Inside You: How to Become a Master of Your Own Destiny

by Byong Yu

Inside U is an incredibly moving, engrossing, and almost-mythological tale of how one man endured the highest of highs and the lowest of lows throughout his extraordinary life. Born into Japanese-occupied Korea, young Byong Yu was diagnosed as developmentally retarded. Convinced that he would become a burden to his family, doctors told his parents to put him in a corner of the room and let him die. Consequently, survival was an instinct that he honed at a very early age. Byong was known to the village as "Ugly Boy," yet he refused to give up. His destiny led him to a wise and gifted martial-arts master who agreed to accept him as a student. In the years that followed, Byong used the profound wisdom instilled in him by his master to triumph through the Korean War, years of poverty, and homelessness. After emigrating to the United States, Byong struggled to live the American dream, but a tragedy that drove him to the brink of suicide almost shattered his spirit once and for all. However, in the long and arduous process of rebuilding his life, he managed to become a martial-arts legend—one who now trains some of Hollywood’s elite. This is Byong Yu’s story, but even more important, it’s a guidebook to discovering your true path—whatever that may be—and conquering any obstacle that stands in your way. As Master Yu says, "I have triumphed over countless obstacles that I have faced in my lifetime. Yet through it all, I have managed to fulfill my destiny and come to intimately discover who and what I am. And if I can do it, so can you!"

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2003

Reviews

[Sujata Sahni]

Inside U is the story of Grand Master Byong U who was born in Korea, nicknamed the " Ugly Boy" with no arm leg coordination and diagnosed mentally retarded, who couldn't speak till he was five and after that in gibberish with hand gestures that only his parents understood till he met his mentor Master Ko. At that time if he didn't monitor his balance, he would keel over. Something in his brain was short circuiting! " if I name one aspect of Martial Arts that I feel was responsible for overcoming my mental and physical disabilities, it would be years of practicing the physical animal movements". Thousands of years ago, early founders of the Korean and Japanese Martial Arts structured their basic movements and stances after observing animals such as tigers, horses, monkeys, lions, elephants and bears to name a few. He eventually got scholarship at the Berkely University, California with no understanding of written or spoken English. He ultimately achieved the highest rank of black belt ( 9th degree) from the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. Being a Part of rather than apart from.... Get in the game, don't compare, learn to share in the joy of others, steer clear of being judgemental, know that how you view the world can make an enormous difference, be passionate about the life you've been given, earn your way, dance with the enemy, go out of your way to help others achieve their goals, even if you don't. Life's Obstacles... Understand Success and Failure, Your value in the business world can be determined by your ability to solve problems, by design, the Universe constantly raises the bar, the Solution is part of the problem, the key to conquering your obstacles is persistence, embrace a positive mind set, let hardship work in your favour, be a smart and compassionate General, only confront obstacles that are personal in nature. Tools and winning combinations....Knowledge, place a guard at the entrance of your mind garden, accept that the moment you decide to stop learning, is the moment you begin the dying process, Accuracy, remember if you train hard and don't quit, you win, harness your mind set as you strive for perfection, define your priorities, learn to complete tasks, determine whether those unfinished tasks are serving a hidden purpose, practice, practice, practice, be disciplined. Timing... Pay attention to life's varying rythmns, when everything around you is spinning out of control, stand still, Go with the flow, Choose to move against the established rythmn, Speed up and Slow down, Remember that the patterns of the universe are constantly changing and are often unpredictable, take action, Pre-play/ Re-play. Power or Physical Strength.... You get one vehicle in life, and there are no trade-ins, do everything with passion, think things through, understand that words have power, learn to be a good listener. The Pyramid of Success ~ the three D's Desire, determination and discipline. The four aspects of survival ~ Knowledge, timing, accuracy and power. The golden principles of life ~ The ability to forgive, the ability to let go of anger, the ability to cherish your God-given ability to cry, the ability to laugh, the ability to give only good to the universe, the ability to develop a positive attitude.

[Holderofthemt · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read of the life and lessons learned by Grandmaster Byong Yu who was one of the first to bring Tae Kwon Do to California in 1964.