Martial Arts in Gwangju

[marstree117]

Hello all. I am a first year native English instructor in Damyang County residing in Gwangju, South Korea. I have been in Korea for 6 months now. For the past 3 months I've been training in Hapkido 4-5 nights a week. However, my instructor just informed me that he will be closing our Dojang.

Some of the posts on this forum seem top-notch and I was wondering if any of you have the low-down on training opportunities in Gwangju? If so I would greatly appreciate the info. As far as Hapkido goes I was attracted to the versatility of the art, but I'm not a purist. I'm interested in learning. Period.

Prior to training in Hapkido, I also have some experience in Wushu (about 3-4 years worth). Needless to say, I have found that each discipline requires at least two things of its practitioners: hard work and humility. I look forward to participating in the forums.

Gratis.

[tallgeese]

Can't help you on the training scene there, but I will say welcome to th4 forums. Looking forward the hearing from you.

[bushido_man96]

Being in Korea, there out to be a Taekwondo school around somewhere. You could also look to Kuk Sool Won, or Yudo. Good luck in your search, and welcome to KF.

[Ichi_Geki]

Gwang Ju?...I have a cousin there. Unfortuneatly me and him stopped talking though, and I am not very keen to that area...sorry. But I will say that Tang Soo Do and Kumdo are very prominent in that area.

[isshinryu5toforever]

Yudo (Judo) is big in that area as well. The quality of Korean Judo is pretty high, but their style is a bit unorthodox, and you'll have to learn the Korean names for the throws. If you're interested in continuing Hapkido, shouldn't be too difficult. Taekwondo in Korea is mainly for children, but you should be able to find at least a few schools with larger adult programs. Gwangju is a fairly large city, so you might want to tap the foreigner population in the area. At least a few of them probably do martial arts.

I'm living in Seoul now, and I was living in Gwangju in Gyeonggi province, so not down south. Wish I could be of more assistance.