Martial Arts Burbank – Mr. Young Ik Suh

Grandmaster Suh opened his first school in the USA in the middle sixties. He came to America with very little. So, it was difficult for him to rent a building and open a business. In that struggle, he met a businessman that owned the Ford Dealership. He gave Mr. Suh a space (an empty room by the garage — mechanics bays) to put mats and hanging bags. This was the beginning of the Young Suh School of Self Defense.

Mr. Suh taught there for a year or so and then moved to a building on Olive. Soon, after making friends with a banker, he figured a way to buy a building. Once the deal went through, he moved his school again. This all happened near/about December of 1971 — about when I met him. My first meeting with him happened when he was still on Olive near downtown Burbank.

Master Suh was already gaining noteriety. Burt Ward, the original Robin in Batman became his student. That was a very popular series in those days. Burt needed some training to pull off the fight scenes better than he was. He took a “crash” (literally, I think!) course for six months. Master Suh guided him through some of the most difficult tasks for black belts while Burt was still a white belt. Soon, Burt was kicking, punching, shouting and performing some of the most difficult martial art forms in our style.

I don’t know how well he was doing it, but Mr Suh had him training very, very hard!

By 1976, Mr Suh became disenchanted with teaching martial arts and began to sell Indian jewelry. Soon, he visited Arizona and made some amazing deals with a tribe. Several members of the tribe came to California and lived with Mr. Suh … making jewelry in his garage. Indian jewelry was extremely popular in those days and, frankly, he made a fortune selling it. He had a business in the Glendale Galleria as well as the Orange County Mall named “the Good Omen Company”. His business flourished: his finances flourished.

Today, he owns and operates hotels. He is approximately 72 years old and lives in Riverside, Ca.

Martial arts in Burbank (Young Suh School of Self Defense), the American School of Martial Arts (name changed in 1980) is still alive and well today! Our recent Promotion Party demonstrated that beyond words.

15 Responses to Martial Arts Burbank – Mr. Young Ik Suh
  1. Joshua Liberman
    December 14, 2010 | 10:25 am

    Wow!! This is an incredible story (and a side of Mr Suh I had never heard before). Thank you for sharing the history of how you (and we) arrived to where we are today. And thank you so sincerely for carrying on an incredible Martial Art, and Martial Art community, for so many years. Your dedication to Mr Suh and to our school is more evident today that ever, and we are so incredible grateful to you!!!

    With deepest sincerity and respect,

    Josh

  2. D2
    December 14, 2010 | 11:20 am

    It’s wonderful to hear more about our history! I had no clue about the jewelry business. Master Suh was a true entrepreneur. Thank you for sharing this information with us sir!

  3. Grandmaster Baird
    December 14, 2010 | 11:23 am

    Thanks for the visits and comments. I appreciate it. Yes, Mr Suh was a thinker. Eventually, he owned shopping centers,markets, homes, restaurant, night club and on and on. He sold all of it in order to go into the hotel business (Days Inn etc.).

  4. Red
    December 14, 2010 | 11:32 am

    Ha! What a great little piece of history! Thanks for sharing it!

  5. Maria Baird
    December 14, 2010 | 12:20 pm

    Never new the Indians came to make jewelry with Master Suh, wow so fun to hear our history and how it came to the states. thanks for the post.

  6. Grandmaster Baird
    December 14, 2010 | 9:10 pm

    Hey Red and Maria…

    It was quite an era. Mr. Suh was really innovative and worked around the clock. I remember that, for awhile, he was only sleeping 3 hours a night. The rest of the time he was working! He would take a nap every day around 3 in the afternoon. Then, he was up and going again! Unbelievable times.

  7. Adam Marshall
    December 14, 2010 | 10:05 pm

    I never knew about the Indian jewelry business. That is pretty neat!

  8. Grandmaster Baird
    December 14, 2010 | 11:51 pm

    I thought you’d get a kick out of it! There’s so much in our lineage. As time goes by, it will show up on this blog.

  9. Micki
    December 15, 2010 | 1:39 pm

    Thank you for this unique view. This is a different perspective than what I’ve heard in the past and it’s very cool to learn about.

  10. Christy
    December 15, 2010 | 2:06 pm

    Cool! I love hearing all the history! I’m an armchair kung fu history buff! <3

  11. Grandmaster Baird
    December 15, 2010 | 2:09 pm

    It’s fun and interesting stuff, Micki. Thanks!

  12. Grandmaster Baird
    December 15, 2010 | 2:10 pm

    Christy, I love it too. I sit back and think sometimes in awe regarding our system and its story.

  13. Erin McGuire
    December 16, 2010 | 9:48 am

    What a great read! Thank you for sharing. I never would have guessed he had ever sold jewelry.

  14. Grandmaster Baird
    December 16, 2010 | 10:17 am

    Hi Erin! Yeah, he was/is a very unique man. He was incredibly inspirational for me. No question there. 🙂

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