Chris from CT

If you are able to make it, it would be well worth the trip. GMaster West puts on one hell of a seminar! Good times will be had. I haven't been able to make it down there since about 2002. Long over due, huh? When you see Master West, ask him if he still has the wooden sign I made for him that says, "Not My Student." Aslo, please say "Hi" for me. Take care and have a blast!

No need for the apologies sir. I wish I knew someone in that area for you. The closest I know would be London. Which I believe is not that close at all. Take care.

Years ago I had a "horse shoe" tear of the medial meniscus. This is where one half separates from the bone and flips over. The doctor said, I've got good news and bad news." That always gets me nervous when I hear that! The good news: It was torn clean so it could be reattached. Benefit = "shock absorber" in the knee would still be effective. The bad news: Instead of being up on my feet within a couple of days of a scope I was in bed for a couple of weeks because the slow healing process of cartilage from the lack of blood circulation it gets in general. Years later my knee is doing great. Did the rehab, and glad I did. Keeping any area strong will help prevent injuries. When an injury does come along, without a major trauma, we see where our weaker areas are and can look to improve them in the future. Wishing you the best in the future Akaratechick. Take care.

Which Manchester area are you refering to? Great Britain or the US? If it's the US... what state? Take care

I practice Hapkido here in Connecticut. Training in Korea is different in different dojangs. It's very much like here in the States. One guy emphasizes big falls, another on high kicking and another on balance breaking, etc. Where I train in Korea, we focus more on balance breaking and being able to drop a stronger, resistant person, which is great on a person who may not know how to fall. Don't get me wrong, we all need to know how to breakfall and all, but the focus is not on the airfalls. I love it there. They train us hard, but treat us well. If anyone is around Daegu, stop into the Jung Ki Kwan. GM Lim is a great guy and very welcoming to anyone who has a humble attitude and a sincere yearning to learn the principles of Hapkido. Take care

Congrats on deciding on a career. I did the same thing except it took me a lot longer to figure that was what I wanted to do. I had a "pre-midlife crisis" at 25 and was like... "What am I doing, where am I going...." I knew I didn't want a "job,” I wanted a "Career." I wanted something I could be proud of and pumped about doing for years to come. I wasn't interested in a dead-end job that I would end up hating with no where to go. So I did some soul searching and thought about all the things I enjoyed doing. I trained in Martial Arts since I was little, I enjoy working with people, helping people... and like you, I didn't feel western medicine was where I should be whole heartedly. Put all that together, and I came up with... "Acupuncture." Once I decided on doing it I had to go back to college and do some pre-requisite classes in order to apply to acupuncture school. Most schools in the US require 60 hours of college credit plus certain classes in Anatomy & Physiology and certain other bio-sciences prior to entry into their acupuncture programs. Now-a days many schools offer an accredited Masters degree (M.S.) program. So don’t think that you are skipping out of college. I have been out for a few years and I love it. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Good luck and if I can ever be of help just let me know. Take care.

Mike, it's a must! It's a blast Bro. Good people, good training and good food. At first you may think... Oh, I have to get down to Mississippi, rent a hotel room, blah, blah, blah, BUT once you go, you'll say to yourself, " what was I worrying about" because it's so worth it. Take care.

Traditional styles of Hapkido, such as Jung Ki Hapkido, are not very flashy and are actually quite different than what people tend to see today. Hapkido (Yawara, Yusul, Hapkiyusul, etc - whatever you want to call it) as taught by the founder, Choi, Yong-Sul had 10 basic kicks and the majority of them were to the waist and below. Even the takedowns weren't as flashy. They were more immediate takedowns that could be done on resistant people who did not know how to fall or roll. Of course throws are hard not to look flashy when you have the opponent's entire body in the air. I hope this helped. Take care.

I missed it this year, but Master West throws one of the best International Hapkido Seminars here in the states. He gets top notch instructors from all over to come and share at his event. Master Geoff Booth from Australia, Master Timmerman from Canada just to name a couple. Even Dr. He Young Kimm stops in. It’s three days of great training, food and friends. NO attitude, all training. One of the things that I loved about it was each class (or time slot) was about an hour or so and during each time slot he had 4 different teachers teaching different classes during the same time so you always had a choice of what to take. And what made it even cooler was the fact that you really had to choose wisely because there were great classes going on all the time. I’m looking forward to getting back down there next year. Take care

Congratulations! One thing we do at our school for all ranks is go down to one knee when putting on (and taking off) our belts. This is out of respect for the knowledge and what we put into earning that belt. As a black belt, while on one knee, I will touch my folded belt to my head and say to myself, "Proper Mind" then to my lips and say, "Proper Speech" and finally to my chest and say, "Proper Heart." By doing this, I remind myself every time I put on my belt how to be a worthy Yudanja and not let it "go to my head." Congrats again and I hope this helped. Take care

Here is a Hapkido clip from the Jung Ki Kwan. http://user.chol.com/%7Ejungki74/hapki/hap01.asf This is a very traditional style of Hapkido. There isn't a lot of flashy moves, but these guys are grabbing "Full on." Enjoy it.

