How to pronounce Hapkido

Hap = Hap
Ki = Key
Do = Doe

Hap - Key - Doe

www.hapkidobrisbane.com.au

Korean Martial Arts Association of Brisbane

The Korean Martial Arts Association of Brisbane was formed to incorporate; Steve's Hapkido Academy (original name for Hapkido Brisbane), Hapkido Brisbane, Kumdo Brisbane, and our Little Tigers class.This association is the resu

lt of over fourteen years of work developing the club into what it is today. It has not always been an easy journey but it has definitely been a rewarding one.The logo was expertly developed for me by Sabomnim Higgins.This logo signifies my integrity across Hapkido and Kumdo. I don't claim to be a great teacher, or good at all techniques, but I teach my way, imparting my knowledge, which comes from all the mistakes I've made rather than being an expert. Trying to give practical, modern day explanations for traditional techniques. That hasn't changed in the fourteen years to now, and never will.I  am extremely proud of everything I have achieved in Hapkido and Kumdo, most of which has been through the achievements of my students.That is just some of what this logo means to me. I would like to see this badge on all our doboks one day, and hope you wear it with pride and understand what it means.

Mission Statement Hapkido Brisbane

Mission Statement
Hapkido Brisbane is committed to teaching the Korean
arts of Hapkido and Kumdo the traditional martial arts
way, with integrity, mutual respect and self-discipline.
We train in a disciplined but friendly environment,
providing an equal opportunity for all ages and fitness
levels to gain personal development as a Hapkido or
Kumdo practitioner.

I so want to do this, by Allison

“Wow.  I so want to do this,” I thought, watching as two black belts completed a complex technique involving running and leaping through the air. “That looks like so much fun!”
Next thought: “But I’ll never be able to do it.”
I stood and watched as other members of the class worked through the techniques they were learning. Techniques which appeared impossibly complex.
As a child, my dance teacher described me as a “fairy elephant,” I never won at running-races, I was a lousy swimmer and decided early on that I’d just stick to reading and writing, the only things I felt any good at.  And now here I was, overweight, in my late 40’s, watching a class of Hap Ki Do students and wishing I could do what they were doing. Knowing I never could.
But it looked like so much fun.  Everyone in the class appeared to be enjoying themselves, working out their techniques and helping their classmates with theirs.
“Even if I can only learn a little bit of this, I’ll be happy,” I reasoned.
“I’ll just keep coming and having a go until I either break something or can’t do any more.  Maybe I’ll just try to get to Red Belt.  I’ll be happy with that.”
In reality I would be ecstatic with that, as my lack of coordination and inability to remember even the most basic techniques saw me doing things back to front and incorrectly in class at nearly every lesson.  Gradings were a mortification.  But my teachers and classmates were patient, so I kept coming back.
I have learned to do things I never thought I could.  I am learning to push myself and to overcome my fears, and aim to attempt a Black Belt grading this year. I feel more confident and happy in myself. Every class, I have fun with one of the most accepting and patient groups of people I have ever met.
And I am happy to say that so far, I haven’t broken anything!

Allison

Loyalty to your teacher

This subject has been on my mind for some time now. This relates more to students with higher Dan levels; those that have achieved assistant instructor and above, certainly not colour belts. And is in relation to scenarios where people have said the opposite to what they have eventually done. It seems simple to me: say what you mean, and do what you say you are going to do.

I don’t always think Western culture mixes well with the Eastern culture of Martial Arts. Historically, the arts were passed on from teacher to student – the student became a teacher and passed on the art ... that is the Eastern culture.

In our Western culture, the art comes at a cost to the student. Our students are paying for the right to learn the art. Some students do not the desire or ambition to become a teacher and are simply paying for services rendered and they have a right to not teach in my (sometimes unpopular) view. However, if they do make the commitment to become a teacher I believe there are strict guidelines that should be followed.

From a personal perspective, I wish I was able to teach without having to charge my students fees, but unfortunately running a club comes with added costs.

As instructors, if we are asking people to pay for our services, why do we feel we can then ask that person to work for us as an instructor? Firstly, they can always decline this request or offer. If they do commit, then as instructors they are still learning; they are learning how to teach. Once qualified and experienced, they have the ability to open their own branch under their teacher and association, with the confidence of being able to do the job, protect and grow the art, and have a support network when needed. When their dojang begins to grow they will recoup their training fees. In my opinion that is how it should be.

I understand people and circumstances will change over time, however it is the way that you change that shows your true colours. I would prefer a face to face conversation, with a student giving their teacher an honest reason as to why they have decided to leave and only after every possible attempt to fix the underlying issue/s has been exhausted.

