new hapkido student here

[texas_rebel_1980]

greetings. i am very new to hapkido. i have been to maybe six classes. i am thoroughly enjoying everything i am learning. one thing i enjoy is when classes are small because no one shows up is the instructor asks us what we want to work on and we focus on our concerns. for example, i asked him to show me ways to get out of different headlocks and choke holds and we worked on that for a class.

does anyone else work on the cane in hapkido classes? the first thirty minutes or so we work on what i believe is Cane Master.....

one thing i worry about is depending on my partners they don't always go hard enough. i try to push them by going harder, but they don't always pick up on it. i believe if you don't train more real life then it won't come to you in a real situation. but, i don't push too much because i am so new.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I hate to throw a negative in most threads but I have to tell you Cane Master may be fine for a person in good physical health but if your old and you muscles and nerves to not always work well together it is of little use. One must be healthy to do much of what is taught. But then I guess it is that way for most of what we martial artists study.
Now having said that I'm happy to hear your are enjoying classes and that they are small enough for your instructor to take the time to ask and help out with what the students want to work on. Good for him.
Please keep us informed on how your studies progress. If you have questions I am sure someone in our community my be able to help with an answer.

 

[oftheherd1]

Welcome to the Hapkido forum. Always good to see participation here.

Your teacher has an interesting way to teach. I am somewhat conflicted by it however. It is wonderful to see a teacher willing to show students things they are interested in. However, there is also something to be said for learning things in an order that ensures best learning. That is, if you are learning pressure point use in those techniques, have you progressed to where you have the knowledge and strength to use them. That is one of the reasons for having a progression in learning, besides being able to pass BB tests in a reasonable time.

But that said, I am sure your teacher is qualified enough to know that and teach properly. And letting students ask for and be taught things in a less rigid manner surely mush help keep interest up.

As to cane, use, in my style, that must be taught beyond 3rd Dan. I don't know at what point. It wasn't taught to me, although like your teacher, my GM never hesitated to teach me anything I asked about after I passed my 1st Dan. It is something I might want to pursue as I get older.

Do keep posting here and let us know your progress and interests.

 

[texas_rebel_1980]

i was a bit unclear. we don't always get to ask for certain instruction. it is when only a few people show to class. he normally has a curriculum he goes by and we progress through it during the class. i will try to stay active and plan to try to keep studying for as long as my body will let me. i am a young 30 years old so I should have MANY good years left!

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Welcome to MT!

Daniel

 

[Kong Soo Do]

I hate to throw a negative in most threads but I have to tell you Cane Master may be fine for a person in good physical health but if your old and you muscles and nerves to not always work well together it is of little use. One must be healthy to do much of what is taught.

This is actually quite a good point. If one actually needs a cane for mobility then they will have difficulty utilizing the cane effectively as a defensive tool. In fact, depending upon the level of their disability, it may actually be a detriment and put them in greater harm.

Also, if you're healthy and don't need the use of a cane, but carry one and use it you may find yourself in a situation where you have some explaining to do. And they may not help you even if justified in the use of the cane in self-defense.

Just some thoughts to consider.

 

[texas_rebel_1980]

we debrief after class everynight. i told him i wasn't fond of the cane at all, but that i was doing it because it was his curriculum. he said that is fine. he then told a story of how he didn't like ground fighting but learned out of necessity. I will keep doing it because I really enjoy the rest of the class. I am 30, so I don't see me carrying a Cane anytime soon. But the empty hand techniques are what I focus on.

 

[Kong Soo Do]

It sounds like you have an instructor that you can be open and honest with, that is a good thing. Continue to enjoy

 

[oftheherd1]

Also remember than many techniques can be modified and used effectively. I once assited my GM teach baton use to some LEO. The baton becomes a small cane without a hook. Should you need to and had access to a small stick or broom handle, your cane techniques might stand you in good stead. Always think inovatively. Ask your teacher.

 

[texas_rebel_1980]

i actually had some baton training working in the prison system years ago and i find myself striking with the cane like a long baton. my commitment to myself is to do my best and learn it the best i can, even if i don't prefer it.

on a better note: during TKD sparring last night i got my first throw in sparring. grabbed a blue belt and put him down, it felt GREAT to have a technique work.

