Hello all and Master Sogor, I am not really sure how to usequotes on several issues so I cut your response and bolded it and will answerin regular red text. I hope this is ok. Also,I am sorry my words were bunched up. Icut and pasted it from word and I guess it did not read the code correctly.
I don't want toengage in pointing out which organization is headed by a first dan, and issuing9th dans...its easy to find out, if you are interested, I can PM you. And no,you never implied that is was OK, but it is prolific in Hapkido...and somethingthat absolutely undermines the art.
I understandthis may go on. LikeI said I know of Korean’s that left Korea as a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] or 3[SUP]rd[/SUP]Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo and landed in the United States as a 6[SUP]th[/SUP]or 7[SUP]th[/SUP] Dan. So I take you atyour word that 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Dan’s are starting their own Associations and issuingrank they have no business issuing.
Rank in an art that issues should give someone an idea of hierarchy - the factthat Hapkido rank is issued by many who do not have it is a problem, andsomething that should be openly addressed.
I agree it should, but it does not. I hold a medium rank black belt’s in both Taekwondo and Hapkido undertwo different masters. Every black beltI have earned means the world to me. Butin the scheme of things, what does it represent except the power we giveit. I wear a white belt when I visit theJiujutsu. As soon as someone grabs me orI lock up with them they ask me what belt and what art am I in. I tell them I am a black belt in Hapkido, andthey always give me a snicker. Then, Ithrow them and they start respecting my skills, not the clothe around mywaist.
In my 11 years owning my Dojang, I have personally only issuedfive black belts in Hapkido and all low black belts. I understand I do not have the authority toissue any belt higher than mine, nor do I wish too.
Choi Dojunim modified his art right from the beginning, unfortunately manynever bothered to learn what he was actually teaching. All of Hapkido is"live training" (in my opinion a silly buzz word to try and make asporting art closer to a self defense art) - but again, there is a huge gap inknowledge when people think that wrist grabs, as an example, are not part of alarger picture that teach motion and energy for better defensive fighting.
Live training may be a buzz word, but I see it as the truth thetechnique. I think sometimes we do nottrain as realistic as possible. I did anexperiment in class last week where I asked one of my higher belts to punch mein the chest so I could show a throw. Hethrew the punch and I did not move. He stoppedabout an inch from my chest. I told himto hit me and he re-threw the punch but to hit me. He did it again and barely tapped me. I told him to hit me with a punch in the chestand he did, hard that time. I had himhit me like six or seven times and I stopped and asked the class what my jobwas. They all gave their typical answersof side stepping, blocking and giving way to absorb the attack. My reply was, “Myjob is to get punched without doing anything”. I then had them punch each other for about five minutes.
I then told them I was going to teach them the throw offthe punch. I told my attacker to punchme in the chest and he did. I did not block or move. I had him do it two more times before I actuallythrew the counter. I then had thestudents practice the same way. The attackerwould punch several times and then the defender would do the counter only afterthey were ready to not get hit. Iconsider that as live as it gets. I hopeI explained that so it is understandable.
Did I learn wrist grabs? Yes I did. Do I teach them? I have before to teach themotion and energy flow. I had a Jiujitsustudent do a cross grab on me to pull my back to him so he could rear naked chokeme. The cross grab defense can in quitehandy. I think they have their place inour art.
Choi Dojunim died in 1986, he taught actively until 1984 - his art was far more"current" than you might imagine.
I can agree with you there. Master Park has very fond stories of Dojunim.He said his techniques were very strong and could cause much pain. I wishI was around too meet him and feel his techniques. I can only hear stories andfeel Master Parks techniques, so I have to settle for that.
I also can say that in the 1990’s BJJ came to be mainstream and in late 1990’s early 21[SUP]st[/SUP] century boxing, wrestling andmuay thai was added to create a more well rounded MMA type of fighting.
I guess Jiujitsu scared me so that is why I visit thatschool. I really trust my Hapkido when Iam on my feet. No one can really get meoff my feet. So I am confident that myMaster’s have taught me well.
Yes, I have had a few run ins over the years. I have taught and trained formore than 30 years, on four continents, I have owned a security company (andgot training from a raft of security professionals - not just Hapkidotraining), and done security work in the US and Europe. I am ranked in severalstyles, and trained at dozens of non-Hapkido schools. Did I answer yourquestion?
