THREE: The third and final weapons depicted (the fist should certainly be described as a weapon!) are the two SWORDS circling the fist. Representing the Korean Royal Court, these swords (in reality, straight, but which have been
THREE: The third and final weapons depicted (the fist should certainly be described as a weapon!) are the two SWORDS circling the fist. Representing the Korean Royal Court, these swords (in reality, straight, but which have been curved under artist’s licence to be more easily accommodated into the logo) complete the historical martial arts aspect of the logo.
FOUR: Immediately under the fist are the three Korean (Hangul) characters 국술원, transliterated as “Kuk Sool Won” and translated as “National Martial Arts Association”.
FIVE: The most obvious clue (if there is one!) to the symbolism of the two short “RIBBONS” emanating from the bottom right and left of 국술원 is their alignment: they form two sides of a triangle, replicating both the way students point their fingers when standing to attention (with their thumbs tucked in behind their belts) as well as forming the triangle of ki (breathing).
SIX: Even the shape and outline of the KSW logo have been carefully considered for their relevance: the THICK LINE BORDERING THE LOGO depicts Korea’s national flower, Hibiscus syriacus (known to Koreans as mu-gung-hwa [무궁화] and to non-Koreans — as well as to non-Latin-speaking botanists! — as “the Rose of Sharon”).
SEVEN: Finally, the BLANK SPACE WITHIN THE ROSE OF SHARON BORDER: for KSW students, this is arguably the most important feature of all. This space symbolises two ideas: firstly, room (room for learning, room for thinking and room for personal development through KSW); and, secondly, KSW’s philosophy of all-inclusiveness (namely, that it transcends race, creed, colour and nationality — as stipulated in the Kuk Sool Won Pledge).