Sundo

What it is

Sundo is a Korean Taoist discipline. Practitioners sit or hold still positions, breathe deeply into the belly and let the mind settle. The aim is development on three fronts at once: body, mind and spirit. What they cultivate is Ki, the vital energy the Chinese call Qi. Regular work is said to bring suppleness, an easier body, better health and a calmer temper. People often compare it with Indian yoga or with Chinese qigong and tai chi. It is not the same as Sunmudo, a Buddhist martial art of moving forms; the two names sound alike, but Sundo rests on stillness and meditation.

Mountain roots

According to the tradition, the practice is very old and grew out of Northeast Asia, in the mountains of what is now Korea. For centuries it carried the name San Saram, or Taoism of the Mountain, and its keepers were hermits who taught one pupil at a time and kept the art to themselves. The sources trace a turning point to 320 CE, when an order called Samrang, also known as Kukson, gave it a settled place in the kingdom of Paekche. Later, after Koguryo, Silla and Paekche were united under the Hwarang, some practitioners withdrew to the hills again so they could train as they wished.

Be-Kyung and the first school

Be-Kyung, whose early name was Chung-San, meaning Blue Mountain, met a Taoist monk named Chung-Woon, or Clear Clouds, on a mountain when he was a boy in the late 1940s. A story tells that the monk offered to show him how to break stone with bare hands if the boy followed him, and he agreed. He trained for twenty years with Chung-Woon and with Chung-Woon's own master, Moo-Woon, or Without Cloud. In 1967 his teacher told him to leave the hills and teach, and gave him the name Be-Kyung, the Secret Frontier. He opened the first school in Seoul in 1970 and wrote two books, both published only in Korea.

Levels and forms

A learner moves through forms, sequences of postures rather like the taolu of Chinese arts. Each new form brings a new belt, and belts run up to black, as in Korean and Japanese martial arts. The sources name five stages. In the first, Jung Ki Dan Boup, white and white-yellow belts work two forms of twenty-five postures; Keon Gon Dan Boup is the yellow belt and one form of twenty-three. Won Ki Dan Boup covers red and blue belts with three sets of ten forms of twelve postures. Chook Ki Dan Boup, the gray belt, has one form of five postures. The black-belt stage, Jin Ki Dan Boup, is a single posture. From red belt a practitioner may be named Instructor, then Senior Instructor, then Teacher, or Sa Bom Nim.

Across the world

Hyun-moon Kim, one of twelve masters trained by Be-Kyung, took the practice abroad from 1979, chiefly to the United States, Canada and Europe. A doctor of philosophy, he teaches Taoist principles alongside Western psychology, wrote The Tao of Life, and runs a school in West Hartford, Connecticut, with retreats in Barnet, Vermont. In France, Philippe Lewkowicz earned the Sundo master degree in Korea in 1996 and Nicolas Tacchi teaches in Nancy and works with musicians on breathing and posture. Czechia is home to the European SunDo Association. Federations in Korea, including the World Kukseondo Federation, look after around 300 dojangs.

How Sundo is kept

Practitioners train in a dojang, a hall for the art. A session opens with about half an hour of stretching and self-massage to loosen the body. Then comes the heart of the work: forty minutes of holding positions with slow abdominal breathing, called Danjeon breathing. Newcomers take twenty-five positions; a master holds one. The closing part twists and stretches the body so that energy can travel the meridians, with some rhythmic strengthening at the end. Daily practice is thought best; two or three sessions a week already make a difference. Instructors also lead retreats several times a year.

When and where

Sundo has no single date in the year. Training goes on through the calendar, ideally each day, and retreats fall a few times a year wherever instructors arrange them. The sources mark 320 CE for its place in the Paekche court and 1967 as the year its teaching left the mountains.

Its home is Korea, and Seoul is where the first open school appeared in 1970. From there it reached the United States and Canada and parts of Europe. The sources point to France, Czechia, Romania and Russia as places where it has put down roots, and to around 300 dojangs linked to the World Kukseondo Federation in South Korea.

What Sundo means

For those who keep it, Sundo is a way of gathering and steadying Ki, the vital energy, so that body, feelings and spirit stay in balance. The theory follows acupuncture: energy travels the meridians, and working with them is said to bring calm and a stronger immune system. The deeper aim is a strengthened mind and a better character, with self-control. The sources are clear that the point is not quick or extraordinary powers. Nurturing the lower danjeon, the energy centre, is slow work that changes a person over years.

Questions people ask about Sundo

See also

CandlemasA Christian feast of candle blessings marking the end of the Christmas seasonSweat lodgeA purification ceremony kept by Indigenous peoples of the Americas using a heated hut and steam.OvooA stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipGutSacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamans

Good reading and sources

• Sundo on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-12.