Sometimes instructors think they have the right to leave their teacher and join another association, with some even believing that taking students with them is okay. If you take your teacher’s syllabus and open your own dojang under a new association, what happens when you need assistance with a technique or a question from a student you are unsure of? You no longer have the support of you teacher to ask for help. This will often lead to the answer being made up and techniques being performed incorrectly. Or what happens when you hold gradings? Having the opportunity to have your teacher sit in on gradings and give you feedback where needed is the best way for your club to grow from a technical standard perspective.

One of the values of our club is integrity. Where is your integrity if you can leave your teacher and open your own dojang using your former teacher’s syllabus? I liken this to a gym membership: If you join a gym, you pay your monthly fees. If you stop paying your fees, you stop using the equipment. You can’t take the equipment to start your own gym. To me. The syllabus is the gym equipment? However, if you became a qualified trainer in that gym, you might be able to buy the rights to open your own branch.

Students join Hapkido for a number of different reasons and some journeys last longer than others. I guide them the best that I can while they are with me and I have no problem if they get what they came for and then move on. What is important to me is that students are honest with me about what their intentions are, however Hapkido is not suited to short term membership. There are some students that I form a more traditional and formal student / teacher bond with, but not every student is looking for that and that’s not a problem for me. Some would prefer to just train and not grade, but I am unable to agree to that training style. Students must grade so they can move on to the next level, and to train with other students at a higher-grade level.

Sometimes, after students become a black belt, they might be expected to help more or to run class while I am dealing with a potential new member (as you know, I have an open-door policy for free trials), or whatever else keeps me from the front of class. This should not be a problem if you have allowed the right people to become black belts in your club, they will be happy to help ensure the smooth running of the class. They will also understand that helping others with their techniques is an important learning method for themselves. Loyalty to your instructor and association are crucial to the development of the student as the teacher to student transmission of knowledge is a lifelong journey.

Terms of rank explained

Jokyo nim = 1st Dan black belt

Jokyo nim is helper. Help out in class, sweeping, cleaning, partnering colour belts, help instructor demonstrate techniques. Practicing 1st Dan techniques and learning 2nd Dan techniques.

Kyosa nim = 2nd Dan black belt

Kyosa nim helps out in class. Organising the cleaning etc and taking attendance, collecting fees. Teaching some colour belt techniques. Practicing 1st and 2nd Dan techniques and learning 3rd Dan techniques.

Kyobum nim = 3rd Dan black belt

Kyobum nim is learning to teach. Taking class, solving problems with the guidance of their teacher.

Can grade students up to 1st Dan with supervision.

Sabum nim = 4th Dan black belt

Sabum nim is teacher. Sabum nim has passed teacher exam and proven they want to do all they can for Hapkido.

Can grade up to 3rd Dan.

Note: Nim = sir when following rank/level

Time required between grades.

Colour belts: minimum 12 hours training.

1st Dan to 2nd Dan: 1 year training

2nd Dan to 3rd Dan: 2 years training

3rd Dan to 4th Dan: 3 years training

Respect and Manner

• Respect comes from yourself and from your heart
• Your teacher is yours for your entire life.
• If you want to be respected by your students then you have to respect your teacher first.
• Respect all teachers like your teacher.
• Always be mindful of your Teacher’s feeling.
• If your feeling is not good then you can’t teach properly.
• If you don’t respect your Teacher and Founder then your students will not respect them or
• you.
• A good teacher doesn’t give respect only to themselves, they give it to everyone.
• A teacher should always be the example their students should aspire to be in all things.

Respect in Hapkido

The Hapkido that I teach was not designed to be conducted like an aerobics class. Hapkido, generally speaking is military in its origins. The formalities, and by this I mean all the bowing, showing respect to higher ranking students and instructors and anything else a lay person might view as not furthering the study of Hapkido, are in place for a reason.

Some people have felt that bowing interferes with some religious beliefs. Hapkido is not religious. Bowing in Asia is like shaking hands in the West, there is nothing religious about bowing. It is simply a sign of respect. Bowing before entering the dojang to train is to show respect for the training hall. It also shows respect for all those coming before you. It is also checking your ego at the door. Understanding that you do not already know all there is to know is very important in Hapkido. If you feel that you know all there is to know, it would be impossible to learn anything new. Or as the old adage goes, a cup that is already full can hold no more.

