NineTailedFox

I thought that video was awesome! Nice post.

I agree with all the above... you are never too young to train, but for a 15 year old, you definitely are NOT too young!

At my school, we study some basic forms, only to gain better coordination between mind and body. This makes understanding some of the more advanced Hapkido techniques easier and helps students to understand Hapkido philosophy. Whoa, not many Hapkido people on this site heh? Peace

I'm interesting to see how many Hapkido practitioners are on this website. So if you study Hapkido (or a closely related korean art), tell me about it. I'll go first: My Master studies under GrandMaster J. R. West who is the president of the United States Korean Martial Arts Federation. (Are there any others who belong to the same federation?) I am second red belt (3rd gup) in Hapkido, and I have been training for about 2.5 years now. I need two more belts until I earn my black belt and suspect that I will probably take 1.5 to 2 years time. I also do a lot of Hapkido ground fighting along with sparring and the usual self defense techniques. Not a big fan of form, but it has to be done. Thanks for any replies! Peace

i paid 65 dollars to attend, plus hotel rent, food, and gas... It was overall about 250 dollars.. Definitely worth it. i got to meet Dr. kimm (i shook his hand!!) and Master West actually did a few techniques on me! i am going again this august. he holds the seminar every 6 months

For the past decade reality-based fighting has been the big fad in the martial arts world. Are the founders and practitioners of these reality-based fighting systems really coming up with orginal ideas that haven't been thought of (martial arts is over 4000 years old)?

Hey, I just got back from the Master West Seminar in Jackson, Mississippi. It was mainly directed toward HapKiDo (which is what I study), but it also had masters from TSD and TKD. It was really an amazing seminar, I had a lot of fun. Dr. Kimm (who is the best HapKiDo practitioner in the world) was in attendence as well. Being such a popular seminar of the Korean arts, I was wondering if anyone else I gone too, and what they thought about it.

I take Hapkido, and Jui-jutsu. I am thinking about taking up another art and there is a TSD dojo right near my hapkido dojae so I thinking about taking that. Can anyone tell me about TSD, what are the main principles of the art.. how old is it.. what type of techniques does it focus on.. ??? thanks

I have never studied either arts, but my friend is a second dan in TSD, he likes it a lot.

I'm no heavy bag expert, but I just bought an Everlast 70 pound bag. It is really nice. After just a few days my strength in my punches increased dramatically. Now I can punch the bag all around, while before it wasn't too easy to move. I do feet work while punching and working round and creasent kicks. Side kicks don't work too well, unless you hit the higher end of the bag. I found that for point sparring, it really just increases your stamina, because power is not the forte of point sparing. For street fighting and application use, the heavy bag is great. I am already thinking about upgrading to a 100 pound or 150 pound bag. Using the bag also increases the speed of your punches. Mainly, the hanging bag doesn't work as well for kicks, as the floor mounted bags. A bag that sits on the ground has a similar center of gravity that a person does, however, a hanging bag had an opposite center which is found in the ceiling. Still very useful though. Work: straight punch, back fist, hook, uppercut, inside and outside chop, along with an assortment of kicks that you feel confortable with... elbow strikes too... be aware of the positioning of your shoulders as well.

When you say center line what exactly do you mean?

What is the theory behind wing chung?

Yes, absolutely, Ki does indeed exist.

i'm not sure... he is really dumb though. the only reason i say that he might be is because my instructor is so patient with him. i dunno

At my Hapkido school there is this kid (he just barely qualifies for adult class) who I really think might be learning disabled, which in that case, i guess i could be nicer to him. one time my instructor was in the middle of showing us a wrist lock, my master was talking and showing us the technique, this kid interupts and asks how much does a staff cost if he buys it from the school. we all just looked at each other like wtf? my master's response was a little too nice in my opinion.

Study XMA on your own, work on flexibility, balance, and yes, speed. The art forms incorperated in XMA have already been metioned by previous posts, look into them aswell. Check out this site, bilang.com. email the guy he will have some good advise for you. The fact is that few schools teach XMA and it's not very useful in the sense of defense until you are very good at it, extremely. I suggest you go to an actual school to study a real defense art. Hapkido is very good art. Then do XMA on your own... it will be slow, but after you get past the first learning stages you will fly.

Try looking into Hapkido as well.

Myst... very interesting... you and your sister don't respond to pressure points. I'm wondering if you know why that is, and I am also interested to know what rank does your instructor hold? He is a TKD instructor right? ... Does anyone else have any experiences inwhich they too do not respond to pressure points?

Hapkido

If it is assumed that this is a situation that cannot be avioded then I suggest you prepare yourself for battle appropriately. The teachings of Sun Tzu are really applicable in your "dilemma." Obviously, you cannot beat your enemy by using strength, in contrast you should strategize to out smart your adversary. Personally, I believe that is very possible for a person of high understanding to be victorious against impossible odds. If it is a specific art you seek to solve your problem, then I suggest Ninjitsu. I am being rather general, Ninjitsu is an extremely vast art, search for particular aspects of the art that complement your situation. Taisavaki-jutsu is the art of avoidance, however this won't satisfy your starved ego.