HRDMIKE

Hi Tuf, yeah that is what it stands for. When I first signed up for this forum, I was studying Hwa Rang Do. It was the same school, but they were in Edina at the time, before they moved into the new place in Minneapolis. It is a great school, with a great instructor. Unfortunately it was just a little too much money monthly for me to keep going there. If I could afford it though, I would be training there for sure. From what I have seen from pictures and heard from some students, the new dojang looks great. The teacher is really good, I still keep in touch with him from time to time. He studied directly under the grandmaster of hwa rang do out in LA for a while. A lot of the techniques are very similiar to Hapkido, so you should check it out sometime, I highly recommend that shcool.

Thanks for all that background info, I was very curious about how TMA came about. I think I will probably stick with it though, my teacher is very skillful and I like most of the techniques we have been taught so far. It is also a great deal monewise if you have a membership with Bally's. I do wish that they would slow down on the testing though.

I am currently studying Hapkido from a guy that attended the Koren College you mentioned above. There are a couple of guys that teach at some of the Bally's locations here in Minnesota. He seems to really know his techniques, but it does seem that they try to run you through the ranks pretty quickly. It seems like they try to promote you every couple of months. They are pretty new to the Minnesota area, so I was wondering what their reputation was in the Chicago area, as I think that is where they started and have the largest number of schools/students. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

Hi Hapkido Haksang, it sounds like a great environment you guys train in. I will definately have to stop by some night. Right now I am training at Bally's fitness. They just started a new martial art program here in the cities, I think it is less then a year old. They teach Hapkido and Taekwondo, but teach them as seperate arts and you do not have to take both arts, which is what I prefer. I think they teach at the Bally's in Eagan, Richfield and St. Paul. The instructors seem very good. They are graduates of one of the martial art colleges in Korea and came over here to teach. Anyway, let me know what times you guys get together, I am only an orange belt right now (3rd belt), but would love to see some new techniques. Take Care, Mike

Hello, It is good to see there are some Hapkido people in Minnesota on here. Where do you guys train? I have been studying Hapkido since the beginning of the year and love it. I trained in High School for a while about 10 years ago in North Dakota, and it took me a while to find a good school close to me here in the cities since I moved here a few years ago. Anyway, welcome to the forum and I look forward to talking to you about training and stuff. -Mike

Hi Knockdown, another good couple of shcools are Warriors Cove and Combat Jujitsu. Both have websites under the those names. They are both mixed martial art shcools. I'm not sure where you are looking to train in Minnesota, if you tell me the area, I can probably recommend some more schools.

Hi all, I studied Hapkido all through high school and loved it. I am just getting back into martial arts seriously after almost 10 years. I am now studying Hwa Rang Do and love it. I really like the korean arts. It just appeals to me more than the other arts for some reason.