Anyone know a good full time live-in Hapkido school?

Xue Sheng

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There is a Wing Chun School in Hong Kong you can live in too, but it is not exaclty a live in school. Basically they will rent yo ua room and you can train there too... but you will need to pay for it all
 

Xue Sheng

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I find that I'm usually better at getting to my training when life is busy with other things. That forces me to make priorities and GET ON IT. If I'm not busy and have all day, I can get lazy, get distracted with other things, and the next thing I know the day has gone and I've failed to do my training.

Too much free time is not always a good thing.

Now that I am able to train again (or at least for the moment) I am finding that if I am busy I do get to a point where I say, this has got to stop and I need to go train and I go train, this is new because it was always a struggle before to get off my lazy behind and go train after work. I would get up early and train before work, but not as much as I am now training after work

However, and this is nothing new, I never really have nothing to do I always have something that I need to do around the house but if I am not going to work and everyone is way at work and school I tend to relax, go to my basement and train a lot more than when I go to work. And that can be in one training session or in two or three throughout the day.

I think that comes from about 20 years ago when I was single and worked 2nd shift. I truly had nothing to do all day so I would get board and go train for about 2 hours a day. But I was newly single (divorced) had no responsibilities, and everyone I knew worked first shift.

Before all that when I was just single and never married I used to spend 3 to 7 days a week at my first Sifu’s school
 

Carol

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The only place I know of is the YMAA Retreat Center and it is not cheap, you need to get accepted and then pay the tuition, as far as I know there is no Job required after that... However they are not taking applications at this time and I have no idea when they will start again. I know the ten year program is likely not coming up again until 2018 as for the 5 year I have no idea...and it is not Hapkido

http://ymaa-retreatcenter.org/full-time-program

There is also this

http://www.bridgeport.edu/academics/undergraduate/martialarts

But again you have to be accepted and you have to pay the tuition.... and also not hapkido

No kidding? I didn't realize they had a full time program out in CA. They have a school in Boston, and a program called Green Dragons. Students not only train but also grow their own food -- a rare combination as it is, and he's making it happen in the city :)
 

Xue Sheng

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No kidding? I didn't realize they had a full time program out in CA. They have a school in Boston, and a program called Green Dragons. Students not only train but also grow their own food -- a rare combination as it is, and he's making it happen in the city :)

Dr Yang is not in Boston anymore and has not been there for awhile. He moved full time to Ca a few years ago. YMAA Boston (in Jamaica Plain) was run, for awhile by his son Nicholas but about a year ago Nicholas sold it to one of YMAA’s students who moved YMAA Boston to Roslindale and Nicholas moved to YMAA Ca to teach there with his father
 

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There was another guy running some sort of uchi deshi program in a karate style. He'd built a small dorm/bunk room for the students, and they'd train a lot, but also had to do some sort of job (I think a lot were doing cable installs or something like that which he'd hooked them up with) to help cover expenses. There was a thread about it here on MT a while back... I'll see if I can dig it up.
 

eteune

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I don't want to move to a country where I'd have to get an apartment and a job while training. I'm looking for a live-in school. Does one exist for Hapkido, anywhere in the world?

Any recommendations would be quite welcome.

There are plenty of such schools in South Korea. You just have to do some searching and calling, not all Hapkido schools are going to have nice English language websites.
If you really want to do this, just go to South Korea, find a cheap place to stay in Seoul and start your search there.
The great thing about most East/Southeast Asian countries is that there are tons of good martial arts instructors, but the best ones take time to find.
So if you have the time and money, go for it!

On a side note, I'm not sure what type of psychological illness some posters have on this message board, but they sure do piss and moan like old women, really funny if it weren't so sad. :)
People like that are just miserable in their own skin and hate anyone who actually acts on their goals and dreams.
So screw them and just do it.

I lived in Asia for six years straight after college. Yeah I found jobs and even ran my own school at one point, but also spent plenty of time doing absolutely nothing. Just because some poor sod is stuck in the rat race up to his eyeballs, doesn't mean everyone has to be as miserable as he is.
Sorry, someone may be the best martial artist on the frickin planet! but that is never an excuse to go out of your way to be an a-hole when answering an honest question.
 

Tames D

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There are plenty of such schools in South Korea. You just have to do some searching and calling, not all Hapkido schools are going to have nice English language websites.
If you really want to do this, just go to South Korea, find a cheap place to stay in Seoul and start your search there.
The great thing about most East/Southeast Asian countries is that there are tons of good martial arts instructors, but the best ones take time to find.
So if you have the time and money, go for it!

