# What is better? Traditional School or Modern School



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

Hello! It's me Polina. I have been looking around my town for martial arts instructors because there is no dojo or dojang. I met Korean man who have study Hapkido for many years. Is it a good idea to ask him to teach me? Or should it be better to find dojo with other students?


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Dec 30, 2018)

All of that depends upon what you're looking for. I'm not a fan of training exclusively through private lessons - there's a lot to be gained from working with several different partners, as everyone will do things a bit differently and you'll get to work with all those differences.

As for traditional vs. modern, there's a huge area of grey between those two terms. And again, it will depend what you're looking for. Some people find the ritual and etiquette of a more formal (traditional) school makes a pleasant change from the chaos of everyday life. Others prefer to get directly to the physical training.


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Dec 30, 2018)

Oh, and I forgot to say: welcome to Martial Talk. Here you'll find a lot of opinions and a smattering of facts. Some of us even occasionally have good answers.

We bicker sometimes, and get off topic even more. Come to think of it, we are a bit like my family at the holidays.


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> All of that depends upon what you're looking for. I'm not a fan of training exclusively through private lessons - there's a lot to be gained from working with several different partners, as everyone will do things a bit differently and you'll get to work with all those differences.
> 
> As for traditional vs. modern, there's a huge area of grey between those two terms. And again, it will depend what you're looking for. Some people find the ritual and etiquette of a more formal (traditional) school makes a pleasant change from the chaos of everyday life. Others prefer to get directly to the physical training.



Thank you for your advice. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to start with?


----------



## Monkey Turned Wolf (Dec 30, 2018)

I think it would be fine, especially if it's the only thing available. At some point though, if you want to commit to it, you will need to train with more people. But you can learn a lot from private lessons. And I'm going to agree with gerry on the traditional/modern. It's all up to personal preference.


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

kempodisciple said:


> I think it would be fine, especially if it's the only thing available. At some point though, if you want to commit to it, you will need to train with more people. But you can learn a lot from private lessons. And I'm going to agree with gerry on the traditional/modern. It's all up to personal preference.



Thank you, I understand now. It might be that once I join more student will join as well. It not necessarily private lesson forever, I just be his first student in new dojang.


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Dec 30, 2018)

Polina said:


> Thank you, I understand now. It might be that once I join more student will join as well. It not necessarily private lesson forever, I just be his first student in new dojang.



I would be concerned about his background, training, how long he has been teaching, and so on.  I am sorry but I have alarm bells going off here.


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Dec 30, 2018)

Polina said:


> Thank you for your advice. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to start with?


Here's the real test: does it interest you? If it does, then it's worth a shot. How much it interests you (and how much it continues to interest you) will be a big determiner in how likely you are to go back to the next class, then the next, then the next, and so on.

But do know what you're wanting from your training before you go to the first class. If you know that, you'll have a way to decide if it's getting you toward what you want (and if it isn't, you have to decide if it's still interesting enough that this doesn't matter).


----------



## CB Jones (Dec 30, 2018)

Welcome.

I would go with traditional modern.

Maybe modern traditional.

But I lean more traditional modern.


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Dec 30, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I would be concerned about his background, training, how long he has been teaching, and so on.  I am sorry but I have alarm bells going off here.


What concerns you about it? We haven't really been told much about him except that he's Korean, has apparently studied Hapkido, and has started a new school.


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Dec 30, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> What concerns you about it? We haven't really been told much about him except that he's Korean, has apparently studied Hapkido, and has started a new school.



She is a new student.  His only student.  Private lessons.

I was born at night, but not last night.  Could be legit.  Signs point to use extreme caution, get credentials and investigate them, have a witness present at all times until established legit training.


----------



## Hanzou (Dec 30, 2018)

I would be wary of "private lessons" from some guy off the street. What city are you in? Perhaps the people on this forum can help you find a larger school?


----------



## Flying Crane (Dec 30, 2018)

Polina said:


> Hello! It's me Polina. I have been looking around my town for martial arts instructors because there is no dojo or dojang. I met Korean man who have study Hapkido for many years. Is it a good idea to ask him to teach me? Or should it be better to find dojo with other students?


Does this man intend to open a school?  Was he looking for people to be his student?

Or did you happen to meet him, learned that he knows hapkido, and you are considering asking him to teach you?  Does he want students?


----------



## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 30, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I would be concerned about his background, training, how long he has been teaching, and so on.  I am sorry but I have alarm bells going off here.


Agree! Old saying said, "Student will spend 3 years to investigate a teacher. After that, that teacher will spend 3 years to investigate that student. The class will then start."

Of course in 21th century we don't have 6 years. But the idea remain the same.


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> She is a new student.  His only student.  Private lessons.
> 
> I was born at night, but not last night.  Could be legit.  Signs point to use extreme caution, get credentials and investigate them, have a witness present at all times until established legit training.



Sorry for taking long to reply. I don't think he is shady, family friend for long time. His name is Kun-Jung-Hoon and he train in sobaek mountain range under his grand uncle Hwa-Sang-Hoon for 32 years. I don't know if I spelt right. I'm sorry if my post was unclear.


