“The New York Times Sports”

On a recent evening, about 60 men, women and children, garbed in white robes and head bands punched away furiously at life’s demons in a warehouse in Milpitas, Calif., a suburb of San Jose.

“Visualize fear,” said Tae Yun Kim, the group leader. “Knock the fear away.” The students, lined up and in unison, punched repeatedly, left, right, left, right. Then the class double-blocked and kicked at other obstacles such as anger and jealousy.

Kim, referred to as Grandmaster by her students, is the founder of the Jung Suwon Martial Art Academy, the only place in the country which teaches jung suwon, a gentler form of the Korean martial art of taekwondo.

Taekwondo, a 2,000-year-old self-defense system that is related to kung fu and karate, is the national sport of Korea. Almost all Korean males at some point in their lives practice the art.

The number of participants in taekwondo in this country has doubled in the past decade to about one million. About 1,100 schools are registered with the United States Taekwondo Union, the sport’s governing body situated in Colorado Springs, according to Sheri Boyd, the organization’s administrative secretary, although there are probably triple that number scattered throughout the country. Unifying Body, Mind and Spirit Jung suwon uses the same moves as taekwondo but differs slightly in that it shies away from competition, and emphasizes more the unifying of body, mind and spirit, said Kim, who opened her academy in 1985.

“The whole purpose of jung suwon is so that you can incorporate it into your life,” she said. Kim has used her skills to help rehabilitate drug addicts and alcoholics, and to teach business executives how to relieve stress. “I teach how to put your body and mind together, to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and rise above them.”

Kim recognized her own strengths at age 7, when she began training in taekwondo with a Korean master in a mountain temple in Taegu, South Korea. But she persevered against the wishes of her parents and centuries-old Korean tradition that discouraged women from pursuing excellence in the martial arts. Kim became one of the highest ranking martial artists in the world, and the first woman to become a grandmaster with an eighth-degree black belt in taekwondo.

Kim, now 45 years old, came to the United States in 1968, and in 1978, organized the first women’s division in international taekwondo competition at the Pre-World Games in Seoul, South Korea, where the United States women’s team won one gold, four silver and three bronze medals under her coaching. She recently published “Seven Steps to Inner Power” (New World Library), and has produced several videos introducing jung suwon, her personal modification of taekwondo.

Taekwondo — and by extension jung suwon — provides a good workout, said Dr. Willy Pieter, a visiting professor at the University of Oregon’s exercise and movement science department. Depending on how the instructor tailors a class, a session provides aerobic benefits comparable to playing volleyball or basketball. Dr. Pieter is also the principal investigator of a current research project on taekwondo funded by the United States Olympic Committee. Taekwondo will be a demonstration sport in next year’s Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

The sport is especially appealing to women, said Pieter, because 90 percent of the movements involve kicking. “Women in general are more flexible and stronger in the legs,” he said. Deriving Mental Benefits

As positive as are the physical effects of taekwondo, the mental training it provides might be even more beneficial.

Rhonda Smith-Sanchez, a five-time world champion windsurfer found that Kim was able to help her overcome her fears and self-doubts when she retired last year and wanted to open a windsurfing teaching center in Hood River, Ore.

“Through training, I was able to go through with my dreams,” she said. Smith-Sanchez, 35 years old, gained enough confidence to open her center in a neighborhood that already has about a dozen similar ventures. Overcoming Handicaps

Rocko Pochy, a 31-year-old software engineer from Milpitas whose legs were paralyzed in an accident 20 years ago, enrolled in Kim’s academy about three years ago at a particularly stressful point in his life. “I initially got into it for the mental aspect,” he said. “Then a year ago, I felt I needed some physical workout.” Wheelchair-bound, he does the leg routines, as well as the punches, with his arms.

He has become proficient enough in jung suwon to attain a green belt, a fourth-level degree, at the academy.