On a side note, I'm not sure what type of psychological illness some posters have on this message board, but they sure do piss and moan like old women, really funny if it weren't so sad. :)
People like that are just miserable in their own skin and hate anyone who actually acts on their goals and dreams.
So screw them and just do it.

I lived in Asia for six years straight after college. Yeah I found jobs and even ran my own school at one point, but also spent plenty of time doing absolutely nothing. Just because some poor sod is stuck in the rat race up to his eyeballs, doesn't mean everyone has to be as miserable as he is.
Sorry, someone may be the best martial artist on the frickin planet! but that is never an excuse to go out of your way to be an a-hole when answering an honest question.

Nice 1st post. You're going to make lots and lots of friends here.
 

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Doomx2001

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Found this: http://www.sangmookwan.com/

Anyone familiar with it, or the teachers in it?

I think you would be really happy with the Sang Moo Kwan. They teach Hankido (Korean version of Aikido, very similar with different techniques), Hankumdo (original modern Korean Sword art, very beautiful style, but not sure on the combat effectiveness), Chen style Taiji Quan (don't know their lineage to Chen Taijiquan, so I can't attest to the authenticity), and of course Hapkido. The Sang Moo Kwan actually have many of their individual techniques named compared to other Korean styles of Hapkido, so that is helpful.

Here some advice or ideas to pitch too you.
I don't know of any 'live in' training facilities in Korea (there are plenty in China though), but you may want to consider finding a job in Korea first. I think it may be quite easy (though not done this myself) to get a job as an English teacher in South Korea. Bascially you just try to help Korean students to make their English sound more fluent. You really don't have to teach them much in that regard as they already have had years of real English classes. So that would be an easy job.

I think you should check out the Jung Ki Kwan (Hapkido), and Yong Sul Kwan Hapkiyusul as both styles of Hapkido are taught pretty much exactly the same as the Founder of Hapkido taught them and is some of the finest examples of Hapkido in the world and hard to find. Also, if you don't go with those schools, you may want to check out the Korean Hapkido Federation or maybe a Kuk Sool school.

Now, having thrown those options out there, you may want to consider training at some Hapkido schools here in the U.S. I know there are several Hapkido schools here in the U.S in major cities that teach Hapkido 5 to 7 days a week. Though they are not 'live in', you wouldn't have to deal with the language barrier of learning Korean. And the plane ticket is far cheaper than flying to Korea. And simpler (passports and stuff). Which I don't want to discourage you from going to Korea. I'm just trying to provide you with options.


Although I was poor at answering your question, I hope I did good enough to point you in the right direction. :)

- Brian
 
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but you may want to consider finding a job in Korea first.

Training full time means acquiring skills faster. I want to concentrate on nothing else for the time I'm there.

I'll call the other suggestions you wrote and see if there's a live-in arrangement. I doubt it, though.

Though they are not 'live in', you wouldn't have to deal with the language barrier of learning Korean.

I don't mind learning a language while I'm there, so long as it's part of the academy I'll be in.

The Sangmookwan I linked to have a live-in program. It's about $1100 every 3 months. Reasonable. But other that, I can't seem to find any Hapkido live-in program anywhere in the world.
 

Doomx2001

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How many hours a day and how many days out of the week do you want to train?
 

WaterGal

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Training full time means acquiring skills faster.

It does, sure. It also means 4+ hours of continuous exercise every day, and a lot of stress on your joints without giving them time to rest. What kind of physical shape are you in? Are you used to exercising that much? How's your pain tolerance?
 
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How many hours a day and how many days out of the week do you want to train?

5-6 days a week, a few hours each day.

What kind of physical shape are you in? Are you used to exercising that much? How's your pain tolerance?

It could be better, on both counts. I'm under no illusions about the difficulty involved. It's not like I'm thinking that I'll live there, go on parties on weekends, get laid with the local chicks, upload a few photos and videos on Facebook and quickly become a self defense Guru. I know it's gonna be hell sometimes, but no pain no gain, right?
 

Doomx2001

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What about Jung Ki Kwan in Chicago? They have classes 7 days a week, and they teach Hapkido twice a day for an hour and half. So if you took two classes per day, that is 3 hours, right? 3 hours a day, seven days a week. And Jung Ki Kwan Sword methods 3 days a week for about 2 hours a day.

Its not a live in program, Its not in Korea, but I think it meets all the other critera.
http://www.jungkifamily.com/schedule.html


Also, here is one womans experience with learning Hapkido in Korea, I figured you might be interested in that: http://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_Bielke_1202.html

I've tried to find a school in Korea that is live in, but haven't find one for you yet.