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

Hanzou said:


> I would be wary of "private lessons" from some guy off the street. What city are you in? Perhaps the people on this forum can help you find a larger school?



Sorry if I was unclear. My family know him for long time beforhand. I am in Zhigansk, but I don't think there is a dojo near myself.


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

Flying Crane said:


> Does this man intend to open a school?  Was he looking for people to be his student?
> 
> Or did you happen to meet him, learned that he knows hapkido, and you are considering asking him to teach you?  Does he want students?



My family knew him for long time, but I did not want to learn martial arts until a couple weeks back. He never taught before but was always looking for student. No one want to learn Hapkido though.


----------



## Headhunter (Dec 30, 2018)

Polina said:


> My family knew him for long time, but I did not want to learn martial arts until a couple weeks back. He never taught before but was always looking for student. No one want to learn Hapkido though.


Maybe there's a reason for that....being a guys first student isn't always the best idea he hasn't taught before . Best thing to do is to find a school with a good reputation


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> Maybe there's a reason for that....being a guys first student isn't always the best idea he hasn't taught before . Best thing to do is to find a school with a good reputation



Maybe. But if everybody did that eventually all martial arts would cease to exist, right?


----------



## Monkey Turned Wolf (Dec 30, 2018)

Polina said:


> My family knew him for long time, but I did not want to learn martial arts until a couple weeks back. He never taught before but was always looking for student. No one want to learn Hapkido though.


I'm going to go against the grain here, and say go for it. If he's a family friend, and you trust him, that shouldn't be an issue. And there's no harm in giving hapkido a shot, especially if there's not much near you. Even being a guys first student can be fine, if you start and feel that it's useful then great! If not, then stop. 

The only thing I'd be concerned about is if it would cause family drama if you decided hapkido wasn't your thing, but most people who train understand that not everyone who tries it will stick around.


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

kempodisciple said:


> I'm going to go against the grain here, and say go for it. If he's a family friend, and you trust him, that shouldn't be an issue. And there's no harm in giving hapkido a shot, especially if there's not much near you. Even being a guys first student can be fine, if you start and feel that it's useful then great! If not, then stop.
> 
> The only thing I'd be concerned about is if it would cause family drama if you decided hapkido wasn't your thing, but most people who train understand that not everyone who tries it will stick around.



Okay thank you! I have been doing researching and hapkido looks like good martial art. I think I will start tomorrow training.


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Dec 30, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> She is a new student.  His only student.  Private lessons.
> 
> I was born at night, but not last night.  Could be legit.  Signs point to use extreme caution, get credentials and investigate them, have a witness present at all times until established legit training.


Everyone has a first student that's their only student, unless they take over a school or manage to recruit several at the same time. Small programs often end up providing a lot of private lessons that aren't actually meant to be. I had many a class where only one student attended that day.

I will say that if he's a brand new instructor, I'd be optimistically skeptical about his ability to teach. Not all instructors actually teach people how to teach - they simply teach the art and expect students to become teachers as they become better technicians, which isn't at all a given.

Given the OP's female, if the location isn't public (and it probably isn't) it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring a friend to watch at least until she has some trust in him and/or he has more students.

EDIT: I just saw the OP's post about this being a long-time family friend, so I'm less concerned about that last paragraph.


----------



## Martial D (Dec 30, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> She is a new student.  His only student.  Private lessons.
> 
> I was born at night, but not last night.  Could be legit.  Signs point to use extreme caution, get credentials and investigate them, have a witness present at all times until established legit training.


Is it possible he is actually going to teach fondle-fu or


Polina said:


> Hello! It's me Polina. I have been looking around my town for martial arts instructors because there is no dojo or dojang. I met Korean man who have study Hapkido for many years. Is it a good idea to ask him to teach me? Or should it be better to find dojo with other students?


As per the title question..traditional if you want to learn traditions, and modern if you want to learn to fight.

As for your situation with Korean guy..careful. he might want to 'grapple' in a way you haven't bargained for.


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

Martial D said:


> Is it possible he is actually going to teach fondle-fu or
> 
> As per the title question..traditional if you want to learn traditions, and modern if you want to learn to fight.
> 
> As for your situation with Korean guy..careful. he might want to 'grapple' in a way you haven't bargained for.



In my other posts I say I know him for long time. I don't think that is problem.


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Dec 30, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> EDIT: I just saw the OP's post about this being a long-time family friend, so I'm less concerned about that last paragraph.



I saw that also.  Now I think this is a setup and don't trust the OP.  Just me listening to my gut.


----------



## Monkey Turned Wolf (Dec 30, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I saw that also.  Now I think this is a setup and don't trust the OP.  Just me listening to my gut.


What do you think OP's trying to do? To me it looks like a teenager interested in trying something new.


----------



## drop bear (Dec 30, 2018)

Yeah. The choice seems to either train with this guy or not train. 

Go train with him.


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Dec 30, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I saw that also.  Now I think this is a setup and don't trust the OP.  Just me listening to my gut.


That's quite a leap based on a very few statements, Bill.


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Dec 30, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> That's quite a leap based on a very few statements, Bill.


 Yep. And I'm ready to be wrong. But I listen to my gut.


----------



## dvcochran (Dec 30, 2018)

Polina said:


> Thank you for your advice. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to start with?


Yes, especially if your options are limited. As long as you have no concerns with a one-on-one scenario it could be a good thing. As others have said, you should still find to opportunities to work out or compete against others so you have something to compare to. 
Best of luck and let us know how it goes. Welcome to the forum.


----------



## JR 137 (Dec 30, 2018)

drop bear said:


> Yeah. The choice seems to either train with this guy or not train.
> 
> Go train with him.


Rocket surgery, huh? Or is it brain science?

A guy the OP and/or OP’s family knows knows Hapkido. OP wants to train MA and there aren’t any MA schools schools nearby. Guy says he knows Hapkido and he’ll teach her if she’s interested. Said guy is now somehow a fondler.

I know we’re in the middle of this whole “me too” thing, but come on. Of course be cautious. But be sensible too.

If I moved out to the middle of Hazard County and there were dojos around, and a friend’s relative wanted to learn karate, I’d offer to teach her. Why not?  I don’t have anywhere to train nor no one to train with. Wouldn’t make me a fondler, creeper, me-too’er nor anything other than a guy who just wants to train and doesn’t mind teaching a friend’s family member what I know.


----------



## JR 137 (Dec 30, 2018)

JR 137 said:


> Rocket surgery, huh? Or is it brain science?
> 
> A guy the OP and/or OP’s family knows knows Hapkido. OP wants to train MA and there aren’t any MA schools schools nearby. Guy says he knows Hapkido and he’ll teach her if she’s interested. Said guy is now somehow a fondler.
> 
> ...


I’ve passed the time limit on editing...

The “...if I moved out to Hazard County...” line should’ve been “and there WEREN’T any dojos around” rather than there were dojos.


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Dec 30, 2018)

1) OP says she met a guy who says he knows Hapkido, has no school or students, wants to give her private lessons.

2) Warnings given.

3) Oops, now guy is long time family friend, trained under this and that person, highly trusted, sorry, forgot somehow to mention that part.

Kind of a jump from "I met a guy" to "long time family friend."

16 year old Russian girl. New member. Odd stories.

I've gone from worrying someone was about to put themselves in danger to someone''s playing games. The shifting story doesn't feel right to me.

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.


----------



## Polina (Dec 30, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> 1) OP says she met a guy who says he knows Hapkido, has no school or students, wants to give her private lessons.
> 
> 2) Warnings given.
> 
> ...



I'm sorry if I offended you. I say I met man who is friend of family. I met him for long time, I did not know that my meeting of him for long time was important, so I did not put it in. My question was if it was a good choice, not if I needed to be cautious.


----------



## wanderingstudent (Dec 31, 2018)

Everyone was a "new" teacher at some point.  If this teacher doesn't demonstrate what you are looking for, move on.  But, at least you will have something to measure against.

My school is traditional teaching with a modern mindset.


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Dec 31, 2018)

Bill Mattocks said:


> 1) OP says she met a guy who says he knows Hapkido, has no school or students, wants to give her private lessons.
> 
> 2) Warnings given.
> 
> ...


Seems like more of a minor language issue. I should point out that Russian is pretty slippery with tenses - they often move back and forth between them. My wife, who started learning English at age 5 and has lived in the US for more than 20 years sometimes slips between them in English. That slippery timeline makes words like "met" have a different connotation.


----------



## kitkatninja (Jan 2, 2019)

IMO, both private and public lessons have pros and cons associated with it and the discussion has covered them...  The only thing that I would say, is make sure that he and you are both insured for training as accidents/incidents can occur...   From what I've seen Hapkido is a combination of Aiki-jūjutsu and karate (Tang Soo Do/karate) and I've had injuries from both; luckily I haven't had the need to claim, but then again the clubs I train/trained at have safety equipment already.


----------



## pdg (Jan 7, 2019)

gpseymour said:


> Seems like more of a minor language issue. I should point out that Russian is pretty slippery with tenses - they often move back and forth between them. My wife, who started learning English at age 5 and has lived in the US for more than 20 years sometimes slips between them in English. That slippery timeline makes words like "met" have a different connotation.



There's also fluidity of interpretation of English, and simply not having the precise word in your vocabulary.

I mean, I can say "I know a guy".

That could mean the guy is someone I went to school with and have spent time with weekly for 30 years.

Or, it could be that Dave down the pub told me that his aunt bought a dog off someone who has a friend who's wife knows someone...

Without clarification, nobody else knows which I mean.

So then you can't translate to the word 'know' in this context - so what else is available?

I meet someone? Doesn't look right. I met. That'll do.

In the same way, maybe I met him yesterday, maybe 30 years ago. Doesn't matter how well I know him, at some point I met him.


----------



## KenpoMaster805 (Jan 9, 2019)

I love both


----------

