Judo - Hapkido - Taekwondo

[kitarpyar]

Hi All,
I am fairly new to martial arts (orange belt in WTF Taekwondo). In addition to taekwondo, there's a couple of other options available near at hand - namely judo and hapkido. Being short on time and cash, I can pick only one, or at best two out of the three. I would appreciate your thoughts on which style would suit me the best.

Some information about me, that would be useful.

Basic info - 5'10", 180 lbs, 33 years old.

Strengths:
- Physically strong, thanks to a powerlifting background
- Punching feels quite comfortable
- Decent cardiovascular shape

Weakness:
- Poor flexibility
- Speed isnt great
- Okay balance - basically, I am not very atheletic

Purpose:
- Main purpose for joining MA is to complement my weight training. Thought joining MA will be a good way to stay in shape, cardio-wise and improve flexibility and speed. I suppose any of the MA will satisfy this.
- Second purpose, basic all round self defense
- Third purpose, some sparring each week.

Only exposure to any form of martial arts so far is taekwondo. I stuck with it for 5 months 3-4 classes per week, and only just got an orange belt last week. So, I am really a complete novice. My options are limited by time (can spend up to 5-6 hrs/week) and $$$ and these are the only three MA clubs in my school (and so the membership money is really nominal)

 

[Instructor]

Why not try a free class at the other schools and see which one you enjoy the most. Frankly any of those arts might suit your list there.

 

[kitarpyar]

Why not try a free class at the other schools and see which one you enjoy the most. Frankly any of those arts might suit your list there.

Thank you for responding. In fact, I did talk to the instructors for judo and hapkido and this is exactly what they said as well, and I will be taking 3 free classes with each of them over next couple of weeks.

 

[Drose427]

From what I know on Hapkido and Judo, they'll cover all your needs and desires. People will tell you that TKD isn't good for self-defense but pay them no mind. I study Traditional Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo, with Self Defense being one of what I would consider our biggest focus. However, I'm not sure how much Self Defense is driven in WTF TKD. But, with a decent teacher, any martial art can be efficiently used if you've put in the work. As for your body style, while I believe that some body styles are more suitable to some styles to an extent, I believe that can all be overcome. I've seen 200+ lb men go from not being able to get in a horse stance, to being able to kick at head level and above. I've also seen people with huge height or size disadvantages win matches. From a self defense standpoint, if you could only afford two, I would choose a striking style and a Grappling/Wrestling style, so that way you have some preparation for a wider range of scenarios.

 

[rlobrecht]

Are you unhappy with your TKD training, or are you looking to expand your training with a second art? Its not clear to me from your original post.

I would say that if you are happy with your TKD training, I'd stick with that as a single art for a while. There'a a lot there to be learned, and bringing in a second art when you are so new to martial arts is likely to be confusing. TKD should go a long way towards improving your flexibility, balance, and cardiovascular endurance.

Good luck,
Rick

 

[kitarpyar]

Are you unhappy with your TKD training, or are you looking to expand your training with a second art? Its not clear to me from your original post.

Thank you for responding.

No, I am not unhappy with my TKD training and I enjoy it. So it is more about either expanding to a second art that complements TKD's strikes (from my limited set of options, I thought judo would be good), or switching to another art that combines some elements of TKD with grappling (to an extent, hapkido?)

I can go for free classes next couple of weeks, and see how doing multiple MA feels. As you say, if it gets too confusing, then I will just pick the one I enjoyed the most out of the three and stick with it.

 

[kitarpyar]

From what I know on Hapkido and Judo, they'll cover all your needs and desires. People will tell you that TKD isn't good for self-defense but pay them no mind. I study Traditional Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo, with Self Defense being one of what I would consider our biggest focus. However, I'm not sure how much Self Defense is driven in WTF TKD. But, with a decent teacher, any martial art can be efficiently used if you've put in the work.

Thank you for responding. For the most part, TKD, as taught here is geared towards sporting competitions. There is some focus on self-defense, but not a whole lot. To be fair, they never claim self-defense to be their focus either. I talked to one of the dans who does all three martial arts in the school, and he recommended I try out a couple of weeks of free classes before deciding. To put it in a nutshell, he said while all three would have benefits, if I was after self-defense, HKD would be a good option, while if I was looking for sparring, judo would be a better option.

 

[Kong Soo Do]

From what I know on Hapkido and Judo, they'll cover all your needs and desires. People will tell you that TKD isn't good for self-defense but pay them no mind. I study Traditional Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo, with Self Defense being one of what I would consider our biggest focus. However, I'm not sure how much Self Defense is driven in WTF TKD.

With respect, he actually should listen to various opinions on TKD if he is interested in SD. MDK TKD is fine, as is ITF...for the most part. Though neither is really fully SD oriented i.e. still too much sport involved as well as refined motor skills which are unusable in a stress induced altercation. But they are better than WTF TKD which is pretty much the anti-thesis of SD. There does exist other TKD schools/orgainzations that specifically teach SD and would look like a good Hapkido or Jujutsu school.

