Larry Key Celebrates 30 Years Teaching Martial Arts

Dallas resident Larry Key is celebrating thirty years of teaching self-defense skills at the Martial Arts school he runs with his wife, Linda Key. Pil Sung Do Martial Arts located in the Citizen’s Square Shopping Center at 4075 Charles Hardy Parkway in Dallas. A black belt school, for both children and adults, Pil Sung Do is a Korean art form based on street self-defense. It differs from traditional schools in both philosophy and movements. Also offered, back by popular demand, are Kickboxing classes.
Master Larry Key currently holds a 6th degree Black belt in Pil Sung Do. He is recognized in the martial arts world for his “Power Breaks.” Some of his achievements include; breaking seventeen (17) stacked concrete bricks at once with a side fist, breaking six (6), 1" boards with a spinning side kick, and breaking four (4), 1" boards with a suspended palm slap.
One with think that the Keys were involved in martial arts their entire adult lives. However, this is not the case. Master Key's involvement in martial arts came later in life as a way to recover from the effects of a horrendous accident in which he was literally run over by a bulldozer as a teenager. Mrs. Key fulfilled a life-long dream of becoming a black belt as an adult, nearly seventeen years ago.
As a youngster Master Key was always a gifted athlete with outstanding accomplishments in both football and track. At fourteen years of age, he held a Georgia State record in the 440-yard dash as well as in the mile relay. During his time at North Cobb High School, he established an “all-time rushing record of 1,837 yards and 1,020 yards for a seasonal record.” As a senior in 1972, Master Key was voted the most valuable player (MVP) in both football and track. The culmination of his athletic accomplishments, was being awarded a full football scholarship to Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, where he aspired to become a high school physical education teacher.
However, on May 16, 1973, while working on a curbing construction crew during the summer months, tragedy struck. Master Key was literally run over by a D9 bulldozer. This is a large construction “track-type tractor” that weights approximately 108,000 pounds. Master Key relays that the first track of the bulldozer knocked him to the ground, breaking his left ankle. “The second track pulled up the side of my left calf. It continued gripping me on my left thigh up to my side.” Master Key said that the bulldozer “spit me out, like a piece of wood.”
Jerry Key, Master Key’s older brother, was on the scene and rushed to his aid. Master Key was transported to the hospital not in an ambulance, but in a “made-over hearse.” The attendant, who Master Key said could easily pass as the “Grim Reaper” didn’t even bother to strap him down. He held on by placing a finger in a small hole he found in the gurney and by wrapping his uninjured right leg around a curtain of the hearse.
On May 17, 1973, Master Key was near death and went into “Code Blue” three times, his heart stopping each time. What followed were twenty-five days in the Intensive Care Unit at Northside Hospital, a lost scholarship and years of physical pain. Master Key attributes his recovery to the love and support of his family and friends, especially his dear Mother, Ruth. He states that “the doctors at Northside didn’t think I’d live. I proved them wrong.”
Master Key said that he is often asked if he “every became bitter” about his accident. He said “It’s a hard lesson, but when I almost died, I found out when things go wrong in your life, it’s not such a big deal, be glad you are alive to see it happen. I’m happy just to be here to have things happen to me. Every breath I take is special!”
Unfortunately, the accident left Master Key overweight and in unbearable pain. However, he began coaching baseball and really enjoyed teaching children. After having difficulty when teaching his son, Sam, to field a baseball, Master Key decided to begin working on his recovery. He lost sixty pounds and became interested in Martial Arts. His brother, Jerry, was studying Tae Kwon Do, but the movements were much too rigid for Master Key. He soon found Choi Kwang Do (CKD) that had a more natural flow to the movements. Master Key steady became proficient in Martial Arts, moving up the ranks, along with his children, Sam and Natalie.
While at Choi Kwang Do, Master Key studied under Grand Master Kwang Jo Choi, a Korean Martial Artist. In 1987, it was under the name Choi Kwang Do, that Master Key opened his first school.
