KoreanTiger30

THere is a great Hapkido school in ALexandria , VA called THe Yong IN martial Arts Academy. ITs a branch off of the college in Korea call the YOng In UNiversity that teaches nothing but martial arts. HEaded my Grandmaster Woo who wond a gold medal in a couple of the Asian games. HE teaches TKD, Korean Hapkido Federation Hapkido, and Yudo (Judo). HE is 8th or 9th Dan in all 3 martial arts and former member of the Korean Tiger Demonstration Team. PLus the school has a huge training hall and weight room and muchmore. ALso he had 3 Korena MAsters on Staff at all times to assist him. Its an excellent school I know Master Woo personally and have trained with him a couple of times.

Hapkido is a soft art and there is sparring in hapkido. Turtle Press just released a DVD called Jin Jung Kwan National Championship 2003 and they have full contact sparring on the DVD.

He man was the greatest show in the 80s along with thundercats and GI Joe. I have seen the new episodes and love them but its a shame i cant watch them because my cble company doesnt have cartoon netwrk. I mean they have 900 channels on this digital cable but no cartoon network. I was cruising through the mall with my little cousin and he wanted to go to the toy store and when I was in there they had the Masters of Universe toys. These toys were kick * man I mean they didint look like that when I was growing up. Skeletor looked like something that would crawl out of the pits of Hell to fight Heman.

I love the Anne Rice novels but my fvorite book of all time ws "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas. I have read it 6 times since 10th grade and absolutley adore it. The plot set up is tremendously well done as wel as character development. I hate the new movie to extreme jsut because it was a major slap in the face.

The Run DOwn was kick * but I am anxiously waiting for the moive "Passion" by Mel Gibson

I would say Krav Maga or Hapkido I know form expereince Hapkido is highly effective. I have encountered a couple occasions where self defense was necessary and I was able to defend against 3 attackers.. so Hapkido saved my butt

The 540s and 720s are excellent kicks for demonstrations. You have to have a very well defined body that to perform them with accuracy. I dont know who invented these kicks but I do not that kung fu was probably the first to do 540s and the Koreans were the first to do 720s because I remember back when a 720 was done in competition over in Korea then it appeared in aot of martial arts magazines "Martial Art's New Kick" I beleive the title of one of the articles. Since then I ahve seen them appear inso man competitions. You can get alot of power with the 540 as long as you can kick good and have good hip rotating power. I have seen Koreans knockout people in sparring with the 540 and also break slabs of concrete with that same kick. So the power is there you just have to want it. There is a great video by Turtle Press.com called "Aero Kicks" and they teach you how to do all the demonstrationo kicks as well as 540 and 720. Also if any of those here ahve kazaa go to video and typ ein Taekwondo Hyung Kim you will get a video of alot of dmeosntration kicks including the 540 and 720.

I combine hapkido and taekwondo whcih makes a very effective style

There are some good nunchuk videos at http://www.mooto.com shopping mall (English). They cover some really good techniques and some traditional korean forms. In reply to the fancy acrobatics incorporated into forms now. I had the pleasure of going to Korea with one of my Korean masters who formley was a coach for the Korean Tiger Demonstration Team. We were guests at a tournament that had weapons forms in it. This 16 year old Korean boy did a nunchuk form with like aerial cartwheels and back flips in it with all ot spinning techniques and twirls over the body. Master CHoi is really formal and hates the "gymnastic forms" He told "the students that do these forms lose the real power and have no understanding of what the weapon was originally used for" The Maste rof the boy introduced him to Master Choi, and the student asked Master Choi what he thought about his form and Master CHoi replied "Is that for the show or to the technique". He told me that when they starting worrying about how fancy their forms look like they should be leaders of marching bands and not martial artists.

I am really not familiar with that area but I do know that there is a large amount of Haidong gumdo Schools in Ohio you might want to check out around the Korean schools. I will check and see if I can find you some but this is an art focusing on sword and ki energy

One of the reasons it is so brutal is because it shows no mercy to you attacker. The purpose of the techniques are to physically cripple your ooponent without any chance of the attacking twice. I did nto say it is the most brutaliest because I am sure there are other but as far as Korean styles go it is considered the brutaliest. Kyuk Too Ki is considered both a hard & soft style martial art which is probably one of its most dynamic aspect. It emphasizes bone and joint breaking even after throw your opponent. Alot of elbow, knee and head butt attacks. I have seen some classes of a friend of mine when I went to Korea and they really beat the crap out of each practicing the techniques. Its almost like the Teuk Gong Mu Sool (Korean Military martial arts) philosophy "Train as if at war, and war will be like training"