Have you saved money up to go or is it just an idea at this point?
 
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What about Jung Ki Kwan in Chicago? They have classes 7 days a week, and they teach Hapkido twice a day for an hour and half.

Wouldn't work out if I need to have a job at the same time. If it was a full evening session instead of spread out, it might have been possible. Still, the main advantage of a live-in program is simple: Unlike a non-live-in program, where you merely learn Hapkido, a live-in program lets you live and breath Hapkido. You absorb skills faster.

Also, here is one womans experience with learning Hapkido in Korea, I figured you might be interested in that

Read it. Nice. Being a foreigner, I expect the occasional signs of Xenophobia. Comes with the territory.

I've tried to find a school in Korea that is live in, but haven't find one for you yet.

The one I linked to in the opening post of the thread IS a live-in school. The only one I've found so far.
 

Doomx2001

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Unlike a non-live-in program, where you merely learn Hapkido, a live-in program lets you live and breath Hapkido. You absorb skills faster.

So your wanting to train in Hapkido all day? Like from 8am in the morning to 5pm in evening? Something like that? I know you didn't say that specifically, but from what you just said you seem to imply that you want to 'live and breath Hapkido', so I take it that your meaning more of an all day type of training. Somewhere around 8 or 9 hours or at least 6 hours worth a training per day (?)
It leaves me a little confused because earlier you said:

5-6 days a week, a few hours each day.

To me, a few hours would be 2 or 3, which is a normal class time for any dojang in the U.S, Canada, Europe, and beyond.
So if that is what you meant (2 or 3 hours a day), how would that standard of "live and breath Hapkido" be any different from the usual?

I don't mean to sound confrontational or contrary, but I am trying to honestly help you with what your wanting to do. I'm just trying to get you to clarify for me, if you would please, the details of what your wanting such as: how many hours exactly you would want to train, what type of training throughout the day you would expect, and any preferences to what style of Hapkido (because Hapkido these days can vary greatly to how it was taught in the 60's)...etc.

Seems like most live-in training facilities I've ever heard of mostly come from China. Usually you get up in the morning, go for a jog for about an hour, do your chores (sweeping and cleaning), train for 4 or 5 hours, then maybe dinner, and you have the rest of the day to yourself. But very few, if any, actually train all day. Unless of course your part of the Olympic Wushu team, then yes, 'you be training long time'. But that's China, not South Korea.

In Korea, it seems like martial arts is viewed more as 'something for kids to do' or as we know it, 'Daycare'. I saw one documentary where a Muye Tobo Tongji researcher left Korea to teach his understanding of the manual to westerners in Europe because adults in Korea don't show much interest anymore in martial arts or their cultural heritage like they used (similar to the U.S).

Anyway, I personally would love to train in Korea to learn from the source of Hapkido or sources of Hapkido.

Here is a thought, maybe you could see if a school that your interested in has a student that would be willing to be your host for a small fee? Then you could train at several Hapkido places throughout the day.

And another thought.
One of my instructors in Hapkido, trained in Chicago. For about 5 days a week I believe. He studied under Master Hyun, then the Kuk Sool Ma' brothers (Master Ma and Master Suh I think?), and Master Lee (who was ex-HwarangDo), and one or two other people.
Anyway, he trained everyday. He became an assistant instructor and taught for many hours. After class was over, he and his fellow classmates would train at either his or their yard. They would go over the techniques over and over and over again.
My point of bringing that story up is how much training you get in Hapkido really depends on How Much You Put Into It. You don't have to go to a 'Live-In' school to get the same benefit that you just training with a friend after class everyday in your back yard.

Many 'Grandmasters' of various styles of Hapkido would train with Grandmaster Choi, and afterwards go home and train with one another. Thats how so many of them developed the skills they were known for whether that be for joint locking or kicking, thats how they done it.
Myself, I start a Hapkido study group just so I can supplement my training so I could be better, and work on the things that I know that I need to polish up on.

The reason I mention all this, is that I want to give you options. You may go to Korea, and find some live in schools, but they might be of inferior quality, thus a waste of money, while on the other hand you might find a school that teaches all week that is quality teaching, but just for a few hours a day.


And one last note, the reason I posted the link to the article about the womans experience in Korea was not express Xenophobia, but rather to offer someone else insight as to what it is like training in Korea. Also, she was teaching English which was something that I recommend you do. I would imagine that would be for a few hours a day because your not really teaching English, your helping English speaking Koreans sound more fluent, and understand western culture better. So your just getting paid to talk.


At any rate, I hope I was helpful. If you supply more details, I might be able to help you find what you are looking for. :)
 

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