Blade3

(LOL) The main focus is to win!! There are so many techniques in Hapkido I train in Jang Mu Hapkido. After training for a while you'll see each student excel in Hapkido but of each student you may see one who's good in one area but fair in another and suck in another but know enough to make the techniques work in class well enough to pass to the next grade. I'm one of those students, I'm excellent in punching, low kicks, throws & escaping techniques. I'm not so good at fast moving joint locks, high acrobatic kicks, or extensive ground fighting but I do know enough to to defend myself really well, If I have to take someone down I can If I go down or I'm trying to be taken down then I know enough to get out & make my adversary bring the fight to me on my terms. when we're doing drills on different nights you can see clearly over time who's good in what & who's mediocore, there's one guy who kicks like the wind ( He's played soccer all his life) hi,low,acrobatic,sweeping but his falling techniques are weak as also his throws. There's a female who's background since she could walk is ballet,tap & gymnastics, who's combinations of kicks, punches, & sweeps are lightning fast & will keep you on your heels & backing up & trying to think of counters while she's rapidly coming at you. On the other hand she can never fully execute her throws or counters to throws. Then there's those who've never been atheletic or have done any atheletic activity in a long time so they come in with two left feet but in time they excel & find what works for them, then there's a few guys & girls who are the Jordans,Gretzkys,& Muhammad Ali's of Hapkido. Meaning they're really really good & undrestand the art from start to finish & by Brown belt they can Kick, punch,throw,sweep,lock & anything else they are taught in a few classes from first learning the technique...But we talk & they know what they feel is best for them to use on the streets when they have to use HKD. The Jie Han Jae liniage of HKD is awsome if taught right..Avoid TKD HKD schools, learn HKD at an HKD only school, it's more than enough for self defense. I hope this sheds some light on your questions.

Any Hapkidoist out there? Any Prankrationist out there? How do you think the two compare ? Which one is more suitable for you , whether in the ring or in the streets? Please no cheap shots just an honest opinion on these two styles of MA.

Hi Icebrc, since you aren't sure of where it is that your going to, then you can only visit each school in your area & see how they train there. Even if it isn't taught the same way as your previous scholl doesn't mean that it isn't good Hapkido. Just try it out & see if it's street effective, now if you don't like it or worse, there's no Hapkido schools in the area then you might have to switch styles & practice what you've learned from hapkido at home. I was back east for 14 months & enrolled in Hapkido school that taught their stlye in forms & I didn't like it , they NEVER sparred,etc; So me & another guy left after 3 months & He went to a Kenpo school in his area of town & I went to a MMA school in my area. So Ice just do what you gotta do I wish you luck.

You guy's make some good points...but... As for me I'm 37 years old with two young children & have nothing to prove but if confronted In know that I can handle the threat. Also I know that it can be a testosorone thing with us guys cause some nights I might be hangin' out in Hollywood and you have some youg knuckle heads who might try to mad dog stare at me & I'm sometimes tempetd to feed into that * & start handing out a couple of 40's of Woop *. I 've worked as a bouncer for 6 years & had my share of fights, I quit 5 years ago and have only had two fights since & both of those came last summer in Philly when a drunk staggered out of a club up the street from my moms apartment and called me a racial slur I punched him in the solar plex & knocked him out. A month later I was standing out on my moms steps & at 3:00 AM & noticed her car that had been in an accident was shaking. I go up to it & see this couple (Patrons of the sam club) sexing it up in the back seat. I told them to get out and had to aruge about who's car it was (GO figure) the nerve of some crimals these days. After they disembarked dude tried to swing & I busted him up and left him there gasping for air and his date hysterical. Two days before I was to return to Cali I was leaving a corner store & this guy shows up with a broken arm & a limp & 8 of his boys & one has his hand in his jacket as if he were strapped. I had a hand full of groceries & no where to run so we argued as was still trying to walk away and get closer to safety the guys who worked at the store knew me & my family as well as these guys so it was some what squashed but one of the guy said that I better watch my back. I'm a Christian but that old me from the streets wanted to call up some of my old crew & go to where these fools hung out & blast on em'. But where would I be now? probably in jail if caught , and I surely would have had to move my mom up outta there but I just had to swallow my pride & take it to God in prayer & thank Him that it didn't go any futher. See where fighing out side the ring will take you these days? Even when you're defending yourself? I don't know how old you guys are or where you're from but that's the way things go down in Philly & LA & I'm sure some other places.