But, with a decent teacher, any martial art can be efficiently used if you've put in the work.

Again, with respect, a teacher can only teach what they themselves have learned. If they've only learned a sport art then they can't teach SD. And it isn't about amount of work put into the training, it is the methodology of training that separates sport from self defense.

To the OP, depending on what type of Hapkido is taught, this would 'probably' be your best choice from a SD standpoint. Judo is more sport oriented and was designed as such. Dermott 'Pat' O'Neill of WWII combatives fame was (at the time) the highest ranked non-Japanese Judoka in the world. How much Judo did he put into WWII combatives? NONE. In his own words, "Judo is useless in combat unless the enemy is wearing a gi". Sadly, Hapkido in some areas is becoming a joke but perhaps you'll get lucky.

 

[eteune]

I would say stay with your TKD school if you like it. Get at least a 1st Dan BB. I would supplement with Hapkido. Even a half way decent Hapkido school will teach you a lot of the fundamentals (including some Judo) and a huge variety of self defense/grappling/joint lock techniques. Once you get at least 1st Dan BB in both, then you should have a good understanding of what you know, what you don't know, and what you really want to study.

 

[GaryR]

I would ditch the TKD. If you want to do two, then fine. If you can only do one, I'd go for hapkido provided it's a decent teacher.
If it's not, your better off with Judo than TKD.

G

 

[ETinCYQX]

Alright.

1: There is no such thing as WTF Taekwondo. The WTF is a sport governing body just like the IPF. They govern competitions that use Kukkiwon-style shihap kyorugi. Kukkiwon Taekwondo is a valid martial art taught correctly that includes self defense tactics and striking.

2: Judo IMHO is a better choice than hapkido because 1: there's more consistency in Judo and 2: you'll do a lot more sparring in Judo.

All of that said, I would probably suggest sticking with one style right now. What may be relevant-what weight class did you lift in? If I remember right you said you were a powerlifter. My Judo coach was a SHW lifter, and he is unstoppable in randori. If you're a big monster of a guy, you may find that you excel in Judo.

 

[oftheherd1]

From your list of things you want to do, Hapkido isn't likely to give you sparring every week. At least not the way I learned Hapkido. Other schools may be different. When we did spar, we sparred TKD style. The reason is that Hapkido doesn't lend itself well to sparring. Defense in Hapkido tends to cause pain and damage.

However, as it was taught where I learned, you sure got a good workout, and you did learn self defense. Flexibility and speed are required, but those are things you can learn if you work on them. Flexibility is needed to survive having the techniques done on you, as well as doing the techniques. As I was taught, we didn't practice a lot of punches other than as they related to a particular technique or in punch defense, but we did do a lot of kicks, both for cardio, and for defense. Speed is needed as we tend to move into attacks and you don't want to be slower than the person punching or kicking.

FWIW, my personal recommendation would be first stay with TKD until you have a BB. Put everything you can into it. Learn everything there is to learn to that level. Then decide if you want to study another art. I say that based on your answer above that you don't dislike your TKD. I think any TKD will aid you in a study of Hapkido, but I would not say it is mandatory. Being good in TKD is a good thing anyway, and will aid your Hapkido (if you decide to go that route). If you decide you only want to study one MA, then choose the one you like best that satisfies your needs.

If you are thinking of studying two MA, I think Judo and Hapkido would not complement each other well; probably trying to accomplish some of the same things but in a different manner. Mind you, I have never been a Judo student, so I might really be out in left field. But then I would choose TKD and one of the other. My recommendation would be Hapkido, but that is because I am a Hapkidoist.

The above of course, also depends on the quality of the teachers whether it be Hapkido or Judo.

 

[kitarpyar]

All of that said, I would probably suggest sticking with one style right now. What may be relevant-what weight class did you lift in? If I remember right you said you were a powerlifter. My Judo coach was a SHW lifter, and he is unstoppable in randori. If you're a big monster of a guy, you may find that you excel in Judo.

I am in the 181 lbs class for powerlifting. My normal weight is around 185-190 lbs at 5'9".

 

[kitarpyar]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Your advice have been very useful and illuminating.

I tried out a couple of weeks (6 classes) for both judo and hapkido, and found that I enjoy the sparring aspect of judo more. Hapkido looked cool and effective, but the lack of sparring (at least in my club) makes it my 3rd choice. It seems the most effective for SD from the three, but with lack of sparring, I would always feel a bit iffy about how effectively I could use it when needed.

At this point, I am just focusing on two martial arts - taekwondo and judo. Both of them have reasonable amount of sparring (especially judo), which I enjoy. I also like the fact that in addition to the throws, we end up practicing newaza almost an equal amount of time, which, again is something I enjoyed. As most of you have suggested, I will focus on these two until I get to a BB level, before considering anything else.