End of my hapkio adventure?

Last night I went to see my hapkido master to invite him to a lunch I'm having with my wife and other people. I haven't gone to hapkido in some four months or so mainly due to circumstances - I now live with my wife and wish to spend as much time as possible with her while before I lived on my own and had the time and inclination to get off my backside and practice after work.

I hadn't contacted my master during my absence and have been studying taekwondo in the meantime. I didn't know how he'd react to seeing me because of the gap and also to me taking up taekwondo. I needn't have been worried. He seemed happy to see me and being a married man himself understood my reasons.

Hapkido has been one of the many great things I have got out of coming to Korea. I wish to return to hapkido in the future but can't make any promises and this felt like a goodbye rather than a hello, a rather sad feeling but you never know what the future has in store. I am just lucky to have studied under him for over two years and it's a pleasure to have been taught by someone so generous and knowledgeable.

Taekwondo: Green belt

Taekwondo progress continue at a great pace. I still feel like we're going to fast. The early stages aren't so difficult and we aren't actually doing 'that much' but compared to the slower pace of learning of hapkido I feel the tests are coming too early. Today's test was my third in under two months since starting. Contrast that to hapkido where I've been tested only every too months. The gap between tests there allows you time to improve and hone your technique. Eventually your mistakes will be ironed out for the test and for the long term. You have two months to be test ready. If you are not, then it's your fault and you deserve to fail.



The big difference between hapkido and taekwondo right now is that I'm doing significantly less than I would be at hapkido. Hapkido is more challenging in my opinion and is more useful in self defence. I'm sure others would disagree with me. Taekwondo is though a lot of fun. My classes feel less serious and less intense than hapkido and not as punishing on my body. I have begun to enjoy throwing my body about, even if it's just to get a "Well done" from my hapkido master.

From next month our class times change from 1:40pm to 11:10am. I think this is better as it leaves me a lot of time before work to get things done. I spend more time preparing for classes these days so I could do with the extra few hours. I also can't think of a better start to the day right now. As we speak I am at the tail end of taking a month long break from hapkido to spend more time with my wife in our new apartment. I hope to once again combine practicing the two martial arts together very soon.



Today's test went quite well. We all passed (my co-worker, the Masters wife and myself). I am now a green belt. Our next test will be for the purple belt. I presume this will not be in twelve days time like the gap was between the last test. The next one looks a good deal harder but seems like a good challenge. One difference today was that our tests were done together and in front of the other students who practice at the same time (kids aged around nine or ten I think) which is very similar to my hapkido experiences. It was fun to watch the other kids take their tests too.

Hapkido black belt success

In the lead up to todays test I felt confident that I knew enough to pass but also enough to show I have improved a lot in the twelve months since my 1st degree black belt test. Though I have practised hard in the past year it has not always shown in my tests so I was a little anxious to actually show what I could do. Anxious but not really nervous, which is in total contrast to this time last year.



Feeling more relaxed certainly helped me as I did quite well, the best I have done so far. I have definitely passed this test (though they wont tell me officially until I pick up my new belt in two months time). The reason I know I have passed is because I won an award. I won a trophy and a certificate. At every test at my dojang after everything has been completed there are prizes handed out for best kicks etc etc and a prize called 최우수상, which translates to roughly 'best of the best' and that was the award I was given. Shocked and surprised, I've had a big smile on my face since. I also got a lot of praise from my fellow students, many of whom speak only a few random words in English. This meant a lot to me as many a time I have felt that my technique lacks something when compared to some of the kids who I see. To be honest I don't know if I deserved the award, but it feels good to have won!



The thought of winning an award has been a motivation for me for a long while and there have been one or two times where some eleven year old has beaten me, much to my chagrin! I have to admit that for a long while I thought that I wouldn't get an award because a) I'm not good enough or b) I'm not Korean. I am glad to be proved wrong on both counts. I am still very surprised that I was awarded the best 'performer' on the day. It proves that I am improving and there is a sense of vindication and validation for me taking up hapkido and continuing even though I am the only foreigner at my dojang. I wonder if I am the only foreigner to have won 최우수상 or any trophy at my dojang?



Overall I would rate my test 7/10 for my performance but 10/10 for the experience. I feel that I made a few mistakes but some can be put down to adrenalin but looking back at the video I can see things that I messed up but don't do when I'm not training. I now cannot wait to get back to training for my next test at the end of November. Picking up the new belt is going to be a fantastic feeling. I already feel extremely satisfied. Getting a black belt here in Korea is not so difficult especially if you dedicate some time and make some sacrifices but getting a 2nd degree one is not so common for foreigners here as many stay for only one year. One thing I know is that I can get better as long as I train hard. I know I can train harder. I hope I continue to improve and wonder what great experiences there are for me in the future. Suddenly all the aches and pains feel worth it.

In shock, some how I was awarded the 'best of the best' award

Receiving my award, still in shock

A proud picture with my hapkido Master, a 6th degree black belt

With the Master's assistant who oversees much of my training. He is a 4th degree black belt

Above is the video for the test with some edits (I left a few things out). Looking back at the video I remembered how much fun I had during the test and even watching it again made me smile. Despite my technique flaws its important to remind myself why I go to hapkido, because its fun and that's while I'll keep going.

Hapkido AND Taekwondo

As my 2nd degree black test edges closer and closer I find that my mind is not just focused on this but on what I might do next. I'm ready for Saturdays test and feel I could pass it today if need be but there is something else. After getting this belt there will be a relative ceiling on how far I can progress rank-wise so I'm thinking of looking into taking up something new. I find hapkido both enjoyable and challenging but to some extent there has been a lot of repetition over the past two years and I continue to wonder how far I can go with it past getting my 2nd dan. I do not want to stop hapkido this year but I have been thinking that some time around March or May I may stop going. I certainly doubt that I will be training at night when the summertime comes around again in 2010.