It's like the military you can train (like I did years ago) like an animal and go through all the cool schools and within a couple of years have a sleeve full of patches I.E. Ranger, Special Forces, Path Finder, Airborne,Sniper, Recon,etc;etc; You'll be veiwed as elite and your unit as Hi speed but until your involved in the real deal (not war games) your only on stan by and constantly prepareing which I did for six years and never saw actual combat. Now back in May I was at LAX & met a 20 yr. old that was in an Infantry unit & we chated for about an hour & he never been to jump school or any other hi speed school in his two years enlisted but his unit was/is in the Iraq war. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice that he'd seen & smelled death upclose. He had a two week leave & then had to go back. Now in my opinion that boy is hooah!! Why because without all the tabs & patches he still had to go to war & that was not reserved for elite units, guys like myself can sit around a table at lunch or a bar after work and razz each other about what units we were in & who had the bigger b* but your all the same to certain extent if you didn't have to use it & that's a good thing. That's just my anology of styles, belts, & training. Train hard & always ask questions & ask yourself can I use at least 85% of what's being taught? A lot of the guys that I train with who've been training for 15-25 years remember back in the late 70's & 80's when they trained for 6 days a week and there was always classes & open mat time & lots of sparring with some end results being busted lips & broken limbs. Those days are over in most places, especialy in LA someone always has a acting class or a second job to pay for the acting classes. I try to get people to stay after class & sparr & work on techniques, we were on fire until the summer came & now the Wed & Fri open mat & sparring that's already apart of the curricular only have about 5 people show up. So until the fall shows up I just work out with whoever I can out side of class, work on my foot work, punch & kick the h&II outta the bag, have my girl hit me with the medicine ball etc; I'm sure those things will work but guess what ? One day I'll be seventy & do I or any of my pears still need do get into fights to know if we can defend ourselves?

Kajukenbo is widely practiced in CA, I know Grand Master Rick Kingi in LA who has his own tourenys in LA & a major one up in Vegas every summer. I haveb a great deal of respect for him & the style, his students do well in tourneys & in the streets. One of my best freinds trains there, when he was a blue belt him & I were bouncers at a club in West LA & I saw him nearly tear a guy's arm off in a confrontation at the door. Kajukenbo is an awesome style.

Thanks again Chris, but the articles writer Mark Daley stated that HE CAN ONLY TRACE HAPKIDO BACK TO 1948. And the last question that I asked is why only one school in CA? It was a Hmmmm...(sarcastic question) I don't know this but I do know that when another person just opens up any kind of Korean MA school within two miles without first consulting the Owner of any schools already established in the area then there's usally some drama. Back in the days it was direct from the owner & his senior students nowa days it's more or less brought before the orginzations. For example my instructor has been in LA for at least 23 years teaching proffesionally he has two schools & one day about 2 years ago an established Hapkido instructor who was teaching in another city moved his school to about a mile away ON THE SAME STREET, claiming to teach AUTHENTIC HAPKIDO so you can best believe my instructor was pissed. He's a kind loving old man who does not act like he's badder than anyone but this time he went to the school & could only speak to a 25yr. old Senior instructor, twice & then he called & left messages for the owner for about a month. So from there a meeting was called of some of the other orginizations to meet with this guy & when all was said & done he had to close shop & move about 8 miles away where he still teaches. So that's why I posed the question sarcasticly. When you come to the So Cal area to set up shop then you & your organization need to speak to some people before you do that. There's GM Bong Soo Han, GM Song, GM Chong S Kim who has 7 schools, Sae Yung Kim, The Kwon brothers, Master Lee, & so on & even though some of them may take sides or don't get along with a certain individual they still respect each others business practices and will come together and have a sit down with anyone who just comes to town and sets up shop calling their style Hapkido..Well they want to see it & know your theory & history & qualifications ,etc; So maybe that's why the ICHF hasn't hit here yet. It's a tough market . Thanks again Chris & BTW if you get a chance try to find that story in the 10/02 issue of TKDT.

Thanks Chris, Well put.. I just returned from digging in the crates to look for a two year old article in Tae Kwo Do Times that features JP & an 8 page long article/interview with him. I just wanted to read it over again & disect it. How on earth did he reach 8th Dan from 1st Dan in two years? Who is Grandmaster Ino Sun Seo? Why would he make this an official Kwon? Hmmm... I know that the writer of the article Sept 2002 Tae Kwon Do Times is Mark Daely & He starts the article say this:If you are not convinced of Combat Hapkido, all you have to do is look back at any back issues of TKDT & see how many articles, news releases and advertisements for Hapkido you can find? (Personaly I liked it that way ) All the best sources and reference material that I have reveiwed place the official birth of Hapkido at 1948. So can anyone explain how a 53 year old self defense system ,based on Japanese AkiJuJitsu, founded by a Korean and futher repackaged and modified by several Korean instructors for Korean consumption, can today be described as a traditional art? (& then,blah blah blah) Grandmaster P is simply continuing the process of refining and evolving this system, a process initiated by the founder himself? (& then blah,blah,) Hapkido experts today would not even be in the business of teaching Hapkido if it wasn't for GMP relentless pioneneering efforts to popularize the system in not only the US but Europe,etc; Then He starts the 8 page interview (The total sory is about 11 pages long & He goes on to say that His style has added Jeet Kune Do, Sambo,BJJ,TKD,etc; Also he talks about adding CHKD to other styles & teaching it at other schools to add in to their curricular. Well I love Martial Arts & no matter what the style I just like to stop in at different schools & watch & maybe make some friends. I still wonder why hasn't it (ICHF) hit only one place in CA? Thanks for your imput Chris,it was rally helpful.

