Legendary Musician Willie Nelson earns black belt in Gong Kwon Yu Sul in his 80s

Willie Nelson is widely regarded as one of the greatest country singers ever. Away from music, he is also famous for his love of marijuana amongst other things. However, did you know that he’s also a dedicated martial artist and has been for some time. Firstly, it’s no secret that Nelson is a second degree Taekwondo black belt. However, his most impressive martial arts success came in his 80s. Aged 81, he earned his 5th degree on his black belt in Gong Kwon Yu Sul. Like Taekwondo, Gong Kwon Yu Sul is also a Korean martial art but is quite different.

In short, Gong Kwon Yu Sul is a mixture of Judo, Karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It teaches a wide array of striking and grappling in the gi, aiming to beat the opponent either by punches or by taking them down to the ground. It turns out that Nelson takes this art very seriously and has trained with the same coach for over 30 years. Not only does this mean that Nelson is loyal, it also means that he started training during his 50s. This is even more impressive, seeing as martial arts is known to be tough on the body. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Nelson has stayed in such good physical and mental health as he’s gotten older.

Speaking on getting his 5th degree black belt, Nelson said “It’s a lot of fun, it’s a lot of confidence when you accomplish something so I recommend it to anybody, any age. For every belt you do, you need to get requirements like breaking boards. This just happens to be my favorite way of exercising.” And now deep into his 80s, who can argue with that?

Moving away from Willie Nelson, Gong Kwon Yu Sul was created in 1996 and like many Korean arts – focuses on striking. In terms of similar martial arts, it is similar to Hapkido – albeit less broad. Although modern by traditional standards, Gong Kwon Yu Sul is also rich in culture and still has an honor-based system.