Hpkid0ist

One day soon I am going to do a short essay entitled “What is Hap Ki Do”. Until than let me give you an accumulation of stuff that I seem to have all over the place. You can also go to the forum Budoseek. They have a Hapkido forum there with very knowledgeable practitioners and a lot of info already posted. This one has video . http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5555 This one is kinda old, but ok. http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=621&sid=37c4f24566e833de1477e77cc981ca83 go to http://www.kickboxing.com and look up hapkido down the left hand side. It's got some good explanations there. This is good. http://hapkido.netro.com.au/ http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1910&sid=98bd61d736aec572f60c1cefe60d196d One site that has some video of hapkido is the Australian Hapkido Group. I believe that’s them. Just do a search for them and check out their Mpegs. One of the biggest differences between the two arts is that Aikido is large circle and Hapkido is small circle. But it doesn’t' end there. Even with Tomiki Aikido, who does small circle movements, there is almost no striking. In Aikido they try and achieve their goal by inflicting as little damage as possible. I believe that is the Buddhist influence. In Hapkido, even though we try and do only as much damage as needed, if you pose a great threat then all bets are off and you can be guaranteed to go to the hospital. We are taught proper use of force but also to be as aggressive as needed to survive. As well, Hapkido covers every aspect of fighting extensively, from striking, ground fighting, throws, pressure/pain points, joint locking and manipulation, joint breaking, kicking, weapons. You name it we cover it. And we strive to be as proficient in each area as the specialty fighters who train in specifics, i.e.- striking, kicking, ECT. Tae Kwon Do with a few joint locks and street defense does not equal HAPKIDO. Hapkido is much more than TKD with joint locks To suggest that Hapkido is TKD is joint locks and throws added to it is to totally miss the concept of Hapkido. TKD stylists, even at the highest levels, when competing pure TKD, look like dancers (and that is NOT an insult!). Their feet and hands move in an amazing, "popping", frenzied rhythm- fast paced deceptions and strikes. With a good Hapkidoist, the whole thing is over before you even realize it has begun! The attacker attacks- the attacker is down! And the Hapkidoist is standing there like nothing even happened. THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE THERE! As for the Hapkido issue. HKD is a wonderful art. It is very effective, powerful and can be extremely lethal. But like any art the quality of a system should not be judged by any one person’s limited exposure or experience with it. There are great arts being taught by poor instructors and in bad schools. Also, one thing that even many Hapkidoist don’t even realize is that because of the diversity and non-regulation of Hapkido; it can be almost completely different from school to school. The basics will stay the same but you have to account for how each individual person changes it to suit them and their beliefs. Because of this not to many people teach a true form of hapkido. What you are looking into is no doubt a TKD influenced system, that is not in the least any less effective than many other forms of HKD, but still is not true HKD. You will be able to tell this for sure if there are a lot of TKD Katas required and hyphenated belts, white, white w/ a yellow stripe, yellow, yellow w/ a green stripe and so on. But like I said, it doesn't make it any less effective. Just make sure that they don't require you to compete, or strongly suggest. HKD doesn't usually compete in regular tournaments. There are competitions designed just for systems like ours that can get very dangerous and brutal. Also, make sure that they don't focus on or push the TKD aspect to much otherwise it is not Hapkido, but TKD with HKD based self-defense techniques added in to make the system more street effective. True HKD and TKD do things quite different from one another. Things like how kicks are done, striking (we don't chamber for a reverse punch. We keep our hands up more like a boxer's guard and keep our entire body relaxed) and we don't do a lot of dancing around. It wastes energy. We simple flow with our aggressor’s energy. I would suggest