Does anyone out there train in Combat Hapkido? Question. I have called at leat twice & have sent a few emails to the ICHF asking how come they have no schools in So Cal & only one up north. If you've been training in that system for some time now can you give me some info about the lack of schools in Cali?

I don't know much about John Pelligrini, but why is it that you don't like him?

(LOL) I lkie that..

Uh... Sorry you're like so wrong about that because... Because any of us regular people are not like our idols in Pro anything IN MOST CASES... See I train in Hapkido about 8 hrs a week in the dojang & about 5 hrs a week at home, also I'll jog a few miles about 3 days a week if I'm lucky & spend about 4-5 nights a week at the gym wait training if I can get those many days in so in total I spend about 25 - 30 hrs a week TRAINING. Yes even though I train in a so called traditional MA, me & most of the guys I've come across do the same thing....because no matter what's taught you still need to be in shape, PERIOD (i.e. Eating healthy, proper rest, excercise, Herbs or vitamins & good mental focus & of course proper strecthing) so you don't have to shoot roids or bench 400 lbs. to be street or ring effective but you're not gonna last long with bad eating habits & over drinking & a lack of proper rest or strecthing, exercise or lax MA training & then show up for a few classes a week & think your gonna beat most people who attack you (maybe a few.. If you're 6'6" & 300 + lbs. but still another person in your weight catogory will give you some problems) BUT if you don't have time to train like a Pro who earns his $$ doing that for a living & doesn't have to report to another job (I know Shonie Carter Does) then you have to do the best that you absolutly can to make time to train & live a healthy life style, YOU'LL be able to deal with anyone pro or not in a street situation. I know that in my experience with HKD our students are very confident & absolutly competent to deal with ANYONE from any style in a street confrotation by the time they're blue belts. I'll end with this saying don't pick fights with anyone & never under estimate anyone, just do what you know ask a lot of questions & even if your instructor says this style is the Ultimate & you're still in doubt then ask your self is this WHAT I NEED? or should I move on & train somewhere else in the same style but with a better teacher or a different style & not because of the hype but what's good for me & my body/mental type. Thanks for letting me speak.

