Sundo - also known as Kouk Sun Do (국선도)[a] - is a Korean Taoist art based on meditation, and which aims at the personal development of its practitioners, both at the physical, mental and spiritual levels.

[1] Through the practice of meditation, abdominal breathing and holding positions, the practitioner cultivates his “Ki” (vital energy, also called Qi in Chinese), and develops flexibility, physical ease, health and serenity.

In 1967, after twenty years of Asceticism and training, Chung-Woon asked Chung-San to leave the mountain to go and spread the ancient wisdom of Kouk Sun Do to the world.

[5][6][7] In 1979, after several years of training under the direction of Be-Kyung, Hyun-moon Kim introduced the Sundo to the West, particularly the United States, Canada and Europe.

[citation needed] Doctor of Philosophy, Master Hyun-moon Kim combines ancestral Korean wisdom and modern Western psychology to teach Sundo Taoist principles, with a view to personal development aimed at improving the quality of life of his students.

[8] He has opened a Sundo school in West Hartford, Connecticut, and holds numerous Instructor training retreats in Barnet, Vermont.

[10] Sundo is one of the largest health and wellness entities in South Korea[citation needed], with significant bases in France[11][6] and Eastern European countries, like Czech, Romania and Russia.

[citation needed] It is practiced by a wide variety of people, regardless of their religious and political beliefs and type of activity: heads of large enterprises and students, monks and politicians, blue-collar workers and celebrities.

The World Kukseondo Federation currently has about 300 dojangs across South Korea, which trains body and mind based on Korean Danjeon breathing, meditation, and martial arts.

Tacchi is an expert in Korean martial arts: he is the president of the Francophone Federation of Sin Moo Hapkido, Sundo and associated disciplines.

More generally, Sundo is a highly beneficial internal practice in a context of regular stress related to professional activity, and can therefore be recommended as part of campaigns to fight against anxiety within a company, or quite simply for the well-being of employees.

Sundo is a technique aimed at stimulating internal energy (called "Ki" by the Japanese and Koreans, "Qi" or "Chi" by the Chinese), through breathing exercises, postures and to meditation.

[15] A Sundo session begins with a "long warm-up" (about half an hour), consisting of stretching and self-massage, designed to relax the body and prepare it for the exercises that follow.

Finally, the session ends with a series of stretching and twisting exercises intended to circulate energy through the meridians to each internal organ, and to free the body and muscles from all the blockages related to sedentary life.

[16][additional citation(s) needed] While Sundo practice is optimal when done daily, performing two or three sessions per week is already enough to experience major improvements in physical and mental well-being.