Grandmaster Edward B. Sell
Martial artists learn some pretty impressive things. We learn an assortment of kicks, how to break wood and concrete with our bare hands, and how to defend ourselves, just to name a few.
But for Grandmaster Edward B. Sell the most important piece of martial arts is not the roundhouse kicks nor the splintering of pine, but learning self-discipline. Sell, an ordained minister, made history by becoming the first non-Korean to ever successfully pass the Kukkiwon ninth dan examination.
Sell’s interest in martial arts came early. When he was 5 years old, Sell saw a TV program that showed Master Mas Oyama break a house brick with his bare hands.
“I was a weak, skinny redhead everybody picked on when I was a kid coming through school,” Sell said, “and breaking impressed me.” Today breaking is still Sell’s favorite aspect of tae kwon do. It took him awhile, but he was able to master Mas Oyama’s technique, Sell said.
Self-discipline is the key to becoming a true martial artist, Sell said. “There are so many temptations out there in the world, and even in the Christian community,” Sell said. “We’ve got to know and set top priorities if we want to be the leaders God wants us to be. And those priorities have to be unbreakable, without question.”
Sell first began learning tae kwon do while stationed at Osan Air Force Base in Korea as a member of the United States Air Force. Sell said there were many opportunities to get involved in prostitution or heavy drinking when he was stationed in Korea, but Sell resisted those temptations because he considered himself to be in training every day.
“There’s a fine line between a true martial artist and a born-again Christian,” Sell said. They both watch what they eat and drink, both are careful who they run with, and both stay out of trouble, Sell said.
Like much of martial arts, self-discipline comes with time, practice, and a lot of prayer, Sell said. To gain more self-discipline Sell recommends Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Once we have that peace, which transcends all human understanding, our self-discipline will improve, Sell said.
“The Bible verse that backs that one up,” Sell said, “is Hebrews 11:6, ‘But without faith it is impossible to please Him, because he that cometh to God must believe He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him diligently.’
“The key word there is diligently,” Sell said. We can’t be lukewarm Christians who go to church on Sundays and then act like pagans during the rest of the week, Sell said, we must seek God diligently.
“I believe I have diligently sought after God,” Sell said, “and the rewards are awesome.”
Sell has accomplished many feats in his tae kwon do career. He established the United States Chung Do Kwan Association and the Sell Team. Sell said the USCDKA is open to anyone who wishes to further their training, regardless of their relationship with God, but it is a God-fearing organization.
“The USCDKA is however, a God-fearing, Bible-believing organization where most new members are introduced to biblical principles and given the right to believe in God anyway they wish,” Sell said. “In most cases they eventually become a Christian by observing others and by watching the practices of the leaders.”
The Sell Team is a Christian demonstration team led by Sell and his wife, Grandmaster Brenda Sell, an eighth dan. The Sell team is a non-profit organization and independent of the USCDKA. The Sell Team members are chosen from the Christian Taekwondo University.
Grandmaster Sell said one of his favorite aspects of martial arts is breaking. Here he uses his skills to break a brick.
“My wife’s school is the CTU training center, they are taught how to used tae kwon do as an evangelistic tool. It is also the pool by which Sell Team members of chosen,” Sell said. “There are many CTU schools across the country. When called to minister, we choose team members from the closest school to the site where we will be ministering. The CTU’s martial arts credentials are issued from the USCDKA. The CTU headquarters school is a Charter member of the USCDKA as well as all other CTU schools around the country.”
But as one may expect, one of Sell’s most memorable moments in his tae kwon do career was receiving his ninth dan.
“Standing in the middle of the Kukkiwon and giving God the glory—talk about an adrenaline rush,” Sell said. “It was beyond that of a gold medal.”
When people get gold medals they wear them around their necks for a little while, show them off, and then hang them on the wall, Sell said, the same is not true with a black belt. “The black belt is never hung on the wall,” Sell said. “It’s something that is awarded to you whether you’re in uniform or not.
“If not equal to that experience was standing at West Point Academy in an auditorium and putting on an exhibition, telling them about the love of Christ, and giving an invitation for them to rededicate their life. That, to me, was an extremely rewarding experience.”
As an ordained minister who uses tae kwon do to spread the Gospel, Sell has encountered many people who couldn’t comprehend martial arts in the Christian lifestyle. The Sell Team had a lot of work to do to prove itself, Sell said.
“The people that were critics obviously were exposed to the pride issue,” Sell said. “Because it does thrive on pride, martial arts carries our pride into the atmosphere.
“If a person has pride problems he should go into martial arts, but he needs to go to a school that can train him differently and set his thinking right.” Because if a person is already a troublemaker it’s dangerous to teach that person martial arts unless he has an instructor who can address that troublemaking mindset, Sell said. “I believe poomse, forms, does that,” Sell said. “That’s what we practice them for, to help one with self-discipline.” Sell said the forms also help remove the egotism, temper tantrums and other negative characteristics that could lead to wrongfully harming somebody.
“You see, there’s a light side and a dark side of martial arts,” Sell said. “We are the light side. The dark side tampers with pride, tampers with mysticism, and tampers with far eastern practices. I don’t. I never did.”
Though Sell has faced some critics, he’s also proved tae kwon do can be a successful ministry. “I don’t think Jesus is going to ask us how we did it. The job is getting done.
“There is a younger generation of preachers out there today who are always looking for ways and means to entertain their youth department or bring discipline in to the church.”
The Christian Martial Artist 