1945, around which time he began to study the then recently developed art of Tang Soo Do.[5]
Korean War
- "You wanna defeat your enemy, gotta learn to fight like your enemy. That's how I learned Tang Soo Do during the Korean War under Master Kim Sun-Yung."
- ―Captain George Turner [src]
By the end of the five-year period between World War II and the Korean War, Sun-Yung had already learned all he needed to know to open up his own dojang and, by the time that the Korean War broke out on June 27, 1950, had carved out for himself a sufficiently impressive reputation as a master of Tang Soo Do to be drafted to train American soldiers as means of negating the Korean People's Army's advantage in unarmed combat through their use of Kyeok Sul Do.[6]
Over the course of the war, however, whether it was because he grew hardened and embittered by the conflict, or as the result of some natural inclination, Master Kim would also earn quite a bit of notoriety after he incorporated 'The Way of the Open Hand'[7] into 'The Way of the Fist[8]; a derivative yet still distinct style of Tang Soo Do of his own making that emphasized deception, wanton brutality, dirty fighting and a disregard for mercy and honor in favor of defeating one's enemy by any means necessary.[6]
Although Master Kim's more offensive-oriented style undoubtedly had a greater success rate on the battlefield than its conceptually defensive precursor, it was not without good reason that his preferred style came to be widely regarded as controversial,[6] and earned him the animosity of some of the other members of the martial arts community, such as Master Sato Toguchi of Okinawa, a fellow instructor for the US military.[6]Over time, Kim accumulated great wealth from training US and Korean military and eventually opened a well-respected dojo.
Legacy
Master Kim overseeing a sparring match.
At some point in his life, Master Kim married a woman with whom he had a son, who in turn, fathered him a granddaughter.[9] In 1980, he agreed to teach John Kreese and Terry Silver, two veterans of the Vietnam War who had opened up a dojo in the San Fernando Valley following their return to California. Their goal was to teach strength and discipline to American youths after they had been taught more traditional Tang Soo Do by George Turner, one of the many veterans that Master Kim had previously trained some twenty years prior.[10] After they honed their skills and learned to further encompass the philosophy of "The Way of The Fist", they returned to America. Sun-Yung, however, remained in Korea to teach refined brutality to future generations, which included not only his granddaughter, Kim Da-Eun, but also Hyan-Woo, Odell and Bacaria, who had all become instructors at his dojang.[11]
Film series
- "My master is Kim Sun-Yung of South Korea. My teacher sends his respects."
- ―Terry Silver[src]
In 1985 and as part of a conspiracy to ruin Miyagi-Do Karate, Silver concocts a story of how Kreese died, and how Kim Sun-Yung demanded Terry apologize to Mr. Miyagi for Kreese's cruel behavior during the 1984 All-Valley Tournament. However, this was all an elaborate hoax concocted by Silver to gain Daniel LaRusso's trust and let his guard down.
Cobra Kai
Season 6
Part 1
After John Kreese arrives in Korea and reunites with Kim Da-Eun, he is revealed to be alive. Kreese and Kim try to persuade him to let his dojang enter the Sekai Taikai as Cobra Kai, to which he declines and reminds him that his granddaughter went to America and failed there. He then reprimanded Kreese for not being a good student and a good sensei, let alone Silver dishonoring his legacy by bribing a referee. After Kreese reminds him of Johnny Lawrence disposing of five of his senseis at Terry Silver's house, Kim decided to give him a chance to prove himself. Master Kim then explains that when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, invaders would try and search for Kim to conscript him into the military, and would hide in a cave to avoid him and would fight them using his father's eunjangdo once he was found and killed a dozen men before losing it. Kim then instructs Kreese to return the eunjangdo to him if he wished to prove himself, but warned him that there was more in the cave than just the knife. Kreese returns to Kim successful in retrieving the knife and presented the decapitated head of the albino cobra that attacked him, proving himself as he finally understood that it's not about the prize but about eliminating that which stands in the way. Kim tells him that he understands and is ready, that nothing will ever stand in their way again.
Personality
Master Kim Sun-Yung is a ruthless sensei. He shows his ruthlessness by beating up a young John Kreese while he tried to stop him from abusing his granddaughter Kim Da-Eun. Though in his unique perspective, Master Kim considers his “abuse” as necessary pain for his students and family to evolve, this viewpoint is reinforced by how his students became stronger both physically and mentally, additionally his granddaughter no longer feared him after enduring so many of his punishments.
