Hi Hapkido practitioners,
Does anyone know a school in korea where it's posible to train full time and receive a black belt?
If so, does anyone know for how long one should train?
I know that a 1st degree blackbelt is more or less considered a beginner, since grading is different in Korea compared to the west.
Please no replies about why I need information about this, or why I want to go to Korea and train.
If anyone knows a school and have some information about this, then I'm very happy to hear from you.
Should note that I'm not a beginner in martial arts, I'm 35 and have trained in other art before - and learned som hapkido for many years ago.
Thanks a lot,
Scott
I'm no expert, so take anything and everything I say with a grain a salt. But, I pretty much agree with most of what everyone has said here. I can't tell you anything about Korea other than what I've read, but I will say this, it might do you some good to train in Yong Sul Kwan Hapkiyusul and Jung Ki Kwan Hapkido. Both of these styles were started by men who trained under Grandmaster Choi Yong Sul, and both are said to teach exactly what GM Choi taught. It would be good for you to see what GM Choi's Hapkido is like compared to other Hapkido styles. Also, traveling to Korea could help you understand Korean Martial Arts a little better as well as be an awesome vacation.
Depending on the school in Korea, you might be able to get a black belt in two years or less if you train about
5 or 6 days a week. Most schools in Korea are probably more like the U.S where you train twice a week. In a U.S traditional martial art school, you can earn a black belt on average a minium of 5 years with serious training and dedication. However, most traditional martial arts it can take about 10 years before your earn your black belt. But hey, what a black belt you would be! I wouldn't be to keen to punch a person that got their black belt after 10 years of training, LOL!
On the idea that in the United States that grading is different and that after getting a black belt, it is seen as the end all of learning, nothing could be further from the truth. You have to separate the McDojangs from the Traditional schools. In ALL traditional schools, getting your black belt is seen as the beginning of real learning. After learning all the basics and fundamentals of your art, regardless of style, you then truly start to understand what you've been taught, and its a never ending learning process that continues to the grave.
Karate people will tell you this, Hapkido people will tell you this, TaekwonDo people will tell you this....etc.
McDojangs on the other hand, are more concerned with profit, and nothing else. They've learned that Americans are goal oriented people, that we measure success by materialistic possessions (belts and certificates) and not by knowledge. This isn't true in all cases, but more often that not this turns out to be the case. So don't lump in McDojangs with true Traditional schools. You can find great traditional martial art schools throughout the country.
Also, I applaud your efforts to teach what you might learn in Korea because sharing knowledge is a wonderful thing. But I do so with extreme caution as well. Hapkido, more so than the MAJORITY of martial arts out there, has so much too it, that the idea of teaching what you learned after 4 or 5 months might not be such a good idea. I understand that the idea is to go back every year to learn in Korea to continue your education, but teaching that way might not produce good results. It may depend on your approach. If you take the Bruce Lee approach, maybe. Maybe.
Bruce Lee studied Wing Chun. He didn't even learn all of the art. He studied maybe 1 year with his teacher. He also learned Western Boxing while in China. When he came to U.S he continued to study martial arts and refined what he knew. He started teaching sometime around 1959 about 5 years later after his studies with Ip Man. What Lee taught was things he learned from
sparring, and from real street fights. He didn't give out rank as far as I know of, but instead, after years of training, made people instructors. Bruce Lee also trained
EVERYDAY.
Which brings me to my original point. If you choose to teach after 4 or 5 months of training, you can't morally and responsibly give out rank (which I'm not saying that you would do that, I'm just mentioning for the sake of this discussion). And especially teach what you might not be able to back up. Bruce Lee was prepared to 'back up' what he taught with a drop of hat. That is the way all old school traditional instructor were. Shotokan's Gichin Funakoshi was that way, as well as many other Karate pioneers. In fact, those old Karate masters even won over students by defending their right to teach, in a fight, with a challenger in which if they lost, the challenger takes the dojo banner home with him. More often than not, the challenger was beaten, and then begged to become a student.
There is something else to look at as well. As I mentioned earlier, there is alot too Hapkido. There are things that you might teach now about Hapkido, and then a year later, you realize just how sloppy what you taught was. And here is your students a year later, all doing sloppy techniques with either poor posture, bad body mechanics, unrealistic training habits or maybe a combination of all three. And it is hard to break bad habits. People will judge you by your students. Not only that, they will judge the martial art you teach by your students as well. Sometimes all it takes is for one unrealistic exchange between two Hapkido students to send any future potentional students out the door to train at a local MMA gym.
If you notice, about half of the McDojangs in the U.S the instructors don't mention what rank they are because in some cases, they were certified to teach some thrown together martial art through a dvd distance learning course that they learned about 3 or 4 months. These people often teach sloppy technique, pass out belts, and do cardio kick boxing for the sake of an easy buck.
I also want to point out, that I'm not being judgemental when I say these things or trying to paint you in a negative context. I'm just trying to give you 'food for thought'. And also, make you aware of how 5 months worth of training could impact your potentional future students.
Hapkido is a very rewarding martial art, and one that can keep giving for the rest of your life. I would recommend that you train at a U.S Hapkido Dojang to keep your skills polished for whenever you make your trips back and forth to Korea. You will know when you find a good Hapkido school because you will 'feel' it. And I don't mean that in a good way! If it don't hurt, its not Hapkido.
In summary I think:
* You should check out Yong Sul Kwan Hapkido
http://www.hapkiyusul.com/eng/introdu.htm, and Jung Ki Kwan Hapkido.
http://www.jungkikwan.com/
* Find a good school in the U.S to train at when your not training in Korea. Me or somebody here at the forum can give you a list of schools to check out in your area if you feel comfortable saying what state and city you live in.
* You should probably wait until your instructor thinks your ready to teach insuring your skills represent Hapkido acurately and that what you teach is good technique and not sloppy technique.
* Take lots of pictures, videos, and notes! You will cherish them.
* And have fun (that goes without saying).
I wish you the best, and I hope your Hapkido training goes really well, and you have a safe travel. Let us know how it goes, and keep us posted on your progress.
