bpoch

I have to agree with the head kicks, just because he can't kick somebody in the head doesn't mean he can't kick them in the groin to bring their head down to a level he can kick it in. Back on track to your post. As for your ex-friend it does sound like he is just chasing after the black belt. He also doesn't sound like much of a friend if he is going to let your friendship end just because he thinks you are jealous of his rank. Everybody is going to progress at different speeds. Unfortunately, not all people are able to accept this. I've dealt with this with my sister in law. We both started Hapkido about 19 months ago. I've made it to class 5 hours each week and she's lucky to get in 2 hours a week. We'll needless to say I was selected to test for my brown belt before her. She didn't seem understand I had over 100 hours to her maybe 20 in our current belt before brown.

Just wondering if anybody else here trains Hapkido under the United States Korean Martial Arts Federation? I train at United Hapkido in Eldersburg, MD under Master Instructor Chris Shirey

Congrats. I know what you went through, I just passed my test to be promoted to Brown last week. In my school I still have 3 more belts until testing for black (Brown Sr, Red, and Red Sr.) So I still have about 2 more years until I get to start my real training. I train under the USKMAF

You have nothing to worry about. I'm sure your instructor would not test you if he/she didn't feel you were ready.

A 1 hour class for me consists of: - 10 minutes of stretching We then pair up with a partner for - about 20 minutes of kicking on small focus targets and big pads, going through the kicks we have learned. We are free to practice what ever kicks we want, normally doing 10 kicks per leg then letting our partner kick. Some times the instructor does want us to do particular kicks. - then we switch to self defense with our partners for the remainder of class. This is a basic night in our class. For the most part we always do some kicking, and the instructors will change it up from time to time for our self defense teaching techniques, having us do certain drills or a particular technique.

There never seems to be too much discussion of Hapkido. How long have you been doing Hapkido? I've been studying for a little over a year in Maryland under a school belonging to the United States Korean Martial Arts Federation. I manage to get in about 5 hours a week at my school. They are getting ready to have a huge Seminar in Jackson, MI at the end of Feb. Grand Master West has come to Maryland a few times and I've taken a few of his 1 day seminars and they are great. What I'm really looking forward to is having my picture taken with my instructor, GM West, and Dr. Kimm. You can check out https://www.hapkido.com for information about the seminar

Just keeping in mind it takes 1 freak accident to break something. My sister in law fractured her wrist just doing a kick on a pad being off balance and falling wrong.

To follow up on the break falls, it's also beneficial to know them so when working with a partner, you are able to take the fall and not break anything.

My school is $85 a month, unlimited classes. Our class sched is Mon/Wed 6-7 and 7-8 Thur. open class from 6-7, and class 7-8 Fri. 6-7 Sat 11-12, open class from 12-1 I pay $50 a month due to my wife's boss has a deal with the instructor for a discout if she brings anybody in. Her boss is also friends with the instructor. I get in 5 hours a week of class. When I 1st started I was doing 6-7 hours a week, but I wasn't giving my body enough time to rest so I was always sore. So I kicked it back to the 2 classes on Mon/Wed and 1 class on Fir.

My school does not spend a lot of times on the break falls. I can see where it comes in helpful though. A lot of the wrist locks and takes down require being able to do a break fall so the person doing the locks can do them 100% with the takedowns. Without the falls the person that is having the locks applied is at a greater risk of injury.I wish my school focused some on the falls, but I've been able to pick them up and my instructors have been happy to teach me if I ask. I'm off to work but I can post the topics we teach for each belt when I get home if anybody is interested.

I’m new here too, although I’ve been lurking for about 6 months or so. I’ve been taking Hapkido for 9 months and just past my test for green belt about 2 weeks ago. In my class that is the 4th belt and the ranking goes. . white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, brown sr, red, red sr., black. I study under USKMAF which is headed by Master JR West who is an 8th degree and has study Hapkido for over 40 years. My instructor is a 5th degree who has been practicing for over 18 years. This is my 1st martial art and I’m really enjoy it, wish I didn’t wait until I was 32 to start. Glad to see more people on this site interested in Hapkido, it doesn’t seem to be discussed that often.