▲ Director Jo Sung-hoon

The Korea Kookhak Kigong Association started to spread Kookhak Kigong from 1980 with its vision to raise sound body and mind. The association was qualified for full membership of the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee in 2016. Kookhak Kigong passed down the traditional Korean body and mind training ‘Seondo’ with the philosophy of ‘Hongik Ingan’ (Korean humanitarians). It has been widely spread today that around 5,000 organizations and institutions are running a Kookhak Kigong course in Korea.

From a public servant to a Kookhak Kigong spreader
Jo Sung-hoon, the director of the Korea Kookhak Kigong Association Daejeon, came to know this body and mind training by chance: he was working for public institution and received an official announcement to go to Geoje City which was a demotion. He went down there, worked under stress and had commotion retinae in his right eye. The doctor said that there was no full recovery for this and he could lose his eye if things go worse. 

Walking around the bus terminal in depression one day, he found a poster of Kookhak Kigong. Half believe half doubt, he started the training. The two months of training brought him a significant difference and the doctor said that he could stop the prescription. Feeling confident with the training, he took the instructor’s course and started to spread it at various organizations and companies in the city on completing the course. His zeal was much recognized and he became the director of the Geoje branch of the association in 2003. 

In 2008, he once again was relocated to Chungju City and took the steering wheel of the Daejeon branch. The difference this time was that he had his own vision: fostering one million humanitarians (Hongik Ingan) through Kookhak Kigong. He quit the job and put himself into the vision with full force from then on.

A dramatic change happened to the Daejeon branch as a result: He and the members successfully called in five district divisions to a Kookhak Kigong meeting in 2017, and they also introduced a new level of the instructor’s course. In addition, Jo played a supporting role for students of Dongmyung Middle School to win the middle school winner prize at the 2017 National School Sports Club Kookhak Kigong Competition. 

International Sportskigong Competition for All
The 6th International Sportskigong Competition for All held at Seoul Forest, on October 9th, 2018 drew a greater number of participants from all over the world including the US, the UK, Japan, China, Canada, Qatar, Lebanon, Sudan, Greece, Spain, Italy and the Philippines. Approximately 10,000 people from 13 countries joined this international Kookhak Kigong festival. 

Numerous organizations gave their support including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Seoul Metropolitan City, the National Sports Promotion Corporation, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, Sports Donga, monthly <Power Korea>, Brain Media and the Earth Citizen Movement Alliance. 

Kookhak Kigong was introduced by Lee Seung-hun in 1980 who received José Simeón Cañas from the El Salvador government for his contribution to spreading Korean brain training. The award is the most honorary reward given by the government in El Salvador.