hapkido princess

thanks again to everyone. here's a quick update. at fridays class he did GREAT. worked with me without dad on the floor. talked to me. not so much the other kids but interacted with me. he earned his striped for class and even played dodge ball with the class. It was such an awesome class. He was so proud as were his parents and me. It was a fantastic day, I think we crossed the barrier.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful suggestions. last night his mom and him arrived early so I invited them out on the mat. my 8 yr old son was with me. He is in the jr. class. Cougar, my son, invited my student to play catch with him until little eagles class started.He was a little reluctant at first but did join him. He did stay on the mat the entire class,. which is a major improvement. The parents and I talked about private lessons but we both feel he needs the socialization with the other kids. I'm going to use my son as much as possible to help. I feel for this little boy You can see he wants to play but is so scared. thanks again everyone. we have class again on friday (and his preschool class) I'll let you know how we do. Amy

Hello, I'm hoping someone here with have some suggestions for me. I have a student in our schools Little eagle program who is terribly shy. He is almost 5 years old and seems to have some anxiety of people and new situations. I teach this adorable little boy once a week at his preschool. It took him awhile but he has warmed up to me and is one of my star students. He resently started classes at our martial arts school as well. While he does a great job participating at the preschool he can't seem to over come his fears and join the other kids for class at the dojo. he stands on the side with his dad and will try to come out for a few minutes with me but won't talk or play the games. I'm even having trouble getting him to do kicks and strikes or stances. Does anyone have any ideas to help him? I'm not ready to give up and neither are his parents. I know he would love class once he can get over his fear. Thanks, Amy

we also say "break" at the end of our matches in Hapkido. A funny side note. Recently while my 6 year old son was at the dentist (I was also in the room) My son didn't like the dentist cleaning his back teeth and started to tap out.

I started practicing my kicks today. They are kind of hard to describe. There are 14 different "combos" and each one has different directions to follow. I'll try to describe the few I did today.. First every kick has directions like a clock face.(so 12=12o'clock and so on and we ALWAYS start facing 12) the first was snap kick to a side kick. 12 right snap kick(no putting foot down) to 3 right side kick. leg down then snap kick left to 12 then (no putting foot down) 9 left side kick. Snap kick to roundhouse- 12 right snap, leg down to a left leg roundhouse at 3. then a right snap at 6 leg down to a left leg roundhouse at 9. low high side kick- right leg low side to 3, leg down. then left leg side kick to 9. then without putting my foot down pivot to do a low side with my left at 3. then leg down and a side kick at 9 with right. low high roundhouse- low rh right leg at 3 carrying that kick though to a high rh at 12. then a low rh left leg at 6 carrying that kick though to a high rh 9. side kick-hook kick- right leg side kick at 12. step to a left leg hook at 6. step to a right leg side at 3 step to a hook at 9.(I'm playing with the stepping on this one, hook kicks give me trouble.) My instructor said to play with how I need to step, I have long legs, and make it my own. As I try the other kicks I'll describe them.

I train in Hapkido but it's though the Tactical Hapkido Alliance.

hi everyone. I'm getting ready to start my new set and it's 4 way kicking and 4 way striking. I was hoping you guys might have some advice for me. Anything to keep in mind, or make sure I pay attention to. Kicking is my weak point so ANY advice for them would be helpful.. Thanks, Amy

Thanks guys...It felt very good to put that belt on. I'm VERY nervous about this brown belt set. It has NO self defense techniques. It is 4 way kicking..and 4 way striking. I love striking and I know if I continue to train hard I'll get the 4 way kicking. But I'm still very nervous about it.. Thanks again everyone..

I took my brown belt test today in Hapkido today and I passed !!! I had a lot of kicks this time , which is not my strong suit, and after A LOT of practice I got them.. I am now a brown belt..YEAH.. 1 more test before the big one.. Amy

bushido_man96 it will take him about 4 more years to get an adult black belt in the Jr. program.

My son had his Jr. Black Belt Test in Jr. Hapkido tonight and he passed. I'm so proud of him. He did very good and his fighting was GREAT.His test was 2 hours long with a 5 min. break to get a drink and get gear on. I just had to brag a little. Amy

wow a 10 min. test? I had to reread that a few times. I just watched a black belt test for hapkido that lasted 3 and 1/2 hours. It was brutal. She had 46 fights, added up she fought for an hour and 1/2. I've tested were my instuctor skipped things and I've had stripe tests were I only had to do the things from that set but even then it was longer than 10 mins. I'd feel odd too about testing. Maybe you should go and test, in the end YOU know what you are capable of, even if it isn't asked for.

I second bushido_man96 suggestions. I've been doing Billy Blanks Tea Bo dvd's and they are good. I use to attend a cardio class they had at our school. They don't have it anymore, but one of the things she had us do were stations. Each station was 5 min. I think we had 4. Like station 1 was roundhouse kicks on the freestanding bag, Station 2 was jab, cross, hook, upper cut while moving in a circle with a parter, Station 3 was switch with partner for their punch combos and station 4 was any combo you want, must use kicks and strikes on a freestanding bag. In my Hapkido class sometimes we have endorance night. It will include running switch to side suffle inside, switch to suffle outside, back to run with lifting knees, to run kicking butt, dropping for 10 push ups back to running. If I think of anything else I'll be sure to add them. But the Billy Blanks dvd's have Great ideas...

thanks everyone for the advice. I practiced my kicks this weekend I actually pulled off a few good low sweep-low sweep kicks. I noticed on my hook kicks (I said this a second before my instructor started to tell me, which he was proud of . hehe) my knee is dropping and is lower than my foot. So I've been doing as bushido_man96 said and practicing that kick while holding on to the railing. bushido_man96 - I can put my foot down for a second after the first spinning heel. But it can't look to "choppy".

I've been practicing my kicks for red belt brown strike and I was hoping you guys could give me some advice on the ones I'm having trouble with. Let me start of by saying I'm NOT a great kicker. My trouble kicks are double kick same leg, the first one is a low sweep-low sweep. I can do the first low sweep but I lose momentum for the second low sweep. The second one I haven't tried yet because I have trouble doing 1 let alone 2. It's a spinning heel-spinning heel. Any advice? Also my hook kicks are terrible. I have to do a sidekick-hook kick and a roundhouse-hook kick. I lose my balance after the hook kick and I have to hop. Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks