Learning TKD and Hapkido concurrently...good idea?

[Tyrant171]

First of all, I would like to say...Hello! I spent a good amount of time browsing the board while my account awaited activation and I have to say that I'm very impressed by the helpful nature and overall knowledge of most users here. I hope to contribute in the future, but for now I just have a rather broad question...

Would it be a good idea and/or productive to learn Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido concurrently?

I'm currently a yellow belt at a TKD (and only TKD) school that teaches WTF style. I love it and my only regret is not having started before I was 25 years old. I don't have much to compare my experience with, but so far I'm impressed with the instructors/masters and the discipline of the students...it's been a great experience in every aspect. Nevertheless, I recently heard about another nearby school that teaches TKD and Hapkido (also Kali/Eskrima...but stick fighting doesn't appeal much to me at this point) and I'm very tempted to switch so that I can cross train in both MA's.

My main reason for wanting to learn TKD and Hapkido is the fact that my TKD instruction thus far has focused almost exclusively on kicks. I have no problem with lots of kicking, but I can't help but feel that I could become a much more well-rounded and effective martial artist if I was able to practice Hapkido as well (e.g., being able to incorporate throws, upper body strikes, locks, etc.).

I'm mainly concerned with biting off more than I can chew. I don't want to be unnecessarily confused by learning both MA's (although TKD and Hapkido are taught at separate times...not literally simultaneously) at the same time and I don't want to diminish my ability to be effective at either.

What do you guys think? Should I stay put at the school that I'm already happy with or take a chance at broadening my horizons?

 

[terryl965]

First off welcome to the board, now on to your question. Both arts are great together but I tell my students to get a solid foundation in atleast one art first. I would also say by the time you get to green belt would be about the right time for starting a second art. If you are doing mainly WTF there are going to be alot of kicks, but you should also be doing cover punch and other punches as well. Remeber rome was not built in a day and a solid foundation is the key to all arts.

 

[troubleenuf]

Look at it like this, a couple years ago I ran into a guy who was bragging that at his gym they did 14 different martial arts all at the same time. My answer to him was this "If you learned 14 different languages all at the same time at the end of the year you would be able to say hello and good bye and thats it... but if you focused on one language for a year you would be able to hold a good conversation in that language at the end of the year". Depends on which one you like I would guess.

 

[dancingalone]

It really depends on the teacher. A good one will have integrated both personally and will understand where one ends, and the other stops, or frankly how the two are a complete partnership altogether. In fact, based on the type of TKD he teaches, it might be a very fair statement to say the two are actually one and the same and it is just a matter of what techniques he emphasizes in class - if striking and forms = TKD, if locking and throwing = hapkido.

TKD and hapkido have a long history of being paired together. If you have serious interest in learning HKD, I would suggest taking a sabbatical from your current school and investing at least 6 months at the other school before you make any final decision about which you like better. I say this because the first few months at any close range grappling system (jiujitsu, aikido, hapkido, etc) is very confusing, and truthfully you won't have a clue about what to do in class for a good while.

By the way, I hold dan ranks in karate, TKD, and aikido, so I obviously find the different aspects of each martial art to be rewarding.

 

[Manny]

First of all, I would like to say...Hello! I spent a good amount of time browsing the board while my account awaited activation and I have to say that I'm very impressed by the helpful nature and overall knowledge of most users here. I hope to contribute in the future, but for now I just have a rather broad question...

Would it be a good idea and/or productive to learn Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido concurrently?

I'm currently a yellow belt at a TKD (and only TKD) school that teaches WTF style. I love it and my only regret is not having started before I was 25 years old. I don't have much to compare my experience with, but so far I'm impressed with the instructors/masters and the discipline of the students...it's been a great experience in every aspect. Nevertheless, I recently heard about another nearby school that teaches TKD and Hapkido (also Kali/Eskrima...but stick fighting doesn't appeal much to me at this point) and I'm very tempted to switch so that I can cross train in both MA's.

My main reason for wanting to learn TKD and Hapkido is the fact that my TKD instruction thus far has focused almost exclusively on kicks. I have no problem with lots of kicking, but I can't help but feel that I could become a much more well-rounded and effective martial artist if I was able to practice Hapkido as well (e.g., being able to incorporate throws, upper body strikes, locks, etc.).