As stated in my previous post BJJ is awsome as well as Judo TKD, TSD & even Thai Chi when it's used properly. As I said before these guys back east had fought in a lot of tourneys around the world & won even King Of the cage matches they contiually have weekend seminars where someone from the Gracies or Machados;etc; will come & teach them some new stuff & the schools owners & cheif instructor will go away for a couple of weeks to train with some guys & then come back with some new stuff to add to their arsenal. About four years ago they went from a BJJ school to MMA school because guys in K-1 sort of events where they had to wear Boxing gloves and needed skills to stand up & punch, kick & throw because they could not rely on BJJ in those type of events, also the owner told me that some of the guys who were bouncers had gotten into confrotations with stupid patrons & didn't want to go to the ground & get cut up by glass or get rushed by the freinds of the aggresor any longer, even one night a female student returned to class with a black eye & some stitches in her head when she was attacked by a former ex- boy freind after work & tried to take him down head on, that's when the owners & cheif instructor realized that that needed something that'll complement their BJJ & it's striking skills & after making a call to the late Alex Gong at the time, Fairtex Muay Thai became a part of the curricular & thus the end of the BJJ only school. IMO Any Boxing is THE best way to knock some one out in a stand up confrotation & I would not try to get in the ring with a Sugar Shane or Roy Jones for 12 rounds because I don't have their skills to last that long without having to kick, sweep, or throw. On the streets that's different but still I wouldn't try to box a boxer so I'd surely go for what I know & launch some side kicks to his shins, knees, & thighs & if he gets through that a side step & sweep & IF he gets through (lol) then I resort to some high kicks to keep his Krazie * away from me. (LOL) At my current school our instructor teaches a drill called get aways where we learn not to get choke out by a wrestler,BJJ, or Judo player our senior instructor/owner has been training in Hapkido for 43 years & has sparred against & even fought against in his (Marine Corps days ) Judo players, Kung Fu dudes, Karate dudes, Greco Roman guys,etc; When we do these drills sometimes we stand up, or sit down in a chair or on the floor or laying on a cot in a sleeping position. The purpose is to get your reaction timing in synch with the attack, & to teach us us a thing or two about what can go wrong when you panick. So it'll be students of all sizes coming at you and choking you from behind or in front or sides. Beleive me after about 9 months of that your nearly untouchable ( in that situation) In our system it goes like this White belt to Yellow & Orange it's the fundamentals of Hapkido,(Strecthing, Striking, Kicking,Grabs & Locks with one throw after a set of four Lapel grabs or Wrist Locks. Then from Purple, Green, Blue,& Brown you learn defense against chokes,throws, & take downs. (Our instructor insists this is the best way of building a solid foundation) Red belts basicly learn & reveiw EVERYTHING from White through Brown & a FEW new moves from the Black Belts this is to prepare you to test for your Black belt because in front of Everyone you'll be drilled on a lot of techniques from W to R. & back to W in order to show your class mates, other instuctors from other schools, little kids & parents that you've been paying attention & know your stuff & are conifident & competent enough to teach a class of color belts. When you reach the coveted Black belt (I've heard from my class mates who are) you'll realize how much it is that you don't know & around others who've attained that rank 10-15 years ago you'll feel like a White belt all over again, and you see that there's twice as many techniques to learn until you reach 4th degree & then it starts all over again, & again. The black belts do get to emphasize more on HOW to initiate take downs & throws with the legs & so forth but from Purple to Brown you are drilled to near death on what to do when it's attempted or it gets through and happens to you, & how not to panic & get the hell out of it & make your attacker pay a pint of blood for it. Let me make it clear once again that I don't knock any style at all do what works for you, but I'll tell you... I love Kimo, Marice Smith, Shonie Carter, Tito & the rest of those UFC/K-1/Pride/KOTC, Etc;I'm sure that they can kick butt in a bar too , but understand they are Prize Fighters & most of the guys I know here on the Left Coast & on The Beast Coast who train in Hapkido or Kajukembo, Kung Foo San Soo, Northern Mantis Kung Fu & evenAkido, will probably lose quickly in the ring to these guys but will probably hurt them bad in a street fight because a few years back I've worked with them as a bouncer at clubs & concerts in L A, Philly, Atlanta, & New York & have seen them in action against steroid monsters & muliple attackers, I've seen them take nives from people & have seen them stabbed & still rumble & quell the situation at hand. I've been shot myself at a club on the door because we had to get some trouble makers out. All I'm saying is no matter what your being taught & no matter how many trophies you've won can you use what you've been taught to defend your life in hand to hand combat if needed? Peace

I don't know where you train & how it's taught but I do know that the Hapkido that I train in has defense against ANY other style. Hapkido compasses joint locks, throws, take downs,kicks, punches,& sweeps. I was back east on a shoot for a couple of months & I trained with some guys who train in mixed martials arts (i.e. Muay Thai, BJJ) Some of them were so gung ho about BJJ like it was the start all & end all for self defense. Mind you I had never trained against this style so my first few nights in their gym I was there to learn & was tossed around & choked & told how great BJJ was & that along with MT how good they've become complete fighters. (Hapkido has what both styles have in one art) It seems (TO ME) that BJJ has about 75% Ground & about 25% stand up & that 25 is pretty effective. Hapkido is about 70% stand up & 30% Ground & THAT 30 is very effective. Now I had to learn quickly that if I'm going to spar these players, then I don't have to just go around in circles letting these guys size me up & then slamming me down & making me tap. (See I was fighting their fight, a no no ) So when we'd square off sometimes I just launch a kick into their mid section (when they'd get upset & say hey this isn't Muay Thai night & I'd say but it isn't a training night either, it's sparring night & if we're sparring & I don't know a lick about BJJ then I need to go for what I know) So to shorten this up I'd use ankle sweeps or kicks to put em' on their * & then while their down there I didn't go down there after them where they're really good so they had to get up & come get some more & when they ended up on the floor again from a simple ankle sweep or a push kick it would irk the hell out of them so they'd go into Muay Thai mode (AH HA!! I was no longer fighting their fight...Because I couldn't ...because I hadn't trained in it so why try & get molested?) & start throwing kicks & punches & now my freinds we have some real sparring useing our own styles of training , so we'd have kicks & punches which I do very well & throws which I'm pretty good at & some ground fighting which I'm okay with. Over the course of a about 4-5 weeks we'd have some interesting matches I lost a few & won a lot but in the end I learned a few things about BJJ & THEY learned a few things about Hapkido & we've maintained some close freindships since then.