Sounds like a place I would like to work. One of the big problems in the Hapkido community is petty bickering. It is nice to see so many Masters working together in one way or another. Take care.

Good question... As you are aware of, there are many styles of Hapkido around today, each with their own spin on things. When I say, "Traditional Hapkido," I am refering to the style and principles that were taught by the founder, Choi, Yong-Sul. Is that what the article said? Because that is one of the most rediculous things I have ever heard. Nothing but the lies of marketing propaganda. Just a couple of points to back that up... One of the biggest promoters of Hapkido in the world is GM Ji, Han-Jae, which he came over to the United States in 1984. Which is when John Pellegrini was still doing TKD in Florida. The late Master Mike Wollmershauser (head of the American Hapkido Association and who gave Pellegrini his 1st dan) was studying hapkido since the 1970's and was doing international seminars quite often. Master J.R West (one of the first Americans to teach Hapkido in the States and Head of the United States Korean Martial Arts Federation) has been teaching since 1970 and has one of the largest Hapkido organizations in the USA. Master West also hosts an International Hapkido seminar twice a year in Jackson Mississippi. The list can go on and on... Pellegrini is great at marketing and advertising. He promotes himself, not Hapkido. For those people that have spent the time on the mat training and learning about what Hapkido is, it's disappointing to have people think that CHKD is what we do. I feel the exact same way. I am a martial arts junky. My girlfriend is getting used to the fact that I stop into martial art schools to train while we are on vacation. She's alright! I have said this before on other sites, but I have no problem with people in the ICHF and I will continue to enjoy training along side them. My issue is with Peligrini and his false marketing. If I can ever be of help to you, just let me know. Take care.

Now I can’t speak for Allen (KoreanTiger30), but in general, these are some of the most common issues Hapkido practitioners have with John Pellegrini and his Combat Hapkido… 1) John Pellegrini received his first dan in Hapkido from the late Master Michael Wollmershauser in 1989-90 and then by 1992 he was an 8th dan and had created his own system of Hapkido. 2) Pellegrini has said he has taken out what is unnecessary for self-defense application. On the other side of the coin, it has also been said that it is questionable that he even knew the applicability of what “he never added” to his style and thereby never possessing some of what makes Hapkido, Hapkido. 3) Pellegrini tagged his system with the term “Hapkido.” If he named it something else without the term Hapkido in it, he would probably have a few less naysayers within the Hapkido community given the previous two problems. My issue is about Pellegrini using "Hapkido as its base" is that Pellegrini spent far more time training in TKD that he did in Hapkido. I have seen the vids and trained with his people, but what they were shown were just joint locks. Is Hapkido just a bunch of joint locks? Of course not. Besides the joint locks, everything else that is in the Combat Hapkido curriculum is added from other styles. The problem for many traditional Hapkidoin is, now considering the Combat Hapkido curriculum only teaches joint locks from Hapkido, but everything else is from other arts, "why should it be called Hapkido?" His big advertisement is that “his style” has only taken the “combat applicable” material from traditional Hapkido. That is a bunch of garbage. One of the key things that is missing from the Combat Hapkido curriculum is manipulating a person's center to off-balance them. This is why a smaller weaker person can do these techniques on a larger, stronger opponent. This is not done by "faking" or "striking." Now tell me that this is not combat applicable?! The problem is that it takes time to teach and should be taught in the beginning. Test this out… have a person grab you strong, and then consider this person grabbing you is someone you can’t hit (i.e. it’s a family member, someone younger, you’re a cop and this is a perp who is resisting, but not yet violent). Then try to apply any of the techniques learned without striking. Did you have to “muscle it?” That technique would not have worked if the person were stronger. In Hapkido we cannot rely on being the stronger person. And what about the “fake?“ Ok, what if the fake doesn’t work? What do you do then? With the body manipulation off balancing it doesn’t matter because it works as long as the person has a pulse. It doesn’t matter how smart they are or how strong they are. It works on natural laws that apply to everyone on this earth. This body manipulation off balancing is just one of the things that keeps traditional Hapkido from being “just a bunch of joint locks.” I have to admit I get a little frustrated when I hear people talk about Hapkido and it is considered just a bunch of joint locks. Many styles incorporate joint locks and do the same thing of using “fakes and strikes,” and all these styles are good, but they are not Hapkido. I have seen good and bad Combat Hapkido practitioners just as I have seen good and bad traditional Hapkidoin. It’s really what “you” make of it. Just be honest with yourself about what you what to get out of it. The style is good for what it is… a “Self-defense System.” If that is what you want then that’s fantastic. No one can take that away from you. No matter what…enjoy what you do. Take care

It is quite easy to tell the difference between a whole boiled cat and a whole boiled chicken. Take care.