I'm mainly concerned with biting off more than I can chew. I don't want to be unnecessarily confused by learning both MA's (although TKD and Hapkido are taught at separate times...not literally simultaneously) at the same time and I don't want to diminish my ability to be effective at either.

What do you guys think? Should I stay put at the school that I'm already happy with or take a chance at broadening my horizons?

Hello and wellcome to the board. Well let me tell you TKD is not only kicks, it has diferent hand techs, it has trows,locks,sweeps,take downs, etc,etc. You are a yellow belt so you are only kicking at this time but at blue-red belt (if not before) you will learn one steps sparring and maybe three steps sparring and Ho Shi Sul (self defense), in fact TKD and Hap Ki Do share some techs.

I will advise you to stick around TKD, learn it and love it and when you reach black belt status then if you need it or want it then crosstrain to Hap Ki Do.

Don't rush, focus in just one MA and learn and be proficient on it.

Manny

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Firstly, Id be more concerned with the fact you are only doing kicking, there is heaps more to tkd than kicking. Where I train we would probably spend about 30% of our time on kicking and the other 70% on self defence, form, punching, sparring etc. Our GM has high rank in both hapkido and tkd and once black belt we concentrate more and more on the hapkido side of things. For me personally, the 2 arts blend together really well, but as someone else said, I do believe you should have a solid base in one art first regardless of what you want to cross train in.

 

[puunui]

Would it be a good idea and/or productive to learn Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido concurrently?

yes. Taekwondo and Hapkido are good cross training, complementary martial arts. They feed off of each other and fill in each of the other's holes and gaps. For example, a big issue with Hapkido practitioners is their general inability to spar or deal competently within striking range. You grab their wrist and they know what to do, but put them in a striking situation, and they cannot deal with that, especially if there is movement and footwork involved. Taekwondo is good with the striking aspect but there outside of that, there are holes and weaknesses, including weapon defense, weapon use, etc. I personally enjoy hapkido more from a technical aspect but I also enjoy Taekwondo for its social aspect. There are more taekwondo practitioners and there are many opportunities to interact with each other. In Hapkido, there is some interaction, but it is generally only at seminars, which I do not enjoy (at least the Hapkido ones).

 

[Tyrant171]

Thanks to everyone for their input! The general consensus seems to be that I should just concentrate on TKD for now and get a solid framework established before I try to branch out...which makes complete sense.

Speaking of TKD and sparring...does anyone know of any good secondhand sites for used TKD equipment and/or MA equipment in general? I need to get some sparring gear before I can go to the sparring class (can't wait) and the sparring gear available through my school is like $240. Seems expensive, but maybe I'm just cheap.

 

[Bigmikey]

Thanks to everyone for their input! The general consensus seems to be that I should just concentrate on TKD for now and get a solid framework established before I try to branch out...which makes complete sense.

Speaking of TKD and sparring...does anyone know of any good secondhand sites for used TKD equipment and/or MA equipment in general? I need to get some sparring gear before I can go to the sparring class (can't wait) and the sparring gear available through my school is like $240. Seems expensive, but maybe I'm just cheap.

I'm a little late to the party but I can shed some personal light on this as up until very recently I was doing exactly this: TKD AND HKD.

Firstly I have nothing but the utmost respect for TKD practioners. I made it to green belt in both TKD and HKD before deciding that HKD was a much more well rounded art and it appealled to my sense of exploration to a much greater degree. TKD is fine if you're looking for a more common, "every street corner" kind of thing. Its physically challenging and quite demanding in terms of kicking technique.

I wanted more than that though. I find grappling fascinating and the myriad of different kicks and strikes I've learned now at high-blue are infinitely more exciting to me than the punch, block, kick, block stuff I was doing in TKD. Again, no disrespect but thats more or less it, isnt it? In HKD I learned 8 different ways to break a joint AND strike an attacker at YELLOW BELT ALONE! At Orange belt I learned how to flip an attacker. In terms of kicks the basic kicks parallel TKDs pretty well but start to take a turn right about where I'm at.

