Real martial arts, or moo doe "mudo" as Korean martial arts are known, is practiced and taught for personal empowerment of the individual.  Monks were mendicant people; through faith and obedience a student served their teacher, who in return entrusted the student with his knowledge and understanding of the human body, the fighter spirit, an enlightened way of life.

Its a lofty idea to think such a culture could be transposed to modern America to make one's life better.  I can't say its impossible, but I can say it has tremendous potential for abuse and corruption.  There are martial arts schools who focus strictly on the physical aspect of martial arts - in my opinion, the cleanest way to avoid the traps of culthood or other such social "weirdness".  Thats the way I like it, but I don't mean to say that any organization that advocates a way of life as an essential part of martial arts training is a front for a cult.  Traditional values have merit of their own.  Such values, however, have a place in a traditional martial arts setting only insofar as they enhance the quality of learning.

Oom Yung Doe, as an organization, prizes the worship of their Grandmaster (who has no peer recognition) as the fundamental element of training.  This leads to a warped definition of "martial arts" and "martial artist" in their eyes, and over the years that they have existed in the USA, people who have trained and left at various stages report that the longer they are involved in the Oom Yung Doe style of martial arts, the farther they get from the art of being martial.

A few years ago, a discussion group was started that houses former and current (who transition fairly quickly to former) members of Oom Yung Doe - 475 at last count - ranging from people who enrolled as students for a few months to others who lived and worked on John C. Kim's estate.  Registration is required to access messages, but if you are researching the field of everything martial arts could be but shouldn't be, its well worth the effort:
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/oomyungdoe_discuss/