Checking Out Wing Chun in Seoul

 Checking Out Wing Chun in Seoul

Wing Chun is a Chinese martial art that focuses on close-range combat and centered balance.  My husband and I were introduced to this style by a friend in Lawrenceville, GA.  We both enjoyed this style because it is very contrary to mainstream martial art styles in thought process and application.

We wanted to continue learning, so we found this Wing Chun school located in Seoul and the instructor spoke English! So, one Saturday we decided to embark on an adventure up to Seoul to check it out!

First, we bought bus tickets costing approximately $8 each from Camp Humphreys to Yongsan.

The ticket office is located at the USO, but around the corner as shown in the red circle.

The USO is located adjacent to the PX and across the street from the Commissary.

There are also buses that run from here that are free to service members and their families.

You do not need a ticket for these buses. The schedules are posted on a bulletin board inside the USO.

You just show up and get on the bus, but be warned - they leave right on time!!

The buses are usually parked next to the USO at least 10 minutes before leaving.  They have a sign in the front window that tells you where it is going.

My favorite thing about the buses are the curtains! They are usually Asian-inspired and never match the seats ;) but they keep the sunlight out, which keeps it a lot more comfortable.

Once we arrived at the Bus Terminal. The trip was about an hour and 45 minutes since we stopped at Osan Air Base on our way and waited for more passengers to board.

The Bus Terminal is located at the Moyer Outdoor Recreation Center at USAG-Yongsan.

This building is located across a large bridge from the Dragon Hill Lodge.

There is a Smoothie King inside, as well as TVs to watch, ping-pong tables and the window where you can purchase tickets for the bus. They will take either won or dollars.

When we left the bus terminal, we crossed the bridge and took the path leading down to the pedestrian gate beneath the bridge. We turned right and walked until we found a metro station.

Here is the closest station to Yongsan in the direction of Itaewon.

I found a great website that gives some great information on understanding the metro system!

The metro system is underground for the most part. I've never ridden on a subway or anything, so this was all new to me! I imagine it's similar to those in New York or Washington, D.C., but can't give an accurate comparison ;) 

Posted on the wall was the schedule for the first and last trains running. Thankfully, most of the information was also in English!

We headed underground! Well, something important to keep in mind when riding the trains is which direction your route is heading towards.  You don't want to end up on the train heading in the wrong direction!

Inside the station was huge! I couldn't believe most of this was underground! Maybe I'm easily impressed, but it all looked pretty cool to me - 3 floors at least!

Even the bathrooms are different in Korea! 

Interesting difference: they use the English word "toilet" for their translation.

Thankfully, even here they use the man and woman symbols, so I can't get confused! 

The latches are different.

They have speakers in each stall! Not sure what for....but I'm sure they wouldn't be speaking English!

Well, we headed downstairs to find the trains!

You buy your tickets or load your T money cards using these machines. They have an English setting!

The easiest thing is to have a T money card and load won on your card.

Then you will scan your card when entering the lower level where the tracks are.

When exiting the next metro station, you will scan your card again and it will charge you according to the distance you rode.  For us, it was only a dollar or so....super cheap!

You place your T money card in the slot like this:

It seems to go further and further underground! I am amazed how much infrastructure went into building this metropolitan area!

Remember, make sure you know which direction you need to head!

Google Maps will actually show you possible bus and train routes to your location.

We used this to figure out where to get off and where to walk.

Off a side street, we found the school!

(We recognized the two person silhouette in the left window.)

The gym was a great size!

It was located on the second floor.

There are hardly any buildings in South Korea that are only one level! This is because there is limited land available and an ever-increasing population.  Most are three levels. 

Often, there will be a restaurant on the first floor, another business on the second floor and a residence on the third level. There are not commercial and residential separations in South Korea.

This is a traditional drill done in Wing Chun Kung Fu.

I believe this is Ip Man, Bruce Lee's instructor.

He had a wooden dummy on the wall! My husband had been building one for quite a while. He has pretty much completed it, but hasn't been taught how to use it yet ;)

Afterwards, we headed back to our stop. We knew we were at the right place when we saw the Emart located nearby. 

Very interesting sight to me:

If there are gas fires or CBR (chemical, biological or radiological) disasters, there are plenty of self-contained breathing apparatuses in the metro station!! 

Not sure if this makes me feel safer or more nervous ;)

Here you see the metro train we rode:

Interesting observation: Everyone over the age of about 40 was talking to someone else or completely quiet. Everyone under 40 was using some kind of phone or device (often with headphones).

Well, we arrived back at Moyer and checked the bus schedule for Osan-Humphreys, which was posted inside and on the sign outside.

We waited by the Osan-Humphreys parking spot.

And headed home! 

Thanks for enjoying another adventure with me!