Hapkido

[Otherside]

For all you martial art enthusiasts(are there any?), I'm thinking about enrolling in some classes, the concept is pretty interesting to me and I've wanted to try a martial arts class for some time now.

Is there any specific reasons to avoid this style, or anything I should look out for when choosing a Dojang?

[Cybergasm]

I used to take Judo at a place that instructed in Hapkido. It was pretty cool stuff, very self-defense centered.

[Otherside]

Yeah, that's what I find interesting about it. I'm not a very confrontational person, but I like the idea of using your enemies aggression and motion against them.

[Reaganista]

It depends on your goals.

And on the school

but it probably isn't the best self-defense in your area

[wrongz]

martial arts is neat

[Hep Kat]

Hapkido happens to be my martial art of choice. I've regularly practiced it since I was six, and belonged to a dojang during most of that time. Unfortunately, our resident "grand master" turned out to be a complete jackass and tried to sue me once or twice over meaningless crap.

It's a great, great activity, and you can really get a lot out of it. I wouldn't recommend taking up Hapkido unless you have a really flexible, yet muscular body. You need to be physically versatile because Hapkido is extremely multi-faceted- you never know what your instructors will throw at you.

It also isn't one of those martial arts where you're going to rocket straight to a black belt or anything. There's an awful lot of hard work involved, and generally testing to advance in rank is expensive (my first degree black belt test cost in upwards of $1000) and ridiculously un-fun (ie: lots of Kata memorization, sparring against singular or multiple opponents, etc.). Basically what I'm saying is that Hapkido can require a somewhat substantial time-sink, especially if you want to enjoy it.


But to hell with all that, I say go for it :thumb:

[Reaganista]

sparring is the most fun thing there is in martial arts
what's the point otherwise?

push-ups aren't fun

[Cybergasm]

testing to advance in rank is expensive (my first degree black belt test cost in upwards of $1000)

:eek: It's always been free in my school. What does money have to do with it?

[Hep Kat]

:eek: It's always been free in my school. What does money have to do with it?

Haha, well, I guess it really all ties into the fact that my instructor was a total ***. It doesn't bother me too much in hindsight, because I got an awful lot out of my time there.

[Reaganista]

yeah I'd definitely avoid a place that charges for rank tests

[KKKKKocaine]

I've heard good things and bad things from Hapkido practitioners.
In the end the best thing to do is just go down to the school and see how they train.
If you're wanting to learn it for self defense you NEED to look for the following things.

1. A good emphasis on conditioning. Running round a room for a while and doing a few pressups and situps isn't really enough. I've starting doing Muay Thai and before that I did Boxing, these arts have the best conditioning in all of the arts. You really need alot of conditioning for your art to work in a streetfight.
Don't just look at how many pressups, situps, rounds of skipping etc. though, ask the instructors what conditioning they offer when it comes to taking hits. It's not a fun part of training, but having something smash pads into your body and taking kicks with light padding to your legs are all very important.

It's no good being able to throw a kick that breaks bones if the second you get hit in the ribs you need a second to regain your composure. This type of conditioning not only gets you used to taking pain, but it gets you used to having the wind knocked out of you and still smashing your hardest technique back at your opponent as quickly as possible.

Second, look at sparring.
Sparring is essential, if you don't spar. You'll lose in a streetfight.
Ask how often they spar, how many rounds, what equipment do they use, how long do you need to train before you can spar etc.
Sparring serves a few purposes,

1. It gets you used to the reality of how quickly throwing kicks and punches drains your energy. Whilst at the same time, teaching you what happens if you drop your guard because your shoulders hurt.

2. Training techniques on pads and bags is good for power, accuracy, speed and technique. But it's a different matter when your opponent is moving and trying to hit you as well. As a result you're techniques improve against real opponents.

3. The mental element. When you first start sparring, chances are you'll turn your back or duck down when blows come at your face, you'll also be very hesitant to throw offensive techniques incase you leave your defense wide open. In short, your mind is very worried about getting hurt.
The more you spar, the more control you gain, you'll start turning your back less, you'll have more confidence to throw techniques and fight back and most importantly you'll get used to taking hits so when you get hit in the nose you won't backpedal, blink, drop your guard and think '****, that hurt'. You'll keep your guard up and fight back.

The next thing to look for is the techniques themselves, how practical do they look in a streetfight? How many 'steps' are required to pull them off? Generally, techniques that require lots of steps (i.e. sidestep the cross, knee in back, grab outstretch arm, put pressure here and throw) aren't very streetsafe, firstly you need to get every step perfect, if one messes up, the technique messes up, secondly they are very presumptious they often assume that your opponent will only resist in certain ways and that if you hit him in place X you will definately get the desired result.
Often the best self defense techniques are the simplest.

The other thing to look at in techniques, is how easy will that be in street clothes? An instep roundhouse to the jaw won't be too easy to pull off in a pair of jeans.

Sorry it's a bit longwinded, but those are some very important factors, if you don't have a mix of conditioning, sparring experience and practical techniques, you'll find it very hard to make your art work in the street.

Hopefully the school will cover all those and you'll be able to start learning an art you enjoy!
Good luck!