Mostly Cobra Kai is taught by the way of the fist, strike first, strike hard and no mercy. Cobra Kai was taught by Master Kim Sun-Yung. Overall, Master Kim is the polar opposite of Mr. Miyagi in every way, particularly in their philosophies as Mr. Miyagi was a pacifistic idealist, while Master Kim is a darwinistic realist.
Despite his ruthlessness and seemingly vile ways, Master Kim has proven himself to be most wise in the case of darwinism, as his beliefs are what guided many American military soldiers to achieve victory in combat. His primary belief is one's sole focus should not be on the rewards of combat but on eliminating who and/or what stands in the way, a lesson he was forced to learn upon committing his first kill at a very young age, and one he continues to follow to this present day.
Fighting Style
- "Kim Sun-Yung was a master of Tang Soo Do, but that is not what he taught. His style was... "controversial". Kim Sun-Yung's style is based on deception. No honor. No mercy. If Silver is student of Master Kim, we must be careful. All direct attacks will be recognized."
- ―Chozen Toguchi[src]
Master Kim is a grandmaster of the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do. This defensive style blended the powerful, linear strikes of traditional Korean techniques with the soft, circular motions of ancient Chinese styles, allowing practitioners to employ a diverse array of kicks, punches, and grappling maneuvers to defend themselves.
After developing his signature "Way of the Fist" approach, Master Kim's martial arts mastery reached an almost unparalleled level, to the point where he could have fought evenly with the legendary Mr. Miyagi. Unlike less experienced fighters, Master Kim would adopt an aggressive offensive mindset, but he was skilled enough to avoid leaving openings for well-timed counter-attacks.
The true strength of the "Way of the Fist" lay in its deceptive nature. By seamlessly incorporating techniques from diverse styles, Master Kim could mislead opponents about his next move, negating the advantage of reactive counter-fighters. As the creator of this style, he was intimately familiar with its ability to "set traps" for unwary foes.
Master Kim's fighting style was also notable for its lethality. He taught his students, including the dangerous John Kreese and Terry Silver, techniques capable of inflicting potentially life-threatening injuries, such as a devastating lung-targeting strike. This reflected Master Kim's willingness to use his extraordinary skills to cause severe harm to his opponents when necessary.
Even at a very old age, Master Kim is still a strong person, as he used his walking stick to injure Kreese. He even indicated that his willpower is what has kept him alive all these years.
Ultimately, Master Kim's martial arts prowess was so great that he could easily overwhelm a younger Kreese, kicking him to a bloody pulp without the latter being able to mount any meaningful defense, much like Mr. Miyagi's decisive victory over Kreese.
Master Kim can be considered one of the greatest fighters in the franchise. The only people comparable to Kim is Mr. Miyagi and possibly Sensei Wolf.
Trivia
- The original Cobra Kai dojo seen in Part I and III of The Karate Kid series was shot at a Tae Kwon Do Studio owned and run by the Korean martial artist Jun Chong. During the filming of the first film in the franchise, a framed image of him was left on the wall by the entrance to pay homage to him, and his likeness gave a face to Master Kim.
- Given he's a centenarian, Kim Sun-Yung is the oldest living character in the the franchise.
References
- ↑ Netflix: During the Cobra Kai - Legacy - Official Clip - Netflix scene, Terry Silver refers to Kim's Grandfather has having taught American soldiers the way of the fist. Kim Sun-yung was the one who did just that.
- ↑ Netflix's audio description describes Kim Sun-yung as "an elderly sensei with long grey hair" in the flashback from 1980. Traditionally, the “elderly” are 65 or older, meaning Master Kim could not have been born later than 1915.
- ↑ The Japanese occupation of Korea lasted from August 29, 1910, to August 15, 1945.
- ↑ There are real-life Korean masters that would have, from an in-universe perspective, been contemporaries of Master Kim, and who historically rose to prominence during the time Master Kim was active.
- ↑ Tang Soo Do was only first developed between 1936 and 1945 by Grandmaster Hwang Kee and officially registered in Korea on November 9, 1945. Master Kim could hence only have learned this style of fighting between 1945 and 1950.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Cobra Kai, Season 5, Long, Long Way From Home
- ↑ This is a common translation of "Tang Soo Do" into English by Americans.
- ↑ Cobra Kai, Season 5, Ouroboros
- ↑ In South Korea, family names are inherited patrilineally from one's father and shared with other siblings, meaning that if Master Kim had a daughter, Kim Da-eun would have had a different surname.
- ↑ Cobra Kai, Season 3, King Cobra
- ↑ Cobra Kai. Season 5, Ouroboros.