Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo (2024)

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo is a Korean BL series that aired from Oct 17, 2024 – Nov 7, 2024.  It can be watched on IQIY.  The series is directed by Hwang Da Seul, who also directed ‘Where Your Eyes Linger,’ ‘Bleuming,’ and ‘To My Star.’  I only looked at the director’s bio and history after watching this series, and I can see the common themes in her work. She does not shy away from the complexities and conditions of the characters, including flaws and struggles many people can empathize with. I will be keeping an eye on her upcoming works, as I have enjoyed all the series I’ve seen by her so far.

My Drama List Synopsis:

High schooler Do Hoe, burdened by the violent atmosphere of his father’s rural Taekwondo gym, finds solace when Ju Yeong, a cheerful peer from Seoul with dreams of a Taekwondo major, arrives. Their budding connection is disrupted by his father’s oppressive influence and a tragic incident that separates them. Reuniting a decade later, they rediscover a love that evolves from youthful excitement into healing and mutual support.

Cast:

Kim Nu Rim as Lee Do Hoe

Lee Sun as Sin Ju Yeong

Yoo Ha Bok as Lee Jung Seok

Jang Yeon Woo as Ha Hyeon Ho

Story:

Do Hoe is a quiet teenager surviving in an abusive home. His father runs the local Taekwondo gym in their small town outside Seoul, where he takes in students for training and boarding. Between his drinking and gambling habits, he unleashes his frustrations primarily on Do Hoe, though the boarding students aren’t spared either. Any student living at the gym, or any local kid who gets in trouble at school or with their parents, faces his father’s brutal “discipline” – beatings with training sticks until they submit. Their house hasn’t known happiness in a long time, made worse when Do Hoe’s mother abandoned them, choosing her own happiness over protecting her son.

If you can’t tell, I judge that type of mother rather harshly. I firmly believe in protecting children and the elderly – those who are vulnerable, at all costs. That’s to say, despite raising a son on his own, he did a perfunctory job making sure his son was clothed and fed but never nurtured and loved. We don’t see any other family members in Do Hoe’s existence, so we assume the grandparents or aunts and uncles are not involved in his life at all. This boy’s life is a lonely one; however, he doesn’t feel sorry for himself. Instead, he focuses on his studies as a pathway to eventually leave the house and town far behind.

One day, a teenager from Seoul is sent to live with them and train for the National Taekwondo Team. Ju Yeong is his name, and his cheerful demeanor is the opposite of Do Hoe’s. Ju Yeong’s parents sent him to train under Do Hoe’s father. While living with them, Do Hoe is told to prepare all of Ju Yeong’s meals. Just another burden placed on an overworked Do Hoe, but he doesn’t complain. 

The pair seem to have nothing in common, but Ju Yeong wants to befriend Do Hoe.  Do Hoe rebuffs these efforts at every turn, not wanting or needing the hassle that comes with a friendship that will be only a temporary one, at best. 

One cold winter night, Do Hoe is summoned by his father (often deep into the night, hours after Do Hoe has been asleep) to have him go to the local convenience store to buy soju and cigarettes. Ju Yeong follows him but is comically not very adept at stealth. Do Hoe tells Ju Yeong to go home now that Ju Yeong has seen beyond the mask – that Do Hoe’s father is just a pathetic, brutal, drunk gambler. By this time, Ju Yeong feels as though he can open up to Do Hoe and reveals he was kicked out of his house by his parents, and this is his punishment and he also has nowhere else to go.

As the pair walk to the store slowly, they encounter local bullies whom Do Hoe’s dad has punished previously with parentally sanctioned beatings. As they start to attack Do Hoe, Ju Yeong steps in, willing to fight them all, but Do Hoe grabs his hand, and they quickly put a lot of distance between them and the bullies and even hide for a while. Truth is, even at this early stage of their friendship, Do Hoe doesn’t want Ju Yeong to fight and get injured, which could hurt his dream of becoming a professional athlete. The two walk to another store together and begin talking more as they wander around on this cold winter night, eating ice cream. 

This turn of events makes their new friendship develop more quickly. The two get closer, eventually becoming real friends. Do Hoe is constantly studying, focusing on his efforts to get out of the life he is in. He wants to leave his abusive father and small town where people and even parents look the other way when faced with the plight of neglected or abused children and teens.

One morning, after a late night was had by Ju Yeong Do Hoe is late opening the gym. His dad comes to breakfast and asks Do Hoe what time he opened the gym. Do Hoe lies and is immediately slapped hard in the face by his father, all this in front of Ju Yeong. At this point, the Grandmaster’s sadistic tendencies have been hidden from us, with only hints. This is how Ju Yeong now sees behind the mask the Grandmaster presents to other adults. He worries for Do Hoe, but being young and trapped, what can he do except take away some of his burden by cooking his own breakfast?

Being a well-done BL, the romance is inevitable. You can see that Ju Yeong is the only person that Do Hoe opens up to, letting Ju Yeong inside his closed circle. Yet, in the end, they are teens, trapped by society and their upbringing, chained to the very things both hope to escape. It’s like watching a slow-moving train on a collision course; you see it coming for the pair but know they won’t manage to avoid it. 

Inevitably, the crash occurs, and we don’t get to see what’s happened. However, we do learn our pair are separated.

Then we jump forward rather jarringly twelve years into the future and in Seoul. We follow Ju Yeong, who never made the national team, nor did he even continue his education. Needless to say, the path his life took also shattered his dream of becoming a Taekwondo Grandmaster. Instead, he became an instructor at a gym run by a friend (a very sassy friend, well-played by actress Han So Hyu), teaching little children and living a sad life pining for what might have been.

One day, as fate would have it, he encounters Do Hoe. The pair are strangers? ….or are they? Is Do Hoe so different now that Ju Yeong can no longer see the man he once loved?

As the pair begin to reconnect, there are many obstacles. One of the things that makes this story so compelling is its willingness to explore the shades of grey that make us human. There are no innocent, good guys in the story, but people—those who are deeply flawed and others with significant physical and emotional scars.

I won’t say I liked everyone. I can say that it makes you think about what makes us human and the spirit of what it means to love and be loved. So give it a watch if you want the telling of a story that you can sink your teeth into; that is, if you want to watch realistically imperfect and broken characters find their way along the rocky path of life, you should watch this series.

Overall Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars. [See our Review Guide]

Watch it on IQIYI

(Editor’s Note: Is it me, or do Korean BLs just keep getting better?)