Dr. Steven Hassan talks with Russell Johnson: Leaving a Martial Arts Cult

Russell Johnson is a former member of the Korean martial arts cult Chung Moo Quan. After much negative publicity, its name was changed to Oom Yung Doe. Now a professional security consultant, activist, and podcaster, Russell got involved with the cult as a teen and was involved for eight years. We first met in the early 90s when he contacted me after reading Combating Cult Mind Control. My book helped him understand how he had been manipulated in the cult using primary BITE model tactics. I have been on his podcast, Deceived, about his experience in the Chung Moo Quan cult. He is currently working on the development of a documentary series about the cult.
#drstevenhassan #stevenhassan #cults #mindcontrol #brainwashing #martialarts #maritalartscult
#bitemodel
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[@ThinkThisThroughChannel]

Thank you Steven for inspiring so many folks, myself included! I referenced your BITE model in my last video about The Garden.

[@KGchannel01]

Fascinating story! Very eye-opening and therapeutic! "F*ck it, I quit" is powerful and beautiful and life-changing in this context, really resonated with me!

[@bobadams7654]

Excellent content. This probably explains all those no touch martial arts where students cartwheel across the room. So very sad - and disturbing.

[@MagicIsntRealHere]

I can totally relate to this, the "supernatural" demonstrations of my martial arts school were just magic tricks and not even good ones, but they keep you in the loop because you think that eventually you will also get powers. I was strong and I trained really hard, but for some reason the "qi energy" wasn't working for me, I was told all sort of excuses, but mainly it was apparently my fault. One day I saw a magician perform a trick that looked exactly like one of the "qi energy" demonstration performed by my grand master and I asked myself how can this be? I train hard I am consistent, this magician doesn't even practice martial arts, what's going on here? Well the rest is history.

[@ThinkThisThroughChannel]

Love your new channel debunking all this stuff!

[@eviewilde354]

This interview just goes to show that it doesn't matter what the pretext is for the basis of the cult, it doesn't matter what ideology or so-called 'business plan' or philosophy they tout. They all use the same fraudulent tactics and practices to lure you in and keep you in. Great discussion!

[@ginagamba]

Can the same be said about methods intended to promote critical thinking?

[@ZemplinTemplar]

Precisely. And yeah, a great interview.

[@TheBlackBeltRealtor]

This video is humorous. In college, I trained in general self-defense. In the Army, I trained intensely in hand-to-hand combat. I then trained in Judo, reaching 4th Degree Black Belt. In 1989, I started training in Chung Moo Quan, in the Lake Street school that Russel mentions. I knew him although not well, but he was still active until at least 1990, when he disappeared. In 1998, I had gotten all CMQ had to offer, and left. No one tried to stop me or convince me to stay. I started training in Shaolin Kung Fu, and ultimately moved to Phoenix and opened my own independent school, where I continued to train and teach Kung Fu. I am now 74 years old and semi-retired. I do still teach traditional Chen Tai Chi in a local Karate school. My years in the world of martial arts have been wonderful. I met Kim one time, and can only say that neither he nor anyone else I knew had the intellect or wherewithal to create a cult, although there were those who were so enthralled by martial arts that they kind of created their own personal cult. Russell was one of those. But it certainly wasn't forced on him.