that you do a little research on the net and in the library before you made any commitments. This way you will have a better idea of what you should be looking for and what Traditional HKD is supposed to look like. And don't let the traditional part fool you either. Traditional Hapkido be its very essence is a progressive and eclectic combat system. The traditional part comes into play with ideology, philosophy and many of the other moral and character building aspects you would expect from a traditional MA. As for the price issue. It is important to know what the tuition is after your special is up. You let them know that and they should tell you. If they are still iffy and hesitant on it I would be the same with them. Remember there are many fine self-defense systems out there, not just hap ki do and they know that just as well as anyone else. Sometimes they just need to be reminded. Here are some real comparisons of the three from experienced Hapkidoist. Tae Kwon Do Because it is also a Korean style, Hapkido shares most of the kicking techniques employed in Tae Kwon Do. However, in Hapkido we emphasize low-section kicks and knee attacks as opposed to high kicks in self-defense situations. As Tae Kwon Do developed into a modern Olympic sport it also shed from its teaching many of the self-defense techniques that it previously shared with Hapkido. Aikido As in Aikido, the attacker is encouraged to over-commit their attack. The attack is received with minimal resistance, it is guided past the target and then the defenders own force is added to it. The result is to unbalance and throw the opponent. However, opponents do not always attack with large movements. Often short jabs and kicks are delivered with such rapidity that it is very difficult to lead the opponent’s force. In these situations, the close quarter blocking and striking techniques of Hapkido give the Hapkidoist knowledge of how to counter and overcome such attacks. As we both know, people can turn a good system into crap easy just by making stupid changes based on not truly understanding the techniques of a system or even understanding the system itself. I have been studying the martial arts myself for almost 24 years and heve studied a total of 9 different arts. Of those arts Hapkido is one. And in Hapkido I have studied at 3 different schools. Each a bit different than the other. My current one being my favorite. I honestly feel that Hapkido is better for me and has better prepaired me for real life self-defense situations that any of the other systems I have studied. We have very little in common with Aikido other than origin. As for TKD we don't even execute our kicks the same or punch the same. Our striking is based mainly on Wing Chun, Boxing and Muai Thi. We are basically a MMA with one phylosophy and ideology. We learn techniques to extreemly andvanced levels and not just to a basic understanding or just beyond. We are traditional in mindset, phylosophy and tradition only. We are quick to throw out what doesn't work. A good HKDist will try and keep up on the techniques of other system as much as possible so that we may intergrate the usefull ones into our arsenal and also develop effective counters for said techniques. If you do some reaserch you will see that we are more than the typical comparison. We are so much more. Yes we are a technical and indepth system that does require devotion and some common sense. But for those who can make the grade the payoff is priceless. The biggest problem as with other system I would gather is that people here thisng about other systems that the realy don't know anything about and they pass is on. As they pass it on it gets more distorted as each person who is involved changes the info. adding and subtracting more belief than fact, untill the end result is nothing more than uneducated jibberish. As MAist I believe that it is our responsability to ensure the truth and give the benefit of the doupt. I hope I have done this for you. If not then I have tried. Iether way I respect your thoughts and opinions. I belive that a person beliefs are not wrong unless they choose to not prove or disprove their thoughts and theories with fact. And this is something that only this person will know if they have done or not. If there are any questions that you have about Hapkido please feel free to ask and I will do my best to flood you with my never ending insight and thoughts. D.

