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Business News
PITTSBURG —
More than 250 people showed up Thursday night at the Crimson and Gold Ballroom in the Overman Student Center to see an event that featured everything from body slams to fan dancing.
That event was Korean Culture Day, a program put on by the Pittsburg State University Korean Student Association that mixes old with the modern and presentations with tae-kwon-do.
“I’m really proud that we were able to get that many people with the bad weather and the rain outside,” said Sung-hwan Kim (Cory). “I think we did a pretty good job with publicizing through the newspaper and giving out invitations.”
After opening remarks, Il-jee Bae and Seung-hi Yahng (Sunny) gave presentations on Korean culture and festivals. Then came ssireum, a form of wrestling traditional to Koreans. After showing a couple of demonstration matches that ended with a variety of leg sweeps and body slams, members from the crowd were asked to volunteer to come up and participate.
The most successful of those was Pete Allen, a PSU sophomore, though Allen admitted he had an advantage the others didn’t.
“I was on the Korean Baja team that took first place,” Allen said. “So when I was over there, I learned how to wrestle like this. I wrestled in high school, but this is totally different.”
The major difference is that each competitor starts off with a hold of the other’s belt, which is tied across the waist and to one leg. Using the belt as a grip, wrestlers then try to get the other wrestler off-balance to put them on the ground.
Dancers then showed a modern dance to today’s popular Korean music before delving into the more historical, performing a traditional fan dance, the part that Kim said was his favorite.
Musical numbers followed, both from the samulnori, or Korean traditional percussions and korilla, a band. The show finished off with a tae-kwon-do demonstration. Visitors were also treated to Korean cuisine.
Kim said it was the biggest international event at PSU, and said a lot of people were affected or influence by Korean culture.
“We wanted to show them a mix of modern and traditional culture,” Kim said. “And a lot of the people helping with our show are not Korean. We’re very happy that everyone has taken an interest in Korean culture.”
Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134
More than 250 people showed up Thursday night at the Crimson and Gold Ballroom in the Overman Student Center to see an event that featured everything from body slams to fan dancing.
That event was Korean Culture Day, a program put on by the Pittsburg State University Korean Student Association that mixes old with the modern and presentations with tae-kwon-do.
“I’m really proud that we were able to get that many people with the bad weather and the rain outside,” said Sung-hwan Kim (Cory). “I think we did a pretty good job with publicizing through the newspaper and giving out invitations.”
After opening remarks, Il-jee Bae and Seung-hi Yahng (Sunny) gave presentations on Korean culture and festivals. Then came ssireum, a form of wrestling traditional to Koreans. After showing a couple of demonstration matches that ended with a variety of leg sweeps and body slams, members from the crowd were asked to volunteer to come up and participate.
The most successful of those was Pete Allen, a PSU sophomore, though Allen admitted he had an advantage the others didn’t.
“I was on the Korean Baja team that took first place,” Allen said. “So when I was over there, I learned how to wrestle like this. I wrestled in high school, but this is totally different.”
The major difference is that each competitor starts off with a hold of the other’s belt, which is tied across the waist and to one leg. Using the belt as a grip, wrestlers then try to get the other wrestler off-balance to put them on the ground.
Dancers then showed a modern dance to today’s popular Korean music before delving into the more historical, performing a traditional fan dance, the part that Kim said was his favorite.
Musical numbers followed, both from the samulnori, or Korean traditional percussions and korilla, a band. The show finished off with a tae-kwon-do demonstration. Visitors were also treated to Korean cuisine.
Kim said it was the biggest international event at PSU, and said a lot of people were affected or influence by Korean culture.
“We wanted to show them a mix of modern and traditional culture,” Kim said. “And a lot of the people helping with our show are not Korean. We’re very happy that everyone has taken an interest in Korean culture.”
Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134
