traditional korean potter: park bosung 박보성

two weeks ago my mom and step-dad came to korea for a two week visit. i wanted them both to experience korea's traditional culture. they are both interested in art and hand-crafts such as pottery and carpentry.

about a year ago i was at the seoul arts center (예술의전당) at an outdoor pottery art show and met park bosung (박보성). mr. park had a display of some beautiful traditional designed tea pots and other tea-ware. i took one of his cards and looked forward for the chance to schedule a visit to this workshop down near daegu.

about a week before my parents' arrival i gave a call to mr. park asking him if a visit to this countryside traditional korean home and gallery would be okay. he was more than welcome and provided us a few days where we could choose to come and view his work.

when we arrived to his house (in seongjungun 성준군) we were greeted by his wife who showed us to their property. on their property was a large traditional korean designed building (한옥 hanok) where he displays his work and enjoys tea with his visitors. he says the best time to visit is the spring and summer when the weather is more welcoming and tea can be enjoyed for several more steepings, rather than in sub freezing temperatures in an un-heated building.

our first exploring session was at his hand-made firing cave. this is where he fires all of his work and does so in a "step-up" progression in a way that allows for careful control of temperature.


our second stop was the gallery where we enjoyed some tea in pots that he had made. it was quite cold and due to an old hip injury i wasn't able to sit on the floor for very long.


our third session of exploration was in his self-made work-shop. the work-shop too was designed by a traditional korean home carpenter and the bricks were made and laid by mr. park and his wife over about a two month period. once in his workshop we warmed up almost instantly and were graced with his craftsmanship. in about 15 minutes he prepared the clay and fashioned one large container (maybe for storage of rice or an arrangement of flowers) and two large bowls. he was also kind enough to let me make a few bowls, one of which may serve well for a disposal bowl for tea-ends.



park bosung, traditional korean potter who specializes in teaware


here is the bowl that i made with a bit of help from mr. park


here is the master intensely at work

his products, for my pocket, are quite spendy but i'd say well worth it. i hope one day to make a few purchases of his hand-made tea pots.

A comparison of concussion assessment and management protocols used by medical personnel at elite taekwondo tournaments in the Republic of Korea and t

 My undergrad thesis project finally comes to a close. Here is part of my project published in the Archives of Budo. My co-author is Rod A. Harter. The full article is available here:

A comparison of concussion assessment and management protocols used by medical personnel at elite taekwondo tournaments in the Republic of Korea and the United States
Gabriel P Fife 1, Rod A Harter 2
1 - Dong-A University, Department of Physical Education, Busan, Republic of Korea
2 - Texas State University, Department of Health and Human Performance, San Marcos, USA

Background and Study Aim: Little is known about the assessment and management protocols used by taekwondo tournament medical personnel to evaluate concussions. The purpose of this study was to compare the methods used by medical personnel in the Republic of Korea and the United States to assess and manage concussions sustained at elite taekwondo tournaments.
Material and Methods: Between 2006 and 2008, pencil-and-paper questionnaires were administered to 18 medical personnel providing sports medicine services at three national-level taekwondo tournaments in South Korea, and at one national-level taekwondo tournament in the United States.
Results: Four of 11 South Korean medical personnel (36%) held registered nursing (RN) credentials, four were physical therapists (36%), and three (27%) were emergency medical technicians (EMTs). In comparison, 2 of 7 American medical personnel were physicians (29%), two were certified athletic trainers (29%), two were EMTs (29%), and one was a physical therapist (14%). Of the South Korean medical personnel, 55% had less than 1 year experience serving as medical providers at taekwondo tournaments. In contrast, 71% of the American medical practitioners had greater than or equal to 5 years of experience serving as medical personnel at taekwondo tournaments, with the majority reporting greater than 10 years of experience at national level taekwondo tournaments. Both groups reported using symptoms checklists and clinical examination as their principal methods of concussion assessment.
Conclusions: We recommend that taekwondo national governing bodies only assign medical personnel who have extensive direct experience with the sport of taekwondo to provide medical services at national-level tournaments.