I now have my 2nd Dan in Hapkido.

As my first Hapkido teacher told me. We do standing up what ground fighters do on the ground. If you understand your techniques and are competent in them then you can use most of them on the ground. On top of that we use pressure points and vital points to a high degree whether standing or on the ground. We learn to survive on the ground. For us there are no locks, traps, or tapping techniques, they are all breaking and choke outs. As far as how well would we fair against a ground specialist, well that depends on the skill of the fighter and their luck. On top of that we work on counters and reversals to takedowns. We are not helpless on the ground by far.

In our Dojang our striking is based primarily on Boxing, Muai Thai, and Wing Chun. It is only an issue if your instructors make it so.

I think it is a good system, but I have heard others voice concern about the issue of proper use of force with this system.

I've been doing Hapkido for 4 years now. I have been studying the MA for 23 and I have been happiest in Hapkido. It covers all areas of combat extensivly. If you decided to change to one system only then Hapkido can do it for you. It is quite a bit more agressive than Aikido though. If you want to keep studieing Aikido and try just one thing along with it then I would go with Aiki Jiujitsu. If that isn't an optin then Muai Thai or Wing chun would be good. You can learn the techniques of MT in a relativly short time, but it would be up to you to hone them. Same goes with Wing Chun, but not as short a time as MT. After that I would look at a ground system. For now if you go to the ground keep in mind the joint manipulation techniques. Many of them work just as well as they do standing up. Just make the circles smaller and don't excude the elbow strikes. Just remember this. When going to the ground, don't try and make them let go. Give them a reason to want to let go. This works pretty good standing up. If there is anything else I can help you with just Holler. Good luck.

Back in the day it was about how much time you put into it, how good you were at it, you got out of it what you put into it. Now adays it is about how long you pay your dues. Not to mention back then they studied every day for hours a day. People today normaly study just a few hours a week. They think that it is actually supposed to take 6 or so years to get your first dan. Thats all buisness.

Hap Ki Do is a well rounded art. There realy is no need to cross train, but if this is something you would like to do I second BlackI's suggestion. Cross train in an area that really tickles your fancy. What is your favorite area of combat? Cross train there.

In Hapkido we have all the same kicks as TKD and more. A traditional HKD school doesn't snap their kicks though. As for what to expect, well that is all dependant on the school and instructor. You should like it though.

Traditional and eclectic can and does go hand in hand. Hapkido is a traditional Korean progressive/eclectic art. The traditional aspect comes in to play in the way of rituals and traditions, Ideology and phylosophy. Our traditional ideology and phylosopies dictate that we constantly refine and change. That we progress and change based on the refinements and evolutions of other systems are an absolutly integral part of our ideology and phylosophies. This is what we were from the begining and what we will always be. Our traditional aspect is in our mindset and ways we train. Not in the techniques we learn and preform and how we execute them. This is Hap Ki Do, We are in your face

Defenition of a MCdojo/Mcdojang: Cares more about money/profit than being true to the students and the art. Remember that a school usually is first and foremost a buisness, with expenses and overhead to cover. If it is what someone is doing for a living then they will need to cover their personal living expenses as well. Sometimes they will charge a lot of money for tuintion and supplies, but if they are giving you what they adverties then there should be no problems. If they adverties sport or competition and you sign up then you have no place to complain. If they offer self-defense and deliver, then you need to decide if the cost is worth it to you. If they offer something but do everything to milk you for your paycheck and still don't deliver their promise then they are a McDojo. If they promised you something and are no longer delivering what they promised you have a possible legal recourse.

Hey, I have a question for yall out there. To date what has been the most effective marketing/advertising tool to date that you have used? What has the public responded best to? Now I have read simular posts to this but wha tI am asking for is things that have already proven to work.

Ok there is always a lot of comparison. Fine, no biggie. But I figure lets try and make it interesting. Say you have the best Heavy weight boxer of all time up against an equall in the same class of Sumo. Who do you think would end up surviving the clash of the titans. Also: JKD V/S Sumo BJJ V/S Sumo Judo V/S BJJ Japanese JJ V/S BJJ Thats good for now. Lets make it interesting by comparing systems that are very simular and are on the opposite spectrum.

I think that some people need to realise that TKD does teach more than just high kicks. Why people focus on the high kick issue is beyond me. Yes I at one point in time studied TKD. You need to remember that the more you improve your capabilities in your high kicks the better your mid and low kicks will become. When you work on high kicks you are building leg strength, speed, and control. Just becouse you study TKD it doesn't mean you will launch in to a flurry of high roundhouses and spin kicks the first moment you get. It is ignorant to make that assumption. Even in TKD they are taught comon sense and fighting principal, Even if it is a sport orriented school. But it doesnt mean that the person who studies and gets into a fight will be a good fighter or have good comon sense to begin with . This goes for any system.

We have several Police officers in my dojang. Hapkido is good becouse you get it all. Many systems are good I know but I love HKD. Right now we are talking with a local city police chief and an Army MP representative to get personal training for the 2 particular groups.