The philosophy behind HKD and TKD are so different as well. In HKD everything we do is geared toward street self defense. Our head instructor (who owns the school and predominantly teaches TKD) always tells us "In Tae Kwon Do we teach kick, always kick. In hapkido we no teach same way. In Hapkido we teach what is best for possibly save your life on the outside not in tournament!" ... to hear that from the guy who teaches TKD is pretty impressive stuff in my opinion.

I made the right choice for myself. I dont miss the endless sparring drills or the one step sparring or the sparring gear... but admittedly I'm WICKED biased, lol, cause I truly love HKD. The first time a classmate lunged at me truly intent on hitting me and I side stepped him, guarded, wrapped my hand around his fist and cranked it over nearly sending him to the floor tapping wildly I never looked back.

To answer your question: Can it be done? Can you learn them both concurrently? Yes. Its HARD, but yes. For my money, though, spend the time learning HKD thoroughly and you'll get a pretty fair handle on the basics of TKD anyway...

Best of luck to you!!

 

[Tyrant171]

I'm a little late to the party but I can shed some personal light on this as up until very recently I was doing exactly this: TKD AND HKD.

Firstly I have nothing but the utmost respect for TKD practioners. I made it to green belt in both TKD and HKD before deciding that HKD was a much more well rounded art and it appealled to my sense of exploration to a much greater degree. TKD is fine if you're looking for a more common, "every street corner" kind of thing. Its physically challenging and quite demanding in terms of kicking technique.

I wanted more than that though. I find grappling fascinating and the myriad of different kicks and strikes I've learned now at high-blue are infinitely more exciting to me than the punch, block, kick, block stuff I was doing in TKD. Again, no disrespect but thats more or less it, isnt it? In HKD I learned 8 different ways to break a joint AND strike an attacker at YELLOW BELT ALONE! At Orange belt I learned how to flip an attacker. In terms of kicks the basic kicks parallel TKDs pretty well but start to take a turn right about where I'm at.

The philosophy behind HKD and TKD are so different as well. In HKD everything we do is geared toward street self defense. Our head instructor (who owns the school and predominantly teaches TKD) always tells us "In Tae Kwon Do we teach kick, always kick. In hapkido we no teach same way. In Hapkido we teach what is best for possibly save your life on the outside not in tournament!" ... to hear that from the guy who teaches TKD is pretty impressive stuff in my opinion.

I made the right choice for myself. I dont miss the endless sparring drills or the one step sparring or the sparring gear... but admittedly I'm WICKED biased, lol, cause I truly love HKD. The first time a classmate lunged at me truly intent on hitting me and I side stepped him, guarded, wrapped my hand around his fist and cranked it over nearly sending him to the floor tapping wildly I never looked back.

To answer your question: Can it be done? Can you learn them both concurrently? Yes. Its HARD, but yes. For my money, though, spend the time learning HKD thoroughly and you'll get a pretty fair handle on the basics of TKD anyway...

Best of luck to you!!

Thanks for the insight. It's funny that you suggest learning HKD exclusively, as there is a HKD school nearby (taught by Grandmaster Gedo Chang...looks like he's kind of a big deal) that I was considering, in part because of the instruction quality and in part because the classes fit much more easily with my schedule and I'd be able to attend more than I am now.

I really like the fact that HKD seems to be more self defense oriented. My only issue is that, from what I've seen, HKD looks to be very evasive in nature. By that I mean that it looks to focus predominantly on redirecting your opponent's force against him and/or joint locks. There doesn't seem to be much striking. Is that necessarily the case? I love the feeling of landing a solid TKD round kick and my power has definitely increased. HKD looks great but I'm just worried that there isn't much emphasis on powerful striking.

 

[Twin Fist]

no, it is a very bad idea

 

[puunui]

no, it is a very bad idea

Funny you would say that, given the fact that the all of the co-founders of your art, Kajukenbo, all cross trained in different martial arts at the same time.