Where else do formalities come into play? There is a general level of respect that should be transmitted between those that we train with. We have to trust each other; this is absolutely vital. I can’t say this strongly enough, it is VITAL that we TRUST. We are striking, throwing, and doing other techniques of supreme unpleasantness to each other. We have to trust that our partners will use control and precision in their techniques. If they don’t we will be seriously injured at minimum. If we do not have the proper respect for each other we might not take our endeavour with the seriousness required. Mutual respect is so important in Hapkido and it cannot be understated. You can’t play with death and serious injury in a haphazard method. Formalities are used to foster this mutual respect.

What about rank? As one moves through the belt system of Hapkido expectations on that student increases. The more advanced the student the more they are looked at to be not just examples of excellent form and technique but also to be models of humility and respect within the Dojang. A black belt or high ranking colour belt is an example to the lower students. The high ranking students set the tone for the lower students. This is in terms of how people are addressed and how formalities are conducted in the school.

In short, formalities is about respect. The building of respect is necessary in military organizations and it should be no surprise that it exists in Hapkido. Respect for the training area and each other is necessary due to the serious material that is covered in traditional Hapkido. A lot of what happens inside the training hall may look strange to the lay person but there is a reason and it has nothing to do with people trying to feel self important or superior to others

Hapkido gun defence

Visualisation for Hapkido, by Rebekah Apelt

Visualisation for Hapkido (and any other physical skill you want to practice)

Practice is essential for any new skill you want to master but many Hapkido practitioners find it hard to practice at home where they may not have the room to practice, an appropriate practice mat or a partner to practice with. Visualisation becomes useful in these situations and makes it possible to practice anywhere at anytime.

Visualisation is where the student imagines themselves completing a move or technique successfully. It is important not to focus on mistakes. By practicing with visualisation student will find themselves more familiar with each technique allowing for better flow and control. They would notice improvement in consistency especially in the details of each technique and a greater ability to focus during practice and gradings. It would also help with memorising the large number of techniques that have to be learnt and the order they are performed in.

Visualisation works best if students use it regularly. 5 to 10 minutes per day is adequate to make a real difference but any visualisation practice is better than none. During this time students can practice similar to how they would in class but imagining themselves doing it. There are 2 main types of practice we do at Hapkido

Memorisation - this is going through the technique, often without takedowns,
to confirm students remember the order. Students can go through the techniques from 1 - 10 or 10 - 1 or all even numbers then all odd numbers or any other order they can think of.

Detailed practice - this is going through a set of techniques step by step
and making sure their hand positions, stepping and takedowns are correct.

Memorisation is most useful before gradings because by this point the students would already know all the techniques and just need to re-enforce the order. Detailed practice is more useful straight after learning a new technique as it helps students to remember all the details of the specific technique they just learnt. It can be useful to keep a note pad and pen close by when doing detailed practice so students can write down any questions about the specifics of a technique they were not sure of. Both forms of practice should be done regularly on techniques that were learn’t in previous grades.

An added benefit of visualisation is that it is considered a form of meditation and so many of the benefits of meditation can also be found with visualisation.

It is not only a useful technique in martial arts, but also other activities where it is not possible to practice in real life over and over (such as doctors performing surgery, or parallel car parking).

Hapkido Brisbane Logo Explained

Hapkido Brisbane Logo Explained

A review of my time at Hapkido Brisbane, by Aaron Henry

I was asked to write a review of my time at Hapkido Brisbane as I am leaving the club almost six years after I first joined.

The reason why I am leaving is that I and my family have decided to return to Ireland (my first home) and in a way this decision is connected with what I have learned during my time at the club.

I could not have explained why it was important to me that I learned self-defense when I first decided to learn, I just knew that it was important and something I needed to do. Sometime later when I read the student manual something that Sabumnim wrote gave me the answer to that question.

Sabumnim wrote that self-defense is a right, not a privilege. This straightforward point resonated with my own attitude. And this affirmation it makes it clear for people who have a certain way of looking at things that in fact no explanation is needed for why you would want to learn self-defense.

This attitude and so much else about Hapkido and about our club has been a perfect fit for me.

When I decided to join Hapkido Brisbane it was not because I knew anything about martial arts or what to look for in any style, but I did know that I would be able to say I had found the right club judging by the atmosphere during the class and by the character of the teacher.

I knew after my first Hapkido class that both of these conditions were present at Hapkido Brisbane and I knew I had found what I was looking for.

During the past six years what I have seen is that every student has had the opportunity to improve in every class that he or she attended. The only question was whether that person took the opportunity or not.

Our Sabomnim has created the conditions that allow for each student to grow as they need to whatever their individual goals are.

In any field of human endeavor there are certain values that are sought after and there are those who set the standard in those values.

And just as it is true that no river can rise above its own source, our Sabumnim’s example is that which we aspire to and in truth it is why we are part of Hapkido Brisbane.

