Grandmaster Baird

Grandmaster Don Baird (Masters Hall of Fame, 2009) is 4th generation in a colorful lineage of great masters. His own master is Suh, Young-ik who trained with the well known Park, Chul-hee, the founder of Kang Duk Won. Master Park studied with Master Yoon, Byung-in the founder of Chang Moo Kwan (one of the most prominent martial art systems in history).

Master Yoon, though Korean, was born in China, where he studied under great masters whose lineage stems back countless generations. He lived there until after WWII ended in 1945 before he moved back to South Korea. Shortly after WW II Master Yoon opened his first school in Korea with the name of Kwon Bop. Kwon Bop was an extremely popular style in Korea during the 40’s/50’s which, by the way, is simply the Korean translation for the Chinese words Ch’uan Fa. Kwon Bop IS Ch’uan Fa, a Chinese Kung Fu.

A few years later Master Yoon renamed his style to Chang Moo Kwan and was one of the original 8 Kwans that opened following the war. His dear friend was Master Kanken Toyama who also studied Kung Fu in China and then became the Master instructor of his art Shudokan at the Nihon University, Japan. The two of them spent a lot of time training and sharing ideas which helped solidify the concepts Master Yoon was working on when developing Chang Moo Kwan.

Master Yoon, the first Grandmaster of our style, went to North Korea in 1950. He never returned. Lee, Nam Suk took over the Chang Moo Kwan style while Master Hong and Master Park developed a new school called Kang Duk Won. Master Park became the Premiere Master of the style and helped pioneer it as a world recognized system. (Chang Moo Kwan and Kang Duk Won were basically the same style but the split came from political and ideological differences.) Master Yoon died in 1983.

During the period around 1955, the Korean government was attempting to nationalize their martial arts. While China had Ch’uan Fa Wu Shu (Kung Fu was not a term they heard till the 1900’s), and Japan had Karate-Do, Korea didn’t have a national name for their art form. The government decided to create a new name from scratch – Tae Kwon Do, “the way of the feet and hands.” They wanted a new, unified national system to be developed.

Many Senior Masters didn’t go along with the thought too well and wanted to maintain their own heritages rather than manufacturing a new heritage and history. During the dissonance and chaos, promotion certificates would say, for example, Chang Moo Kwan/Tae Kwon Do and so on with the other kwans. The Masters weren’t budging from the original names of their kwans nor moving away from the amazing Ch’uan Fa forms they had mastered.

The government then began developing a new system to go to the name of Tae Kwon Do with the thought of reinventing it. The middle 60’s saw the introduction of that work. That attempt succeeded in some ways but still, in the end, failed miserably. By 1973 the Korean government had conjured up the thought they would have it become a sport. They worked hard to design it and quickly got it into the Olympics as a trial sport to see how people liked it. Tae Kwon Do, today, is a sport … though born of Ch’uan Fa, it transformed into a powerful sport that is practiced today all over the world.

However, many of the original kwans came through the chaos with absolute clarity. They retained their dignity and continue in the tradition of the time-tested, original Ch’uan Fa forms developed in China. Korean masters, such as Master Baird’s teacher, Grandmaster Suh, committed themselves to the integrity of those forms and their preservation by teaching them to people all over the world.

Grandmaster Suh moved to the United States in the middle sixties. He opened his first school in Burbank, California and began his career of teaching martial arts. Teaching seven days a week, he was was a very exacting teacher and his classes left no one unchallenged. While teaching thousands of students during his career, it’s interesting to note that he promoted just three students to the rank of master: Larry Yarbor, Louis Vega and Don Baird. On July 20th, 1976, Don Baird was chosen by Mr. Suh to be his successor.

Master Baird has been teaching full time since then. He owns two schools and several of his students own schools as well. Together, they formed the Peaceful Mind Kung Fu Association of which continues to grow and flourish today.

In the 80’s, Grandmaster Baird guided a few of the most potent sport fighters on the regional and national levels. Kang Duk Won (Pyong Ahn Do Won), being a genuine system of Chinese Kung Fu, soon changed the face of competition. Jim Muse, Tom Bloom, Johnny Gyro, Cissy Baird, Ron Pohnel and Joyce Tilley were just a few of the fine fighters that Master Baird enjoyed coaching. Today, his fighters have grown to be some of the most excellent Masters in American martial art history. “It was exciting … and such an honor to work with these talented fighters,” mentions Grandmaster Baird. “It was their personal commitment and hard work that made it all come together!” (Links to these fighters’ web pages can be found on the “links” page)

In 1993, Grandmaster Baird renamed the style to Pyong Ahn Do Won which means “the Hall of the Peaceful Mind Way” to better represent his attitudes toward the community and mankind. He has committed his life to people, to their growth, their health, their strength and their life goals. Without a single doubt, he believes that Kung Fu is a complete and rich strength that is unparalleled for what our society needs today.

Grandmaster Baird, in 1992, was appointed Technical Advisor to the Burbank Police Department. He devoted himself to the department doing research, technical development, and riding hundreds of hours on patrol. At one point, he received a commendation from an officer (Sabatini) that credits Master Baird with saving his life. Later, he was praised in an open letter of recommendation by Police Chief Dave Newsham. Recently, he was given a letter of commendation from the Mayor of Burbank.

Great Masters of the past are well rounded individuals that not only were involved with the fighting arts but also the healing, writing, music, painting and calligraphy arts. Master Baird is no different in that respect. Areas of his accomplishments include chi kung healing practices, fine art photography (www.donbairdphotography.com), writing poetry, composing and performing music (www.clarinetpro.com). His performance career includes being a featured soloist, principal clarinetist with several symphonies and playing for most of the major studios such as Warner Brothers, Disney and MGM.

Grand Master Baird has been featured repeatedly in Black Belt Magazine, Inside Kung Fu, Inside Karate, and Fighting Stars, he has also been interviewed by Fred Rogin (twice), worked with Jay Leno, and featured along with Arthur Ashe in the 80′s TV series called “The Otherside of Victory”, a show dedicated to featuring professional athletes that are the very best in their field. Grandmaster Baird and Arthur Ashe were presented in the pilot of the series. “The Otherside of Victory” first aired the half hour before the Super Bowl. Millions of people around the world had a special opportunity to see Grandmaster Baird teach as well as demonstrate his impeccable martial art skill.

In 2006 he celebrated his 30th year anniversary of teaching and almost 47 years of training in martial arts. With this and many wonderful accomplishments behind him, Grand Master Baird isn’t close to slowing his tireless pace of mastering himself and guiding others to do the same.

If you’d like to email Grandmaster Baird, the address is: kungfuinfo@aol.com