 

[Bigmikey]

Thanks for the insight. It's funny that you suggest learning HKD exclusively, as there is a HKD school nearby (taught by Grandmaster Gedo Chang...looks like he's kind of a big deal) that I was considering, in part because of the instruction quality and in part because the classes fit much more easily with my schedule and I'd be able to attend more than I am now.

I really like the fact that HKD seems to be more self defense oriented. My only issue is that, from what I've seen, HKD looks to be very evasive in nature. By that I mean that it looks to focus predominantly on redirecting your opponent's force against him and/or joint locks. There doesn't seem to be much striking. Is that necessarily the case? I love the feeling of landing a solid TKD round kick and my power has definitely increased. HKD looks great but I'm just worried that there isn't much emphasis on powerful striking.

Oh we strike, we strike and kick and break and do it in ways TKD doesnt. One of my techniques for my next belt is someone grabs me from behind, I step left, elbow them in the gut then upper cut their chin... trust me, we strike ;-)

 

[puunui]

Oh we strike, we strike and kick and break and do it in way TKD doesnt.

If you mean that in Hapkido we break people's joints or bones (as opposed to bricks or boards), then I would disagree with that. I was taught that we never permanently injure people in Hapkido by breaking one or more of their body parts.

 

[Twin Fist]

Funny you would say that, given the fact that the all of the co-founders of your art, Kajukenbo, all cross trained in different martial arts at the same time.

the five founders were all blackbelt level students of thier respective arts.

that would be fine,

but starting out cherry in two arts that are NOT different enough to be easily seperated out?

bad idea

 

[ralphmcpherson]

the five founders were all blackbelt level students of thier respective arts.

that would be fine,

but starting out cherry in two arts that are NOT different enough to be easily seperated out?

bad idea

I have to agree with that. Minimum black belt in one art before attempting to grasp another. I see students all the time who do 6 months of this, then 6 months of that and the end result is a "jack of all trades, master of none", sloppy technique, inadequate understanding of techs and just generally 'sloppy'. We branch out into hapkido once 1st dan tkd and I find the transition quite simple but that's after the 4-5 years training first.

 

[d1jinx]

Tyrant171,

I have said it here before. I learned TAEKWONDO and HAPKIDO at the same time... sortof.

You see, my first school had taught taekwondo. Hapkido was a part of the curriculum. Only we didnt know it was hapkido till some time later. Right around blue belt we began learning differnt throws and self defense techniques that were hapkido. It was required for our belt progression. It complimented TKD very well. BUT it was never never taught as a seperate thing.. such as... tonight is hapkido night. it was all TKD. No seperate grading in Hapkido. Now I also dont claim to be a BB in hapkido either.

I do not see anything wrong with both at the same time because thats how i learned and I could never distinguish a difference. In fact, i loved doing the different throws and takedowns and as I began to travel and go to doffent schools, I could never understand why they didn't do it as well.

When done correctly, they compliment eachother VERY WELL. and make for a well rounded Korean styled martial artist.

I dont see anything wrong with it.

now keep in mind... I am only referring to HAPKIDO and Taekwondo.

 

[Manny]

Well it's my advice that you will be proficient in one art and then go for the other, this measn concentrate in one of the two and reach black belt level and then crosstrain.

I am a 2nd degree black belt in TKD that will love to crosstrain in HKD however no HKD dojang in my city so what I did a trained in Kenpo karate and know some judo trows and some aikido moves that I blend them in my TKD. As you may see my main MA is and still TKD with some flavors or another martial arts.

Please think about it and let us know what is your desition, we will glad to read it and if we can give you some advises.

Manny

 

[ETinCYQX]

We teach HapKiDo grab defense techniques in our TKD cirriculum. If I can get away with it I'm going to do some sparring in class under HKD competition rules. Sweeps, throws, subs etc. added in to typical TKD sparring.

 

[dortiz]

Linear art vs circular. hard vs soft. Then understanding the differnces...

Learn TKD first. Then you will appreciate and understand the difference which is larger than most folks think.

It is very hard for a new student to grasp one way of moving and then go learn to do a similar technique in appearance yet in a totally different way.

Some can, good teacher, great student etc. But honestly its just making laying a good foundation in either that much harder.