The values of integrity, respect and discipline are the values that people respond to and seek out most commonly and are values that can only be delivered by people. But answering how these values are delivered, how well and by who, is not such an easy task.

At Hapkido Brisbane it is clear to every student that we have the standard; our Sabumnim is the example that we aspire to and every student knows that without doubt.

As my time at Hapkido came to an end I began to see what the single biggest change that had happened for me over my years at the club was and what it is that now has contributed to my decision to return to Ireland.

When I first joined the club I attended class each night expecting to get something, to take something away from each class. Eventually I came to see things differently.

I began to see that this was my club and it was no longer about what I could get from the club but what I could give to my club, like my Sabumnim’s example I resolved to offer what I could give to other students.

Hapkido Brisbane has given me a sense of power which I never had before.

 Hapkido Brisbane has led to me believing that I have a positive contribution to make and just as with my decision to learn self-defense, no explanation is needed for why I would want to do this.

Hapkido Brisbane Logo Explained

Hapkido Brisbane Logo Explained

Hapkido Brisbane Logo Explained

Definitions.

Definitions.

Self Defence, Martial Arts, Hapkido

Self-defence

The use of reasonable force to protect oneself or members of the family from bodily harm from the attack of an aggressor, if the defender has reason to believe he/she/they is/are in danger. The force used in self-defence may be sufficient for protection from apparent harm (not just an empty verbal threat) or to halt any danger from attack, but cannot be an excuse to continue the attack or use excessive force. Reasonable force can also be used to protect property from theft or destruction.

Martial Arts

The term martial arts refers to all of the various systems of training for combat. These different systems or styles are all designed for one purpose: physically defeating opponents and defending against threats.

Hapkido

Hapkido is a traditional Korean martial art which focuses on defence rather than offense, and is designed to neutralize an opponent through a range of techniques. The techniques in Hapkido are not designed for sport or fun, they are designed to damage, cripple or kill. Hapkido can be a vicious fighting form emphasising bone jarring throws, deadly strikes and violent joint locks.

Hapkido is a discipline which is also designed to clarify and calm the spirit, and those who practice Hapkido are also attempting to develop themselves as individuals

Hapkido, in Korean, means the way, or do, of ki, which refers to life energy, and harmony, or hap. It is designed to be a martial art which harmonizes body energy while maintaining a state of non-aggression, and can be practiced by men and women of all ranges of size and strength. Hapkido is about calculated moves rather than brute force.

Mind over Matter

by Aaron Henry

Our minds are perhaps more important than our physical strength or conditioning when it comes to realising the fullest potential of our power.

The Hapkido student looks to co-ordinate as much of his or her power as possible when delivering techniques. However long before any of our muscles were put into action to develop our Hapkido skills, all of us somewhere along the line, made the choice to undertake this effort.

Without that force of will, without our power of the will, our physical power would remain unused. The simple act of choosing is an example of will-power in action. And there is much more mind-power that is available to us.   

Popular examples of the ‘mind over matter’ phenomenon are visualization, for athletes, meditation and having a positive outlook, all these examples employ our mind towards achieving an actual effect in what we are intending to do.

However just how much a certain way of thinking can go to achieve physical results can be seen in research relating to ‘the placebo effect’. 

The placebo effect is a positive physical outcome caused by a drug, which cannot be attributed to the properties of the drug itself because the drug which was given to the patient was inert, fake and is usually just a sugar pill. 

The positive result must therefore be due to the person’s belief that the drug will work for them. 

Placebo treatments have been seen to stimulate real physiological responses, from changes in heart rate and blood pressure to chemical activity in the brain, in cases involving pain, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and even some symptoms of Parkinson’s.

In a 2013 article from Harvard Magazine it was reported that two weeks into a clinical drug trial, nearly a third of 270 subjects complained of awful side effects. 

All the patients had joined the study hoping to alleviate severe arm pain: carpal tunnel, tendinitis, chronic pain in the elbow, shoulder and wrist. 

Half the patients received pain-reducing pills; the others were offered acupuncture treatments. 

In both cases, people began to call in, saying they couldn’t get out of bed. The pills were making them sluggish, the needles caused swelling and redness; some patients’ pain ballooned to nightmarish levels.

The side effects were simply amazing but even more astounding was that the pills which had been given to the patients were actually made of corn-starch. The “acupuncture” needles were retractable shams that never pierced the skin

However the side effects were exactly what patients had been warned their treatment might produce. 

There are good reasons why Hapkido students train mind AND body to the best of our ability.

SunChiSu

PalMakki