Legendary SK Telecom T1 coach Kim “kkOma” Jung-Gyun showed his professionalism and dedication once more during an episode of “Weekly LCK.”
KkOma was the guest for Episode 12 of the weekly recap show hosted by OGN caster Kim “Dangun” Ui-joong. During the hour-long broadcast, kkOma had a chance to share what feedback with SKT is like, and just what is recorded in his iconic notebook.
“I record big mistakes and whatnot with timestamps,” he said. “I can’t write down too many though because I don’t have enough time to talk about them, so I have a system in what I need to write down or bring up. There are many mistakes that don’t get shown on the screen, like players not being in the right locations at the right times. We make a lot of those mistakes.”
What is now referred to as the “kkOma Hurricane,” his attitude during feedback — regardless of the outcome — is now somewhat of a meme. Despite the perception, kkOma said he finds it stressful to be the bearer of bad news, while laughing and saying that he’s a “kind person.”
Being as successful as SKT also brings a lot of stress by itself. As a testament to that amount of stress, kkOma said his recent choice in hair style was more than just a fashion statement, and was also a response to some potentially stress-related hair loss.
“I started to see some signs of hair loss lately, perhaps because of the stress,” he said. “I didn’t want to keep being self-conscious about it, so I cut it off.”
Before his time as SKT’s coach and starting a legendary career, kkOma was also known through different broadcasts such as “I am Carry,” streams of League of Legends, as well as a brief time as a member of the team Startale. Looking back, kkOma confessed that he “wanted to go back to those days,” as the pay and stress levels were easy to manage.
“Back in the day I had no such pressure,” he said. “The pay back then wasn’t that bad, either. The level of pay and stress were just perfect. I aged a lot since I became a coach. Back then, I was still pretty good looking, but as I kept working, I got older.”
In a brief look behind the scenes, members of SKT were recorded talking about jinxes and routines, as Bae “Bang” Jun-sik saw Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon possess something that a Fnatic symbol on it. Huni said that it was a “reminder to not forget the mindset” of when he was a beginner, and Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan commented that he puts his jacket on the back of his chair, and pats it twice as a sense of encouragement.
KkOma was no different when it came to his belief in superstition, as many sports players do in traditional sports. But his superstition is something not many people really get to notice.
“I don’t wear the underwear of the days when we lost in games ever again,” he said. “I only wear them when we don’t have games. If we need to go overseas, I don’t take them with me. I forgot to bring my underwear to Brazil so I bought mine there. They were great.”
With three world championships under his belt, kkOma and SKT show no signs of slowing down, as they maintain their top spot in the LCK. Although their performances have been “lacking” in terms of their usual standard, kkOma has a goal that he would love to achieve.
“I want to keep winning until we have a skin for every champion in the game,” he said.