 

[oftheherd1]

i actually had some baton training working in the prison system years ago and i find myself striking with the cane like a long baton. my commitment to myself is to do my best and learn it the best i can, even if i don't prefer it.

on a better note: during TKD sparring last night i got my first throw in sparring. grabbed a blue belt and put him down, it felt GREAT to have a technique work.

I can see that might work, but I was thinking more along the line of joint manipulation. Interesting that you are allowed to use Hapkido techniques in free sparing. I take it all students learn both TKD and Hapkido?

 

[texas_rebel_1980]

no not all. being new, i am not sure about other school's sparring rules, but he encourages us to use take downs and even groin shots. he wants us to be able to defend ourselves. he told me when i started that the school doesn't focus on tournaments and he doesn't teach us to win trophies. he teaches to defend yourself in the streets and the tournaments are by products, or bonuses. basically.

 

[FearlessFreep]

one thing i worry about is depending on my partners they don't always go hard enough. i try to push them by going harder, but they don't always pick up on it. i believe if you don't train more real life then it won't come to you in a real situation. but, i don't push too much because i am so new.

Don't push it. If you've only been to a handful of classes then likely all your partners have more experience than you; let them set the level unless it's too much for you (and they shouldn't if they are good partners). Martial Arts techniques are like Musical techniques. You can't play "Eruption" after a few weeks of guitar lessons; and playing "harder", pushing "harder and faster" will not help you learn to play it any better or quicker. With any technique but especially with Hapkido, you need to start out easy to get the feel of the technique. Lots of repetitions, take it slow. There will be a time to up the intensity; learn control and precision first because it's always easy to go harder but it's very hard to be more precise on a technique you've been training too hard on.

i believe if you don't train more real life then it won't come to you in a real situation

You are correct in this. In both MA and Music we have parallel sayings: "Practice how you'll play because you'll play how you practice" or "Train how you fight because you fight how you train". *However*! That's only one part of it. The reality is that a real fight has so many variables and so many unknowns that it would be overwhelming if on day 1 the new student was thrown into "ok, we're going to train like we fight!!!" Just like playing in a concert is a different experience than playing in your bedroom and it takes a lot of practice before you can play in your room like you would play a concert, it takes a lot of learning basic techniques and mechanics and partner respect and such before you can open up and start making the training more realistic.

But don't push it too much. As a newbie you're granted a certain amount of grace in the sense that your partners *probably* realize you probably don't have a lot of experience and control and they can mitigate that to avoid injury to themselves or you, but you really don't want to gain a reputation as someone who always pushes too hard because the grace will wear off and you will either not be able to find partners or you will have a partner who will return it with interest

All this is caveated that you are dealing with average students who have various experience levels and know to take it easy on a new student just learning the mechanics of the techniques

 

[texas_rebel_1980]

thank you for the sound advice. my instructor has paced me actually, as we go through techniques. warnings of potential dangers and thorough explanations have been great and changed my mind about the earlier belief i had. now i practice to make sure i am getting it as perfect as possible and i think the speed and intensity will come from that. thank you again.

 

[texas_rebel_1980]

so got to the dojang tonight. there was a mat mounted on the wall! we worked on defense against someone pinning us against the wall. it was a lot of fun to work on.

 

[Cyriacus]

so got to the dojang tonight. there was a mat mounted on the wall! we worked on defense against someone pinning us against the wall. it was a lot of fun to work on.

It is perhaps beneficial that you dont use Brick Walls, like we do
Wall Pins + Brick Walls + Self Defense can be... Mats would be nice

 

[Kong Soo Do]

It is perhaps beneficial that you dont use Brick Walls, like we do
Wall Pins + Brick Walls + Self Defense can be... Mats would be nice

It can be a bugger on dry wall too!!!

Wall pin + dry wall + self-defense = hole in the wall

 

[texas_rebel_1980]

the instructor said he put the mats up to protect his dry wall....:ultracool

 

[FearlessFreep]

so got to the dojang tonight. there was a mat mounted on the wall! we worked on defense against someone pinning us against the wall. it was a lot of fun to work on.

Cool Sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[Kong Soo Do]

How is the training going for you?