Instructor's position is hard ot obtian in my school. First a 1st dan is not eligible because lack of expereince, granted he has been doing it for so many years and achieved a balck belt but he has to understnad the principles of teaching. The master chooses 3 of the most qualified 1st dan to go through Instructor training. This usually includes classes on understnading how to teach, what to teach & when to teach. They must go through rigorous training. The philosophy behind the training is that is you ask your students to do 1 thing you must do it 10 times. They must understand the defining elements of everysingle technique and form movement. Once 2nd dan they are official instrucotrs after having all these classes. Its like a cycle once the 1st dan move to 2nd dan , the 2nd dan instrucotrs move to 3rd dan and begin the training needed to become a master, this includes school management, priciples behind each technique plus new techniques, creation of techniques derived form basic principles, Ki Specailization, Accupuncure & accupressure with massage training. The 3rd dan dont realy teach they are focuses on their master training that is what 2nd dan instrucotrs are for to help the master.

This is a serious problem now for me too. Especially when I was teaching classes for a master friend of mine. I found that I woul dteach class so much that i would not get a chance to practice especailly trying to balance that with college work. The master was realy traing me to become a teacher and open up my own school. That is his dream but I have other dreams like graduating college not opening my own school. I enjoy learning more than teaching. I went back to my original Master and we set it where I do all the physical training on my own which is not hard. Then go to his school like twice a month because of the drive and learn all the techniques that woul dbe taught in a month and go home and practice them with my other instructor friends and then go back next month review them and learn more. TH eonly agreement was i had to keep up with the physical training since i wasnt going ot a official class. this works out better fo rme because now I have th eoppurtunity to focus on the techniques I need more work on than the ones I do not.

I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this topic. I was asked earlier what kyuk too ki and Haidong Gumdo are? Kyuk Too Ki: Translates into either Korean kick boxing or Korean Street Fighting. Recognized as probably Korea's most brutaliest arts. Kyuk To Ki combines elements of TKD, HKD, and Yudo in its fighting curriculum. There are two types taught together 1. Competition rules are 10 rounds 3 minutes each. you score points from throws, punches, kicks, and take downs. You can perform chokes, locks (arm, wrist. leg. neck, etc.), You cannot attack the groin, eyes, spine, or bite. You can either win by points, KO, TKO, disqualifications. (majority of matches end in KO or TKO) 2. Street Applications This is porbably where it coins the term "brutal" because of its applications of street scenarios. Alot of the techniques are desinged to physically impair the attacker. Haidong Gumdo is the Traditonal Korean sword art. Derived form the group samurang which were the basic foundations for Japanese Samurai. Alot of its traditons were lost unit recently and now Haidong gumdo is making a triumphant comeback. Especially here in the U.S. There are two federations which I do not have time to discuss the conflict between them. There are the International Haedong gumdo Federation and World Haidong Gumdo Federation. If anyone will like links, eamil me and i can give you theem there websites. Haidong Gumdo was the original sword art in Korea that encompasses many forms that demonstrate battlefield tactics. Some of which fighting as amny as 4-6 attackers with swords. Late ron in the style there are double sword forms where you use 2 swords to fight. There is sparring but not like Kumdo/kendo, ther eis not armor jsut a protective vest. You uses alot of techniques taught form class and the forms. Aside form learning forms you actaully learn sword methods of how to entrap their sword or block and cut that are similiar to a curriculum found in hapkido where you have many different scenarios to defend from. You begin training with a wooden sword (mokgum), and then movie onto an imitation steel sword (kagum), then once you have demonstrated you have full control of the sword and cutting you are given a sharp steel (jingum) where you practice cutting bamboo and hay. These cutting target are desgined to the equivalencies of human body parts (waist, arm, leg, neck). Another important part of Haidong Gumdo training is the ki where you use various methods of ki training like Dan Jun Ho Hup or Gae Un Ki Gong. This is about the basics if anyone wants to discuss them further or have any questions post a reply or feel free to IM me or email me. For those in MD I also host an instructor's training gathering, where instructors of korean martial arts can get together and train with each other, share ideas, expose others to new arts.

It is part of out 1st degree hapkido curriculum along with the belt and cane. It is one of my favorite weapons

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone knew of any Korea Hapkido Federation schools in Maryland particulary Jin Jung Kwan style Hapkido.