Over the past few months I have had the thought running through my mind that perhaps it could be time to take up taekwondo. There are a few hapkido gyms (dojangs, 도장) around where I live but there are lots of taekwondo dojangs within a twenty minute walk from my apartment. With nearly two years of hapkido training I believe I could pick up the basics without too much hassle. I have been told by a few people that it is mainly kicking but I find this hard to believe. Reading up on taekwondo over the internet, several sites claim that many of hapkidos kicks are derived from taekwondo so I would have a nice head start if this is true. It would be very interesting to find out more on the sport as so many people grow up studying it in Korea. Many of my past and present students have learned it for years. It is far more popular than hapkido and it is rare on a week day to not see some kid on the street wearing a taekwondo uniform.

Is it possible to train in both martial arts at the same time? Time-wise, yes. I train at hapkido at night, after work. I start work at around 4pm so after then it is not possible, but before then I would have plenty of time. Money-wise there is no problem. I pay 80,00won a month at hapkido and would imagine something similar for taekwondo so that's easily manageable. One potential problem would be that IF I trained early (I can't define early other than being before 4pm) then I would probably train with a bunch very young students and that would not be ideal for both me and the instructor. Perhaps there are some very early am classes where only adults train. The big problem of course would be finding someone who speaks decent enough English to train me. I believe it to be possible as somebody I knew when she was in Korea studied at a place very near where I live and told me that her instructor spoke English. I think I will pop in one day and ask a few questions.

Let's think about the up-side of doing both together. Surely learning taekwondo would compliment my hapkido, leaving me more flexible and maybe stronger. Fitness-wise it would help. I need to lose a few kilograms and hapkido alone isn't always an intensive workout. Studying taekwondo would help be exercise more and perhaps be a little more self-disciplined. A wonderful bonus may be that I would actually be tired before 3am and get more sleep. Of course one of the factors running around my brain is the prospect of picking up another black belt but this time in another martial art. Back home, picking up a black belt would take a lot longer than here where I would be getting expert guidance. My feeling is that it could be an unmissable opportunity. At the very least I would be learning something new and meeting new people which can only be a good thing. I ask myself, is it possible to study and train in both hapkido AND taekwondo at the same time? Much to think about.

Hapkido: Learning the traditions, philosophies and techniques

A recent trip to hapkido ended with an excellent conversation between myself, the master and my girlfriend. It was held in mostly Korean with her translating between the two of us. It was nice to talk to my master in a relaxed atmosphere and express my regret that due to my recent foot troubles I couldn't train as hard as I wanted to. He seemed to understand and also lamented that although he could train me the techniques and movements of hapkido and try to get me fitter, he couldn't properly explain the philosophies that he feels are just as important. He speaks good English and we rarely have communication problems, but his command of the language is not enough to express everything he knows in the detailed manner that it would need explaining in. Despite this I immensely enjoy every hapkido session I go to and would recommended learning this to pretty much everyone.


A few days later my girlfriend had a chance conversation at work with a co-worker. He had ordered a stack of books from Amazon including one about hapkido. My girlfriend explained the recent conversation that we had had with the master and totally out of the blue, her co-worker said I could have the book, and for free. What an incredibly kind gestures from this stranger. I am still surprised that he has done this and would like to thank him personally if I have the chance. A few days later Boo young would bring the book to my apartment. What I was expecting was a decent paperback of maybe two or three hundred pages with some nice photographs in the middle. What I got was so much more.


This book is huge, massive. By far the biggest book I have owned, and I try to read as much as I can. To read this book will take months and months, but if I will ever have to time to read it then it's now here in Korea. Let's get into some details. The book has over one thousand pages and nine thousand photographs. It weighs in at a hefty four kilograms. It's not a book you can take on the train or the bus, it's a sit down and read seriously kind of book. Essentially a wonderful in depth study guide.


Onto the book itself. Hapkido: Traditions, Philosophy, Technique is by Marc Tedeschi. Lets start at the beginning. It covers the origins and history of martial arts in Asia. It goes into great depths to to try to explain its philosophies and answers several common questions you might already have about it whilst also covering some preconceptions. If you thought the hapkido section on Wikipedia was detailed, then think again. It barely touches the surface. Also in this book are several entertaining interviews with Grandmasters including those who have abandoned hapkido to branch off into other martial arts. Then it moves onto the anatomy of the body with it's pressure points and how to attack them. At this point in the book I felt like I was reading a medical text book, such was the level of detail involved. And then onto to the meat on the bone, the part where the author writes about and displays most of the nine thousand pictures - the art of self defence and attacking principles of hapkido. Kicking, punching, weapon attacks, joint locks etc, etc.





To call this detailed does not do the book justice. If I could only master a few of the moves mentioned then I would be very happy. I have to say that it is somewhat reassuring to read and see some of the moves and techniques that I train in this book. I feel like I am doing even more things right but it is clear that what I know is only the very tip or a very large iceberg. I hope to take this book to work some time soon to show a few of my co-workers that also study hapkido, but at a different dojang. Perhaps they can share in my enjoyment of this wonderful gift too.

If you are looking to take up hapkido or already study it then perhaps this is the book for you. One thing against it is the price. right now Amazon.co.uk lists it at a hefty £59, but remember you're getting over one thousand pages of an incredibly detailed book. A kind of hapkido bible. One things for sure, it will be coming home with me on my trip back home to the UK. A wonderful reminder of the time I have spent in Korea. I just wonder whether or not I have a bookshelf strong enough to hold it.