개인 다기: One-person tea set

here is my one-person / personal tea set. it bares the striking resemblance to my 청옥 cheonok designed three cup tea set. the name at the bottom of this one is different and does not appear to say "청옥", so i'll have to do some dictionary searching to figure this one out

청옥 다기 Cheongmok Tea Set

for my birthday i was given a gift certificate to a large department store and took the opportunity to purchase a tea set. usually at department stores EVERYTHING is way over-priced and not worth the money. With a 100,000 won gift certificate i wasn't about to waste it on overly priced clothes, so i thought i'd purchase a tea set that i'd actually get some use out of.

the set i picked up has the same design as a individual tea cup strainer set that i acquired through my mother-in-law. the single person cup set i have is designed with a grey floral imprint (wording?) and is NOT glazed, keeping the more stone-ish look and feel to the cups. this not being glazed allows the tea oils to stain the cup quite easily and from what i have been told, can even sink in the flavors of the teas into the cup (my tongue is not so fine to notice yet).

the underside of the lid showing the clay exposed (not glazed)


today's purchase shows the same floral design. i am not sure if it is actually made by the same person or if it was made by a student of the person who makes this floral design.

here is the pot's underside and the character imprint of the apparent artist

and the top view of the pot

a look inside

i was told by the store assistant that it is designed by an artist named 청옥선생님 (mr./teacher (assuming) Cheongok). i have seen this same design at a number of other department stores and can't be sure if it is a quality piece or not. it's quite a pleasing set to look at and is comfortable in the hand and pours well.

bamboo puerh : 죽통차

first fragrance from the bamboo shoot is not so strong as before. the original fragrance was quite strong with a more charcoal smell.

upon first rinsing, the fragrance is immediate and gives a slight chocolate scent, but is quite lucid.

the first real draw is followed by by the chocolate scent but infused with a hint of citrus-like representation. the initial taste is light and i am a bit surprised as this was quite the strong drink before. anticipating more character upon the second draw.






second steeping does not produce the smokey taste...

third comes along and awakes the smokey taste, it's a nice reminder of the earlier taste i experienced about 2 months ago...

i'll enjoy this one myself now as it has been quite some time since drinking this tea...

5 year aged korean tea pot

almost five years ago, during a summer research trip, i took the initiative to purchase my first tea set. before this purchase i was teaset as a gift, however at the time i was sure the giftset was not of original craftsmanship (made by a large korean porcelain group "haengnam: new c'est bien".

after my first tea visit with brother anthony (aka: an sonjae) he gave me the kind recommendation to visit a small tea shop (gwicheon/귀천) of which was managed by a famous poet's ( Ch'on Sang-pyong: 천상병) wife (mok sun ok:목순옥). the tea shop's name, gwicheon, was named after one of his poems.

after making my way to the teashop and enjoying a few cups of green tea, i asked ms. mok if she could recommend a place to purchase a korean made tea set. she kindly took me outside and directed me around the corner to a shop that sold mostly tea-ware. the tea set included the tea dispensing pot and five cups . i also purchased some other useful tea utensils that are still in good use today. the tea pot is one of which i am unsure of the maker, however a symbol, of which appears to be a mountain. is provided at the pot's bottom and of each serving cup.







here is a photo showing the spout which was broken and repaired.

East and West: A Taekwondo Journey by Grand Master Jae Kyun Shin (신재균)

I just received a book gift in the mail from my Grand Master's son and current President of the Oregon Taekwondo Association, Chief Master Rick W. Shin. The book is an autobiography of Grand Master(GM) Shin, highlighting his international adventures of introducing taekwondo to the Kingdom of Nepal and Bhutan in the early 1980s.

I always heard, by mouth, the great things that GM Shin did for taekwondo and Nepal (numerous world medals, including Olympic, World University, and Asian Games medals), but it's now that I have the great adventures to read about the details of his failures and successes.

I will attempt to provide a segmental review of my take on the book. I say segmental as I am unsure if doing a chapter-by-chapter review will be possible.