I am sorry but I forgot to mention this in my previous thread which includes my theory of TKD form expereince. I have studied TKD for about 10 years now. But I studied under a traditional school of thought called Ji Do Kwan which was very enthusiastic about sparring but they held deep concerns the Olympic Stlye would destory the art of TKD and now that I have been refereeing for sometime now I see that alot of the schools that teach Olympic Stlye are very sloppy in their techniques and throws the leg out there to get the point and not for accuracy. Now there are exceptions to these rules and i have seen some TKD fighter that have trained especially in olympic stlye since birht but those fighters were Korean. Even though I am an AMerican I will be the first to say that there is a strong difference between Korean TKD and American TKD (even though taught by Korean Masters). I have had a chance to visit Korea on several accounts and watched open tournamnets betwen Japan and Korea and even Muay Thai and alot of those Korean fighters do end up devestating their opponent. I find that TKD is an excellent martial art to teach kids but is not a sure way of ending a street confrontation. I have been in several street fights not proud of them but they were unavoidable no matter how hard I tried. I found that the only elements of TKD that helped was the strong kicking power and the speed and time reaction. But once i got on the ground it was a totally different story and about 95% of tme those fights ended up on the ground. At that time I had to rely on my Hapkido training and Teuk Kong Moo sool training to overcome the attacker. The other 5% of the time I was able to end the fight with one kick or hand technique and the reason I could do that was my training in Kyuk too Ki wich is Korean Street Fighting/kickboxing that encompasses the kicking power of TKD with hand techniques form Soo Bahk Do and Hapkido. I do support TKD and I think it is an excellent martiala rt especially for children but it will not save you all the time. For those who like to watch competitions try finding some videos of Kyuk too Ki and Muay Thai fighting each other now that is some competiton and the match could go either way. Sorry for the lenght of this post ut I needed to bring out some of my expreiences to the poll.

I am not putting these in any particular order. But i will say one thing and that is no one style is the best I think and understanding of all different styles is the best defense and the ability to adapt to those styles. you do not necessarily have to practice all of them jsut an understanding. My list is compiled from the arts I have studied and watched in competitions and seminars. 1) Teuk Gong Moo Sool (korean Military Martial Arts and voted #1 military combat training by United Nations) 2) Kyuk Too Ki ( because this art is designed as kickboxing and Street Fighting and prolly one of the most most brutal Korean arts. it encompasses kicking power from TKD, the elements of Hapkido, Jui Jitsu, Judo, Soo Bahk Do.) 3) Krav Maga 4)Tai Chi & Ki GOng 5)Jiu Jitsu 6)Jeet Kune Do 7)Hapkido & Aikido 8)Hwarangdo 9)Order of Isshyniru (Hope I spelled that right) 10)Wing Chun

A scissor kick is basically a side kick with one leg and and angle outwards front kick with the other simotaneaously in the air with both targets at equal height.

It was kind of hard for my second degree test because I was ona dmeonstration team and we have already done so many combinations that I couldnt think of any but I will try to give you some ideas. For my second degree test I did three different types of breaks: 1: Scissor kick at head level 2. I ran and jumped right leg fromt kick, left leg font kick, right leg round house, nad then follllowed with right hook kick in one jump. (four board multiple break) 3. Dive roll over my friend who was standing straight up and broke a board with a punch in mid air. that was all I did for my 2nd degree. Hope those ideas helped.

There are many differences if one wants to take the time to distinguish them but that is what makes the beauty of martial arts. The reason you see alot of TKD kicks in hapkido is because most masters from Korea learn both TKD and HKD at the same time and it is only natural to introduce techniques form one ot the other. A master told me once that if you combine both of the styles into one mind or stlye you come out with a very effective martial art. If you really want to see a stlye that seems to blend them very well is Kyuk Too Ki. TKD teaches you endurance, speed, fast and powerful kicks, and a very conditioned body as far a flexibility. HKD teaches one the theory of opposites, mechancis of how the body works in different manipulations, powerful hand techniques and a "iron conditioned" body to take blows. These are jsut some of the main obvious ones but there are many more characteristics.

Well if it is intense training and sparring Master Choi is your candidate he was also a former Korean champion and Captain oand Coach of the Hodori and Korean Tiger team, two of the best teams in Korea. Trust me there are some days I used to come out of their couldnt even walk. So that is defintely an option.

You mus tbe confusing him with some other master because there is onlyone school there he runs it and there has never been a Joe Dunphry.

I went Master CHoi' school when he was in Elkton and I wa san assisstant instrucotr at his school this past year when I was at college so I know its not a MCDojo because I have seen Master Choi fail kids and adults three testings in a row just for missing a movement in their forms. When I tested for 2nd dan hapkido its was like a 6 hour test so I now for a fact his school is not a MCDojo.

Check out Martial arts USA in Gaithersburg, MD its a great school I trained under the Master there and he really trains you well.1 303-977-8668 is the phone number and the master's name is Bhee Sung Choi he teaches TKD, Hapkido, and Kyuk Too Ki (Korean Kickboxing/street fighting), and Haidong Gumdo Traditional Korean sword art