Yes. If it cameout that I was doubting your skills, that was not my intention. I believe we have similar back grounds. I have only been in the Martial Arts since1985 and I did not start Hapkido until almost 1989. I am a little behind you in time, but Iunderstand dedicating yourself into a way of life.
As a point of information, I am a member of the Jungki Kwan, I teach Hapkido,not "Jungki Hapkido"... But I agree that there is plenty of video outthere that also makes me scratch my head.
My bad. I thoughtJungki Kwan was the name of your school.
Hopefully you would not "call out" anyone that did not deserve it -but if they have no true lineage in that art, hopefully you would feel the needto warn others.
I try not to call out anyone publicly. I try to praise publicly. If Ihave issue with someone I make that a private matter. That has been my point. Do I think there is bad so called Hapkido?YES! Me calling a horses *** a horsesass on the World Wide Web makes the other arts that don’t respect us in the firstplace not respect us at all. I don’t meannot openly question them, I think questions are good and perhaps that is a wayof letting people know that we do not agree with what is going on withoutcoming right out and denouncing it.
If you don't feel the need to be a watchdog for the art, so be it, that is nota requirement. Do you find it odd what you make in the last part of yourstatement? If its called Hapkido, it should....in reality...all be what similarif not the same?
I have to disagree that all hapkido is the same. Sin Moo Hapkido looks different than JungkiHapkido. Combat Hapkido is a differentschool all together. So, I think thereare schools out there that look more like what Choi instructed. I think some look a little different. I thinkthere are schools that are a lot different. My Hapkido looks like what Master Berry andPark instructed but I also have some different variations because of my height difference. I alsolike to use indirect counters more than my masters sometimes.
I agree that your idea is correct, but the art of Choi Dojunim changed andprogressed throughout his lifetime. And I say this to everyone - if they havenever actually seen Choi Dojunim's art, it is odd they think it needs modifyingor correcting.
As I said above, I think fighting has changed in the 1990’sand early 21[SUP]st[/SUP] century. I agree,though, that most Hapkido Kwans are good and are useful. Prior to 1993 I worried about being kicked orpunched or maybe the high school wrestler trying to get me off my feet. Today, being shot in on by a wrestler is areal threat and being taken to the ground by a BJJ player is a real threat. Most of Hapkido works for such a thing but Ihad to modify my mind set.
Today with the UFC and youtube you get guys that see howit is done and even never training in a formal martial art can learn some ofthe techniques.
I don't know much about Judo, but next time you are in Scotland, go and meetTaekwondo IX Dan Rhee, Ki Ha. He might change your mind about TKD being forsport at all...not really his thing, and amazing exponent.
I know Taekwondo is a real good martial art. My first master was was very traditional inthe way he instructed it. I do train the kids in the sport aspect of the artbut they also learn the true traditional part as well. I have several Korean and other Asian familiesenrolled at my Dojang because I teach true non-watered down Mudo.
I would love to go to Scotland one day and if I ever do Iwould love to meet Master Rhee. I lovemeeting martial artist with same likes.
Great post, Mr. Creech, but I believe that anyone that is involved in Hapkidoshould care about how the art is portrayed based on how other organizationsrank and include their lineage. Not a requirement, and teaching well is themost important thing, and teaching great self-defense really matters even morethan that, but there is no time to bury our heads in the sand and act likeanyone can say whatever they want about this art without being able to back itup.
Thank you for answering my post and making me part of theforum. I think we have similar ideas onwhat Hapkido should be. I know I want itto be respected in the martial arts community and I feel that we are sometimesself-defeating. I have seen negativeposts, after negative posts on this forum and others downing some good martialartist and some not so good martial artist.
I do have to say, I saw a post where you questioned(respectfully) “Instructor” on how he was issuing rank for his online program. For what it is worth, in my humble opinion, Ithought you handled that very well and I really respected how he answered yourquestions in return. That, I believe, ishow it should be done and perhaps what I am looking for.
There is no requirement or license to be a martial artsinstructor in the USA. I personally donot like government involvement in my life but this makes no since to me. If I was a massage therapist, hair dresser,or a number of other things that require half the skills of a martial artist, Iwould have to be licensed by the State.
We should be teaching people how to fight using deadlyforce if needed. If people are not teachingthe true way of any martial art, it could get someone really hurt or even killed.
For what it is worth, that is my two cents.