Shortly thereafter, along with his friend, Roger Wright, Pil Sung Do (PSD) Martial Arts was formed. The two martial artists created a sixteen-level ranking system, that is still in use today. Students start at white belt and move up with various solid and striped colored belts to the rank of black belt. However, once a student earns their black belt, that is not the end of their training. Master Key, says it is “just the beginning” of a student’s training. The colored belts are the “tools” in your “tool box,” however, it is at black belt that a student really begins to learn how to use the punching, kicking and defense skills that he or she has been taught.
Currently, at Pil Sung Do Martial Arts, there are students as young as three years old all the way up to their sixties. Because it is not as rigid as the traditional styles of martial arts, practitioners, can still participate as older adults.
Mrs. Linda Key became involved with Martial Arts by way of Kickboxing. She always had an interest in Martial Arts, but never tried it. She would pass Pil Sung Do in the Citizens Square Shopping Center while doing errands and would always peek in. One day she decided to try it and loved it. Mrs. Key is currently a fourth-degree black belt and an Instructor. She also runs the Pil Sung Do After School program.
However, some argue that it is not only the style of Pil Sung Do that set it apart from other schools, it is the philosophy of the school and the way classes are conducted that make it stand out from other schools. Master Key never tells students that they did a movement “wrong,” but rather “incorrectly” and then shows them how to do the movement correctly, and always in a positive, encouraging manner.
Many of the parents, who are encouraged to observe classroom, or “do-jung” in Korean, have remarked that Mr. and Mrs. Key have made a tremendous impact on the day to day lives of their children. The children are more respectful, courteous and polite. In fact, in order to test for the next rank, children must have cleaned their room. Demo team students must show Master Key their report cards each quarter.
Every student has different talents and the Keys instill in student that they want them to do their forms and combinations the very best that they can do. The Keys are constantly encouraging students. Many students have physical limitations, others have concentration issues and the like. Several years ago, when a young lady with Down’s Syndrome tested for her black belt, the school was filled with fellow students there to support her. When she was presented her black belt there hardly was a dry eye in the house. This was not an unusual show of support, Mr. and Master Key encourage and are supportive of all their students. Some students are overcoming things that only they are aware of and they are proud of every student, both child and adult, for achieving their personal best.
Pil Sung Do students who are close to or have attained their black belt can join the Pil Sung Do “Black Belt Club.” To join the club, each student must write an age appropriate essay as to what Pil Sung Do means to them. The overwhelming majority of the essays, which span thirty years, have the same re-occurring theme – the Keys treat students like family, help them obtain their goals and give them life skills.
It is not uncommon for former students to stop by class and say hello to the Keys. Master Key said that one of the greatest compliments he received was from a former student, a military veteran who just returned from several tours of duty overseas. He recently contacted Master Key to thank him. The former student relayed that the military spent considerable money training him for combat but the tools that Master Key taught him, not once, but three times, saved his life while on active duty in Afghanistan.
In 2016, the Keys got their first second generation student, Miss Isabella Corona. She is the daughter of Joseph and Carrie Corona. Mrs. Corona (nee Cannon) is a fourth-degree black belt and an instructor at the school.
Pil Sung Do isn’t just all work and no play for the students. For thirty years, the Keys have hosted parties for the students and their friends several times a year. Each party has a theme, for instance, there is a water balloon fight party, a shaving cream pie fight party, a Halloween Party and a Christmas Party. Most of the parties are spend the night parties and include music, dancing and games such as musical chairs.
When asked why they have continued teaching after all of these years, Master Key, says “for the children.” He loves all his students, but with the children, he feels as if he can make the biggest difference. Despite all the obstacles, Master Key fulfilled his dream of being a teacher. Actually, some would say he is a professor!
For the remainder of 2017, to celebrate Master Key’s thirtieth year of teaching, Pil Sung Do will be “rolling back their prices to 1987” at $49.00 per month for new students. The public is welcome to stop by the school and congratulate Master and Mrs. Key. The Pil Sung Do Demonstration team, consisting of both children and adults, will be performing at the North Georgia State Fair on Friday, September 29th at 7:00 PM and at 9:00 PM. They will also be performing at the Dallas Fine Arts Association Fair, downtown Dallas on October 14th at 1:45 PM.